The New Mutants graphic novel cover courtesy Marvel.com
The New Mutants aren’t so new anymore but Dani, Sam, Roberto, Rhane and Xi’an will hold a special place in the hearts of many comic book fans. Chris Claremont and Bob McLeod gave us this next generation and future X-Men. Unfortunately these heroes are caught in the comic book paradox. In the real world these kids should have grown up to succeed Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine and company as the X-Men. These characters are so strong and loved that they will always find a home in the Marvel universe.
Dani Moonstar lost her mutant powers but none of the qualities that make her a great hero. The current New Mutants book is coming to an end. Karma is currently featured in Marjorie Liu’s Astonishing X-Men. Wolfsbane has been a star and become a mom in Peter David’s X-Factor. Will those characters and titles continue in the Marvel NOW relaunch?
In Liu’s Astonishing X-Men Karma has been the victim of a new villain and I hope Liu gets the chance to give Xi’an redemption and maybe a chance at love like Northstar did. I can’t imagine a month without Peter David’s X-Factor but Breaking Points sure seems like he’s wrapping up his run.
New Mutants #13 courtesy Marvel
I really love Dani as mentor of a New Mutants squad in New X-Men. Dani is a great leader, Valkyrie and I love her best as a teacher. I’d like to see Dani and Rhane join the Jean Grey School as teachers.
Could these young heroes face a darker future in the Marvel NOW? Legion is becoming the star of a brand new X-Men Legacy. Professor X’s son may try to recruit the mutants he once faced in their original series.
THIS POST CONTAINS MAJOR PLOT POINTS FROM AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #11
IF YOU HAVE NOT READ AVX#11 YET PLEASE NO READ MORE
SERIOUSLY
HERE IT COMES
Avengers vs. X-Men #11 is an epic and heartbreaking chapter that brings the complicated lives of Scott Summers, Professor Charles Xavier and in a way Jean Grey full circle. I don’t mean to offend any religious sensibilities with my next point. Professor X, Cyclops and the Phoenix Force are the mutant father, son and cosmic spirit.
Cyclops has been driven his entire life. Driven to lead by Professor X. Driven to extreme measures to save his fellow mutants. Now the Phoenix Force has driven Scott to nearly destroy the woman he loves and kill his mentor.
Brian Michael Bendis tells Marvel.com why this story led to the Professor’s death.
“When I joined the X-Men office I was quite surprised what a polarizing figure Charles Xavier had become among the editors, creators, and readers. Maybe it’s because he’s bald but I never have a problem with him. Analyzing it, it is clear that the franchise just simply outgrew him. All of the characters had moved on to a place where Charles himself wasn’t really needed anymore. I don’t think anyone did it on purpose; it was just one of those organic storytelling things.
I spent a lot of time championing his place in Avengers Vs. X-Men only to find that I was really one of the only [people] who cared how he felt about the whole thing. After one of our retreat days a small group of us got together and the question was brought up that maybe he would be more interesting dead post-AvX than he was in life pre-AvX.
Knowing what my plans were post AvX [with ALL-NEW X-MEN], the death of Charles Xavier made every scene I have coming up for the next year more passionate, more interesting and more controversial. I was very happy that we voted to whack the man.
A small group of us getting together to decide to murder Charles Xavier is all sounding very Godfather-ish. [Laughs]
Avengers vs. X-Men #11 courtesy Marvel
Bendis reveals the consequences of this death.
“Charles Xavier is a founding father of the pro-mutant movement. If there is a mutant living by that manifesto, he or she is living a manifesto invented by Charles Xavier. The other mutants all around the Marvel Universe will have very strong feelings about his death. Some will try to carry on his message, others will decide that the dream is dead, and others will never forget Scott Summers for what he has done and will do everything in their power to make every day of his life a nightmare.”
Bendis is not just a writer. He’s a fan. Bendis explains how it feels to kill an icon in such a dramatic confrontation?
“It felt very Shakespearean. I don’t always write in a very Shakespearean way but as I was putting the final touches on the scene and then when I saw the pencils I was quite surprised how large the tragedy truly felt. Not only does Cyclops, who is arguably not in control of his own actions, [to] murder his father, for lack of a better word, but he does it in front of every major player in the Marvel Universe. This isn’t some rumor that’s been spread around. Everyone saw him do it. Scott knows what he has done.
