Everything old is All-New after the first X-Men arc of Brian Michael Bendis. In this week’s All-New X-Men #5 an original X-Man gets a makeover and two X-Women take charge.
Professor X was murdered by Cyclops. Scott, Magneto, Emma and Magik are recruiting new mutants for a revolution. A dying Beast went into the past to bring the original Scott, Jean, Warren, Bobby and Hank into the Marvel Now. Hank’s dream of inspiring Cyclops takes a dramatic twist in this chapter. In the finale of the first arc Beast is reborn, Jean Grey learns entire truth about her future history and Kitty Pryde takes on a new role with Xavier’s original teenage dream.
Bendis delivers drama, action, intrigue and humor but the most important element is heart. A psychic exchange between newly telepathic Jean and the older Beast shows the sense of love and loss these characters are feeling. The storytelling has inspired great moments of nostalgia while still moving the Children of the Atom forward. There’s just a sense of the writer’s love and awe of these classic characters, their history and their relationships. I think I was in a psychic rapport with Bendis and Stuart Immomen as I read this arc!
In these first five chapters Bendis has established the new mutant order with new leaders, new agendas, new mutants, new powers and the potential for exciting new directions. X-Men really is All-New.
This week’s New Avengers #34 is the final issue of the Brian Michael Bendis era. 8 years ago Bendis took over Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and made me love the Avengers again!
Avengers Disassembled: Here’s where it all began again. He blew up Avengers mansion, blew away team members and made prodigal fans like me take notice and remember why we love Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. It was more than stunts for shock value. There was great drama and emotion as Steve and Tony mourned friends and coped with the truth that one of their own had become the greatest enemy. The team ended but the call would go out again for heroes to assemble!
Enter Spider-Woman: Jessica Drew was lifted out of the comic book void and right into the middle of the action in Breakout in New Avengers #1. Bendis made us fall madly in love with the reborn heroine then pulled the rug out of from under us! Turns out this Jessica was really the Skrull Empress and mastermind of Secret Invasion. The real Jessica came back during that epic and started rebuilding her reputation and life. There were huge action packed events that were building blocks, plots within plots that led to bigger events. Jessica was at the center of them all.
New Avengers Annual #1 courtesy Marvel
Luke Cage Is The MAN: Bendis must have loved the Power Man & Iron Fist series too because he put Cage on the front burner. Luke’s comeback started in the excellent Alias series when he became the love interest of Jessica Jones. In Breakout Luke answered Captain America’s call for help and soon Cap made Luke leader of the New Avengers. The course of true love never runs smooth but Luke, Jessica and their baby became the tortured heart of the series for me.
The Illumanati: A brilliant concept! Turns out there was a secret society of super heroes that had played key roles in major Marvel events through history. The covert alliance of Iron Man, Professor X, Namor, Doctor Strange, Black Bolt and Reed Richards would eventually shatter and ghosts of the past would come back to haunt them.
Love to HATE Norman Osborn: One of Spidey’s greatest enemies became Marvel’s most powerful villain. The former Green Goblin’s rise to power began when he started running the Thunderbolts. In the aftermath of Secret Invasion Osborn seized power with control of the Avengers and SHIELD, which he renamed HAMMER. The Dark Reign began with a madman disguised as a hero (the Iron Patriot) with his own Dark Avengers and Dark X-Men. Osborn’s obsession for power led to an invasion of Asgard in SIEGE.and that was his downfall – and we were reminded just how bat—- crazy Norman really is!
New Avengers #1 courtesy Marvel
Who’s An Avenger? Bendis said what a lot of fans had been saying for years – if the Avengers are the best and most powerful heroes then why aren’t Marvel’s biggest guns on the team! He did something about it! Wolverine, Luke Cage, Thing and Doctor Strange were assembled along with the tragic powerhouse, the Sentry. Daredevil, Iron Fist would later join the team. Hawkeye’s lost love Mockingbird even returned.
