Alas, Joss has used his tricks one too many times. Plot "surprises" he has used in everything from "BTVS" (TV) to "Serenity" to "Dr. Horrible" (which rocked regardless) appear here. His repeated attempts to invoke pathos are getting as old as the Vaudeville pie-in-the-face bit.

Joss, steal or invent some new twists before you write any more eps of "Dollhouse." And not to be harsh, but go back to TV and leave the crossover comic-book work to, say, Kevin Smith (the "Buffy Season 8" series is already lame, only a fifth or so of the way through the series!).

If you're an X-Men fan who's not a Joss fan, you'll love this book. If you're a Jossaholic who bought this simply because Joss wrote it, it's a case of been there, done that.

Up until this last story arc, I wasn't too thrilled with Whedon and Cassaday's 18-issue run on "Astonishing Xmen." That's not to say the run up 'til then lacked for action, good characterization and a couple of nice twists, but nothing really drew me into the story until I read this last installment, Whedon & Cassidy's last six issue arc, which turned out to be an exciting, even memorable, wind-up of the plot threads in the previous three story arcs. It was a great pay-off to a year and of set-up -in many ways this structure reminded me of a good HBO series, if HBO did the X-men. (I am looking forward to HBO's "Preacher" adaption.) I waited a bit and picked up used copies of this book for @ $13, and previous three volumes for @ $3.50 each via amazon.com's used book marketplace.

At last the final chapter of the most intelligent and strong X-men story in years, Joss Whedon's way to tell this action tale is relly refreshing and Jonh Cassadays'art is AWESOME, the plot twist will leave you wanting more, I hope some day they will join again.

If someone told me a couple of years ago that a X-Men comic would move me to tears, I'd pat them on the shoulder and tell them to lay off the booze. Well, either Joss Whedon is one of the best writers in the field or I'm more sensitive than I thought, because with "Unstoppable," Whedon finishes his redefining run on this title with an epic, action packed, character driven, emotional roller coaster that made me tear up on more than one occasion.

From Buffy The Vampire Slayer, to Firefly, to his Marvel work, Joss Whedon is pretty much my favorite writer of all time. However, it's obvious that his run on Astonishing X-Men has been surprisingly uneven. The first volume was a solid introduction to the main story arc of the series, but the second and third volumes had pretty apparent plot problems and didn't flow nearly as well as the first one. Despite those problems, Joss managed to develop the characters, particularly Kitty Pryde and newcomer Agent Brand, in ways that the X-Men certainly didn't experience under the care of lesser writers, and not enough can ever be said about Whedon's dialogue. But I feared that, like the previous two volumes, Joss would give us a somewhat muddled story with little payoff... but I should have trusted my favorite writer a bit more, because this is a climatic ending that surpasses the highest high point the series had achieved (probably in the latter issues of Volume One: Gifted) by far.

Joss brings the Breakworld saga to a great close, packing it with revelations, huge plot twists, truly heroic moments, and some really heart-wrenching drama. Joss makes up for his missteps in the previous volumes by concluding it in a way that only he could, utilizing John Cassaday's cinematic style to truly make this feel like an experience at the movies. The coloring, the mood, the dialogue... reading this book isn't just a pleasant experience, it's akin to seeing a great movie in the theatre. The book isn't perfect, and there were some loose ends that I wish Joss would have tied up. Instead of including other Marvel super heroes, under magical influence, falsely believing that they're saving the world, that page space would have been better used to tie up the Danger plot line. Emma promised Danger something, and Joss leaves that plot a bit open ended, presumably for the next writer to tackle. However, Joss's series is so self-contained that it really just felt like a long movie, so I'm left wishing he tied that up himself.

With great art all around and even better writing, Joss completely outdoes himself with this book. He doesn't match what he's done before, he completely surpasses it with this truly heroic story with a heartbreaking and utterly shocking, innovative ending that closes some doors but opens so, so many more.

Bravo.

9/10

Great series! Fantastic writing. Great art. A pleasure to read. Left me wanting more ;)

I am going to miss Whedon and Cassaday's run with 'Astonishing X-Men.' During the 1980s and 90s X-men stories got so convoluted it was difficult to follow all the characters, much less explore the complex relationships between them. But Astonishing X-Men, from the very start, solved those problems by focusing on only a few team members: Cyclops, Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde, Colossus, and of course Wolverine. The interactions of these characters, particularly Frost and Pryde are at the heart of the new series, which also features Agent Brand of Sword and a new X-Man, Hisako, aka Armor.

This final story arc from Whedon cannot be read independently of the first three. 'Gifted,' 'Dangerous,' and especially 'Torn' are required pre-reads before tackling this volume. Without revealing any spoilers, the plot involves the X-Men on the Breakworld, the world Colossus, it is prophesied, will destroy. One plot twist follows another every couple of pages, but even careful readers will be surprised at the ending. Both the Breakworld and Earth are saved, but by who and how this review will not say. Suffice to add, Blindfold's vision, at the end of 'Torn' is fulfilled and one of the X-Men will not return. Saddened as I am by the loss, I hope Marvel will not allow another unbelievable "back from the beyond" scenario. Even the greatest (and most sympathetic) of heroes need to rest in peace.

'Astonishing X-Men,' perhaps more than any other series, has captured the essence of the original comic: heroes who, for all their power, are all too human. Marvel, of couse, has made considerable money with 'Astonishing X-Men' from readers like myself who have returned to comics long after I thought I was "over" that phase. The series will, of course, continue under the title 'Astonishing X-Men: Second Stage' with writer Warren Ellis working with artist Simone Bianchi. But these keepers of the flame will have a difficult task on their hands. 'Unstoppable' was as close to perfection as one can get in the comic format. It is hard to see how it can be matched.

