I don't generally bother with the x-men, not from any active dislike but due to the fact that 90% of the genre are more or less boring superhero soap operas. The only exception is when i have a great regard for the creative team, such as Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly's New X-men run. So the concept of Warren Ellis writing the X-men was a big draw card as well as Jemenez's artwork. I wasn't overly impressed with the first issue or two, thinking that it was going to be 100% action orientated superheroics. As the story went on I started admiring the scale, style and general weirdness of Ellis' vision. The thing that probably impressed me the most though were the likes of the conversation between Beast and Cyclops, which had far more character depth and development than is generally seen in such titles. Also I greatly appreciated the stupid pretence in most superhero comics that it is wrong to kill the villian no matter how evil they may be. All in all a good read, by no means a must have but very enjoyable. I have to wonder if I was the only one that found Ghost Box to be overcomplicated and confusing, as Warren Ellis's next installment in Astonishing X-men is a lot simpler and action focused. As a result, while the comic falls very short of the high standards set up by Joss Whedon, it's actually a fairly entertaining read. The storyline here is focused on the Brood, and while I would have preferred to see some of the ideas developed a bit more, it does have its moments. The book's big selling point would have to be it's break neck pace and focus on action. And while I wouldn't call Phil Jimenez's artwork perfect, it's certainly better suited to fight scenes (and my personal taste) then Ghost Box's Simon Bianchi.Not a lot of time is spent on character moments, but there are a few good bits, including a tense confrontation between Beast and Cyclops. Much like Storm noticed in Ghost Box, Beast can see that Cyclops is changing, and not necessarily for the better. I also enjoyed the banter between Armor (who's really growing on me as a character) and Wolverine. Disappointingly, Exogenetic features what could be a really cool moment, if Joss Whedon hadn't done a really similar scene involving Wolverine and Cyclops during his run. The characters are in costume for almost the entirety of Exogenetic, so we don't have to worry about the embarrassingly dated civvies that were featured in Ghost Box. Speaking of embarrassingly dated, what's going on with Emma Frost's Charlie's Angels hair? Storm's costume continues to be completely ridiculous, which is a disappointment given how stylish she's been looking in the current run of X-men. Exogenetic may not be perfect, but it's quite a step up from Ghost Box. I wouldn't pay full price for it, but it's certainly worth getting from your local library.
What do You think about Astonishing X-Men, Vol. 6: Exogenetic (2010)?
Not a bad story, but not one of the best. A rather long-winded way to have a Cyclops introspection.
—Espeon534
Armor is awesome, and Wolverine with the punch at the end. Hilarious.
—sumitagrg
The Brood! Sentinels! Holy....! Gruesomely funny, too.
—Aiespinal16
