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Prepping Cyclops for AvX

 

Uncanny X-Men #11 courtesy Marvel

  Cyclops believes the return of the Phoenix could save his race. He is defying Captain America and triggered war. AvX will see the mutant leader tested like never before. I wanted to share more of Kieron Gillen’s new Marvel.com interview. Gillen’s response to Jim Beard’s question about who benefits and grows from AvX was revealing.

  “I’ve said before, I’ve been building towards AvX. It’s meaningful for all my key cast. The big people to watch? Scott, Namor, Hope, Emma, Piotr, Illyana and Danger. My other three—Storm, Magneto and Psylocke—have important roles too, but perhaps not on the same level of redefining them. They’re actually more the people who are a half-step back from the chaos, and as such are about giving perspective on everything.

“Benefit” is an interesting word, though. I’m not sure it’s the word I’d use. It’s going to be very hard on all of them.”

 Gillen’s role as the main writer for Scott for past year prepping him for AvX:

  “The key arc for cementing Cyclops as a man who would go to war with the Avengers was the Fear Itself arc, just prior to the relaunch. There he works side with side with the humans of San Francisco, only to discover that they were considering—if all went wrong—to deal with the threat to them both and sell out the mutants, sinking Utopia.

  Cyclops goes and saves the day anyway, only to return to actually openly threaten the mayor with murder if she ever thinks of it ever again. It’s a “Just because we save you, don’t go thinking you get to sacrifice us”.

  It’s a hardened line—willing to be an implicit threat while still acting in an entirely morally upright fashion—which is where we find Scott. He’s pretty much said this Extinction Squad is a nuclear weapon which he’ll fire if someone crosses them. AvX is, in a real way, them calling his bluff.”

 For the entire interview here’s the Marvel.com link.

 This Geek’s Opinion: Cyclops has been the leader the mutants need in a desperate time. Scott will pay a heavy price in AvX but he’s right and I’ll back Cyclops every time.

Uncanny X-Men Writer on AvX and Vs.

  War comes to Utopia. Scott’s Extinction team faces the Avengers for custody of Hope as the Phoenix Force speeds towards Earth. How will Uncanny X-Men writer Kieron Gillen weave his title into the Avengers Vs. X-Men epic. I wanted to share part of a new interview from Marvel.com.

  “The Marvel events are enormous landmarks in the topography of the Marvel Universe. With my Uncanny X-Men run, I’ve been building towards [Avengers Vs. X-Men] for as long as I’ve been doing the book. I’ve been making a situation where a confrontation between Avengers and X-men isn’t just logic, it’s kinda necessary. So, when I’m taking part of the event, this is basically lighting all the fuses to the fireworks I’ve been laying down, and sitting back and hoping everyone goes “cool!” at the explosions in the sky.”

AvX Vs. #2 courtesy Marvel

  Fights in AvX will spill into a second “all fights” book: AvX:VS. Gillen tells why and how we will chronicle Spider-Man vs. Colossus in AvX:Vs #2.

“The twist is really the opposite of that. There’s not an enormous amount of personal history between the pair. The history is between Spider-Man and Juggernaut, whose powers Colossus has borrowed. So the story’s emotional aspects are really about playing with that resonance. And “playing” is probably the word. I do a Colossus/Red Hulk brawl in Uncanny X-Men #11, which is dark, serious, character-motivated stuff. The VS [book is], as the preview art perhaps [tells], all about the spectacle of super beings going for each other.

  Why did I pick it? Well, editor Nick Lowe called me up and asked if I’d be interested in writing it. And because I never wrote Spider-Man, I figured it could be fun to do. And it was. I immediately descended to walking around the house, improvising really bad Parker-esque wise-cracks.

AvX Vs #2 preview courtesy Marvel.com

  During the Uncanny X-Men tie-in to Fear Itself Colossus became the Juggernaut and this will play into the showdown with Spidey.

“Peter actually talks about this mid-fight, in terms of the traditional axis. It’s a “What happens is I tire myself out punching you eight million of times, you get angry trying to hit me eight million times and never connecting and then I drop you into a concrete vat” situation. That’s how Juggernaut fights go. The difference is Piotr. He’s not exactly a superbrain, but he’s a damn sight smarter than Cain Marko. That nudges a traditional Spider-Man advantage away.”

Uncanny X-Men #11 courtesy Marvel

  How will AvX affect his Uncanny title and change the status quo of Utopia:

“Basically, Uncanny focuses in hard on the mutant-centric Utopia-focused side. While the core book will be about both Avengers and X-Men, mine is primarily interested in what this means to mutantkind, both now, and looking towards whatever comes next. The Avengers are antagonists in my book. I’m interested in them as enemies. I shamelessly don’t give them a fair shake. I get inside my characters’ heads. I write some secret history. I look at how the events of AvX shake up the already volatile internal politics of the Extinction Team.