I could go on and on but I will end here with a huge thank you to Brian Michael Bendis for an incredible run and for making me love the Avengers again!
New Avengers #34 is out this week! Thank you and good luck with the X-Men!
2013 will be the Age of Ultron! Brian Michael Bendis and Bryan Hitch reunite to reinvent the classic Avengers villain in a 10 issue limited series kicking off in March. Hitch draws the first five issues. Carlos Pacheco and Brian Peterson complete the second half of the series. Bendis and Executive Editor Tom Brevoort talked about the scope and impact on the entire universe on Marvel.com.
“Age of Ultron is about Ultron, one of our biggest villains ever, finally fulfilling his destiny, which is taking the Earth. From the very first page, Ultron has taken the Marvel Universe and everything is changed. There is a shocking amount of destruction and devastation. It started in Avengers, but it’s meant to be a Marvel Universe book. It starts everyone,” said Bendis, “This was never supposed to be my last Avengers story, it was always meant to be a Marvel Universe event.”
Age of Ultron #1 courtesy Marvel
In past events we’ve seen the slow buildup of the enemy. The writer explains that this time – it’s very different: “What would it be like to wake up one morning and have one of the Marvel Universe’s biggest villains have just taken over? How will people react?”
“This isn’t a story where the Skrulls are invading. We cut right to the chase. We’re already past that and Ultron is already here. He’s already put his footprints on the landscape. You’re immediately thrust into the heart of crazy events and things are going a million miles an hour,” adds Brevoort.
Age of Ultron #1 courtesy Marvel
The editor and writer confirmed this happens in continuity in the contemporary Marvel NOW! Marvel Universe.
You probably won’t need the back story but the creators say the seeds of this epic go back to the first arc of Mighty Avengers by Brian and Frank Cho, but the most direct prologue is Avengers #12.1, aka a Free Comic Book Day issue.
Age of Ultron #1 courtesy Marvel
“Tony Stark knew the next time Ultron came back we wouldn’t be ready. This is that time,” said Bendis.
As soon as you say Ultron you immediately think of Vision, Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne but the new threat from the metal madman will affect every Marvel hero.
“It’s fair to say this is an Avengers Vs. X-Men level event. That doesn’t mean we won’t be doing other things later in 2013, but it’s Brian, Bryan, Brandon, Carlos and all the ingredients needed for a big deal project,” said Brevoort.
“If you go back to the earliest Ultron stuff, he has severe daddy issues, even for a Marvel character, and they all have daddy issues. His logic is that the only thing standing in the way of the Earth being what it can be is humanity. I’m kind of obsessed with artificial intelligence in the real world and why people are scared of it. If there were a Marvel Singularity, it would be from Ultron. This is the moment technology takes over in a hostile way,” said Bendis.
Age of Ultron #1 courtesy Marvel
“To write a story like this is incredibly scary, because Ultron coming at us with everything he has is the end of the Marvel Universe. We’re doing it,” said Bendis, “This ending is a whopper. And I’ll go ahead and say it: You can’t guess it. I’m involved in it and even I am going ‘Really?'”
“I could not be more excited for this book to hit the stands. Literally not a day has gone by over the last year where people haven’t asked me when it was coming. I know that people are looking forward to it, so to finally debut it and for it to be, I imagine, much more than people thought it was going to be, is great. It’s beautiful. It takes one of Marvel’s classic villains to a level he’s never been before, takes the heroes to a place they’ve never had to go, and ends in a way you will never guess,” said Bendis.
Age of Ultron begins with 3 issues in March 2013. The team confirmed tie-in issues in current series and some limited tie-in series.
She’s the girl we all love. Jean Grey is the beautiful and tragic one that got away…until now.
Jean and the other original X-Men are brought into the Marvel Now in this week’s All-New X-Men #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen. Imagine Jean’s reaction when she learns now her life and death and life and death has turned out.
