Warren Ellis is hit or miss with me. At times, he has my full attention and turns what could be route by any other creator into something fresh and new. At other times, his infatuation with new technology and cutting-edge science babble makes me want to scream. Since Astonishing X-Men has become the out-of-continuity version of the Marvel mutant world, I figured a new jumping on point with artist Phil Jimenez would be interesting enough to give it a shot. It was. Mostly.

Ellis runs a clinic on telling an action story while rounding out perfectly the personalities and roles of the main characters without any exposition at all. The characters tell you who they are by their working together as a team and the pithy quips they trade, a device Ellis seems to use for nearly every character he writes. The plot weaves together elements such as the new pseudo-S.H.E.I.L.D. organization S.W.O.R.D., the Brood, and yet another take on the already tired “Sentinels as something scarier than your daddy’s Sentinels” routine.

The art by Phil Jimenez is solid, but I’ve never seen him as anything more than Perez-lite; if you can’t get George Perez, Jimenez will do.

Altogether, this issue equals a solid, albeit, standard X-Men tale. This is deserving of the 3-star ratings for craft alone, but it doesn’t feel all that original. Ellis did an excellent job back when he was given books like Excalibur to write. He made the characters his own and took stories into places that felt new. The beginning of his second arc here in Astonishing is technically sound, but lacking heart.