  I mean, you want some examples? For the former, you ever wondered why Namor’s on the mutants’ side? I do that in issue #11. For the middle aspect, the mystery of the Lights has been a bubbling plot for the mutants’ corner of the universe. I deal with it in #13. And for the latter…well, for that you’ll have to wait. Thinking about it, there is an exception to the “X-Men over Avengers” focus I mentioned above. That’s issue #12, where I go to Tabula Rasa. It’s ended up as something tonally separate to the vast majority of my X-Men run. Its primary focus is on Namor and The Thing, and it’s something of a diversion from my relatively serious approach. I mean, it’s still high stakes, but I think people will laugh a lot. It’s a return to the scene of Namor/Tapeworm Queen intimacy, after all.

Oh, I also throw some villains into the mix. Sinister returns in an enormous way. And, from his perspective, AvX is basically called “Mister Sinister presents…Avengers Vs. X-Men.” In fact, from Sinister’s perspective, it’s “Mister Sinister presents…the whole Marvel Universe, ever.” He’s nothing if not an egotist, as issue #14 will make clear.

And there’s more there too. I don’t want to say anything, but I manage to throw another curve ball into the whole mess with my last issue before AvX. It’s sneaksie, to say the least.”

 For the entire interview here’s the Marvel.com link.

 AvX Vs #2 will be Gillen’s first time working with Invincible Iron Man artist Salvador Larroca. 

 

Emerald City Comicon: Piloting Captain Marvel & the New Uniform

Captain Marvel #1 courtesy Marvel.com

  Marvel is promoting Carol Danvers to Captain Marvel this July. Kelly Sue DeConnick and artist Dexter Soy will pilot Ms. Marvel into a new series.

  I love Carol Danvers, in part, because of her history.  I talked with DeConnick at Emerald City Comicon this weekend in Seattle and asked about her approach for the new title.

  “This is going to be her moving forward but we’re not forgetting her past at all in fact we’re really focused on her history as a pilot. My pitch was Carol Danvers as Chuck Yeagher. It’s about her as a flyer,” DeConnick told me.

  Carol Danvers has been sporting the one piece bathing suit and thigh boots with long flowing hair for a while. I asked about the upcoming makeover and change in uniform designed by Jamie McKelvie.

Captain Marvel #1 courtesy Marvel.com

  “I don’t have any vendetta against the old uniform. It was gorgeous.”

  “As we had the opportunity to redesign and I was getting into the head of this character. I was working on a funeral scene and just the notion of her and just the notion of her going to a funeral in a swimsuit and thigh boots was a little odd. So we kept thinking of it as this is her uniform. She has a military background.”

  “This is a pilot. This is a flight suit. This is her uniform.”

Kelly Sue DeConnick had made Captain Marvel logo buttons for lucky fans at her table.

For Castle fans (the ABC show starring Nathan Fillion) I asked about a follow-up to Castle: Deadly Storm.

“Yeah I’m working on it. I’m writing pages on it right now,” and that the project will come out in October.

Devour Fanboys Vs Zombies #1

Fanboys Vs. Zombies #1 courtesy Boom! Studios

  I know I’ve dreamed and brainstormed with fellow geeks about surviving an undead invasion in Seattle. An up and coming writer is taking this geek fantasy and created an outrageous adventure with: Fanboys Vs. Zombies.

  Feuding friends with baggage reconnect at the world’s biggest comic book convention when a zombie outbreak erupts.  Fanboys and girls who think they know zombie survival skills from comics and videos are put to the test in this hilarious adventure from Boom Studios.

 This weekend I met writer Sam Humphries at Emerald City Comicon. I was in a geek haze when I the Fanboys Vs. Zombies cover caught my eye (I wish I had got the ECCC variant now!) and recognized his name at the booth signage from my blogging. I talked with Humphries about this project, grabbed a copy, got his signature and talked with a rising star. Humphries is co-writing Marvel’s Ultimates with Jonathan Hickman then taking over the book.

  I’ve been reading that he’s the next big thing and sure enough Humphries was on Marvel’s Next Big Thing panel with Dan Slot, Jeff Parker, Rick Remender, C.B. Cebulski, Chris Yost and Greg Rucka.

  Not only is Fanboys Vs. Zombies a fun read from two rising stars (Jerry Gaylord’s art reminds me of Humberto Ramos from Gen 13 and DV8 days) More selling points: this issue is only a buck! I haven’t paid just a dollar for a comic book in years! Fanboys Vs. Zombies #1 invades local comic stores this week. Grab it. Devour it. Stay alive for next month’s issue.

Top 5 Comic Picks for 4.4.12

Avengers Vs. X-Men #1 This is the it! Earth’s Mightiest Heroes against the Children of the Atom with the fate of the universe hanging in the balance. The Phoenix Force is speeding to Earth. Cyclops and Captain America clash over how to respond and two teams go to war.

