She was once called a “little snowflake” but that reputation has been burned away and you could call Illyana Rasputin a devil child! Magik is one of the few mutant teleporters alive and she’s a mistress of the demonic arts – that makes her a powerful ally of Cyclops’s team but a dangerous wild card!
Brian Michael Bendis and Chris Bachalo will unleash Magik in Uncanny X-Men #1. Bendis tells Marvel.com why Scott wants Illyana on his revolution team: Continue reading X-Men’s Magik Touch
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
Uncanny X-Men is back in February 2013. The revolution is on as Cyclops, Magneto, Emma Frost and Magik are recruiting new mutants in All-New X-Men. The mission continues in Uncanny. The former Phoenix Five hosts will star in their own series in 2013 by Brian Michael Bendis and Chris Bachalo. Bendis and Editor Nick Lowe previewed the new volume of Uncanny X-Men on Marvel.com.
“In All-New X-Men, we’ve been able to lay out what the X-Men universe looks like now. We’ve shown in a way what Uncanny X-Men will look like. After the first arc of All-New X-Men concludes with issue #6, Uncanny kicks off with Cyclops, Magneto, Emma Frost and Magik trying to save new mutants across the world.”
“Chris Claremont made X-Men a revolutionary piece about the differences between us. Times have changed and we’re going to see where that fits now.”
“We have existing characters at their darkest points mixing with fresh new characters looking at the Marvel Universe in a new way.”
“When I was doing two Avengers titles, they succeeded because they existed in the same world but were so different. That’s what we’re getting with All-New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men.”
“I’m a big believer that when people go through large changes in life they alter their appearance, whether they realize it or not. Super hero uniforms are a great way to explore that. This is a great way to express that Cyclops, Emma and Magneto are in a very different place with a very different perspective. Cyclops is the face of what he calls the mutant revolution, taking a harder stance than ever before.”
The former White Queen has evolved from villainess to hero. Bendis says Frost’s signature look will evolve.
“Emma Frost has evolved immensely over the last 10-15 years. Once she was just this outfit and this look, now there’s so much going on with her. She’s taking a leap into a different direction, and I think her costume design will be the most controversial. It’s no longer just how guys wanted to see her. It’s who she sees herself as. I teach. If I showed up wearing Emma’s outfit, people would be startled. But I could pull it off.”
Bendis teased a major villain for the new series:
“This book will have a Doctor Doom level villain who I think is a surprise. I don’t think they’ve ever been a villain in an X-Men book, but there’s a connection that makes sense.”
Magneto, Emma Frost, Magik and now Cyclops have been heroes and been branded as villains. The theme of who is seen as a good or bad guy will be explored in the new characters for the series.
“Among the new mutants that show up, there will be villains. New powers cause a lot of chaos in the Marvel Universe. Not everybody is ready to have these powers and some want to get back at the world.”
“Many people reading Uncanny X-Men will think Cyclops is the villain.”
Many fans assumed All-New X-Men would be the only new X-book and the flagship.
“The last page of Uncanny X-Men #1 is one of my favorite things I’ve laid out at Marvel. It reveals the reason for the book and completely shifts the X-Men universe.”
For every Gambit there is a Maggot. Remember him? One of the biggest challenges of writing the X-book is creating new mutants.
“You’re very aware as a writer debuting new characters, especially mutants, that the first images of them is being judged next to years of another character. People immediately want to know why this character is better than that one. You need to show a lot right away about why they are different and why you should care.”
“When Peter Parker got bit by a spider, he was excited. When Miles Morales got bit, he was scared. Different people react differently to being given power. Do you really want it or not?”
“Coming up with unique powers is the hardest thing.”
“I’ve been collecting ideas for powers and characters for years, waiting for a place to put them. When I found out I was writing X-Men, I pulled out my file.”
“With training, one power can become something else. Look at Iceman. What are the limits of power?”
