Astonishing X-Men #4
Astonishing X-Men #4 is the pivot point of Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's celebrated 'Gifted' arc, delivering one of the most emotionally charged reveals in early 21st-century X-Men history: Kitty Pryde's discovery of a captive, living Colossus inside the Benetech laboratories — a resurrection that reversed Piotr Rasputin's four-year-old heroic death from Uncanny X-Men #390. The issue simultaneously introduces Hisako Ichiki (Armor), a Japanese student at the Xavier Institute whose psionic exoskeleton ability would grow into one of the most distinctive new X-Men characters of the decade, carrying forward the franchise's tradition of young, reader-surrogate figures first embodied by Kitty Pryde herself. Together, these two narrative events — a beloved character's return and a debut that would endure — make this the single most plot-dense installment of an arc that IGN later called 'the best X-Men run in a decade.'
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The issue was written by Joss Whedon — then best known as the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer — and illustrated by John Cassaday, with colors by Laura Martin and editing by Stephanie Moore, as part of Marvel's relaunched Astonishing X-Men ongoing series that began in July 2004. Whedon conceived the 'Gifted' arc as a deliberate follow-on to Grant Morrison's New X-Men run, deliberately insulating the title from Marvel's wider crossover events and trimming the cast to a tight core group; the Colossus resurrection plot was central to that design from the start, though Whedon later acknowledged in Wizard #173 that he felt he had overcomplicated elements of the second arc that followed. The series won the Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series in 2006, and Cassaday won Best Artist/Penciller/Inker in both 2005 and 2006, cementing the run's reputation as a critical touchstone of the era.
Trivia · 7 facts
- First appearance of Hisako Ichiki (Armor), a Japanese mutant student at the Xavier Institute capable of generating a psionic exoskeleton drawn from her ancestral lineage; created by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday.
- First reappearance of Colossus (Piotr Rasputin) since his death in Uncanny X-Men #390 (2001), where he sacrificed himself to release the cure for the Legacy Virus; it is Kitty Pryde who discovers him alive in the sub-basement of Benetech Laboratories.
- The issue reveals that the alien Ord of Breakworld abducted and resurrected Colossus and subsequently used his DNA as the biological basis for Benetech's 'mutant cure' serum.
- Blind fold (Ruth Aldine) receives her first mention in this issue, according to multiple collector databases, though her full first appearance comes later in the series.
- Wing, a Xavier Institute student and Hisako's close friend, appears here alongside Hisako; Ord attacks the Xavier Mansion while the X-Men are investigating Benetech, and Wing is injected with the 'hope serum,' stripping him of his powers — setting up a tragic arc in subsequent issues.
- The 'Gifted' arc (issues #1–6) was adapted as a six-episode motion comic by Marvel Knights Animation, directed by John Cassaday and Neal Adams, released on iTunes in October 2009 and on DVD by Shout! Factory in September 2010.
- The 'Gifted' arc's mutant-cure premise partially inspired the film X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), as confirmed by Wikipedia and acknowledged by Whedon himself, who stated he was unaware of prior Marvel cure storylines when he developed the concept.
Cast · 15 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Ord attacks the X-Mansion, while the X-Men investigate Benetech and discover that Colossus is alive.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).