Astonishing X-Men #27
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Simone Bianchi

The revelation of the Ghost Box results in easily the best Astonishing X-Men issue penned by Warren Ellis so far.

Agent Brand absolutely steals the show. Scott Summer is ****ing hysterical. And Wolverine gets perhaps the best line of the Ellis run, “It’s like catching a rerun of ‘Happy Days’ and seeing Ron Howard picking up hookers.”

I must admit though that I’m still on the fence about Bianchi’s art. It’s beautiful — much like Alfonse Mucha’s stunning visuals. But it doesn’t necessarily work in a graphic storytelling sense — again much like Mucha’s disappointing Wonder Woman miniseries.

All in all, a vast improvement over last issue and very encouraging as Warren Ellis starts to hit his stride with the book.

Thoughts? Share them in the comments below!

From Marvel (preview): “Big action. Big Science. And a big mystery to solve! The superstar team of Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi take the X-Men to the ‘Second Stage’! ‘Messiah CompleX’ pulled the X-Men team together, ‘Divided We Stand’ tore them apart. Now the X-Men are back to business—with a new look, a new base of operations, and a mission that will take them into mind-bending and previously uncharted territory—one that will test them—and their leader Cyclops—to their very core. You won’t believe your eyes.” On sale October 15, 2008.