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To be fair, Astonishing X-Men: Dangerous is a very good motion comic. The problem is that motion comics themselves are a curious and highly problematic format to begin with, existing between comic books and animation in a way that weakens the appeal of each. While this second volume in the series adapts an excellent story by two of the best creators in the business, those limitations prevent much widespread appeal beyond the hardcore fans.
Based on issues 7-12 of Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s run on the title, Astonishing X-Men: Dangerous picks up after the team has finished investigating a cure for mutants developed by a hostile alien race to depower the X-Men. One of their students whose power had been removed turns up dead, bringing up a secret that’s buried deep in the team’s past.
Motion comics basically show the individual panels of a comic book in sequence, adding voices, sound effects, and music, as well as animating various elements and transitions. Adapting printed work this way preserves nearly the complete script and art, so the quality of the story depends on the original material. Whedon tells an excellent X-Men story, infusing his trademark banter to this cast and connecting many disparate threads of X-Men lore together. If you’re an X-Men fan and you’ve never read these issues, they’re well worth hunting down. Unfortunately, though, newcomers or casual fans risk getting lost quickly.
Not only is this the second arc from his run, picking up subplots established in the first arc that wouldn’t be resolved for another 12 issues, but it’s also a series from 2005, inherently tied into what was happening in the various X-Men and Marvel comic books being published at that time. It’s not that you can’t follow what’s happening, and Whedon deserves credit for that as well, but it can be easily confusing. It doesn’t help matters that the voice dubbing is unremarkable at best, and occasionally lapses into laughability.
One of the biggest selling points for Astonishing X-Men when it debuted was the pairing of Whedon with artist John Cassaday. Cassaday’s work is crisp and precise, and he brings a level of realism to his art that sets off the fundamental insanity of superheroes nicely. That work continues here, and it’s to Marvel’s credit that they brought him on board to help with the motion comic’s animation effects. They’ve developed a number of impressive techniques to add movement to the still panels, but it never achieves the fluidity of traditional animation. There’s also the problem of blowing up a panel that can be as small as a couple of inches onto increasingly large home TV screens, which can result in some strange-looking characters.
It’s not that Astonishing X-Men: Dangerous is a failed project. It’s based on a strong arc from an excellent comic book series, and it boasts a story that’s arguably better than many animated features. However, given how rooted that story is in long-term X-Men comics continuity—and the relative roughness of the motion comics technique—it’s hard to recommend this adaptation to any but the most ardent fans.
