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Comic book series

Astonishing X Men is the name of four X Men comic book series from Marvel Comics, the first two of which were limited series. The third volume, an ongoing series, began in 2004, with its first run written by Joss Whedon and art by John Cassaday. It was then written by Warren Ellis with art by Simone Bianchi and Phil Jimenez. Daniel Way and Christos Gage then took over the title writing alternating stories. They were followed by James Asmus who wrote one issue, then Greg Pak, who took over for four issues in November 2011. Marjorie Liu wrote the final 21 issues of the series until its end at issue #68 in 2013. The title's fourth volume and second ongoing series launched in 2017 during the "ResurrXion" storyline. The first run was written by Charles Soule and illustrated by a rotating cast of artists. Matthew Rosenberg and artist Greg Land would then take over the series before its end in 2018.

The original Astonishing X Men was a four issue limited series that replaced Uncanny X Men during the 1995 alternate universe storyline "Age of Apocalypse", in which all X titles were given new names and issue numbers. In the storyline, Professor X was murdered 20 years in the past by his own son, Legion. Magneto, witnessing his friend's death, committed himself to Xavier's dream and created his own team of X Men. However, he was unable to prevent the rise of the despotic Apocalypse and hence the series primarily dealt with the X Men's battle against him. Astonishing X Men, written by Scott Lobdell and illustrated by Joe Madureira, featured a team of X Men led by Rogue and consisted of Sunfire, Blink, Morph, Sabretooth and Wildchild.

Title Material Collected Pages Publication Date ISBNAstonishing X Men (X Men: The Age of Apocalypse Gold Deluxe Edition)Astonishing X Men (vol. 1) #1–4 96August 1, 1995X Men: The Complete Age of Apocalypse Epic Book 2Astonishing X Men (vol. 1) #1, X Men: Alpha, Age of Apocalypse: The Chosen, Generation Next #1, X Calibre #1, Gambit and the X Ternals #1–2, Weapon X (vol. 1) #1–2, Amazing X Men #1–2, Factor X #1–2, and X Man #1 376August 9, 2006X Men: The Complete Age Of Apocalypse Epic Book 3Astonishing X Men (vol. 1) #2–4, X Calibre #2–3, Generation Next #2–3, X Man #2–3, Factor X #3, Amazing X Men #3, Weapon X (vol. 1) #3, Gambit & the X Ternals #3 and X Universe #1 360April 19, 2006X Men: The Age Of Apocalypse OmnibusUncanny X Men #320–321, X Men (vol. 2) #40–41, Cable #20, X Men Alpha, Amazing X Men #1–4, Astonishing X Men (vol. 1) #1–4, Factor X #1–4, Gambit And The X Ternals #1–4, Generation Next #1–4, Weapon X Vol. 1 #1–4, X Calibre #1–4, X Man #1–4, X Men Omega, Age of Apocalypse: The Chosen and X Men Ashcan #2 1072March 7, 2012

The second limited series to bear the title Astonishing X Men was published in 1999. Its three issues were written by Howard Mackie and illustrated by Brandon Peterson. The story occurs after the storyline The Shattering. Most of the regular X Men left the team over a conflict with Professor X. An interim team consists of Cyclops, Phoenix, Wolverine, Archangel, Cable, and Nate Grey. This team protected the Mannites (a group of super powered, genetically engineered children) from Death, a horseman of Apocalypse. Wolverine was apparently murdered by Death in the final pages of the series, but it was later revealed that "Death" was actually a mind controlled Wolverine, and that the "Wolverine" who was killed was an imposter, a shapeshifting Skrull.

