So this is why Joss is out to get Ellis.

The plot thickens.

NekoDono | July 28, 02:10 CET

You know I had good money on it being BKV but bloody hell Ellis is such a good choice. I can't wait to see him write Emma Frost.

Simon | July 28, 02:13 CET

BKV has had a good run on X-Men already, and I doubt he'd sully himself by following Joss on a Marvel title. Everyone knows it's meant to go the other way round. ;)

daylight | July 28, 02:18 CET

I've seen some Ellis backlash on the internet recently, mostly because he's perceived to be kind of a dick. I don't really care, his work can be hit/miss, but he's capable of greatness.

Dirk | July 28, 02:18 CET

I just came to post this. This is really exciting news. THough the tease/mystery image of Wolverine over on newsarama has him in his Ultimate uniform. Hope they're not related.

CaptainB | July 28, 02:21 CET

Ellis can be dickish, but 89.5% of the time he does it in excellently humorous fashion.

daylight | July 28, 02:21 CET

I was hoping Mike Carey would get Astonishing, since he certainly deserves it. I'm not sure about Ellis, especially after his run on Excalibur. I'm afraid what he'll do with Kitty (assuming Joss doesn't kill her).

FaithFan | July 28, 02:22 CET

Yeah Dirk. Besides, the whole cranky old man act that Ellis puts on is mostly just that. An act.

I can't wait to get my hands on his new novel.

NekoDono | July 28, 02:22 CET

Also, CBR has an interview with Alonso about Ellis/Bianchi on Astonishing:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=11349

FaithFan | July 28, 02:23 CET

Wow, and here I was figuring I was just going to drop Astonishing once Joss finished with it.

Jobo | July 28, 02:28 CET

Ellis is good.

But honestly, I really really really do not like Simone Bianchi.
On his run on Wolverine with Jeph Loeb, all the full-body shots were way off. He doesn't know his anatomy and I can see it.

Fat torsos, flat-drawings, bodies that twist wierd are yucky.

BKV and Cassaday would have been just riddichio!

*dreams of the amazingness that could've been*

Mikelle Vein | July 28, 02:36 CET

Looks like they are hinting that X-23 will be joining the team. Be cool to see a new Wolverine teacher/student relationship building when Kitty, his original student, is on the team with them both. All you need is Jubilee to show up and class is in session. ;)

Question for the mods. Are we still going to be covering Astonishing X-Men when Ellis takes over? Technically it won't be a Whedon project anymore but he was the reason the book came to be in the first place. Are we nearing the end of X-related links at Whedonesque?

Koven | July 28, 04:12 CET

Whaaaaaa? Fantastic! I thought I'd be done with AXM after Joss was finished, but they chose one of the handful of writers that could make me stick with it.

NimNams | July 28, 04:31 CET

I follow writers... Or in this case, I stay put as writers come on board, rather than following writers as they leave. :D

(Now... who else would like, say, a Giles story or a Spike and Dru story by Doktor Ellis?)

Craig Oxbrow | July 28, 04:42 CET

I'd like to see a Giles-as-Ripper story by Ellis...

C. A. Bridges | July 28, 04:56 CET

A Hellblazer style Ripper story by Ellis or Garth Ennis would be cool, but I remember reading on Ellis' old site Die Puny Humans that he never really got into Buffy. Didn't dislike it, but he said he'd only ever seen Graduation Day.

[ edited by NekoDono on 2007-07-28 02:06 ]

NekoDono | July 28, 05:05 CET

I really enjoy Ellis non-mainstream super-hero work, but on the other hand, I'm close to despise his mainstream super-hero work.

Don't really know what I feel about this, I'm reading less and less marvel everyday, and I still have bitter memories from some of his work in certain x-books.

Numfar PTB | July 28, 05:09 CET

Ellis is going to rock on this. Anyone who wants to know what he's about, pick up "Fell." You'll be glad you did. Bianchi, on the other hand, is not my favorite. His style was ok for like one issue of Wolverine, but it's really hard to look at now. But Cassaday's art is so fantastic, no one could do nearly as good.

The Blue Leopard | July 28, 07:27 CET

Personally, I could live with Alan Davis drawing for AXM... Haven't seen any Bianchi, but I will eventually, apparently.

PSandusky | July 28, 10:20 CET

Hmm, this could be absolutely brilliant, I just hope Ellis plays it straight and doesn't get bored and start deconstructing everything in sight.

And I was really excited when I heard about the artist but then realised I was thinking of Ariel Olivetti (who did some stunning work on 'Legends of the Dark Knight' just before it ended - kind of a slightly darker, more grounded Alex Ross). Only seen Bianchi's covers for Detective but those have been pretty good IMO so i'll wait and see what his panel's are like.

Saje | July 28, 12:35 CET

I think Warren Ellis is an honestly astonishing writer, and his progressive ideas could work great on a book like this... but I'm not so sure I like him on a flagship X-book.

The reason those themes that Ellis likes work so strongly in X-Men, is because they're package in soap opera. A core book like this really needs a writer with a love and respect for the characters and their history, and I just don't think Ellis has that.

Plus, apparently Astonishing will continue to separate itself from the other X-books as possible, and I hated that even when Joss did/does it.

So I'll certainly check the book out, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Bianchi? Meh. He can do real pretty stuff, but then there's the Wolverine story he just finished...

Niels | July 28, 18:41 CET

Ellis is the perfect choice. I googled Bianchi's work and...I'm on the fence. It doesn't seem like he pays attention to proportions at all. I see potential though.

But thank god its Ellis.

GrapenutsRobot | July 28, 20:31 CET

Nnh. I was honestly hoping Marvel would end the series when Joss and John Cassiday were done.

I know that any subsequent creative group on this series will be unable to measure up to what J&J and crew have given us, so it's likely that I would stop reading the series anyway. As Ellis already has one series which he's taken over on the verge of being crossed off of my pull list, it looks like I'll be making a definite note to remove Astonishing from it.

LKW | July 28, 20:44 CET