ASTONISHING X-MEN: TORN on DVD

I'm not sure what the thinking is behind the recent series of limited animation adaptations of Marvel storylines, but I guess there's a precedent for such a thing. Torn is the third adaptation of Joss Whedon/John Cassaday's Astonishing X-Men run; the arc you might remember as "Emma betrays the team, things get weird, things get normal again." Torn is reminiscent of Mark Millar's more "outrageous" work, with a shocking cliffhanger or ridiculous stunt occurring every few minutes, yet Whedon has enough sense to set things right with a plausible hand-wave at the end. It's certainly a much more enjoyable work than the previous installment, Dangerous, which I consider the nadir of modern X-storytelling.

I've never watched any of the Marvel motion comics before, but Astonishing seems like a natural fit for the line. Whedon's stories read like plays, with action only rarely interrupting the conversations, which means the limited animation is mainly concentrated on moving lips instead of trying to sell a convincing fight scene. And John Cassaday's art, with Laura Martin's coloring, looks amazing when digitally reproduced on television. The voice acting, and music, also help to sell the material, occasionally reminding me of my favorite comics-to-TV adaptation, The Maxx. If you've already read the comic, there might not be enough here to draw your attention, but it could serve as a nice introduction to Whedon's comics work for any of his fans who only know the TV or movie projects. Also, checking Amazon, I see that this new DVD is selling for less than the Torn trade paperback, which is several years old. Reading, clearly, is for suckers.