Title Material Collected Pages Publication Date ISBNAstonishing X Men: DeathwishX Men #92, 95; Astonishing X Men (vol. 2) #1–3; Uncanny X Men #375 160 October 2, 2000 X Men: The ShatteringUncanny X Men #372–375; X Men #92–95; Astonishing X Men (vol. 2) #1–3288July 22, 2009

In 2004, Marvel used the title Astonishing X Men for an ongoing X Men series initially written by Joss Whedon and illustrated by John Cassaday. The series is noted for its independence from crossovers and large scale events in the Marvel Universe such as House of M, Decimation, Civil War, Messiah Complex, Avengers Vs. X Men, and Battle of the Atom. This was previously due to the long delays between issues and Whedon's own stated desire to remain away from big crossovers, which he personally disliked, and what he saw as hectic and unfollowable X Men continuity. This policy persisted almost to the end of the series, with the sole exception being the "X Termination" event in 2013.

Whedon/Cassaday's Astonishing X Men is a continuation of Grant Morrison's New X Men title and features a similar line up of characters, including Cyclops and Emma Frost (as co team leaders), Beast, Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat, Colossus, and Wolverine. This team became the usual focus for a majority of issues during Whedon's run. The run introduced a number of original characters into the Marvel Universe including Kavita Rao, Special Agent Brand, S. W. O. R. D., Hisako Ichiki, Ord of the Breakworld and Blindfold. Whedon's run on the series was a critical and commercial success. The roster of the book was also the focus of various limited series at the time, such as X Men: Phoenix—Endsong, X Men: Phoenix—Warsong and World War Hulk: X Men.

The first story arc focused on the introduction of several key characters and their involvement on the team. Whedon introduced a "mutant cure" designed by Indian Benetech scientist Dr. Kavita Rao, who was secretly sponsored by warrior alien Ord. The prospect of "real" humanity arouses the interest of a heavily mutated Beast, who visits Rao only to discover that the drug is the product of illegal human experimentation on an unknown victim. The X Men raid Benetech and reunite with Colossus. With Colossus's help, the team takes down Ord, but not before it's revealed that a mutant (most likely an X Man) would destroy Ord's home planet, the Breakworld, within the next three years. With this 2005 arc, Whedon brought back Colossus four years after his comic book death in 2001.

This Whedon arc features a Sentinel attack with a mystery mastermind. The culprit is the Danger Room, which is becoming sentient and appears as a robot called "Danger." Whedon establishes that Professor X imprisoned Danger and made it an unwilling host of the Danger Room, leaving the X Men disgusted. Whedon also revealed that Emma Frost is aligned with the newly formed Hellfire Club.

The X Men are manipulated by a new Hellfire Club, consisting of Cassandra Nova, Emma Frost, the enigmatic Perfection, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and Sebastian Shaw. It is revealed that when Cassandra Nova's mind was imprisoned by Emma into a biological "slug", Cassandra placed a subtle suggestion into Emma's mind to cause Emma to believe she had to help Cassandra destroy the X Men and free Cassandra, and that Cyclops' inability to control his optic blasts is result of a childhood trauma. Nova initially defeats the X Men by manipulating their greatest fears. In the end, Cassandra's plot is revealed to Emma by Cyclops, but it is unknown whether Emma returned the remaining consciousness of Cassandra to the slug or otherwise. Moments later Ord and Danger burst into the room, where they are all forcibly teleported away by S. W. O. R. D. to a spaceship headed for the Breakworld. The final panel of issue 15, in which Shadowcat crouches in a sewer clenching her fists, was an homage to the final panel of Uncanny X Men #132, in which Wolverine did this gesture.

In the following Unstoppable arc, Whedon wrote an adventure taking place on the alien Breakworld. The X Men square off against the Breakworld leaders, who are intending to destroy Earth by firing a giant bullet. The Danger subplot is also resolved, and Whedon established that Danger is hard coded not to kill. In the end, Shadowcat phases inside the Breakworld bullet, and when it reaches Earth, makes it intangible, so that the bullet passes through Earth. However she is unable to remove herself from the bullet and vanishes with it into space.

