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I didn't think much of most of the book, but I loved Whedon and Cassaday's Spider-Man. I'd like to see them do a Spidey book someday (but a miniseries, solicited once it's finished).

Once Fox cancels "Dollhouse" after airing about 3 episodes (out of order, on different nights at different times) maybe Whedon will return to writing comics. Although I think I read that Whedon was a bit put off by the whole "cross-over"ness of the Marvel universe, so he may not be back at Marvel for a while. He does write a good Spiderman, though.

Really? I was unimpressed. And I'm usually the "trying-to-like-it" type rather than the snarky, "what can I hate about it" sort.

Completely on its own, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. I kinda had a "that's it?" feeling about most of it, and the Breakworld never felt particularly fleshed out as a place.

What's more, in a greater context I just kinda feel that IF a writer wants to tell a story that won't have any regard for what's going on in other books and such, that's totally fine, but he shouldn't also get to get rid of a major character like that and affect the wider continuity that he's refusing to play in. You don't get the "it's a big deal because we're losing someone!" event thingy out in that context. That's my opinion anyway.

I enjoyed the smaller moments, but overall was left cold. Pretty much the story of Whedon's whole run for me. Sigh... and I had such high hopes.

I was confused by some of the action, possibly because of the delays between issues. I already knew which character would "die," which dulled the impact of the end sacrifice (although I liked the characters' interactions leading up to it). On the other hand, the art & dialogue were very good. I thought the final Whedon/ Cassaday X-Men hit some high notes, and was one of the better comics in the run... it just didn't thrill me.

I just want to thank Marvel for screwing us over for another $1. 32 pages of story might be worth $3.99, but definitely not $4.99.

And I'll thank Marvel for the screwing by not continuing to buy this series.

What was with all the heroes and them drooling? What caused that? Anyone know?

What was with all the heroes and them drooling? What caused that? Anyone know?

The bullet was magic and it deflected Strange's spell - sending it back at all of them, causing them to be stuck in their imagination - the drooling was a sign that they were all in a sleep-like trance.

I didn't especially care for it. Of course, I've been out of love with Whedon's X-Men for awhile now. The glacial pacing and abysmal publishing schedule killed pretty much all interest in it. The individual issues still have amazing dialogue and the occasional "wow" moment, but overall I haven't truly enjoyed this title since the first arc.

This issue pretty much just carried on the same trend. The X-Men fight a bunch of generic villains that I can't keep straight because the last issue came out months ago, there's some snappy dialogue, and we hit several plot points that don't make much apparent sense (what happened to the heroes, what Brand's full deal is). At least the ending is an acceptable ending, not the crashing failure that we got on the Danger Room story. Honestly, I'm just glad the Whedon run is over and we can move on (hopefully more than three times a year).

The action on Breakworld was incredibly confusing, not helped by the otherwise exceptional art of Cassaday, where all the Breakworlders look alike. Perhaps it will read better in trade where I'll remember the 4 chapter build-up on Breakworld, which I've forgotten in the seven years since the last issue.

However, I think you're reading things that weren't written. Magic Bullet??? Rebounded Strange's spell??? Results in catatonia and fantasy??? My issues were missing those pages.

I will have to reread the issue where Kitty rescues Piotr, to see how well the alien metal that traps Kitty was foreshadowed.

Still, the whole was some of the better of Marvel's recent output, and I anticipate whatever Joss and John do next in the Marvel Universe.

Uh...the bullet was magic? Huh? I...guess you can take that from Iron Man's line about "magical protection," but it'd be nice if the pretty much entirely technological Breakworld had any hint of magic prior to this moment. So it's a giant magical hollow bullet that travels fast than lightspeed without any visible mechanical parts? Which somehow causes Kitty to bond to it when she phases the thing? Even by comic-book science standards, that's a stretch. I read the thing three times and couldn't work out what was affecting all the heroes. And frankly, I'm still not convinced it's there.

I couldn't disagree more with Brian, at any rate. Colossus got a decent climax, but the rest of this was just a mess. The pointless guest star comedy bits squeezed out the cast of the story to date -- Danger gets exactly one line and then sorta vanishes from the story, for example. Considering that it's an insane sentient robot that can awaken other machines and wants desperately to find a way around its "no-kill" programming, you'd think that might warrant some plot follow-up.

