Lumiras

Kaiho13 says:

"my opinion is that they need someone who was not into comics.Bring someone fresh like Whedon was when he first came onboard.Warren Ellis would be great though if he was left alone to do whatever he wanted... "

Hmm, a Warren Ellis penned Astonishing could be really good. Ellis does a great job at that snarky/hilarious dialogue that Astonishing is known for.

I just hope Astonishing stays as good as it is right now. It is really a very classic X-title, with a tight group of members and great interpersonal relationships. It's very character driven, which is a nice change of pace from throwing a new group of alien invaders at the X-Men every month

I think that Runaways is the best team book in the Marvel U right now. Vaughan does a great job at dialog, and that's what makes the book so good. They might not be the most original characters, they may not fight the coolest villains, but at the end of the day you love all of them and wait for their next adventure.

The book is in good hands once Whedon takes over. Just look at Astonishing X-Men for proof that he can write a superhero team book

As for the original points the first poster brought up, here's my opinion

1) Yes, I agree. A Nico/Karolina romance would not only be very hot :), but it would also probably complicate the team dynamic, which would be a good thing. Nico's the leader, and if she started playing favorites with Karolina, who knows what would happen?

Vaughan did use Xavin as a cop-out, and the whole Skrull shape-shifting thing allowed him to make a lesbian character without her actually being a lesbian. I think Xavin has gotten better in the past few issues, but his/her presence is somewhat unneeded

2.) I can't agree with you on the Victor point. Although he's not the most interesting character, I think he has a lot more long-term implications for the team.