Astonishing X-Men 21 NM Joss Whedon John Cassaday 1st print S.W.O.R.D. Cyclops

Description

Astonishing X-Men (2004 3rd Series) #21B

Published May 2007 by Marvel.

Written by JOSS WHEDON. Pencils by JOHN CASSADAY ‘UNSTOPPABLE’ PART 3 (OF 6)! Ord and his people of Breakworld lead the charge to take down the X-Men and S.W.O.R.D. And when this fight’s over…Not everyone is coming back! 32 PGS

“Unstoppable”

Wolverine and Armor arrive at the temple where Beast is studying the puzzling mural of Colossus destroying the Breakworld. The team then divides on separate missions.

Elsewhere, Kitty Pryde and Colossus are finding the inhabitants of the Breakworld, even the children, to be bizarrely bloodthirsty. They finally meet a friendly alien (technically, they are the aliens, and he is the native) who takes them to meet Aghanne, a former gladiator now turned administrator of a secret hospital on this planet that normally disposes of the sick and elderly. In this haven, Kitty and Peter settle in for the night and grab a moment of intimacy.

Danger has been captured by Powerlord Kruun’s forces but talks her way into being his underlying, sent to wipe out the X-Men. Scott Summers and Emma Frost commandeer a two person fighter jet and fight off aliens while bickering about their relationship. Danger causes their ship to crash and confronts Emma while Scott lies unconscious.

Beast and Agent Brand weather a snowstorm attack by Powerlord Kruun, hunkering down in a snowdrift where Brand reveals some sort of secret power to keep them alive in the cold:

Another strong issue with multiple jeopardy situations in parallel. The narrative is straightforward and action-based, so there’s not much to analyze. The people of the Breakworld are nasty! The X-Men are actually being tempted to play judge, jury, and executioner for this race of aliens that they never met before today. Kruun is a stereotypical dictator with no Doctor Doom-style nobility to cloud his hissable badness. Aghanne, his ideological opposite, suggests that Colossus may somehow be the agent of Breakworld’s reformation rather than destruction.

I suppose we should count Danger among Whedon’s “new strong female characters,” though there’s no obvious reason that Danger adopted a female physique instead of male or genderless. But I guess not every robo-person can have the inspired, fluid lunacy of Bill Sienkiewick’s Warlock.

Yay, Armor made the cover pin-up! And looks great.

Near mint, 1st printing. Check description for more pictures.