Ditto the whole weird Cyclops retcon, which apparently...just sort of fades away? Why exactly is Cyke losing that "clarity?" He seemed to function just fine on Breakworld without the visor. I know the status quo must return, but this was simply lazy.

And as to Kitty's death...wow, what a pointless bit of plotting designed to make a fairly generic "heroes vs. aliens" story -- an Avengers or FF tale that happens to feature the X-Men -- seem deeply important. Really, what about any of this has to do with any of the central themes of the X-Men franchise? What does Kitty's death signify beyond a desire to "kill one off" and the choice of the viewpoint character as a cheap pull on the heartstrings?

The death isn't even executed that well, though the visuals of the bullet phasing are quite nice. I can just about see, after reading Brian's review, that we're meant to feel incrementally increasing despair as the various attempts to stop the bullet fail. As executed, however, they come off as throwaways: the Sentinel's failed self-sacrifice seemed like a narrative hiccough, while the cutaway from the Powerlord's interrogation before he could reveal the bullet's weakness felt unfinished. (I kept waiting for the comic to hint at whatever he said, even after Kitty was clearly toast. It never bothered.)

Nor is the mourning all that interesting. Scott and Emma feel bad for a bit and then going off to screw like minxes. Wolverine simply picks up Armor as a replacement plucky girl sidekick. The Beast and Brand are too busy bantering to react much. And Colossus...well, he looks sad for a page. Oh, and there's a page of reaction shots, with best being the utterly pointless shot of Spider-Man's fully-masked, inexpressive face

And loads of plot setups in a final issue that's so many months late we already know the other books aren't using any of the material. Brand seems to have been killed off in the latest crossover event, published before this issue made it out, which would rather seem to moot the potential of Whedon's bits with her here.

Oh, yes, and as an added bonus, it's got a $4.99 price tag for a 32-page story and 12 pages of variant cover reprints. 12 pages! That's over a quarter of the book! It's price-gouging in celebration of price-gouging.

Oh, yes, and Whedon apparently couldn't be bothered to follow up on his hints that Cassandra Nova had jumped into Armor's mind, nor attend to the setup involving the "cure." 24 glacially-paced issues and a late-addition, extra-long finale should be far more complete than this, and far more coherent.

However, I think you’re reading things that weren’t written. Magic Bullet??? Rebounded Strange’s spell??? Results in catatonia and fantasy??? My issues were missing those pages.

I mean, Whedon doesn't come out and have a caption saying "Strange's attempts to stop the bullet magically resulted in a backfired spell that caused each hero to have a fantasy of saving the bullet."

But that's what happens - Strange tries to stop the bullet and you see him freak out and in a recoil specifically zaps everyone else in the room, and then suddenly they're all having fantasies about saving the day and when we see them all in a daze, Strange is passed out on the floor.

I'm content. The wait sucked, the extra buck sucked, and you could almost have easily substituted Buffy characters for X-men characters. However, Whedon seemed to follow through on all the groundwork he laid in the last 2! years, it was entertaining, and Cassaday at least met my expectations. I will more thoroughly enjoyed everything that came before because of this issue. It's good, and I hope Planetary 27 does that series as much justice.

I also can't wait to see what Ellis does with the series. I don't think he can disappoint after this.

I invoke Deus ex Brian to fix my tag.

I take care of my people.

And Omar, I'd certainly allow that this whole ARC was not good overall (mostly due to all the leftover plots), but as a single issue, I dug it.

Doesn't mean I'd recommend the series as a whole (in fact, I think I would not), but I thought this issue was good.

And Omar, I’d certainly allow that this whole ARC was not good overall (mostly due to all the leftover plots), but as a single issue, I dug it.

I'd still disagree, if only because taken on its own it seems to be yet another comic in which a generic plot -- and, I think, a rather dodgy one at that -- is artificially inflated with a main character death. Add in the pricing and what, based on responses here and elsewhere, are at the very least some serious clarity problems, and I think this is a rather poor buy and read.

I don't think the Dr. Strange stuff is a clarity problem. The Breakworld stuff, maybe - but the Strange stuff is there in the book. Dude blasts everyone with magic and then they start hallucinating.

