Like most other comic readers I was a big fan of Whedon and Cassaday’s
run on Astonishing X-Men, but I think it was slightly over-hyped. My
main reason for saying that is I think that their initial arc was
amazing and their run never quite made it back to that level. So
needless to say Ellis and Bianchi’s first issue had a lot to live up to
for me and all the other fans of the previous run. Unfortunately this
second run doesn’t start with a bang at all. It was an enjoyable read,
but the new creative team did not knock my socks off the way Whedon and
Cassaday did with their first issue. Ellis does a fine job with the
characters and their dialogue, but not much happens besides a bunch of
talk except for Storm returning and the set up for the murder mystery
which the first arc will center around. Based off the quality of all
his previous work and his handling of the characters in this issue I’m
sure Ellis will craft a solid run on this title but with Matt Fraction
joining Brubaker on Uncanny and the possibility of that title becoming
a book that is released more often than once a month, and Astonishing
being brought more into X-Men continuity thus losing its somewhat niche
status it will have to impress me more with upcoming issues to keep me
interested in picking it up every month.