For the first two issues of his run, it seemed that Warren Ellis’s approach to Astonishing was working against him. His firmly sci-fi take on the X-Men moved with consistency and imagination, but its need to ground the revitalised team as the writer’s plots rooted themselves meant that the book was in danger of being overshadowed by Matt Fraction’s Uncanny. While Grant Morrison resolved a similar problem by presenting a visually radical take on the team, Ellis and Simone Bianchi were hamstrung by the need to maintain a superficial consistency with the title’s Joss Whedon incarnation. With the required slow start out of the way, however, the book is now free to fly.

Compared to the previous two issues, there’s a far greater density of story here, with the team taking stock and greeting a familiar face before arriving at a novel location. This quickening of the pace allows Ellis’s trademark big ideas to keep on coming, giving the writing a feeling of richness that matches Bianchi’s art. What really sets the issue apart is the addition of humour. Not the comedy pratfalls which traditionally turn up every so often in the book’s change-of-pace moments. Not wisecracks and quips. A proper joke that briefly becomes integral to the issue, as Cyclops abandons the main storyline in order to conduct a rigorous investigation into whether he said “fucking” to Agent Brand. There’s an undercurrent of hysterical glee to this sequence, which never quite breaks the fourth wall. Ellis manages to hang a serious point about the entirely reasonable nature of the new unreasonable Cyclops onto the exchange, while having Summers defend the parallel universe plot against allegations that it doesn’t belong in a X-book.

The purpose of the Ghost Boxes comes as no surprise- alternate realities have long been one of the writer’s obsessions. Although Ellis’s attempts to tie the mystery to mutation don’t entirely ring true, it’s a far more appropriate inclusion than Whedron’s injection of space opera into the title. Compared to Uncanny’s CSI gloss, Ellis’s psuedo-realistic take on super heroics comes as a contrast. You wouldn’t call the book gritty, but there’s refreshing realism at work here. A flight to China is a serious undertaking requiring much preparation, not just an excuse for a splash page of the Blackbird. The carefully picked cast allows the selection of the perfect voice for any scene, although Armour still comes across as an unconvincing Kitty Pryde/ Jubilee stock character. In the light of the book’s sudden weightiness, hopefully this minor blemish will soon be corrected.

After an enjoyable introduction last month, Ellis takes a more focussed route for this second issue, throwing the characters straight into the plot. It’s a masterful example of how to make a chapter of a multi-part comic read like a full story.

The over-arching plot does feel a bit like stock Ellis-Sci Fi with the X-Men dropped in - whatever a “Ghost Box” is, we can be fairly sure it’s not mutant-themed - but there’s still a strong threat at work that makes the story engaging. The X-Men, as an organisation, handle this situation in a noticeably differently manner to any other Marvel Universe team, so in that respect they’re well-placed for Ellis’ tone, if not necessarily his themes.

Ellis manages to continue the sharp dialogue and character moments that elevated Whedon’s run even when the story faltered. Wolverine, as ever, is the focal point of the best jokes, though it’s nice to see a writer not afraid to use the character sparingly - when Wolverine is in a team book he can overpower the other characters, but under Ellis he has a definite function - even if he’s used as a bit of a crowd-pleaser, there’s never too much.

Elsewhere, Cyclops’ new gimmick of telling everyone how he’ll kill if he has to is both a justifiable and entertaining direction for the character, though in this issue it seems a little misplaced. By Scott’s “protect mutants at any cost” reasoning, anyone who attacks the X-Men is automatically eligible for death - admittedly, the guy they’re tracking killed one mutant unprovoked, but it’s not like he’s a mutant serial-killer.

Bianchi’s art is still amazing to look out, and looks unlike almost any other artist in the industy - his work certainly resembles no other superhero artist. Unfortunately, the art is still directly at odds with the printing, and the muted colour pallette combined with Bianchi’s detailed shading causes everything to bleed into one giant, dark mess on the page. Hopefully this has been noticed, and there’ll be some correction within an issue or two, because at this point it’s really the only flaw in an otherwise A-List title.

Warren Ellis begins his much-hyped run on what has now clearly become the X-Men flagship title. There was little doubt that Ellis would turn in a pleasing first issue, but to suggest that it would actually rival Whedon’s was a bit of a stretch for me. Even so, that’s what he’s done.

Ellis’ version of the X-Men are, perhaps not unexpectedly, closest to Grant Morrison’s version, with emphasis on the scientific nature of mutation and their occasionally tenuous role as superheroes. Ellis immediately embraces the new status quo, with the team’s position in the San Franciscan community playing a substantial role in the events of the issue. Even when the pet Ellis theme of body-modification (in this case, on the genetic level) crops up, it fits in perfectly with the X-Men’s remit, and the idea of a spaceship graveyard both carries over themes from Whedon’s run and draws on the more Sci-Fi side of the property, taking a look at how the dynamics of how a society polluted by extra-terrestials and superheroes might be affected.

While the plot is off to a great start, what really makes the title stand out is the strong voices of each character in the cast. So far, the team closely resembles Whedon’s and the characterisation is nicely continuous, with particular comedy coming from Wolverine as the grumpy, uncouth old man and Emma the superbitch, and strong showings from Beast and Cyclops as well. Storm is perhaps the only time Ellis hits something of a bum note, with his version of her missing the combined sense of wonder and aloofness that she normally displays.

Bianchi’s art is undeniably beautiful to look at, though between his dense shading and Peruzzi’s colours, it all looks quite dark compared to Cassaday and Martin’s clean, bright look. Bianchi’s designs are occasionally a little outlandish (the new X-Jet, for instance, is an almost-hilarious mass of futuristic fins) but his minor costume tweaks suit each character perfectly.

Anyone upset by Whedon’s slow pace should find plenty of things going on in Astonishing #25. It’s a perfect jumping on point for readers, and as an aside, I’d like to point out how pleasing it is to see a title go through a major creative change WITHOUT anyone feeling the need to slap a number #1 on the cover. I love a book with a little history behind it. I was expecting Ellis to continue the title’s grand tradition of excellence, but he may have actually managed to raise its game at the same time.