If you can decipher what's going on in any given Grant Morrison comic, there's nothing in this book that even approaches a clarity problem...

Great art, ok issue overall. Some nice moments, but overall, I'd give the issue a B-.

I'm going to agree with Omar. I think, for the horrible delays this run has had, that the end book was terrible, absolutely terrible.

I know a lot of people love Joss' writing, but I don't, not anymore. I'm especially tired of hearing people (writers, not posters here) proclaim how they love a character, only to perform hatchet jobs on them, kill them off, or otherwise pretty much invalidate their claimed love for said character.

All that work in bringing Kitty back, only to "almost" kill her off (with a magic planet-busting, magic-proof bullet -- which ISN'T able to prevent someone from phasing it?), but certainly to remove her from the books for quite some time. Why? All, IMHO, for shock value. Nothing was really gained (IMHO) with this storyline, certainly nothing that was worth writing Kitty out (or in bringing Colossus back, either).

Sorry for all the negativity. I WANTED to like this run, I did like the early parts, but more and more it reads like shameless ripoffs (Kitty's stance rising from the water deliberately evoking Wolverine doing the same decades earlier), terrible resurrections (Colossus), and simply terrible delays. I don't know, maybe it WILL read better in trade, but I'm glad to see him off the book.

Ugh. Just terrible, IMHO.

In all honestly, no disrespect is intended to anyone who DID enjoy the book. I wish I could have.

Take it and run.

I'm in agreement here that this was a good issue on its own - actually, it took me 24 issues, but Whedon finally impressed me.

(No, I haven't spent $75 on disappointment; I read 'em in the store, because I'm a cad).

I think Collossus's Breakworld showdown is the perfect expression of that character and his relationship to power. I was thrilled with the Spider-Man dialogue and while there was certainly the danger for Spidey or the FF to pull the rug out from under the X-Men in this story, I think it served quite well to show that this story was big enough to warrant the involvement of the whole Marvel Universe... and in a sense it removes this book from the sense of isolation from the braoder Marvel continuity that's plagued it from the beginning.

Kitty's farewell was not only touching but also fairly original from a plot standpoint. I think Whedon's brought Kitty back into the spotlight and given her a strong enough voice that he's earned the right to give her a send-off like this. Especially because he's left the door fairly wide open to a return. She's lost to the X-Men for now, but she's not dead, and she'll be back as soon as any writer with a decent, cosmically twinged imagination wants to bring her back.

For example, compare Whedon's several-years-long relationship with Kitty and the dramatic, slow-burn climax he gave to her departure, with Brubaker's one-panel, completely unceremonious kill-off of Banshee in the very first X-Men issue he wrote.

This was well-done. And I'm curious to see what Ellis and Bianchi bring to the title. Not gushing about the title in general, 'cause I can think of 10 X-runs off the top of my head that I enjoyed more, overall, but this was a good finish.

man, colossus' resurrection amounted to nothing

I don’t think the Dr. Strange stuff is a clarity problem. The Breakworld stuff, maybe - but the Strange stuff is there in the book. Dude blasts everyone with magic and then they start hallucinating.

I dunno about that one -- I've been to a bunch of sites and thus far Brian's the only person who seems to have worked out what was going on with the magic stuff. And even there, I detect a bit of post hoc ergo propter hoc in the explanation.

Again, I suspect that this is a serious clarity and plotting issue, since there was simply no setup for the idea in the story or the issue and it's presented rather obliquely when it does happen.

I'm Omar. (Wow..that's a weird thing to say).
Yes, these worthless aliens who fear Colusus's power...Colusus...can take out the Sorcerer Supreme of the reality...and the walking plot device known as Sentry.

Whatever.