And then I was struck with the feeling that as the new writer of X-Men I was walking into the franchise as the man who murdered Charles Xavier, gave Wolverine his memories back, and decimated the mutant population without even being on an X-Men book. And then I thought I may need to unplug my computer once and for all. [Laughs]
How does a lifelong X-Men fan like myself feel? I write this review while it’s still pretty raw.
This book is brilliant. Even as I saw what was building I still felt the shock and awe as each powerful moment happened.
Captain America’s plea and the Hulk’s answer – perfection.
Olivier Coipel has drawn one of the most beauitful images of Rogue ever created.
The cover promised a massive fight but I love how Emma and Scott’s conflict slowly burned into that shocking moment when Cyclops seized Emma’s share of the force.
I’m so impressed that Bendis used Bobby as the voice against Scott instead of Logan, again.
“This is what it felt like for Jean” was the moment that just nailed me in the heart. As a guy who still might cry while reading the original Dark Phoenix Saga seeing Scott possessed by the entity was as scary and saddening.
The nightmare comes full circle: Scott is now the Dark Phoenix.
The New Mutants graphic novel cover courtesy Marvel.com
I was thrilled to see two New Mutants in the lineup of the upcoming Avengers relaunch. Jonathan Hickman welcomes Cannonball and Sunspot to his massive roster that’s still be revealed. Marvel Executive Editor Tom Brevoort tells Comics Newsarama why Sam and Roberto are on board.
“The real answer to that is at least trifold. We’ve talked about this a little bit going into Marvel NOW! — we’re making a concerted effort to erase the invisible fence that exists around the world of X-Men. By the nature of those books, and it goes back 20-25 years at this point, the X-Men, while they exist in the Marvel Universe proper, tend to sit in their own corner a lot. We’re actively looking not to make everything the same, but to erase those boundaries; erase that feeling that it’s strange or weird when an X-Men character shows up in a non-X-Men book, and vice versa.
In the same sort of way that in the adjectiveless X-Men book they’ve been doing a lot of work to try and get the X-Men out interacting with other heroes in the Marvel Universe, and fighting villains that are not just the same core of X-Men mutant villains that they’ve always battled, we’re going to be trying to do the same sort of thing in a more global sense. It’s not like we’re going to be forcing X-Men or X-Men villains into Spider-Man, or whatever, but we’re trying to make it a little easier if there’s a Spider-Man story to be told that involves some aspect of the X-Men, for people to feel like, “Yeah, that’s easy.” It’s like using anybody else. It’s all one place and one Marvel Universe. So the fact that we’re bringing in some other characters from that corner just serves to underline and reinforce that a little bit.
It also sort of shows that the movement taken in Uncanny Avengers and the motivation for that team is not simply a token outreach. The impel that will drive the world to have a more comingled Avengers and mutant and non-mutant set-up is not limited to one crew of folks. Plus, as usual, we wanted to bring some new faces in. Jonathan wanted to bring in characters that he was interested in and likes, and he really loves Cannonball and Sunspot. It’s good to have some relatively younger characters in the Avengers mix, that always makes for a good dynamic. They are a good two-hander comedy act in the way of Ben and Johnny or Ben and Spidey over in the FF books. It just puts them on a different playing level. Plus, they’re storied enough characters now — they go back to 1982 — that they feel legitimate as Avengers. It’s a funny thing, and I really didn’t codify it even for myself quite until Brian was doing New Avengers, but once characters have been around in the Marvel Universe a certain amount of time — it’s a vague amount, there’s no set time, it’s just a feeling — you put them in the Avengers, and they feel legitimate. Luke Cage being an Avenger, nobody really blinked at that. He goes back to the ’70s, he’s a quote-unquote “real” Marvel character. He’s not a Johnny Come Lately or a fly-by-night or a new fangled idea. He’s real Marvel. Spider-Woman is real Marvel. Iron Fist is real Marvel. And at this point, Cannonball and Sunspot are real Marvel. You see them there, and you go, “It’s interesting, it’s different, it’s odd, I’m not used to seeing them hanging out with those people” — but they don’t feel like they haven’t earned their place. They’re still youthful characters in relation to the other characters around them, but they’re storied enough that you can look at them standing in the midst of all of those other guys and go, “Yeah, OK, I buy it.”
