The second volume of Joss Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men is not as strong as the excellent "Gifted", but still a very entertaining read. In the wake of events of the first volume, Wing, the young mutant who's lost his powers, commits suicide in the Danger Room, causing the advance technology of the team's training facility's program to go completely off script and override its own safety protocols, threatening the X-Men (now with the addition of their risen from the dead teammate Colossus) and young students.

The Danger Room has been a part of the X-Men's routine since the team's inception, so taking that familiar element and turning it into something unfamiliar and, well, dangerous is a bold move on Whedon's part, and one that definitely pays off, both in terms of the real sense of threat he manages to convey and in the character interactions that result from it-between the book's regular and some unexpected guest characters.

Joss Whedon's writing remains as sharp and witty and is perfectly complemented by Cassaday's distinctive art. The book is worth checking out both for the standalone story and for some developments which will play a part in the larger arc, particularly where Emma Frost is concerned.