Bendis’s two books are about the opposing sides of how to best protect the future of the mutant race. He teases how they teams and book will crossover:
“Uncanny and All-New will intersect once in awhile. Where the two teams are physically and emotionally could not be further away, but there are some places where they have to connect. In issue #9 of All-New and issue #3 of Uncanny, Cyclops and his team show up at the Jean Grey School unexpected. You see it from both perspectives. Something huge will happen that affects both book.”
“The Avengers will show up in Uncanny X-Men with a lot to say about what’s going on and their responsibility for it.”
“Uncanny X-Men is darker than All-New X-Men, but it’s not Dark Avengers. Everybody in that book was nuts. Some people reading it may feel that way, others will see Cyclops and his goal and be rooting for him, because that goal is full redemption. There’s nothing more noble than that.”
In All-New X-Men #3 we saw Erik giving Cyclops some hard lessons about his new role and for his actions during AvX:
“Magneto is an interesting character. He’s made every mistake and given into every villainous desire. He’s done wrong. There are people in this would who get to a certain age and realize they’re the villain of the story and run around trying to make up for it. There’s some of that going on with Magneto. He didn’t do right by his kids and is trying to make up for it in a way with Scott and Emma.”
“Magneto is the one who could fall the farthest without realizing he’s fallen. He’s also a constant reminder to Cyclops of what happens if he makes the wrong decision one more time.”
I believed Cyclops would be on a road to redemption after AvX but Scott is becoming more and more like Magneto.
“He’s making a lot of noise that’s making him very popular with some people and rubbing others the wrong way. There’s always somebody who talks about peace and somebody who takes a more radical stance. Neither is right, neither is wrong, each has their day. I think it’s fascinating to have the lead of the book being equally terrifying and empowering to those around him.”
Logan rebuilt Xavier’s. Scott is using a haunt of Wolverine’s past as his new base.
“Using the Weapon X base as a school is taking something horrible and turning it into something positive. Mutants will never go looking for Cyclops in the Weapon X base.”
A fan asked if Scott picked the Weapon X location because he’s angry at Logan for naming the new school after Jean.
“I think the opposite. Wolverine is angrier at Cyclops than Cyclops is at Wolverine. You’ll be seeing Wolverine/Cyclops interaction in the crossover I mentioned. I think Cyclops knows Weapon X haunts Wolverine so he wants to make it something better. If Wolverine ever does see it, he might be quite touched, though Cyclops doesn’t ever want him to see it.”
“Although if Cyclops threw out Wolverine’s diary that would have solved all his problems this whole time…”
I was afraid Cyclops and Emma were going to be killed off in AvX.
“In early talks with Brian, I was very pleased when he showed interest in having a book with Cyclops, Magneto and Emma as leads. I was glad he felt these ideas warranted further exploration,” explained Lowe, “When we were planning Schism, we didn’t have the plans for All-New X-Men, but seeing how it has come together is very gratifying.”
“It’s good to have a plan and there a lot of readers who like to know there is one. Then other things start happening and you go ‘Does my plan fit?’ It’s like your day: You have a plan for your day and then life happens. Sometimes your day goes well, sometimes it completely gets ruined. As a writer you want to be open to either, because both can make for good stories.”
“Due to the drama with the Phoenix Force, all of these characters’ powers have been broken or shifted. Magik actually finds herself more empowered. She has more control over Limbo and other elements of her powers. The cost of that power will be a big story point moving forward. Also, one of the students immediately falls in love with her.”
Chris Bachalo has been a frequent X-Men artist and key to co-creating new mutants. Bachalo worked with Scott Lobdell on the creation of Generation X and new looks for the X-Men in the Age of Apocalypse.
Uncanny X-Men #1 by Bendis and Bachalo arrives in February.
By Editor
Spoiler Warning:
This review/post reveals key elements of AvX: Consequences #4 and #5.
Seriously.
Here is comes.
