A blast from Xavier’s past continues to make waves in the Marvel Now! The original five students of Professor X were brought into the present day. Jean Grey declared the team would stay to fix their future. What happens when the Avengers learn Continue reading All-New X-Men Meet Avengers!
My Seattle hood comic book shop invited me to share my most anticipated comic books for 2013! Here are the new books, events and trends to look out for this year! Here is a special Zanadu Comics Videoblog:
Thanks to Perry, Howard, Casey, Morgan and Erin for a great experience every book comic Wednesday and for inviting me to share my geeky knowledge and excitement. Visit ZanaduComics.com for Casey and Morgan’s weekly picks!
By Editor
Cyclops, Magneto, Emma Frost and Magik star in the upcoming Uncanny X-Men. Scott’s team is recruiting new mutants for the revolution. Marvel is making it very clear in this new teaser image by Chris Bachalo – there’s a TRAITOR in the new team/book!
This image shows the heavy hitters plus two brand new characters. The question is not just “who is the traitor?” but who is the traitor working for?
Let’s the TRAITOR theories begin:
It’s possible Wolverine allowed Cyke to “recruit” one of the new kids to his side to get the inside track on the rival X-Men.
Could the traitor be working for the Avengers? Just because Captain America formed the Uncanny Avengers to bridge the gap between mutants doesn’t mean someone like Tony Stark wouldn’t want a spy in Cyke’s camp.
Emma Frost? Scott and Emma are over. Emma has been in the Hellfire Club, lead the Dark X-Men during Dark Reign and has slipped into the role of traitor, seductress and villain to suit her needs. Emma could be secretly working for Tony Stark or Wolverine. Plus, you know the return of Jean Grey is really getting to her!
Who do you think the traitor is and why?
Brian Michael Bendis knows! Can’t wait to see how he plays this out! The book is out February 13th.
By Editor
A brand new Guardians of the Galaxy will blast off next month. It’s part of the Marvel/Disney big expansion off the company’s sci-fi heroes. All-New X-Men writer Brian Michael Bendis and Steve McNiven will steer the new comic book series. James Gunn will direct the big screen film and the search is currently on for the actor to play Star-Lord. Bendis revealed on Marvel.com how these space-faring heroes will connect to teams on planet earth and the connection to the 2014 movie.
“This will be the most surprising chapter of Marvel NOW! This is a brand new #1 that starts these characters off in a place for new readers but doesn’t rob them of what made them great in the first place. It’s also a great place for you to hop on and see why we’re excited for these characters to be in a movie and why it’s as good a franchise as Marvel has.”
“This ties into a lot of things already happening in the Marvel Universe. The things that have happened on Earth in the past few events have had a butterfly effect through the galaxy. The abuse of time travel, the use of the Infinity Gems…these things have costs.”
“If you’re looking at Earth in the Marvel Universe from a distant, it looks like an insane asylum! It’s a place where the Phoenix Force doesn’t destroy the world, where Galactus doesn’t feed. It’s the scariest place anywhere to the rest of the galaxy! Wait until Earth joins the cosmic community…”
For the newbies…Peter Quill has an alien father but was raised on Earth. The young man who will become Star-Lord eventually meets up with various aliens (Rocket Raccoon, Drax, Gamora, Groot.)
“I wrote Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1 without anybody asking me to, I love the characters so much. Starlord’s origin is a hidden gem. I repeated it in a Marvel retreat and it was nice to see even guys like Dan Slott didn’t know it. It’s as good an origin as Spider-Man. This is why you care about this guy.
They all have father issues or are the last of their species. It’s a universal thing not to like the world you’re born into and not having to be a part of it.”
“Peter Quill’s father is basically the king of the galaxy, but I’m of the belief that the guy who won the war is just the biggest [expletive].
“Every Marvel comic is science fiction on some level. As I was working this, I pulled out every sci-fi book that meant something to me on some level. I have so many that I truly love. I want to see what I was looking at and what drove me crazy; it was always the character and the artwork. That’s the philosophy I applied toward this book.”
In The Avengers movie Earth became a bigger target because its mightiest heroes defeated an alien army. Bendis revealed the first enemies his team will encounter.
“The threat of the first arc is that the Spartax Empire is an empire of conquerors, and the Earth is the sexiest jewel in the galaxy. There will be a lot of complicated plays for Earth, you can’t just come in and invade it if Galactus, the Phoenix and the Skrulls couldn’t do it. They have to be smart. That includes manipulating Starlord and the Guardians into a place where they won’t be an issue.”
Bendis is also writing the Age of Ultron event and the brand new Uncanny X-Men and All-New X-Men so expect the storylines to weave into Guardians.
“When you see what’s coming to the book in its second arc, you will be shocked. The fallout from Age of Ultron lands directly in this book.”
“Iron Man joins the team right from the get go, which is exciting and show that the Guardians are really the cosmic Avengers.
The Guardians will be out in space a lot, but there’s something about them trying to protect the Earth but not belonging here and needing to understand it. Earth is in the first two issues.”
“A crossover with the X-Men is absolutely going to happen. The All-New X-Men have a lot to answer for. You know who’s not excited for Jean Grey to be back? Everybody who saw her as Dark Phoenix.”
“Marvel Studios has been developing the Guardians movie for years. I was not the most focused member of the Creative Committee on these characters, but looking at them with eyes wide open and became so excited. When it came time to think about putting this book out, they called me because I sounded like a mental patient talking about the possibilities of Peter Quill.”
