Astonishing X-Men, Vol.2: Dangerous by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday

Astonishing X-Men, Vol. 2: Dangerous by Joss Whedon

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars




I watched the motion comic on Netflix not too long before I read this, and it was like déjà vu for me.  That is to say, the motion comic suits this series very well.  As with the first volume, Whedon's unique voice comes out in his writing.  Emma Frost's bitingly sarcastic comments are very suited to Whedon's similar style of humor.  The artwork of John Cassady is perfectly paired to Whedon's prose.

Funny enough, the members of this team of the X-Men aren't ones I'd think of as my favorites, with the exception of Wolverine.   But, I enjoy the dynamic between them.  Emma Frost has emerged as a dark horse as one of my new favorite female X-Men. Maybe it's because she hides a dark secret identity.  Even when she's doing good, you get the impression she might have a secret agenda and that she isn't entirely trustworthy.  Even so, Scott has fallen for her and started to depend on her, and to her surprise, she has feelings for him that a diamond-hard opportunist and realist like herself might find quite dangerous. I like Kitty Pryde aka Shadowcat quite a bit. Even for a noncombatant, she is a crucial part of the team and as a teacher at the school.  Her relationship with Piotr aka Colossus is sweet.

The idea of the Danger Room having a living conscience is completely scary.  Her motivations and her powers make her a formidable enemy.  It's a challenge for the X-Men to outthink her, when she knows how their minds and their defensive and offensive tactics work, and she's tested them all. And even when she's defeated, she will sow seeds of dissension among the team that won't be easily healed.

I freely admit that Artificial Intelligence gives me the heebie-jeebies.  The idea that humans would trust sentient machines with so much of their lives, with the unerstanding that AI's can learn and adapt and make the right decisions.  Maybe they have adapted past being tools of humanity and wipe us all out.  Meet the Sentinels, ladies and gentlemen.  Meet Danger.  Welcome to my nightmare.

Much more intense and dark than the previous installment, but I enjoyed this one even more.  Sad news is I don't think my library has the next installments. :(

Overall rating: 4.5/5.0 stars.



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