Avengers #1 courtesy Marvel
Brevoort addresses concerns over the blending of X-Men and Avengers.
“First of all, I think the fear that having mutant characters appearing in Avengers or other books is going to water everything down or destroy the X-Men is a baseless fear. It’s a fear that stems from literally just fear itself. “You’re going to break this thing that I love by mixing it up with this other stuff that I don’t care as much about.”
“The premise of X-Men is that it’s a book about a demographic. It’s a book about these people, and their struggle of their existence. They wake up at a certain point and they have wings, or they have fur all over their bodies, and they have to deal with that, and adjust to that, and that’s the world they live in. In the same sort of way that Spider-Man being on the Avengers didn’t mean the average Spider-Man adventure was about him rocketing to the moon to fight cosmic bad guys over the Infinity Gauntlet, having X-Men in the Avengers doesn’t mean that every X-Men story is now going to be an Avengers story.
All New X-Men #1 courtesy Marvel
“In some ways, it may hopefully mean the focus of X-Men stories can be more concretely about what that series is about, what that premise is, and the ongoing soap opera of those character relationships, and dealing with one another, and dealing with being part of this particular minority who’s hated and feared by a world that doesn’t understand them. Those themes always work for the X-Men, and they’re really the heart of the X-Men. The fact that the X-books sort of became segregated; that I don’t think had anything really to do with the heart of their appeal. That was just something that happened, and then everybody kind of got used to it, and it’s “the way things are, therefore, it’s the way we like it.” But I don’t believe there’s any real relationship between the books staying to themselves, and that is why people like them. I think people liked them why they didn’t, I think people liked it was just one comic book, and it was just done really well, and people dug the characters and dug the conflicts that they were doing through — and the soap opera, and the romance, and the life or death struggles. I think all of that stuff can, should, and hopefully will be maintained on the X-books going forward. Certainly Brian’s not coming on X-Men to take a half-hearted stab at doing great X-Men stories.”
New Mutants #16 courtesy Marvel
I have posted before that New Mutants are like the Teen Titans and Cannonball is like Nightwing. In the real world these younger heroes would take on the leadership roles and become the big iconic heroes of their respective universes.
This is comic books – Cyclops, Storm or Wolverine will always be the X-Men leader so I’m excited to see Sam shine as one of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and represent the mutant race on the Avengers.
As a fan I’m carefully dodging sites here and there to avoid learning who died in AvX #11. As a blogger I vow to make sure I give you plenty of spoiler warning so I don’t ruin the story for you.
I’m about to head to my local comic book shop now – I’m excited and dreading what might happen! Stay tuned for my opinion and news from Brian Michael Bendis and more on this week’s Fatality and what it means for the future of the X-Men, Avengers and fans.
Avengers vs. X-Men could be retitled Operation: Hate Cyclops. When AvX was first announced I was on fully on board with Cyclops and the mutants. I posted “Cyke Is Right!” on my blog and all over rallying my fellow X-Men fans. X-Men were my first comic book and I’ve always identified with them. Captain America and the Avengers were yanking away the one Hope the mutants had to save their species.
The architects of AvX turned the greatest hero and leader in comic books into an arrogant, power mad egomaniac. The Marvel masterminds even did the unthinkable – turn me against Scott! I’ve actually rooting for the Avengers. Cyke was right. Now I’m not so sure.
AvX is a dark and critical chapter in Scott’s life. The man Professor Xavier chose to lead the mutants has never had it easy. He’s been put in incredible scenarios against impossible odds and faced tragedy after tragedy. His fellow mutants have constantly been under attack and he’s been forced to make tough calls without a single Avenger coming to his aid. That’s what I love about him.
Scott Summers must always been in control. Holding back his optic blasts is a symbol of the life Scott has been forced to lead. Professor Xavier made him team leader. Cyke pushed himself to be a better leader while the other X-Men got to laugh and escape from training at Harry’s Hideaway. Scott is always living in the Danger Room.
Scott has lost Jean, Madelyne, Nathan. Cyke has hold firm despite insults from Wolverine and wavering support from longtime friends. He’s a better X-Man than any mutant…including Logan.
