Astonishing X-Men #21 was a much needed rebound issue. I was beginning to worry that Whedon had totally lost his focus and direction and was going to end his wonderful run on this title with a disappointing and anti-climactic ending. Well, my fears were clearly unfounded. It appears that Whedon has a rather entertaining ending to this story arc in store for us. Read Full Review

The issue's cliffhanger implies that one of the X-Men's core members might have been mortally wounded, but this unlikely occurrence seems like unnecessarily forced dressing for an issue which is very much a slow middle chapter of a larger, grander story. Pieces are moved around in preparation for the climax to Whedon's overarching story - and after enjoying his meticulously-constructed television work on Buffy and Firefly I have enough faith in his sense of long-term storytelling to trust that he's gearing up for an impressive, coherent finale - but this issue merely a single step on the route to that destination. On an issue-to-issue basis, the book still has enough going for it in terms of witty dialogue and sharp artwork to warrant an above-average bullet rating, but for a book on such an irregular schedule to turn in such a pedestrian instalment could risk turning off those readers who have stuck with the book despite the delays, as this is one of those books that is guaranteed t Read Full Review

This is another unimpressive issue of Astonishing X-Men. Whedon is just not up to snuff in these pages. He lacks passion for his subject and his own story. Cassaday's and Martin's art is as usual pretty, and Kitty gets naked. If that's enough to warrant your purchase, please be my guest. Read Full Review