Warren Ellis’s Astonishing X-Men has all the ingredients of a classic X-Men run:  great characters, witty dialogue, a sinister plot by a mysterious foe… yet something is missing here.  Part of it is the obvious joie de vivre that Whedon displayed during his run on the title.  The other part is pizzaz;  it’s all pretty straightforward.  There aren’t any flashbacks or cut-scenes or surprising panels.  It’s in essence a superhero procedural that relies too heavily on the dialogue and the art to keep the reader invested.

Not that this is a bad comic.  Warren has the voices of the characters down pat and he’s not as free with the witicisms as he was in the last issue.  In particular, the all new take charge Cyclops, who in recent years has been given a Hal Jordan-esque charisma makeover, steals the show.  It’s also nice to see Storm doing something that doesn’t involve Chris Claremont or Black Panther.  Welcome back, Storm.

The art will be a turn-off for some, but Simone Bianchi’s storytelling is much clearer in this issue than the last.  The pages look like something you might find in a European comic like The Metabarons, and Marvel’s willingness to experiment with one of their flagship books is something to be applauded.  While Bianchi’s art doesn’t fare as well when subtlety or emotiveness is called for, it’s certainly not boring.

Astonishing X-Men #26 is a solid book, if not spectacular.  Ellis has a lot of work to do if he wants his run to be as beloved as Whedon’s.  Unfair expectations perhaps, but that’s Marvel’s fault for putting the word “astonishing” on the cover.