For the entire liveblog here’s the Marvel.com link.
Guardians of the Galaxy #1 blasts off next month.
By Editor
Brian Michael Bendis and Chris Bachalo launch a brand new Uncanny X-Men #1 next month. Frazier Irving will be artist on the title in April (issue 5)according to Comics Newsarama.
This teaser by Irving shows Cyclops, Magneto, Emma Frost, and Magik leading the mutant revolution. Bendis established that Scott’s team will be based on the old Weapon X facility and continue their recruitment of new mutants in the first arc of All-New X-Men.
My favorite previous Irving art was on Batman and Robin with Grant Morrison and Silent War starring the Inhumans for Marvel.
By Editor
Brian Michael Bendis and Chris Bachalo will launch a brand new Uncanny X-Men in 2013. It’s not quite the Avenging X-Men concept I predicted but it is a darker Children of the Atom. All-New X-Men and Wolverine and the X-Men represent Xavier’s dream. The new Uncanny X-Men team is on a mutated mission for mutants with Cyclops following Magneto’s more extreme vision and tactics. Brian Michael Bendis recently previewed his upcoming Uncanny X-Men but this geek has some burning questions:
Sebastian Shaw? The former Black King of the Hellfire Club was mindwiped by Emma Frost but recently learned about his evil past. Shaw was last seen helping teen mutants escape from captivity during AvX. Will he return to his evil ways and seek revenge against his former White Queen? I would love to see Shaw recruited by Scott. I remember in New Mutants #35 when the fragile alliance of the then Hellfire Club (Shaw, Magneto, Frost and Selene) was shattered in that powerhouse issue.
Stepford Cuckoos? I love Emma’s girls. Will the triplets reunited with Emma? I could see Mindee, Celeste and Phoebe become powerful recruiters in the search for new mutants.
Namor? The long simmering passion between Namor and Emma flared up in an explosive way during Avengers vs. X-Men with devastating results. I loved the Sub-Mariner’s alliance with the X-Men and wondered where the King of Atlantis would turn up in the Marvel Now. Scott and Emma are over. Namor will be a huge part of Jonathan Hickman’s New Avengers series. Could Emma start a long distance relationship with Namor to make Scott suffer?
Cyclops’s New Headgear? I love Chris Bachalo’s new costume designs but Cyke’s headgear is a curiosity – no visor? How does the optic blast…blast out?
The Void? During AvX I kept thinking Scott’s extremist behavior was because he was holding a sliver of The Void in his mind. The Sentry’s battle with his evil alter ego was a big story threat during Bendis’s Avengers run that affected the X-Men’s power couple. First Emma Frost and then Cyke held a sliver of the Void in their mind.Perhaps Bendis will revisit this in Uncanny X-Men.
Those are some of the burning questions I have but I will trust in Bendis! He made me love Avengers again 8 years ago.
By Editor
It’s the confrontation we’ve been waiting for! Scott, Jean, Bobby, Warren and Hank confront Scott, Emma, Magneto and Magik in this week’s All-New X-Men #4. The modern Beast brought the original five X-Men from the past into the Marvel Now hoping the idealistic young originals could be the key to preventing what could be the end of the mutant race.
If you think the modern Cyclops is a match for his younger self think again!After last issue I developed a theory about the mutant race post AvX. Tell me what you think.
In case you missed it here’s my op/ed on the transformation of Scott from hero to zealot to hopes for his redemption.
By Editor
In All-New X-Men #1 Brian Michael Bendis set up the new status quo of the mutant race in the Marvel Universe. In Issue #2 past met present when Beast brought the original five X-Men into the our time in order to save the future. This week’s All-New X-Men #3 focuses on the future cast of the soon-to-be relaunched Uncanny X-Men. Cyclops and Magneto have a bitter reunion with Emma Frost. It’s going to be fun seeing the former lovers forced to work together after what happened in AvX. We also learn in this issue that the former Phoenix Five may be paying a terrible price for hosting the entity during AvX.
I really enjoyed the scenes between Cyclops and Magneto. The former enemies are now allies. The Master of Magnetism became a follower of Scott in recent years. In this issue the Master delivers a powerful lesson to Scott. The appeal of Magneto as a great villain is that he believes his motives are just and he’s willing to play the villain. Cyclops has been on that same journey but accepting that role is not as easy. There’s a moment when Erik basically calls Scott out and it shows Bendis’s great understanding and handling of these characters.
The previous issues were packed with more joy and action. It’s appropriate this chapter is darker and shows how Scott, Erik and Emma are paying for their sins but still pushing for revolution. The final panel is exciting and sets the stage for a huge showdown next issue.
After this issue I have a theory:
Are the new post AvX mutants killing the pre AvX mutants?
The mutant race was reborn because of the Hope/Scarlet Witch/Phoenix act in AvX #12. New mutants are emerging at an alarming rate. Beast is mutating again and it’s killing him as we learned in All-New X-Men #1. In this issue Cyclops, Magneto and Emma’s mutant powers are weaker? It was a stuggle for Scott to generate his optic blast.
Did that energy surge in AvX #12 that re-ignited the mutant race start a genetic transfer among Earth’s mutants? Could it be that for every new mutant now born it will cost the powers and maybe lives of the existing mutants before AvX? It would be an interesting long-term story element for Bendis to explore and something to watch for as he chronicles the future of the X-Men.
By Editor