Wolverine and the X-Men #8 A Beast Vs. The Beast! One of Logan’s best friends in a feral furious showdown with his greatest enemy!

Fear Itself: The Fearless #12 Heroes defeated. The Serpent’s greatest warrior set to unleash her vengeance. Valkyrie’s world tour of the Marvel Universe leads to this final showdown with Sin.

Brilliant #3 Seattle college kids cracked the secret of superpowers. Will one of them abuse his new power a forsake his friends. This book is a unique take on brainiacs, the birth of powers and how heroes and villains are spawned.

Archie Meets Kiss trade paperback A spell backfires unleashing monsters on Riverdale. Rock and Roll legends team up with the Archie gang to save the town in a supernatural showdown.

 

Avengers Vs. X-Men Panel at Emerald City Comicon

Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, C.B. Cebulski at Emerald City Comicon, ComicsBlend.com

  The most anticipated panel for me at Emerald City Comicon was Marvel AvX featuring Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction, two of the writers on the epic series, and C.B. Cebulski were in Seattle’s big event just days before #1 launched.

Here are highlights:

  Will Hulk and the Juggernaut fight? (I’m assuming the fan meant Colossus)

“Yes in issue #5,” responded Fraction.

 Brubaker said that issues one through five, which he called “AvX‘s’ first act,” would normally be considered an entire event by most readers, and the remaining issues would be two years’ worth of stories for most publishers. Fraction added that issue five is so big, it feels like an ending, but it’s not — “There’s seven more issues after that.”

Avengers Vs X-Men #2 courtesy Marvel

  Fraction followed up, “In issue #6, (Jonathan)Hickman has written Colossus as you’ve never seen him before.” (This will affect Peter and Kitty – see this previous post.)

  The next fan asked Fraction if he had been planting seeds for AvX as far back as his Uncanny X-Men run, as there appears to be a connection between the them. Fraction said the connection was intentional. During an editorial retreat many years ago, when they talked about Second Coming, those attending decided it was a good idea for characters with Phoenix fragments to lose them in that time. He noted that when he was writing his earliest Uncanny stories where he has the Phoenix come to Emma and say, “Get ready,” he knew it would make him look like a “genius” in a few years.

“Who came up with Hope?” Brubaker said he believes it was Joe [Quesada], but no one on the dais could say for certain. They explained that the way ideas are batted around at editorial retreats, everything feels shared. Brubaker did say he distinctly remembered Joe talking about a scene that was to take place at the end of Second Coming where Emma was going to be holding the baby and realize it was Jean, but they didn’t end up using that or going in that direction. Fraction said that Axel [Alonso] was a big proponent of that idea. Brubaker mentioned how he recalled the inception of AvX taking place five to six years ago with Jeph [Loeb] and Axel pushing for the idea.

Will the Young Avengers appear?

“The Young Avengers are there, but not necessarily as the ‘Young Avengers,'”

“Young Avengers fans will be happy in the coming months,” Cebulski added. (Insert my personal joy here!)

Professor X appears in AvX #6.

Characters will switch loyalties.

AvX Launch parties are tomorrow night!

Iron Fist Love & Casting at Emerald City Comicon

New Avenges #25 courtesy Marvel

Iron Fist will play a significant role in the upcoming Avengers Vs. X-Men epic. Marvel has revealed images hinting at Danny Rand’s connection to the Phoenix Force and Hope Summers.

Iron Fist fan at Emerald City Comicon, ComicsBlend.com

In earlier Emerald City Comicon post I revealed the fanboys who dressed up as Iron Fist in Seattle. The fan favorite character was on the top of many minds. The mention of him generated talk from creators on panels and applause from the audience.

Ed Brubaker made an excellent casting choice. During the AvX panel with C.B. Cebulski, Matt Fraction and Brubaker a fan asked about a Marvel film they would like to see.

Brubaker responded with Armie Hammer as Iron Fist referencing how when he saw The Social Network that Danny Rand could have been the third Winklevoss. (Hammer played the billionaire twins who sued the founder of Facebook in David Fincher’s movie.)

“And Jeremy Renner as Steel Serpent. Of course he’s already Hawkeye in The Avengers but have you seen Renner in the new Jason Bourne movie trailer.”

I apologize for not having exact quotes. I was so thrilled as a fanboy by this idea I didn’t have my camera on to record!

This Geek’s Opinion: I still want a Marvel Knights trilogy: Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist solo movies with Jessica Jones as the character who appears in all three. Then Matt, Luke and Danny team up against the Hand – this would be like the game plan Marvel has used for the Avengers movie.

And if you’ve never experienced Brubaker and Matt Fraction’s Iron Fist series or trade – get it!

Note: As far as I know Marvel Studios and Marvel Publishing are two different entities. I don’t know of an Iron Fist film in development. This casting idea above is simply hypothetical…but very cool.

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