Safe to skip up to Liu's run on Astonishing?

[MidnightSociety]

Like many I read astonishing up until the Giant Sized issue and then dropped it. I am going to pick it up again for Liu's run but is it safe to skip the Ellis and Gage/Way stuff? I tried to first couple of issues into Ghost Box and wasn't really feeling it.

[Seresecros]

There's a good one by James Asmus somewhere in there, and that wraps up the Danger/Emma plot point Whedon left. Everything else you're best off skipping.

[halla]

Honestly, Liu's run is like a whole new book. It has zero relationship to what came before it. From the perspective of understanding what's happening now, you'd be fine too.

[Gary Cody]

Each run on Astonishing is pretty self-contained in terms of story. They may make passing reference to larger events that happened in Uncanny, Adjectiveless, etc. and events in Astonishing may bleed out a bit into the other X-Books, but what happens in each Astonishing arc has little impact on the next one. It's safe to skip around.

[SoupStainedTie]

Skip it! Protest "Jean-Claude" and crummy editing! Let Marvel know you won't buy their shoddy products!

[Kerukun878]

Skip it! Protest "Jean-Claude" and crummy editing! Let Marvel know you won't buy their shoddy products!You do recognize that either Liu or the editors caught that by her second issue, yes?

[Kurolegacy]

You do recognize that either Liu or the editors caught that by her second issue, yes?If he didn't realize it by now, I doubt he even read the second issue.

[x-men_always_win]

If he didn't realize it by now, I doubt he even read the second issue.

That is punishable by having a teabag for breakfast.

[SoupStainedTie]

If he didn't realize it by now, I doubt he even read the second issue.

Oh, I know they fixed it.

But it did sway my decision (plus getting lackluster reviews) on whether or not I was going to buy the run in floppies or not.

[Meehl]

You should start here

http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv170/bartonfink13/img3/astonishing_xmen_1999-01b.jpg

[KurtW95]

Definitely skip Ellis' stuff. It was terrible.

[MarvelMaster616]

Like many I read astonishing up until the Giant Sized issue and then dropped it. I am going to pick it up again for Liu's run but is it safe to skip the Ellis and Gage/Way stuff? I tried to first couple of issues into Ghost Box and wasn't really feeling it.

Yeah, I think it's safe to skip right to Liu's run. She doesn't really follow the events of the previous issues of Astonishing. She uses a different cast of characters and a different overall setting. It might as well be a different series in some ways, but it does take place within the context of the post-Schism world. So as long as you know that the X-men are now divided with Wolverine's side in New York at the Jean Grey Institute with Cyclops's side still on Utopia, you should be fine. Having read the first two issues of her run, I strongly recommend you check it out. Liu is off to a great start so far and I think it has the potential to be even greater.

[pryde15]

It has Cecelia Reyes, buy it.

[Ethereal Motherultt]

You should start here

http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv170/bartonfink13/img3/astonishing_xmen_1999-01b.jpg

Completely agreed.

[Bad Wolf]

I actually liked Ellis' run. Not fond of anything after that.

[X-Caliber]

I picked up the first 2 issues of Liu's run on the title and have been less than impressed. It has felt choppy and honestly not that interesting. I am making cuts to my monthly comics and this is the first title I have dropped. But that could just be my taste so giving it a try is not a bad idea as it is pretty much a fresh start on the title. All in all I would give it about 2 1/2 or 3 stars at best so far.

[Scarlet Silence]

Definitely skip Ellis' stuff. It was terrible.

I enjoyed the arc with art by Kaare Andrews' art, but the art is probably the reason why.

[fod_xp]

Ellis' run was great, it wasn't a hit with the X-masses because it was written far different from Joss Whedon's run, and everyone assumed it would follow the same formula. It didn't and it was all the better for it. Not to mention each arc had a different artist with mad artistic talent: Simone Bianchi, Phil Jimenez, and Kaare Andrews. Each arc was a character driven narrative that was used to highlight a sociopolitical or cultural theme.

[Zen-aku]

Way's run actually made me care about armor as a character, so i recomend it.

[Scarlet Silence]

Ellis' run was great, it wasn't a hit with the X-masses because it was written far different from Joss Whedon's run, and everyone assumed it would follow the same formula. It didn't and it was all the better for it.

That simply is not true. It was an exploration of his Ghost Box idea and a book about that, not an X-Men book.

[Regino]

I didnt' get to speak on this yet. I liked her first issue of AXM. But the second issue was not good at all. It had so many interweaving plot threads that were just uninteresting coupled with incomprehensible flashbacks. It is a total mess. I really liked her X-23, but this needs some editorial help.

[Algus]

I loved Way's story arc. I've read the series religiously, even sticking all the way through Ellis, despite the fact that I hated his take on the book (well, and the artists he was paired with).

So far I don't know what to think about Liu's run. I don't think it is going to be BAD persay but it's like...why didn't they just end Astonishing and give her a new title? What is happening in the book now really has very little to do with the reason I stuck with the book after Whedon left.

Don't worry if you want to skip everything. I've read it all and you really don't need any of it to start with Liu. There is some good stuff in there but none of it is essential to what is happening in the book right now.

[Magnusilver]

Definitely skip Ellis' stuff. It was terrible.

Every issue after Whedon's giant-sized is just terrible

[Shmoo]

Feel free to skip it all for plot purposes. Although the other reality stuff wasn't that bad and would be worth a read but it is not necessary at all. You could probably skip liu's first arc as well, it is pretty weak (and I loved her x-23).

[MidnightSociety]

Thanks for all the responses everybody. I'll probably skip the stuff in-between if plot-wise it is being treated like a whole new book.

[fod_xp]

That simply is not true. It was an exploration of his Ghost Box idea and a book about that, not an X-Men book.

It is true, all of the science fiction technobabble and character interaction was set dressing for the sociopolitical themes he brought up. He didn't shove them in our face like the other X-Writers, instead Ellis assumed the readers were smart enough to get the message without handholding.

[Swashbuckler]

See, I didn't feel like Ellis arcs were about character at all. Yes, he had a few good moments here and there, but none of his main cast had any great development happen to them during his run. Forge is the only character who was impacted and he was used as a villain.

[Pixie_Solanas]

That was the worst handling of Forge i've seen since he was palling around with Deadpool.

[Scarlet Silence]

It is true, all of the science fiction technobabble and character interaction was set dressing for the sociopolitical themes he brought up. He didn't shove them in our face like the other X-Writers, instead Ellis assumed the readers were smart enough to get the message without handholding.

I do not consider characterization hand-holding, nor do I think he needed the length of time that was taken to bring up sociopolitical themes.

For the sake of furthering the discussion, what were the sociopolitical themes Ellis brought up during his Astonishing X-Men run which are not already present across the X-Men books?