Astonishing X-Men #58 Review/Spoilers

[Bookem Danno]

Average story. Serviceable art. Decent Warbird showcase. Alien Fianden presence was so important to keep a secret until it was no longer important - uhm, okay. It would be ironic if Warbird takes in Superfaithful-cat! I couldn't find the CBR preview but for some reason its possible probably Google well over 1/2 the pages this time. Here's a recap anyways:

-The Last Fianden(TLF) is making art. Irony of a kindred spirit.
-Ava escaped SHIELD and tracked him thanks to Gambit's directions. Moving things right to the action is good.
-They sword fight and he tries to convince her not to complete genocide but he had to continue to chide her. So, her ever-present warrior spirit delivers a killing graphic to the head.
-Huh, he's an android. The Shi'ar did a bang up genocidal job afterall.
-The hero side of her finally comes around and she doesn't kill the robot. She also doesn't let him go. She doesn't let him use his mystery race-saving device. What a sweety.
-SHIELD catches up but Gambit and Karma beat them (in a car) to warn them.
-Cue the merry chase across the desert. What kind of car is that? Ha, it out performs SHIELD again.
-TLF makes a break for it but conveniently runs into Wolverine just so he could get a cameo line and let the cat ride his shoulders.
-Karma tries to give Ava a pep talk.
-SHIELD shows up again. X-men don't run. Trigger happy agent kills the robot.
-Ava is moved by his fate and unilaterally grants his 'dying' wish to let him activate the device. Her resolve is all over the place.
-The big after effect? The Fianden version of the Louvre pops up in the middle of the desert.
-TLF said he could only copy not create but he managed to include a statue of himself. Vanity thy name is supertoaster.
-Ava tears up then goes home, maybe a new, mellower Warbird, and takes up a pencil to draw. Nice full circle ending for her after we saw her origin a few months ago.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O0jFdtZ0gz...en+058-010.jpg
http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=b...45e04pmo06.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5sak6X_b2s...en+058-012.jpg


Coming up next issue:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...ticle&id=43335

[remydat]

I have absolutely no interest in Warbird to the point I didn't even know of her origin in WATXM until Liu mentioned it in the artcile you linked to. Despite that I linked the story. It definitely fleshed out Warbird's character more and given she is the newest character in the team, their efforts to help her made this team feel more team like than a lot of other Xbooks.

Having said that the problem with AXM is Liu rotating the main character from Northstar to Karma to Warbird makes it easy for fans to skip an arc if they know it will be about a character they don't like. The first arc did a better job of having the team feel more involved but was too long. This arc despite the smaller team, the rest of the team really didn't do much. In addition, the book needs bigger villains as again if I you are not that interested in Karma or Warbird, these enemies introduced just for them (Hatchi and Fianden) do nothing to get you to buy.

[Pixie_Solanas]

The excitement over this book is palpable.

[sweetdumbass]

The excitement over this book is palpable.

Every time I see a thread in its honor I pee a little.

[jarrod]

Orange Cat is best new X-Man in years.

Serviceable art.

See a doctor immediately.

[Master of Sound]

<<<SNIF>>> (emotions)

[SuperCooper]

Did I just get sent to a Russian pronography website?

Is that the moral of this story?

[ohsnapulon5000]

This book feels like it's secretly being written by Christos Gage...

[Sanji]

This book feels like it's secretly being written by Christos Gage...

Hell no. They're not talking to death like they did in the annual.

I enjoyed this arc. I wish Karma befriended better characters though.

[Gary Cody]

On the plus side, Warbird got stabbed, there were heroic kitties, and the artwork was a treat. Also, I'm glad this was only a two-parter (and not just for the obvious reasons). After the sprawl of the Northstar/Weaponized arcs, it was nice to get something a little more straight-forward.

On the downside, Warbird's not just a self-loathing alien exile among misfits, her artsy feels make her an oppressed minority now? That's pretty heavy-handed, even for an X-Book, and the character arc itself was predictable. One of my least-liked sci-fi tropes also makes an appearance with the "[insert alien species] are human too" line.

Still, Warbird did get stabbed.

Giving it a C+ and waiting to see what insanity the X-Termination cross-over holds.

[fod_xp]

I would say this books is at the point where it's "tits or get the **** out," but I am sure there are many fans loving this book and adore Majorie Liu's work on this book. Besides, it would also be a very rude thing to say. At this moment, the book does feel meandering and quite pointless. It seems the entire book went to pieces after the marriage of Northstar and Black GurlFriend. (I don't know his name). If Liu wants to write ASXM as a love themed book then she really should. It would probably pick up the pacing as she is an avid romance novelist.

[Foon4000]

I feel asleep halfway through the thread title.

[Hi-Fi]

Walta's art is so pretty. It deserves a better book.

I didn't hate this arc, though. It was just a bit boring. I don't care for Warbird, sadly.

[Pixie_Solanas]

Walta's art is so pretty. It deserves a better book.

I didn't hate this arc, though. It was just a bit boring. I don't care for Warbird, sadly.

I don't either, and I should have. I love Shi'ar. I fucking love Deathbird. Warbird's so absolutely nothing, though. The leaden attempts to give her identifiable backstory (tortured soul of an ARTISTE!) are just making me care less.

[.A²]

Not only was this arc incredibly dull (and I say that as someone who usually enjoys Astonishing X-Men) but there was a bizarre inter-mingling of S.H.I.E.L.D. and S.W.O.R.D. emphasised by a composite Val Cooper/Agent Brand character.

Also a little bitter that the alien artefact in the Middle East had nothing to do with Golgotha.