Cytat:
In 2004, Marvel used the title Astonishing X-Men for the ongoing X-Men series written by Joss Whedon and illustrated by John Cassaday. It is a continuation of the first New X-Men title and features a similar line-up of characters, including Cyclops and Emma Frost (as co-team leaders), Beast, Shadowcat, Colossus, Lockheed and Wolverine. This team became the usual focus for most X-Men limited series from then on as well.

Whedon/Cassaday's Astonishing X-Men introduced a number of original characters into the Marvel Universe including Special Agent Brand, S.W.O.R.D., Hisako Ichiki, Ord of the Breakworld and Blindfold.

Also many large scale events in the Marvel Universe such as House of M, Decimation, Civil War and other Marvel crossovers have been ignored almost completely during the run, due to the long delays between issues and Whedon's own stated desire to remain away from big cross-overs, which he personally dislikes, and what he saw as hectic and unfollowable X-men continuity

Cytat:
You met Subject X in the pages of Astonishing X-Men! But what was he really doing and who he was doing it for? Find out in this essential 2-issue tie-in series to Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi’s opening salvo on Astonishing X-Men! Ghost Boxes is about the choices that man made and could have made, and the ripples they cause. Ghost Boxes is about the real stakes of the Ghost Box storyline, and what will happen if the X-Men fail to solve the mystery.