Astonishingly Average
I got to go into the city today, so I picked up a few more books that I didn't have time to get the other day, Xenogenesis was one of them.
First of all, I love Whedon's Astonishing run, and Ellis' run has had its up and downs. Anyway, on to this issue.
The art, as many have said, is somewhat jarring. Emma and Storm are both sporting looks that are...unique, to say the least. The male characters are solid enough, but there is certainly something off about the females. I'm not sure if it's just Andrews just trying to over-sexualise everything on panel or if that's just how he does things, but it wasn't working for me. The problem with sexually provocative positioning is that the art itself has to be sexually provocative. Jim Lee, John Cassaday, Mike Deodato Jr, Mike Choi, etc... can all draw sexualised characters without trying, Andrews seems to be trying too hard, and it's not working. I did, however, think that the colouring was excellent.
On to the story. Plot-wise, I'm intrigued, non-mutant-mutants are appearing in Africa and the X-Men, at the request of the Black Panther, go in to investigate. I don't thnk Armor speaks this whole issue, and if she did, I didn't notice. The true stand-out characters in this issue are Storm and Cyclops. Wolverine delivers a nice recap for anyone who doesn't know that Africa has had some serious issues over the years, whilst also delivering a message of, what I felt was, total racism. "Nothing good comes out of Africa" or something like that. What? Germany, France, Britain, Austria and Russia have had their share of problems as well, are we going to say nothing good comes out of Europe either? Uncool, Ellis.
I liked Storm in this issue, as someone who isn't her biggest fan, I found her to be a fun read throughout. She does seem a little more sarcastic than I'm used to, but her sincere nature was also present, particularly during the Serengeti scene. This scene was also the highlight of the book in my eyes. When an issue has zero action; it's characterisation, plot and humour that decide how good a story is. So this little interaction between Scott and Ororo was really something special in an issue that otherwise had little "epic" moments. Sadly, it was ruined by Emma's "What's all this then?" When I read Emma, I hear a very cultivated English accent, when I read this statement, I read it in a Cockney accent. Aside from that odd moment, Scott and Ororo's exchange was a marvelous piece of storytelling; it captured their friendship perfectly. They have their issues, but they love each other very much, something which I think many writers overlook.
I also really liked how Scott was written. Since he's started kicking ___ and taking names, writers have taken "no-nonsense" to mean "arrogant jagweed". Ellis portrays Scott as a good leader, in that he is humble and willing to ask for help when he needs it. In addition, he is genuinely concerned for Ororo's feelings on the matter, something which Logan apparently isn't.
As for the ending; big "eh" from me. Just a typical, "see what happens" ending, in the respect that, if you liked this issue you'll get the next, if you didn't; you wont.
So, that's Xenogenesis #1, some great stuff from Cyclops and Ororo, offset by poor art, weird Emma, and (what I felt to be) racist Logan.