Jean’s return has been teased for years but the idea of the original pre-Phoenix Jean was a surprise (to this geek anyway.)
Bendis talked with Marvel.com about how he sees this Jean Grey of the past.
“I think she’s the quintessential X-Man. I think that’s why everyone gravitates to her so much. Her powers are unique; her powers are something she has to work on, something she has to control. Every time her powers build, it sets a new set of problems for her, and at the same time, a new set of goals and challenges that make her a better hero, And we know, as fans, that she has met with tragedy a couple of times, because of the rocky road of the mutants and the X-Men. In this story that I’m telling, we’re going to meet a Jean that is fully aware of everything that has happened to her, more than any of the other X-Men, and now we get to see how that information will inform her choices as a human, and as a mutant, and as a person, and as a girl going forward.
It’s a very interesting challenge as a writer. I literally cannot stop writing her. It is absolutely fascinating. We know that Jean is a sweetheart, and we also know that Jean has an incredible edge to her. How will that edge manifest itself, knowing everything that she knows about the destiny of her life?”
All-New X-Men #5 courtesy Marvel
This is perhaps the biggest reveal – this Jean is not just pre-Phoenix but this is Jean before her mutant power manifested.
“I don’t want to spoil too much, but when we meet Jean in this story, she is specifically brought here when she’s not telepathic, so it would make it more palpable for her to understand what’s happening. But the event of bringing her here unlocks her telepathy earlier than it had prior. She gets a shock to the system discovering that Scott Summers killed Professor Charles Xavier, and that she had died. She is witness to everything at once, so it’s not just elements of her life that is shocking her, it’s the accumulation of all of it.
It’s literally like reading a Wikipedia page as fast as you can. It’s not just the facts of her life, but it is experiencing all of the emotions at once. Love from someone like Wolverine that she cannot reciprocate, to discover the rise and fall and rise and fall of Scott Summers, all of this happens to her in a flash. That I think is going to be the most shocking thing. It’s literally just her seeing Scott Summers standing next to Magneto. Remember, when they were 16, Magneto was Hitler. That’s what we’re gunning for.”
All-New X-Men #1 courtesy Marvel
I loved this next question and response because I remember the relationship between Jean and Ororo during the Chris Claremont era. How will young Jean react to the modern-day X-women like Storm who was adult Jean’s closest friend.
“And that’s not a best friendship that teenage Jean can reciprocate right now. But what you do get is her gravitating very strongly to Kitty Pryde because they are very much of the same cloth. And that’s what I’m saying: Jean Grey is now Jewish because I’m writing her [Laughs]. No, I’m joking. But it’s not just the other females. It’s a smorgasbord of species and mutations. Remember the original five X-Men, they’re all still pretty human looking, but walk into the Wolverine and the X-Men book, and half those kids are alien looking, if not full on alien. So it certainly is an eye opener.”
Bendis talks about how knowing Jean’s future history is part of the challenge of writing this young Jean in the Marvel Now.
“She is the one that everyone wants back the most, and what’s great about this situation. She is the most interesting of the group. They’re all interesting, but because she will have the knowledge. Even if she tells them, “here’s what happens to us,” they’re not going to feel it like she feels it. She is just so interesting to write, Most of us that have read a Jean Grey story know that her dark side is a real thing, and seeing her pushed to limits like this will be interesting for people to see. Will she hold it together? Does she want to hold it together?”
All-New X-Men #1 arrives this week! For more of his interview here’s the Marvel.com link.
Will a blast from the past reshape the future of Marvel’s mutants? In All-New X-Men #1 Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen bring the original five teen mutants from the past in the Marvel Now. Bendis and X-Men Editor Nick Lowe talk about the time twist and how it will affect the mutants on Marvel.com.
In many ways All-New X-Men is a twist on Chris Claremont’s Day of Future Past. Scott, Jean, Hank, Bobby and Warren of the past have arrived in what to them is a horrific future. Their mentor is dead. Cyclops is in prison for the murder. Anti-mutant hate is raging. The X-Men are without a leader. How will the meeting of past and present X-Men affect the mutant and Marvel universe?
