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| Astonishing X-Men Vol. 3: Torn | 
 enlarge | Author: Joss Whedon
Creator: John Cassaday
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Category: Book
List Price: $14.99
Buy New: $1.35
You Save: $13.64 (91%)
New (56) Used (32) from $1.35
Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 16136
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 152
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 10.1 x 6.5 x 0.4
ISBN: 0785117598
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5973
EAN: 9780785117599
ASIN: 0785117598
Publication Date: February 28, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: THIS BOOK IS NEW AND IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. SAME DAY SHIPPING WEEKDAYS BEFORE 3:00PM EST
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Product Description
They're back! The chart-topping super-team of Joss Whedon and John Cassaday return for more Astonshing X-Men! If you thought their past efforts were full of shocks and surprises, hold onto your eyeballs - because you haven't seen anything yet, as things go from peculiar to just plain bizarre! Emma Frost's erratic behavior has the X-Men spinning in a non-stop downward spiral. Will an unlikely union be the final straw? After secretly lying in wait for months, the new Hellfire Club makes its move! Plus: The X-Man destined to destroy the Breakworld stands revealed! Who is it, and what will be their fate? Collects Astonishing X-Men #13-18.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 Why Whedon and Cassady's X-Men are Simply the Best February 17, 2007
35 out of 36 found this review helpful
This review is directed primarily at those who no longer read comics or graphic novels as much as they used to. There are no spoilers in this review. Read without fear!
First, like other reviewers, I would strongly recommend that you buy vols 1 and 2 before reading this book. This volume collects issues 13-18 of Astonishing X-men, but if you haven't read 1-12 most of what happens in these pages simply won't make sense.
That said, I'm not going to cover the content of this book so much as Whedon's general approach to writing the X-Men. Like many others, I enjoyed the Claremont works in the late 1970s but found that by the 1990s the X-Men story line was so convoluted it was difficult to really follow, especially as graduate school was taking more and more of my time. Whedon has limited the number of main characters in Astonishing X-Men to 6 and this allows him to focus on the unique personalities and interactions among the group. As a result, the characters have more depth than ever before. The issue in which the new team faces (individually) their worst fears (found in this volume) is a real triumph in comic writing. Interestingly enough, this approach also removes Wolverine from center stage. By far the two most interesting characters in Astonishing X-Men are Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost, each of whom acts as a perfect foil for the other throughout the series. Indeed, the survival guilt of both Emma and Kitty feel in the wake of the mass destruction at Genosha frames this entire story arc.
Cassady's artwork meshes perfectly with Whedon's writing. Beast has a more cat-like appearance here than anywhere else and the transitions between his intellectual and feral self are simply stunning. Even the supporting cast is drawn with sensitivity and truly come alive. Agent Brand of SWORD, Blindfold, and even Lockheed all receive better portraits here than anywhere else.
So why should you read this series, especially if you, like me, thought your comic reading days were past? Simple. Whedon and Cassady remain true to the characters we grew up loving, but this is clearly the adult version of X-Men. The old X-Men were extraordinary, and very near unbeatable. They explored a variety of social issues, but always within the constraints of the "comic book format." These new X-Men, despite, or perhaps even because of, their return to traditional comic costumes, are far more human in their hopes, fears, guilt, and love than many of their predecessors. And they are far more interesting. If you want to reaquaint yourself with some long lost friends, this series is definitely for you.