Kieron Gillen wrapped the second volume of Uncanny X-Men but he has more mutant stories to tell that propelling fan favorites into the Marvel Now. Gillen’s Extinction Team have been the stars of AvX: Consequences. This 5-part epilogue to Avengers vs. X-Men reveals how the Phoenix Five are facing the consequences of their actions while possessed by the cosmic entity.
In Chapter 4 Cyclops submits himself to Tony Stark as a cosmic lab rat. Scott has been playing the martyr but is he really playing possum to outwit the genius?
Abigail Brand of S.W.O.R.D. has been keeping secrets. She’s hiding fugitive members of the Phoenix Five and she reveals that she’s more than a green haired alien. I really hope Brand might pop up in Gillen’s upcoming Iron Man run.
If you’re wondering about Hope and Namor’s roles in the Marvel Now this is the issue! Hope and the King of Atlantis share an exchange in the underwater ruins of Utopia. In one line Gillen captures the personality of Namor and why I love him so much.
Storm and Colossus fought it out in Brian Wood’s final issue of X-Men but here Peter and Ororo share a bitter reunion. Colossus may be free of his demons but his former little snowflake left him filled with hate. I know that Peter will be part of Cable and X-Force and I can’t help but think of when Nathan recruited a rage filled Warpath to join his first incarnation of the team.
Wolverine comes back to prison to deliver sad news to Cyclops. I really enjoyed this encounter. After the bitter fallout of Schism and AvX I think Gillen is setting the stage for a reconcilation between Scott and Logan. (I wrote this part of the post before I read issue #5)
I think the most exciting plot springboard is when the fugitive Magneto finally makes his appearance. Erik is back playing the role we all know he can do best: the villain.
This week’s final chapter picks right up with a new mutant unholy trinity: Magneto, Magik and Danger. The clues have been there the entire series but I wanted to believe Scott Summers was accepting his role as the martyr and on the road to redemption.
Logan said it best when he tells the Avengers, “Scott is gone.”
Magneto, Magik and Danger stage a daring jailbreak and execute Cyclops’s severe punishment on his prison tormentors. Scott leaves a note for Logan. The letter sums up what Kieron Gillen has pulled off: the role reversal of Wolverine and Cyclops. The bad boy who did the dirty work to keep mutants safe is now the heir to Professor Xavier’s legacy of teaching young mutants. The former golden boy is now the self-appointed and ruthless defender, protector and avenger for the mutant race.
From the preview art for All-New X-Men #1 we know Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magneto and Magik will be part of Brian Michael Bendis’s Marvel Now X-Men era. Marvel has teased another Bendis book (with Chris Bachalo on art) with the simple word: Uncanny.
From the finale of AvX: Consequences #5 it looks like my theory of an Avenging X-Men may not be that far off! You may have read my earlier op/ed about how AvX should have been called Operation Hate Cyclops. This week’s finale may cement the hate for some of you.
All-New X-Men #1 is out November 14th. Maybe we’ll find out then?
By Editor
Kieron Gillen has been keeping secrets all along via three manipulative members of the diverse cast of Uncanny X-Men: Volume 2. Gillen delivers a satifying ending to the Uncanny X-Men series for a second time. The writer masterfully gives us six characters in 3 powerful revelations. Cyclops is imprisoned in a SHIELD facility when Kate Kildare, his superhero PR specialist, pays a visit. Gillen delivers an Ace he’s been holding since the series relaunched and it’s a helluva reveal. Kate’s real identity is a shocker and could lead to a whole new adventure for Scott and perhaps his greatest enemy.
Unit may be my favorite creation (he first appeared in S.W.O.R.D.) of Gillen’s run – I have already pleaded with the writer to use the android against Tony Stark in his upcoming Marvel Now relaunch of Iron Man. Unit and Danger’s final confrontation is beautiful and cruel. Those last panels of Unit are a perfectly chilling sendoff of the creature Gillen called aptly called a hybrid of C3PO and Hannibal Lecter.