“I am fascinated by the power and responsibility of abusing time travel for your own selfish purposes. I do believe it will create a butterfly effect,” Bendis said, “something that happens in All New X-Men will create a cosmic stir.”
After Schism – Logan rebuilt the a school for mutants. I’m a huge fan of Wolverine and the X-Men by Jason Aaron. The staff and students of the Jean School will be front and center in the new book.
“The time traveling X-Men will be trained in the Wolverine school is different and unique ways,” Bendis said, “Hate is very interesting to write but someone appreciating you for your differences will be explored.”
All-New X-Men #2 courtesy Marvel
Bendis revealed that the core of the new book is not just old X-Men.
“There’s a lot more going on in the book than just the five coming here,” he said. “A lot of it has to do with modern day Cyclops and who his alliances are with. That will take shape very quickly in the first issue — a very new X-Men idea. What he’s going to do is a completely different shape akin to when the Avengers moved from Avengers Mansion to Avengers Tower.” “There’s new X-Men. We’re not calling it ‘All-New X-Men’ for nothing. There are all new X-Men debuting in our first issue. Brand new characters, you’re welcome Fox. They’re going to be representing a new look at mutants … a very modern take. All this is going on in every issue going forward.”
During his Avengers run Bendis’s stories (“No More Mutants” in House of M, The Dark X-Men and formation of Utopia in Dark Reign) had a huge impact on the mutants. Expect Bendis’s X-Men stories to affect the entire Universe. The
“I want to make the X-Men a part of the Marvel Universe proper,”he said. “you’ll see the X-Men interacting with The Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy.”
This is exciting news. The mutants have a stellar (pardon the pun) tradition of conflicts with alien races (The Shi’ar, The Brood, The Skrulls) and there’s a rich history of family connections (The Starjammers, Vulcan, Phoenix – Jean and Rachel, Deathbird) with those alien empires. Bendis is writing a brand new Guardians of the Galaxy series. Maybe we’ll revisit the infamous M’Krann Crystal?
Bendis said to watch out for a certain shapeshifter!
“A very big, positioned antagonist is going to be Mystique,” Bendis said. “She’s going to be very interested in the past X-Men coming here.”
If you thought Uncanny X-Men and Cyclops’s Extinction Team were extinct…think again! Brian Michael Bendis and Chris Bachalo relaunch Uncanny X-Men for the Marvel Now in February 2013. It was confirmed today on Marvel.com.
It appears Cyclops may not trying to make up for his actions in Avengers vs. X-Men. The new mutant population boom has the fallen leader inspired to save his race – by any means necessary. Magneto, Emma Frost and Magik join Scott on his missions to recruit young mutants and protect them from a world that fears and hates them.
“You will discover in the very first issue of ALL-NEW X-MEN exactly where Scott Summers’ head is at. Of all the X-Men that feel it is their job to further the legacy of Charles Xavier, no one feels it more strongly than Scott Summers.
Scott Summers himself is not only trying to save these kids but he is trying to train them and get them ready for what he feels is coming mutant revolution These new students represent his only hope for true redemption. And his only hope to make the world the way he really thinks it should be.”
All-New X-Men #1 courtesy Marvel
The new Uncanny X-Men follows after All-New X-Men, both written by Bendis. The writer reveals which is the flagship and how the books connect to Wolverine and the X-Men by Jason Aaron.
“I feel the audience decides what is or is not a flagship title, but I will say that UNCANNY X-MEN will be the one-stop shop for these very important characters in the mutant [corner of the] Marvel Universe and the Marvel Universe proper. I’m very lucky that I get to write ALL NEW X-MEN and UNCANNY X-MEN at the same time. I can examine this fascinating part of the Marvel Universe from vastly different angles.