 Head-spinning twists and turns. February 16, 2007
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
When I heard that Joss Whedon, god of all that is right with American entertainment, was going to write stories for my favorite superhero team I was already sold. "Gifted" did not disappoint and introduced a new line-up of old X-men standards including ex-villain Emma Frost, Cyclops, Wolverine (naturally), Beast, Colossus (who was believed deceased), and lastly, Joss' personal favorite, the always-underrated Kitty Pryde. The writing was brilliant and filled with laugh-out-loud moments that show that Mr. Whedon's talent for comic timing extends to the printed page as well as his legendary television work on shows including "Buffy", "Angel", and little-known science fiction gem "Firefly". On top of the often spectacularly entertaining writing, the art in this series is simply the best I've ever seen in a comic. If you haven't read "Gifted" and "Dangerous" I strongly suggest you do yourself a favor and get them now, even if you're a relative newcomer to the X-men or comics in general....especially if you're new to comics since this is likely the series that will hook you on the art form. That said, "Torn" is the third arc in the series, and is easily the most hectic yet. At the end of "Dangerous" we learned that the grand ol' Hellfire Club has been manipulating Emma Frost from behind the scenes. In this story, they launch an all-out psychic assault on the X-mansion leaving Wolverine as a blubbering english wuss and Beast as a ravenous animal, among other things. With Cyclops and Colossus also out of commission and Emma and her pals slowly unfurling their mysterious plot, it falls on Kitty and a pair of young mutant students to save the X-men from their own worst fears. These occasionally humorous and sometimes terrifying personalized psychic attacks speak volumes about the insecurities of each of our heroes; this is insightful character development at it's finest. While all this is going down, the last two villains the X-men fought team up to finish them once and for all. Ord of Break-World, sent from his planet to kill the X-man destined to be the destroyer of his planet (and, yes, we finally do learn which one it will be) escapes from his confinement with the help of Danger, the self-aware core of the legendary "Danger Room" given a tangible, mechanical body and armed with knowledge of every X-man's strengths and weaknesses. Can things get more crazy? Yes. Yes they can. Just wait until you learn the real truth about the reappearance of the Hellfire Club. Let's just say your head will probably be hurting after you finish reading this volume for the first time. While the more light-hearted humor of the first two installments makes some notable appearances (what if Kitty phased through her upstairs bed at a very awkward moment? Hmmm....), this arc is largely a dark journey into our heroes' psyches. It's nice that there's still some room for the characters' individual charms to show, but "Astonishing X-men" keeps picking up the pace with every installment and it is blazing full-speed-ahead now. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. While I do miss the multitude of humorous conversations and amusing pop-culture references of the previous volumes, I was absolutely rivetted to each page as the situation got more dire and each page crammed with more and more insanity. And let's just say the last page leaves you hanging in a big way. Damn, do I hate me some cliffhangers. Bottom line, if you've read the first two arcs and wanted more, you've got to get this one. If your interest in the story is waning or you don't know what happened in past volumes (go buy 'em already!), then you'd best pass on this one because it is non-stop and packed to the gills with the kind of insane plot twists accompanied by minimal exposition that will send casual fans running to their mamas.
Joss and the X-Men: still a match made in Heaven February 17, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
As Torn, the third collected storyarc in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Serenity creator Joss Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men begins, our favorite merry mutants are in some deep trouble. Emma Frost is back with the Hellfire Club, and their conspiracy against the X-Men begins to come full circle, as Emma helps the Club take down the X-Men one by one by having them succumb to their worst fears. Cyclops is rendered powerless, Beast is reduced to his feral nature, Wolverine is turned into a prissy boy (you have to see this to believe it), and Colossus is left a victim of his own rage. Kitty Pryde is the only one left, and it's up to her to stop Emma, Cassandra Nova, and the rest of the Hellfire Club dead in their tracks. This becomes even harder when Ord breaks out of prison with help from Danger, and it is revealed just who the X-Man is that is destined to destroy the Breakworld, and who the mole is that's been spying on the X-Men. Whedon's breakneck pacing and quick witted dialogue is about what we've come to expect from the gifted writer, as he throws twist after twist at the reader so quick you won't believe your eyes. Without revealing too many surprises, it becomes safe to say that things will never be the same again for the team, and Whedon's transformation of Cyclops is by far the most interesting twist ever put on the character. With nods to the classic X-stories of Chris Claremont and Grant Morrison, combined with the still spectacular art by John Cassaday (not to mention that we have another mouth watering cliffhanger to boot), Torn ends up being quite a treat.
A great read... thanks, Joss! March 30, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Author Joss Whedon brings his best game with this fine six-issue run (#13-18) of "The Astonishing X-Men." It looks like the Hellfire Club are back, with Emma Frost leading the way to the utter defeat and debasement of her erstwhile teammates... With consummate grace, Whedon crafts one of the finest scripted mindwarp sagas in comicbook history, and manages to pop off some classic, "Buffy"-esque one-liners that show the old magic is still there. Best of all, he doesn't get lost in all the cluttered, techno-fetishistic bullpucky that's been weighing the X-books down for the last couple of decades -- this is just good, old, character-driven superhero stuff... Nice to see Kitty Pryde kicking some serious butt, too... Yay. Can't wait for the next collection to come out.
Great X-men Stories June 9, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
While not quite as good as the first two volumes, "Astonishing X-men: Torn" continues the excellent Breakworld story line. I checked the first volume out from the local library after a good 15-20 year hiatus from reading x-men comics, and after reading it, I quickly purchased volumes two and three from Amazon, and at a price about $5 cheaper than list, it was a bargain. Good story and dialogue overall, coupled with beautiful artwork. The artwork is not like the hyper-muscular figures characteristic of comics, but it works well nonetheless. The pace, in my opinion, is a bit more sketchy/disjointed than the previous two collections, but still better than many other comic story arcs that I've read recently. I think this writing/art team is only together for one more graphic novel (6 comic issues), and I will be sorry to see them go. I could probably hang on reading if the either artwork or story was engaging, but with the Astonishing X-men, you get both. Highly recommended for X-men fans, just make sure you read the first two volumes, "Gifted" and "Dangerous" prior to this book to bring yourself up to speed on the story thus far.
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