Astonishing X-Men

Astonishing X-Men is the name of several Marvel comic book series featuring the superhero team, the X-Men. There have been three X-Men titles to bear the name Astonishing X-Men, the first two mini-series and the third an ongoing series.

Volume One (1995)

The original Astonishing X-Men was a four-issue series that replaced Uncanny X-Men during the 1995 alternate universe storyline Age of Apocalypse, during which all X-Titles were given new names and numbering. In this storyline, Professor X was murdered 20 years in the past and Magneto, upon witnessing his friend's death, committed himself to Xavier's dream and created his own team of X-Men but could not stop the rise of the despotic Apocalypse.

Astonishing X-Men, written by Scott Lobdell and illustrated by Joe Madureira, featured a team of X-Men led by Rogue and consisting of Sunfire, Blink, Morph, Sabretooth and Wildchild. This particular team traveled to Chicago to stop a mass murder of ordinary humans carried out by Apocalypse's "son" and first horseman, Holocaust.

Volume Two (1999)

The second miniseries to bear the title Astonishing X-Men was published in 1999 and occurred after The Shattering storyline in which most of the regular X-Men left the team over a conflict with Professor X. The three-issue series, written by Howard Mackie and illustrated by Brandon Peterson, featured an interim team consisting of Wolverine, Phoenix, Cyclops, Archangel, Cable and Nate Grey.

This team projected the Mannites, a group of super powered, genetically engineered children from Death, a horseman of Apocalypse. Wolverine is murdered by Death in the final pages of the series, but it was later revealed that "Death" was actually a mind controlled Wolverine, and that the "Wolverine" who was a member of this team of X-Men was an imposter, a shapeshifting Skrull.

Volume Three (2004-present)

In 2004, Marvel used the title Astonishing X-Men for the latest ongoing X-Men series written by Joss Whedon, who is best known as the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and illustrated by John Cassaday. It is a continuation of the New X-Men title and features a similar line-up of characters, including Cyclops (as team leader), Emma Frost, Beast, Shadowcat, and Wolverine.

In his first story arc, Whedon resurrected favorite X-Man Colossus. It was revealed that he had been a guinea pig of sorts in an underground mutant research complex associated with the mysterious alien Ord. Colossus has since been added to the team line-up.

In the next storyline, the team fights the personified version of the complex training facilities, “the Danger Room.” This storyline has not been nearly as well-received by fans and critics; the plot has been criticised as an unimaginative derivation of a hackneyed science fiction concept (used numerous times in the holodeck episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The uninspired plotting and relative lack of character development compared to previous arcs has led many to suspect that Whedon is making use of a ghost writer while he works on other projects (presumably his Serenity and Wonder Woman movie projects).

Whedon's initial contract with Marvel Comics was for 12 issues (one year) but has since been renegotiated for an additional 12. Cassady is expected to remain with the title during Whedon's run. Whedon, Cassaday, and the title have been nominated for several Eisner Awards.