Marvel announced at San Diego Comicon 2007 that following completion of the Whedon/Cassaday run on Astonishing X Men, the series would continue with the new creative team of Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi. Ellis later confirmed this story on his website, saying the series would be retitled Astonishing X Men: Second Stage. He also mentioned that, like Whedon, he would be given complete creative freedom without having to pay mind to the franchise's sprawling continuity. This run was expected to debut in early 2008, but was pushed back to July 2008, with the "Second Stage" subtitle dropped. A sketchbook was released before the first issue and showed costume redesigns by Bianchi. The characters showcased were Dazzler, Beast, Nightcrawler, Archangel, Cyclops, Emma Frost, Colossus, Storm, and Wolverine. While some of the characters did not appear in the book, Ellis had mentioned earlier that a majority of Bianchi's drawings were made public to promote the title, and that upon his run's announcement the final cast had not been set.

Based in San Francisco, Ellis established the X Men as protectors of the city. The new team consisted of Cyclops, Emma Frost, Beast, Wolverine and Armor, and later, Storm arrived. The X Men uncovered a plot of mutant synthesis from an unusual murder. The killer (designated 'X') was located, fixing and restarting the eponymous "ghost box" in a spaceship. X was defeated but killed himself rather than surrender information about his intentions and "the Annex." The team returned to San Francisco with Suspect X's "mysterious box" (actually a "Ghost Box") in tow and gave it to Hank along with a syringe filled with Suspect X's blood. After analyzing the box and blood, Hank told Scott that after having gone over Suspect X's file there appears to be talk about a secret war between Suspect X's people and the murdered mutant from the beginning of the story arc. There is also talk about a mysterious place called Tian which is in China and that piques the interest of Wolverine. After analyzing Suspect X's blood, Hank finds out that Suspect X is just a normal mutant but with his X gene on a different chromosome. Just like the murder victim, Hank believes that Suspect X is a manufactured mutant. Hank wants to bring Abigail Brand from S. W. O. R. D. in to help investigate this matter, but Scott is against that. In the end, against Scott's wishes, Agent Brand is brought in who lets the X Men know that the Ghost Box is a dimensional portal between different realities. Hank then concludes that Suspect X is not a manufactured mutant after all; in Suspect X's reality the x gene is normally located on a different chromosome. Brand wants to turn this case into a S. W. O. R. D. only case but Scott counters it. Brand gives Scott and the X Men time to investigate before she brings in S. W. O. R. D. With the help of Wolverine, the X Men locate Tian, which is an uncharted area of China that no surveillance or satellite system can get through, not even the Chinese government. The X Men are able to sneak into Tian and discover the headquarters of a secret group of mutants informally referred to by Hank as the "Chinese X Men." Sadly, they seem to have died because of M Day's associated effects. As Storm and Emma investigate the grounded temple, Emma notices they are not alone and that she will have to switch to her diamond form, leaving her without her telepathy. She relays the info to Cyclops who is with Beast, Armor and Wolverine. As Armor and Logan go off to search the temple for anyone else, Scott and Beast discuss Forge, M Day and its effects on the multiverse. Armor and Wolverine come across a man who can fire lasers from his fingers, Storm and Emma lose their powers in the presence of the mutant hiding from them and Cyclops and Beast take on a mutant with a strange chameleon mutation. After the X Men take down their foes, they reveal to the X Men they have a mutual friend, Forge. Emma continues to interrogate the X Men's captives and the team discovers that Forge created the manufactured mutants (including the victim in the beginning of the arc). He created these "mutants" for a counter strike against the Annexation using a Ghost Box that he acquired. The team head towards where Forge is located and are apprehensive about the upcoming meeting. After some discussion with Forge, Cyclops and Storm try to reason with him but he is strongly determined to see his plan through. Forge's insistence seems to stem from years of being ignored and neglected and he desires to leave behind a legacy and save the world. Beast has Abigail Brand to send an immensely powerful laser beam into the Ghost Box's portal. Storm urges Forge to escape but he would rather face death than humiliation and the team escapes as the beam destroys both the Ghost Box and the world whence the invaders came.