Obviously, Astonishing X-Men #6 is the lead title for this week.  This issue marks the end of the "Gifted" arc, and the halfway point in Joss Whedon's scheduled twelve-issue run.

There's no denying that this is a very good comic.  Whedon and Cassaday are working with the long-established formula - bit of soap, bit of mystery, lots of running around in corridors in the bad guy's base, return of a much-loved character, and so forth.  This is a straight superhero comic, and it's not pretending to be anything more than that. 

But Whedon and Cassaday do the formula better than it's been done in years.  This is as good a rendition as we've seen of the X-Men across their 40-year history.  There's a strong case to be made, from that perspective, that this is one of the high points in the X-Men's history.

Whether you subscribe to that view will depend on a couple of thing.  For one thing, whatever else Astonishing X-Men may be, it's not particularly innovative, nor are there any dazzling new ideas here.  There are some interesting plot ideas - Ord is here to take anticipatory revenge for an attack on his homeworld which hasn't actually happened yet, and the cure does raise some interesting moral dilemmas.  Hank is probably right to conclude that for him as a public figure to take the cure would send all sorts of wrong messages, but that's no reason to deny it to any of the other mutants who might want it - many of whom really do have curses rather than powers.  But it's still essentially a book based on doing the X-Men and doing it well, rather than bringing something strikingly different to the table.

For another, there are a couple of slightly awkward bits in this issue - the little girl seems almost superfluous, for example, and there's a lot of infodumping going on for a final act.

But the flaws are relatively minor when you consider them against the strength of Whedon's dialogue and pacing, and the incredibly high quality of John Cassaday's art.  And if this isn't their formula, that doesn't detract from how well they're doing it.  Innovation isn't everything, after all.  Marvel are going over the top by hyping this is as one of the best comics they've ever published (sorry, but you need a bit more innovation to qualify for that kind of description).  Even with that caveat, though, it's top grade entertainment.

If it's a straight ahead, traditional take on the X-Men you want, this is exactly how to do it.  Nails it completely.

Rating: A+

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