Joss Whedon has certainly had a very successful run on Marvel's Astonishing X-Men and he has undoubtedly had fun with the teen-centric Runaways (a perfect match for the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer), but at the San Diego Comic-Con Whedon told an adoring host of fans that he planned to forgo the world of monthly superhero comics in order to concentrate more on creator-own projects, such as the mangaesque Sugarshock.  Whedon's decision is good news for Dark Horse (where the Whedon-plotted Buffy Season Eight is now a top ten comic) and not such good news for Marvel, which has benefited from Whedon's work, especially from his run on Astonishing X-Men (though Marvel apparently has had no problem attracting top writing talent for the title, see 'Astonishing X-Men: Second Stage').

Sugarshock, which features art by Fabio Moon, is currently part of Dark Horse's online marketing effort.  The first chapter of the new project is available free online in Dark Horse's Dark Horse Presents site on MySpace (see 'Clamp and MySpace DHP').