Worth the wait

At long last two new titles from Marvel Comics close out a couple of damned fine story arcs. Astonishing X-Men #12 wraps up Joss Whedon's first dozen issues at the helm of this spinoff venture which breathed new life into several of the old team members with the Buffy creator's trademark rich dialogue and careful attention to character. Although the second of Whedon's six-issue stories appeared at first glance to be old hat -- the X-Men's holographic training facility known the Danger Room gains sentience and tries to kill the team -- there were a couple of nice twists and turns along the way, including a dark revelation in the final issue that I certainly didn't see coming. I hope Joss stays on for the long haul, because I hadn't enjoyed an "X" title in years until I picked up Astonishing X-Men #1! Characters that had long since become cliches suddenly felt fresh and capable of the occasional surprise here or there as Whedon finally got to make them say and do things that I'm sure have been percolating in the back of his mind ever since he was a kid.

Also out this month is Young Avengers #6 (written in part by "The O.C."'s Allan Heinberg), completing the time-bending introductory story whereby the group was recruited by a young Kang the Conqueror in order to fight his older self. I was never a big Avengers fan, since the comic had hit its stride when I was still watching Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, but I've been following recent developments in the family of titles with growing interest. YA sealed the deal, as not only was it a fresh start for the franchise, but a clever one at that, the various heroes not being recast familiar faces but new characters with interesting connections to the present-day Avengers -- the best being Patriot, who turned out to be the grandson of Isaiah Bradley, the sole survivor of several African-Americans who were tested with an experimental version of the Super Soldier serum that would later create Captain America. As Young Avengers #5 ended with younger Kang impaling older Kang with a sword, I was curious to see how they were going to resolve things in the final installment, and YA #6 did not disappoint.

Next up: a whole lot of retrospective reading as I call up the Harvard Depository's collection of Warren Ellis' Stormwatch, the long-running hero saga published by WildStorm/D.C. Comics which was the precursor to the gritty and critically-acclaimed The Authority. Although Stormwatch didn't start off with Ellis at the helm (he joined the team with v.1, #37 in 1996), it didn't really take off until he reimagined the characters in a darker, more realistic light, blazing the trail for more mainstream titles to follow suit. I can't wait to dig in!