I can’t think of a time where the mutant part of the Marvel Universe has been more exciting. Every character is so complex and there are so many characters interacting. Literally anything could happen,
It is not unlike the job I had writing NEW AVENGERS and DARK AVENGERS at the same time, even though this is not DARK X-MEN.”
Bendis revealed that the new Uncanny X-Men came out of story planning for AvX.
I love this response from Bendis comparing the friends and family aspect in Earth’s Mightiest Heroes versus the Children of the Atom.
“Absolutely. If the Avengers are a family, then UNCANNY X-MEN is a very, very, very dysfunctional family. But these characters really do need each other. And some of them love each other. And some of them don’t.”
Avengers vs X-Men #11 courtesy Marvel
Even though I love Jean I’ve said before that Emma Frost is the best thing to happen to Scott Summers. Bendis confirms that Cyke and Emma are over.
“The romance is done. They are not together anymore romantically. It’s pretty hard to come back from what they went through in Avengers Vs. X-Men.Things were said, powers were stolen, and as we will discover in the very first issues of UNCANNY X-MEN, some things happen between them that cannot be taken back.
And because they are Scott and Emma, this breakup is going to take a while. And it’s not going to be pretty, but fun to write.”
Magneto has been the ultimate X-Men enemy, headmaster of Xavier’s and in recent years an ally loyal to Scott. I love Bendis’s teasing answer to the question: Is Magneto reformed?
“What you are going to see with Magneto is a very specific new chapter in his life. At the last Marvel [creative summit] we were talking about the fact that we often break our heroes but never do much to our villains. We would put the Fantastic Four through the ringer but Doctor Doom is always Doctor Doom. I gave that conversation a lot of thought.
What happens in the pages of UNCANNY X-MEN will establish a very bold, new chapter for Magneto.”
Bendis said he’s creating brand new mutant characters for that will be front and center with the main cast. I’m always excited for the debut of new mutants. I won’t name names but some work, some don’t.
The big question for me: Cyclops’s new headgear?
For the entire interview here’s the Marvel.com link.
All-New X-Men #1 debuts next week! Uncanny X-Men #1 hits in February!
Marvel tease machine rolls on with a new one! This will mean 3 Marvel Now books with “UNCANNY” in the title. Rick Remender and John Cassaday have launched Uncanny Avengers. Sam Humphries and Ron Garney will relaunch a brand new Uncanny X-Force.
Brian Michael Bendis (All-New X-Men) and Chris Bachalo will launch a new Uncanny ? book in February 2013. What will it be? Kieron Gillen just wrote the finale of a second volume of Uncanny X-Men. Maybe Marvel just can’t do without that classic title? The second volume was about Cyclops’s Extinction Team. All-New X-Men is being called THE flagship mutant book starring the original five students of Professor X. Perhaps this new Uncanny X-Men will be Bendis’s version of New Avengers or maybe even a mutant Illuminati?
What I hope it will be? The redemption of Scott Summers. Cyclops and Emma were affected by events in the Bendis Avengers run (House of M: Decimation, The Void, Dark Reign) so he owes them?
Daredevil: End of Days #1 was the brutal and dark first chapter of the long awaited final story of The Man Without Fear. Brian Michael Bendis and David Mack write. Klaus Janson and Bill Sienkewicz draw. We devour. Issue #2 is out this week. Reporter Ben Urich is on a mission to write the last Daredevil story based on one name uttered by Matt Murdock.
Daredevil: End of Days #2 courtesy Marvel
Alex Maleev’s cover and the solicit reveal the Kingpin has been murdered. Klaus Janson’s art shows Ben Urich sinking into the darkest underbelly of the Marvel Universe after Daredevil’s biggest secret and it looks like he’ll pay a personal price for his story.
Daredevil: End of Days #2 courtesy Marvel
For a look at the first issue and hear from the creators about the last Daredevil story click here. For my review of issue one click here.
