Jason Aaron’s Wolverine and the X-Men has been pure joy. The eclectic staff and students of the new Jean Grey School are an odd but lovable mix of heroes, egos and misfits.
In X-history, there have been many touching foster father/daughter relationships for Logan but his father/son rapport with Quentin Quire is completely different. The X-Men’s odd couple are hilarious. Logan dragged the arrogant egomaniac to set him straight at the new school. In the upcoming issue #6 Logan takes the telepath on an outrageous field trip.
The stakes are high. The Jean Grey School is in ruins after the Hellfire Club’s assault. Logan and Kid Omega head to deep space to gamble on their future. It’s like a cosmic Casino Royale. What could possibly go wrong?
I love this page by Nick Bradshaw showing Logan and Quenin ready for action in the Vegas of outer space. For more of the X-Men preview images here’s the Comics Newsarama link.
Storm leads a team after one of their own in X-Men #25. Victor Gischler picks up story threads he began way back in X-Men #1. The X-Men Vs. Vampires rivalry heats up again. Jubilee vanished during an European mission and fled with a clan of vampires known as The Forgiven.
I really wanted to share this spectacular and horrific image by Jorge Molina as the X-Men discover a nest of bloodsuckers. This is one of many X-Men title preview images on Comics Newsarama.
X-Men #24 preview art courtesy Marvel.com
I have to commend Gischler for his heartbreaking transformation of Jubilee. The once rollerblading, wise cracking mall rat Jubilation Lee had been on the back burner. I remember when she was Wolverine’s sidekick back when the X-Men were still based in the Australian Outback. The young mutant eventually became a student of Generation X. Jubilee lost her powers in the Decimation, was part of the mutant movement to San Francisco but wouldn’t join the X-Men on Utopia.
The girl with sparks and ability to generate fireworks has become a creature of darkness. Her search for answers and to find her identity is compelling and a metaphor for why we love comics.
Hope Summers jets into action on Marvel.com in a first look at interior art from AvX #0 by Frank Cho. Brian Michael Bendis and Jason Aaron are writing the issue out March 28th.
Jason Aaron talked about how the mutant messiah’s experiences have made her ready for her role in Avengers Vs. X-Men:
“That’s a big question at the opening of the series. Is she prepared? Does she even really know what she’s getting herself into? She was raised by Cable in a time-traveling Lone Wolf and Cub style adventure. She’s been told all her life she’s destined to do something great. But when the Phoenix is involved, a force that can be used for good or that can destroy entire planets, people are always going to be a bit uneasy. In Hope’s mind, she’s ready for whatever’s coming—or at least that what she says. Regardless, her resolve and readiness will be severely tested, all throughout AvX.
A great question from Ben Morse: Does Hope believe she’s the mutant messiah?
“I think at this point there’s no question she’s the mutant messiah. When Hope came back, new mutants came back with her. Just a few, but still, where once there were no new blips on Cerebro, now there are blips. I think people’s faith in her—especially that of Cyclops—has been resoundingly rewarded. But everything that came so far was just the warm-up. Her true destiny still awaits. As for Hope’s feelings, I think she’s still trying to figure out what her role is. She most definitely doesn’t want to just stand around and let herself be defined by other people. She’s going to get out there and figure things out for herself.
AvX #0 courtesy Marvel.com
How does AVX #0 set up Hope for the event:
“I think it establishes her mind-set and relationship with Cyclops. Longtime X-Men fans will see Hope anxious to embrace the destiny that has for so long been teased for her, a destiny of which she seems to have a little bit better understanding. And for fans new to the X-Men who’ve never read a story with Hope in it, hopefully this issue will show them why they should care about her in the first place, why she’s an interesting character, and why she’s totally badass.
You can ready Jason Aaron’s entire interview and more preview art here.
The Cast of X-Men: First Class courtesy Marvel.com
Writer Jane Goldman is Director Matthew Vaughn’s frequent collaborator (Stardust, Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class.) Goldman is not officially on board for the sequel but shared her ideas with Film School Rejects for the next film, Goldman was specifically asked about the addition of Cyclops and Jean Grey.
“You know, I can always make suggestions, and I did last time. Ultimately, those decisions come down to someone other than me,” Goldman said. “Would I, personally? Well, it’s really tricky. I think the route we had gone down with ‘First Class‘ — it’s sort of a question of where to go next, and I think those two characters were very strong, especially having [Michael] Fassbender and [James] McAvoy play them so brilliantly. In a comic sense, I still think there’s room for an X-Men [film] with the original X-Men [Laughs]. In terms of how they fit in this new universe that ‘First Class’ kicked off, I don’t know. I mean, yes, I think there’s room for that. All sorts of ideas have been talked about and Matthew has some particular ideas, and, in this case, all of those decisions will be done through Matthew.”