For your enjoyment:
[blockquote]
Top 12 Things Kitty Pryde Says When She Comes Back

12. That Obama is seriously courting the Jewish vote!
11. Seriously, is there a power Sage doesn't have?
10. You do know I've been pals with Franklin Richards since Fantastic Four vs X-Men, right?
09. Superboy Prime was a comics geek in the 80's. 80's comics geeks LOVE me. One wall punch later....
08. Bullet? Breakworld? I've been working with Nick Fury on this whole Skrull thing. Sounds like someone's team had been Secretly Invaded.
07. One of my ex's is really close with a guy who knows this lonely god with a time traveling blue box....
06. and then Wanda said "No More Whedons". . .
05. What part of "my best friend is a demon sorceress" do you not understand?
04. What part of "my girl friend is a cosmic avatar" do you not understand?
03. I used the focused totality of my phasing power to get out of the rocket and dumbass story.
02. Someone named Ellen Page called up someone named JoeQ and said "What the hell is this crap? Fix it now!"
and
01. "Hear me, X-Men! No longer am I the woman you knew! I am fire! And Life Incarnate! Now and forever....I am LOLCAT![/blockquote]

"Hiccough"?

You mean "hiccup"?

"Hiccough" is a perfectly acceptable alternate spelling of "hiccup," and in fact precedes the latter; "hiccup" is a mistaken phoneticization that's stuck.

I was not impressed. Perhaps I am simply bitter for the endless delays, but it just was not worth the wait. And I know it was not Whedon's fault at all, but every time I saw Spider Man I kept wondering if it was pre Brand New Day Spider Man or post Brand New Day. And doing funny Spider Man in several panels is not that hard.

Here's my problem with it. Magical protection as near as I can tell did not show up until issue 24, when they got to the moon. It had Rasputin DNA. Illyana, how? Why? How did Ord not know it was Colossus?

They had something in the way of magic I guess if they have some sort of prophecy system, but it wasn't really a prophecy.. so do they have magic?

The only point of this magical protection was a massive contrivance to make sure there was no one who could stop the bullet. It's like the opposite of Deus Ex Machina. Weak sauce.

Now if you didn't guess that something was going to happen to either Peter or Kitty by the end of joss' run you haven't been paying attention at all.

Somewhere along the way he learned that death = profound. So he plays the death card every chance he gets. (I know she's not dead dead, but let's face it she's been taken out of play for the forseeable future.)

I don't know how much of the impact was ruined by the lateness, but still knowing Kitty was pretty much doomed soured the whole run for me.

Joss is starting to bore me. He gets a good line of dialogue once or twice an issue, but his plots got weaker and weaker and more and more predictable.

I'm glad his comics time is almost over for marvel frankly.

They had something in the way of magic I guess if they have some sort of prophecy system, but it wasn’t really a prophecy.. so do they have magic?

Even worse, the "timeshadows" idea that grounds the prophecy stuff explicitly stated that it was a technological, not a magical forecasting method.

Giant Size Astonishing X-Men was a HUGE disappointment. There were two major plot points that were NEVER resolved. Cassandra Nova CLEARLY, TELEPATHICALLY Transported herself into the brain of "Armor". Nothing else more was ever said of it. Emma Frost promised Professor Xavier to "Danger" the sentient Shi'ar Technology. Has everyone COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN ABOUT ALL THIS?!? I'm with Omar's criticism of this issue and Whedon's run in general.

I sincerely hope Joss Whedon is not allowed to ruin any other Marvel titles in the future.

It seems that certain writers are married to their choosen genre and can never leave it. Joss Whedon is terribly at Science Fiction (Yes, I HATED FIREFLY). Neil Gaiman is also bad at Science Fiction because his "Eternals" miniseries was very poor; although that could have been the fault of Joe Quesada's Editorial meddling which nearly ruined Grant Morrison's run on New X-Men.

As far as I am concerned "New X-Men" by Grant Morrison is still the best X-Men has been in decades. It has yet to be equalled or surpassed.

I got the "magical backfire" thing with Dr. Strange once I saw them all drooling. But yes, it could've used a clearer signpost to mark what had happened, even if it was just Spidey saying "hey, I think that magic stuff put everyone into a trance."

Why was the bullet magic in the first place? Who knows.

I'll have to read this whole arc again, because the glacial pace didn't help the storyline's cohesion. The ending seemed to be haphazardly plotted, with some good character bits interspersed to distract from the illogic of what was going on.

This was a highly acclaimed capstone to a highly acclaimed run, so naturally it sucked beyond belief like "Who Is FACADE" never happened and whatever.