I have to start by saying that I've loved Joss Whedan's work since the moment I saw the first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I own every video and DVD he's worked on, including all of his television programs, and many (though not quite all) of the written media he's created. I loved the first three installments of Astonishing X-Men. This one, however, is just plain bad.

The art is so sloppy that I couldn't tell Cyclops from a powered-down Colossus. I could have done better with a crayon.

The story jumps so much that I couldn't follow without re-reading pages over and over. Even then, I wasn't sure I knew what was really happening in the story.

And Joss seems to have forgotten that this is a story involving the X-Men, not Buffy! His oh-so-famous witticisms would be more appropriate from Xander to Buffy, rather than from X-Men to Cyclops. I think that Joss confused these two characters (Buffy and Cyke) because they share the last name, "Summers." Most of the quips are verbatim from the Buffy series.

I could elaborate much more, and give specific quotes, but this book simply isn't worth the time. Do yourself a favor: skip this one.

"Unstoppable" completes Joss Whedon's memorable stint as Astonishing X-Men's author in suitably epic fashion. In "Gifted" and "Dangerous" we were introduced to a classic X-Men line-up consisting of Cyclops, Wolverine, Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde, Beast, and Colossus. They were out to improve public relations, run the school in Professor Xavier's absence, and maybe save some folk along the way. Then along came Ord, an alien sent to assassinate the prophesied destroyer of his home planet, Breakworld, who just happened to be a member of the X-Men. There was fighting. At this point the Danger Room became self-aware and decided it's new mission was to murder each and every X-man and woman who had enslaved it all these years so she built herself a mechanical body and havoc was wreaked. Then came the Torn arc, which focused on the former White Queen and her reasons for inviting Kitty onto the team in spite of their mutual dislike; all that taking place with an apparent attack by the Hellfire Club as the backdrop. A SHIELD operative, Agent Brand, wound up launching the team into space just as the united villain front of Ord and Danger burst in on the scene and that brings us up to speed. Next stop: Breakworld.

Now, waiting several months in between issues for this story became exhausting and my initial read-through found me tired of this arc. However, re-reading it as a solid narrative proved immensely satisfying. John Cassaday's art is as wonderful to look at as it has been throughout this outstanding addition to a legendary comic property and is worth the cost of admission all by itself. Then there's Joss Whedon; he of the witty turn of phrase, iconic hero moments, one-liners, and impeccable comedic timing. His work here is as amazing as it has been since issue one. I don't know that I've ever read a modern comic with this much love for it's characters. The British haughtiness of Emma Frost, the endearing personality and determination of an all-grown-up Kitty Pryde, the gruffly indifferent attitude of Wolverine; these are characters you will appreciate as much now as ever. Whedon even made me love Cyclops, who I've always found quite boring (how does he get those hot psychics?). Scott Summers has at least two brilliantly heroic and just plain hardcore moments in this arc which he spends the vast majority of sans mutant power, thus proving his worth as team commander even more.

The denizens of the brutal Breakworld are fleshed-out and not treated as simple plot devices. The heroes land in the midst of an attempted coup by those who wish to put an end to the might-equals-right law of the land. As people see with their own eyes the one who is destined to destroy their world, the populace erupts and the separated X-Men have to fight every step of the way, the entire time wondering just what Agent Brand's true agenda is. The end result: the Earth is doomed. Doesn't it always come down to that? The entirety of the Earth's heavy hitters are brought in to avert the threat, but the Fantastic Four, Avengers, remaining X-Men, and even the mighty Sentry are held powerless by an ingenious and unexpected assault. But any true Joss Whedon fanatic knew from the start who it was going to come down to in the end. I saw it coming and still my jaw dropped along with the rest of the Marvel Universe's when the defining seconds -the ones that make true heroes- came. It's a great moment in comic history and as truly epic as they come. Along the way an X-man will find love as another loses it and the team will gain a brand new member and say goodbye to another.

"Unstoppable" is the culmination of several years of wonderful story-telling from two masters of the craft. If you haven't read "Astonishing X-Men" and you claim to enjoy the comic medium, I urge you to click those links in the first paragraph and find out why this series is so talked-about. It's got tons of action, clever humor (even from Colossus!), personal stories for every character (Lockheed included), great new villains, dozens of defining moments, new ways of looking at old characters, and an amazing narrative that continues to escalate until it hits the breaking point. This is what reading comics is all about. "Astonishing X-Men" is a great place to start if you're new to the art form, and a great place to pick up if you've been away for awhile. Buy them all!

Joss Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men finally comes to an explosive close with Unstoppable, as Cyclops, Wolverine, Emma Frost, Beast, Kitty Pryde, Colossus, the vengeful Ord, and the murderous Danger all find themselves on an intergalactic trip to the Breakworld: a land that Colossus is prophecised to destroy. Stunning revelations are abound, and everything comes together as the TPB races to a stunner conclusion that unites all of the X-Men with nearly every Marvel hero on the planet in an effort to save the world. Marred by shipping delays, these last issues of Whedon and John Cassaday's run on Astonishing X-Men features an ending that will come to no surprise to anyone who has been keeping up with the other X-books (someone doesn't make it back) but this matters little just based on the fact that Whedon's Astonishing X-Men, along with Grant Morrison's prolific run with New X-Men, are the absolute best X-Men stories in a decade plus. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Serenity creator provides more snappy and smart dialogue, and Planetary artist John Cassaday provides more spectacular artwork. All in all, X-Men stories rarely get any better than what you'll find here, and here's hoping that maybe one day Whedon and Cassaday will make a return to this title that both of them managed to revitalize.