I want to like this book. I really do. But, literally, I had to put this book down twice before finishing it because the art was so absolutely horrendous. Ugh. I'm not one for hyperbole, but this was easily the ugliest comic book I've ever read in my life. It was borderline unreadable/unwatchable/un-look-at-able... I'm not sure what the right word for a comic book is. Maybe the worst part is that the story is actually decent/promising. I want to read the next issue. It would be so much easier if the story sucked too and I could just drop the book. Really, Marvel should have retired the "Astonishing" title with the closing of Whedon's run, and given Ellis something new (and a better artist), but that's marketing I guess. About the only thing the Whedon and Ellis runs have in common is good dialogue. Ellis's banter isn't as great as Whedon's, but it still feels real. Serious at the right times and funny at others. Another big detriment is the lack of Kitty and Colossus on the team. And Beast wasn't even in this issue despite landing the cover art. Plus, Storm adds nothing to the team besides a well known name. It's just another character for Bianchi to render in dark, gothic horror fashion Oh, and at one point Emma reprimanded "Armor" for not using code names in the field. Does Emma even have a code name? Is it still White Queen? I swear no one's called her anything but Emma since Whedon's first issue.