Yo! How was his run on X-Men and is it in TPB form yet? I'm a sucker for his TV shows bar Angel (never really liked the character) and am interested in getting in on his comic works. Yay!
Dunno, most of the stuff is pretty accessible by anyone... but he does throw in the occasional X-Men only kickassery. Like the fastball special splash page Cassady did. Oh god was that good. As for TPB, I don't know offhand. They may have already solicited one for the first 6 issues. I imagine after the last 2 are done they'll finish.
Issues 1-6 TPB Issues 7-12 TPB, set for September then we get a whole 'nother 12 issues starting in January.
Astonishing X-Men is fantastic, some of the most enjoyable X-Men storeis we've seen in years. The Gifted arc (issues 1-6) was simply amazing. Issue 5, in particular, had one of the best X-moments I've ever seen (and I've seen a lot of them). Dangerous, the current storyline, I find a bit of a step down, but that's largely because Whedon is doing something very similar to something Seagle and Kelly did several years back. It's still very good, though. It's definitely Whedon, too. As a long-time Buffy/Angel fan, I found Ord to be a very familiar kind of character. He's got that power and menace mixed with unitentional humor that Whedon likes to emply in his villains. There's also plenty of the snappy dialogue that Buffy fans know and love so much. Not to mention one of those weird, mystical characters that appears out of nowhere and says ominous things. John Cassady's art is very good and fits the title well. Really, the only complaints I have are that the issues go by too quickly and aren't released as quickly as I'd like (it's slipped to being more or less bi-monthly).
Gifted is awesome. It's what has got me back into comics recently. The shocker in issue 5 is awesome and the writing style is fantastic. I'll certainly be getting more.
You are just like me! I, honestly, can't stand the X-books. The drama, the "You're my twin sister from a future parallel timeline blahblahblah," the TONS of mutants. I've bought all of 4 X-Men books in my time. Then Mr. Whedon came along and wrote Astonishing, and it's the only X-Men book I pick up. It really is THAT good. And I don't even LIKE X-titles.
I didn't know Whedon was doing an X-Men comic. I like Whedon's Tv shows and if this comic is better that his Tv creation, I better start looking for those here.
I wouldn't say Astonishing X-Men is better than Buffy as a whole, but it's definitely better than the last two seasons of Buffy (which actually isn't saying much ). If you can find it, though, definitely pick it up.