It had to end sometime, and volume four of Astonishing X-Men is the last book written by Joss Whedon. But he really goes out with a bang, in a finale featuring the Fantastic Four, Spidey, and various X-Men who have been absent from the main team such as Storm and Nightcrawler.

Before we reach that, however, we have some classic space opera as the X-Men are trapped on an alien world where the technology is far ahead of our own but society is stuck in the dark ages. And guess what - they want to destroy planet earth.

Having banished Professor X from the team, Scott Summers has struggled to prove he can lead the X-Men. Well, that storyline is bought to a satisfying and believable conclusion here - as is Kitty Pryde's story arc, which arguably was at the core of Whedon's entire X-Men run. Be prepared to shed a tear.