How's this for timing? I list my top ten comics that I'm anticipating, and several of them appear on the shelves two days later! Uncanny X-Men 475 by Brubaker and Billy Tan was on the top of my must-read pile today. It lives up to my expectations, even though it's all setup for the story yet to come. Professor X, now powerless due to the House of M event, assembles a team of second-tier X-Men characters to pursue Vulcan (the third Summers brother from X-Men Deadly Genesis). Vulcan's making a bee-line for Shiar Empire and Charley wants to intercept before he turns Lilandra's homeworld into a nuclear wasteland. The scenes of Xavier talking his various team members into going is intercut with scenes of Polaris being hunted by an angry anti-Apocalypse mob. Dunno why, as I haven't followed these characters in years, but I have to assume Polaris was allied with Apocalypse and recently broke free.
Brubaker has made an intelligent choice with his cast, picking members that have lots of untapped potential. 
Polaris and Havok are two prime examples. I've loved these characters since they were introduced in the 60s. Who wouldn't fall for Polaris after seeing Steranko's great cover to X-Men 50? Havok (Alex Summers) exploded onto the mutant scene in X-Men 58, but always langered in the shadow of his older brother. I've always loved that idea of his power, building and building like supressed rage, eclipsing the boundries of his costume. No one since Neal Adams has dared to make that costume work effectively--Billy Tan seems to stick with the most recent version. I think this story is the perfect vehicle to make Alex a fully realized character, especially since he will have to confront Vulcan.
There's lots of promise in the opening chapter of The Rise and Fall of the Shiar Empire. I don't know that it will have the broad-based appeal of Whedon's Astonishing run. Recent comics fans will probably dig the action, but old-timers can get a kick out of the various characters and subplots. Rachel Summers was an exciting character in the years that followed Jean Grey's first death, as a major character in Claremont's Excalibur, but seemed to move to the background after Jean Grey's resurrection. In this story, Rachel has the most to lose by going into space, since the Shiar have branded her with a deathmark. Warpath at first seems like an easy replacement for Wolverine, but I'm so tired of that Canuck, and I'm glad to see someone new. Warpath's super-speed, super-strength powers, and weapons--gotta love those Vibranium blades--make him a one-man army. This could be the time for both Rachel Summers and James Proudstar to go beyond their clone-roots (Rachel was based on mother Jean, James was based on brother John from X-Men 94/95) into more interesting characters. Let's hope the rest of Brubaker's story fulfills the promise of the first chapter. Nuff said.
External Link:
Ed Brubaker Marvel Podcast on Uncanny X-Men
Ed Brubaker Interview on Uncanny X-Men
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