That’s My Bag

 

Astonishing X-Men #23: Rumor has it that Joss Whedon finished all the issues of his X-Men run within two months of landing the assignment (despite the irregular publishing schedule). After reading this issue, I think that may be true. Joss’ backstory lets us in on the X-Men’s plan for infiltrating Breakworld and delivers a huge payoff in the last three pages. I’ll say only this – the look on Cyclops’ face. A+

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #8: Part three of Faith’s infiltration of an evil Slayer-killing Slayer’s life and plan to do away with Buffy. Faith and Buffy manage to misunderstand each other again, but it’s all good drama. Getting rid of all that great tension would kill this series faster than it did Moonlighting. A+

Groo the Wanderer: Hell on Earth #1: Ah, Groo! How you made me laugh when I was in high school! Now, not so much. Hell on Earth is an unsubtle and unfunny comic book with a message. I like the message; I hate the unsubtle. Related note: When did NBC go green? C-

Runaways #28: Big week for me and Joss Whedon, it seems. I only picked up Runaways when Whedon took over, so there are some points in this issue I’m really unclear about, like whose parents are these people are who died when by whose hand? This may have been explained in a recent issue, but again the irregular release of this title and the depth of the story and characters make it hard to remember all the details. Still, this is a strong story that manages to stay in its 1800′s character. B+