Astonishing X-Men #1

History

The series originated from a conversation between Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada and Joss Whedon — then riding the cultural momentum of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and the recently cancelled Firefly — with Quesada pairing him alongside artist John Cassaday, who had just completed a celebrated run on Captain America. Whedon had originally been considered as a replacement writer for Morrison's New X-Men, but Marvel instead gave him a separate title and the latitude to build his own self-contained corner of the X-Men universe, deliberately shielded from the franchise's sprawling crossover events. Colorist Laura Martin completed the creative team, and their combined work launched as part of the July 2004 'X-Men: Reload' publishing initiative, with the first issue cover-dated July 2004 and placed on sale May 26, 2004. Whedon has acknowledged that his approach was shaped by a deep childhood affection for the Claremont-era X-Men, and Kitty Pryde in particular — whom he has cited as a direct inspiration for Buffy Summers — making his return to the characters a personal as much as a professional undertaking.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published May 26, 2004 (cover-dated July 2004); written by Joss Whedon with art and covers by John Cassaday, colors by Laura Martin, and letters by Chris Eliopoulos; edited by Mike Marts under Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada.
• First appearance of Dr. Kavita Rao, the Indian geneticist who announces a serum called 'Hope' capable of suppressing the X-Gene — a plot that became the foundational basis for the mutant cure storyline in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).
• First appearance of Ord of the Breakworld, the alien warrior who secretly commissioned Rao's cure research to prevent a prophesied mutant from destroying his homeworld.
• Marks the in-continuity return of Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat) to the X-Men roster after several years away from the team; the issue uses her point-of-view arrival at the Xavier Institute as its primary narrative framing device.
• Launched as part of the 'X-Men: Reload' publishing initiative, building directly on the continuity of Grant Morrison's New X-Men while calling back to key Claremont-era moments from Uncanny X-Men #143 and #168.
• The 'Gifted' arc beginning here was adapted as a six-episode motion comic — Astonishing X-Men: Gifted — by Marvel Knights Animation, released on iTunes on October 27, 2009, and subsequently on DVD via Shout! Factory in September 2010.
• Whedon's full run won the Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series in 2006; John Cassaday won Best Artist/Penciller in both 2005 (tied with Frank Quitely) and 2006, with this issue serving as the creative foundation for those accolades.
• A Director's Cut edition of issue #1 was also published in August 2004; the story has been reprinted in numerous collected editions internationally, including Panini editions in France and Germany and a Hachette partworks collection.

Cast · 26 characters

Full credits

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