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

[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?