Gillen managed to make the most bizarre brother/sister dynamic in comics even more tragic and strange during this Extinction team era. Illyana confronts a brooding Colossus on the ravaged Phoenix farms in Siberia. Magik takes Peter to Limbo for one last act and revelation that leaves him free of the Cyttorak and vowing to kill her. Illyana’s last line is cold and demonstrates the little snowflake has long been burned away. Colossus will turn up again in Cable and X-Force but I would love to see where Gillen would have taken Peter next.
Uncanny X-Men #20 could have packed in Storm, Psylocke, Magneto and Hope but their fates will be featured in other X-books. I was satisfied with the three big reveals. The only missing? Where was Emma Frost?
By Editor
Brian Michael Bendis will bring the original five X-Men into the Marvel Now. How will the teen Scott, Jean, Hank, Warren and Bobby react to seeing how Xavier’s dream turned nightmare?
The original five may be the focus on the All-New X-Men book but this preview art by Stuart Immonen stars the modern day X-Men formerly known as the Phoenix Five.
Cyclops, Emma Frost and Magneto may no longer be under the influence of the Phoenix Force but they still looked ominous as the confront the mystery woman. Bendis has confirmed this is not Rachel Summers.
The other preview piece shows Cyke and Magik in a war zone protecting a young man in glasses we’ve seen in an earlier #1 cover.
Are these new mutants?
Captain America and Wolverine are trying to heal the wounds of AvX with the creation of Uncanny Avengers but maybe Cyke, Emma and Magneto are not willing to give in the the new world order of the Marvel Now?
All-New X-Men #1 arrives November 7th.
By Editor
AvX: Vs. #3 gives you more of the battle you didn’t see in Avengers vs. X-Men. Two Russian femme fatales face off! Black Widow is Marvel’s deadliest super spy. Magik is a mutant sorceress who can access the power of a dimension of demons. Christopher Yost, Terry and Rachel Dodson give you more of the battle of the Russian born heroines.
Let me say first that I loved Marvel’s The Avengers. I commend Joss Whedon for making the Black Widow work. Natasha is known for her Widow’s Bite. We kind of saw in the movie but it was never blatantly referenced. Black Widow is armed with bracelets that fire energy blasts – her bite. She kind of blasted one of the Chitauri in the big battle. In this AvX Vs. #3 preview art we see Natasha use her blasters.
I was reminded of that my by friend and fan Mitch and when I saw this awesome interior preview art (courtesy of Comic Book Resources in a recent Axel-In-Charge column) of AvX Vs #3 by Terry Dodson. In this issue of the ‘all fights’ series the Russian superspy takes on the Russian mutant sorceress.
Natasha vs Illyana doesn’t seem like a fair fight. Magik is the queen of a demon dimension. These preview pages don’t look good for Natasha but never underestimate the fighting and survival skills of the Widow.Ultimately I want the X-Men to win but I’m picking Natasha to win this one.
This issue also features Magik’s big brother, Colossus, against Ben Grimm of the Fantastic Four in a tale by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness.
By Editor
Let me say first that I loved Marvel’s The Avengers. I commend Joss Whedon for making the Black Widow work. Natasha is known for her Widow’s Bite. We kind of saw in the movie but it was never blatantly referenced. Black Widow is armed with bracelets that fire energy blasts – her bite. She kind of blasted one of the Chitauri in the big battle.
I was reminded of that my by friend and fan Mitch and when I saw this awesome interior preview art (courtesy of Comic Book Resources in this week’s Axel-In-Charge column) of AvX Vs #3 by Terry Dodson. In this issue of the ‘all fights’ series the Russian superspy takes on the Russian mutant sorceress.
Natasha vs Illyana doesn’t seem like a fair fight. Magik is the queen of a demon dimension. These preview pages don’t look good for Natasha but never underestimate the fighting and survival skills of the Widow.
Ultimately I want the X-Men to win but I’m picking Natasha to win this one.
By Editor