Avengers vs. X-Men #11 courtesy Marvel.com
This week’s AvX #11 sees the Phoenix possessed Cyclops and Emma Frost turn on each other because there can be only one. AvX appears to be the end of a powerhouse Marvel romance. Grant Morrison slowly separated Scott and Jean and paired Cyke with the reformed Emma Frost during his New X-Men run. Joss Whedon united Scott and Emma as the mutant power couple in his Astonishing X-Men epic. As much as I love Jean, Emma is the one true woman for Scott.
The Phoenix Force is now divided between Scott and Emma. Scott has been transformed into arrogant cosmic level zealot. The God-like power of the Phoenix Force has twisted Scott’s intense dedication to save his race. Emma’s behavior is now dangerously similar to the Dark Phoenix. The reformed White Queen has always kept her ruthless streak and it’s been necessary and easy for her to slip back into the role of a villain (Dark Reign & Dark X-Men Saga) to use it for the sake of saving the mutants.
I kept hoping Scott and Emma’s extreme and ruthless behavior was a result of having slivers of The Void (The Sentry’s evil alter ego) in their minds. It was these two mutants who sacrificed to trap the Void when the Avengers couldn’t stop him. I wanted some excuse so it would be easy to redeem Scott and Emma for their actions. Alas, I can blame the Phoenix Force but isn’t the entity just feeding off and empowering the emotions and motivations existing in my favorite Marvel power couple?
Avengers vs. X-Men made me side against Scott and Emma. This week’s chapter is teasing a fatality. Will Cyclops destroy his lover or his father figure and mentor? Can Scott live with it if he does kill Emma or the Professor?
Every hero falls. Every fan loves redemption. I hope Scott and Emma survive AvX to rise to greatness again in the Marvel NOW.
The Avengers sequel is two and half years away but that won’t stop fans from geeking out over every morsel, comment and hint between now and then. Director Joss Whedon does promise assembling the team in the first film was just the beginning.
“The creation of the team is not the happy ending,” he tells 24 Hours. “It is the beginning of something that is complex and difficult, and now I get to dig a little deeper. And maybe, while I’m digging, just twist that knife. And that’s exciting for me.”
While Whedon will write and direct the sequel that assembles Earth’s Mightiest Heroes don’t expect him to be the Grandmaster (to pay homage to a Marvel villain) over the solo films coming out before the mega-sequel.
“Very talented people are writing and directing these movies, and what I don’t want to be is the guy they dread, who’s going to come in and say” — here, Whedon reportedly affected a “pompous British accent” — “‘Oh, well I have the power to say change this,’” he said. “I’m not that.”
Thanks to Spinoff Online. The Avengers 2 assembles May 1, 2015.
Avenging Spider-Man #12 Spidey and Deadpool go back to high school? I’m sure there’s something much more sinister going on but the idea of Peter Parker and the Merc With a Mouth in detention is too good to pass up!
Avengers vs. X-Men #11 courtesy Marvel.com
Avengers vs. X-Men #11X-Men join the Avengers in a last stand against the cosmic might of the Phoenix Two. What happens when Cyclops and Emma Frost turn on each other? What is Professor X prepared to do to save humanity? Marvel is teasing a fatality – who will pay the ultimate price to defeat the Phoenix Force?
Batman #0A look into the past. Bruce Wayne returns from his global quest ready to launch his war on crime. See how the gadgets, Batcave, costume and more were born.
Manhattan Projects #6 Some of the most famous scientific geniuses in history as you’ve never seen them before. Creating the atomic bomb was nothing compared to what this American think tank was really up to. You can catch up with the first 5 issues in a new collection. Now see the other side of this twisted alterate history and weird science. Go back into the Cold War days and inside the Russia’s scientific counterpart to the Manhattan Projects.
The Massive #4How you continue to have the moral companss of a pacifist when the world has gone to hell? A crew of environmentalists sail the poison oceans in search of their friends and trying to survive modern day pirates. What happens when the Captain meets a ghost from his past when he was a corporate mercenary.
I could have written a top 15 this week there are so many good books out there! Here’s my previews of the Doctor Who Annual, more Batman Family Zero issue books and a legion of X-Men books!