Simon Kinberg (X-Men: The Last Stand) is currently the only screenwriter on board.
Havok (Alex Summers played by Lucas Till) is the younger brother of Cyclops. If we could forget what happened in X-Men Origins: Wolverine – how cool would it be for Professor X to rescue Scott from the “orphanage” of Nathaniel Essex aka Mister Sinister.
Uncanny X-Men #50 courtesy Marvel
I still hold on to my idea to introduce Lorna Dane aka Polaris. This green haired mistress of magnetism is the daughter on Magneto and becomes Havok’s girlfriend.
Young Romance: The Best of Simon and Kirby’s Romance Comics The men who created Captain America also created the romance comics genre! Fantagraphics collects all the love, schemes, heartbreaks and makeups of the classic comics of a bygone era.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix Saga A woman, two men that love her and the most powerful destructive force in the universe. The tragic heroine Jean Grey fighting a losing battle to control the darkness within her. Cyclops and Wolverine were the two men who’d take on the universe to save her. This is the ultimate X-Men story and one of the most cosmic love stories in comics.
Astonishing X-Men Omnibus This is must pick for two great love stories. Scott Summers and Emma Frost. The stoic leader of the X-Men slowly fell for the ice-cold bad girl turned ally. Kitty Pryde and Peter Rasputin. Not even death could keep them apart. Colossus came back from the dead and finally had sex with his beloved “Katya.” This is Joss Whedon’s romantic, thrilling and game changing X-Men era in one huge collection with stunning art by John Cassady.
New Avengers Annual #1
Jessica Jones and Luke Cage Marvel’s coolest couple is former hero Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. Ex-superhero turned private investigator Jessica was introduced in the series Aliasby Brian Michael Bendis. Former Hero for Hire Luke Cage was her love interest. When Bendis revamped the Avengers, Captain America recruited Luke and Jessica and their baby moved into Avengers HQ. The couple married in the beautiful New Avengers Annual #1. Luke has unbreakable skin but the tough guy went all soft and romantic for the troubled ex-heroine. AKA Jessica Jones based on Alias is in a television pilot stage and could become an ABC series.
Rick Jones and Marlo Chandler this may be an odd choice but I love against all odds love stories. During Peter David’s classic run on The Incredible Hulk he eventually merged Bruce and the Hulk into one being. Rick was the Hulk’s sidekick. Marlo was the Hulk’s girlfriend in Las Vegas back when he was grey and a mob enforcer named Joe Fix-It. Marlo later became best friends with Betty Banner and fell in love with Rick. Not even death could keep them apart. After Marlo’s resurrection they couple were married in Incredible Hulk #418in a sweet but hilarious cameo filled ceremony.
Avengers Vs. X-Men is filled with characters who may switch sides due to conflicting alliances. Wolverine, Beast and Storm are on both teams but I believe they will stand with their fellow mutants. Is there a wild card on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?
I would love to see Mystique play a role in AVX? The shapeshifting villain always has her own agenda and has a track record of infiltrating teams anyone – hero, villain, ally – to execute her goal.
During Mike Carey’s spectacular X-Men run Mystique was part of Rogue’s team only to betray them in Blinded by the Light and became Mister Siniser’s operative in Messiah Complex. Raven ultimately betrayed Sinister because of her own plot within a plot to save her foster daugher. Never underestimate the lengths Raven will take to protect Rogue.
X-Men Annual #1 courtesy Marvel
Cyclops may recruit Mystique to infiltrate the Avengers. During Messiah Complex Scott and Wolverine assembled an X-Force black ops squad to kill the Purifiers. Would Cyclops make a deal with this she-devil? Raven could use her shapeshifting powers to get inside the Avengers and give the X-Men an edge.
Salvador Larroca is one of my favorite creators. The Spanish artist’s style has evolved over several X-Men titles, Invincible Iron Man and does any recall the short lived but beautiful New Universal?
Marvel gave Comic Book Resources several AVX preview covers. This is one of my favorites. Spidey faced a Cyttorak powered foe before in the classic Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut. Looks like Peter Parker will have to fight Colossal Juggernaut now that the X-Man can summon the power of the Cyttorak.
Captain America and Gambit are clashing on the cover too. It’s tough to root for one over the other: the boy scout against the bad boy. Gambit’s luck may have run out on this fight.
AVX: VS. #2 is by Kieron Gillen with art by Larroca and Steve McNiven.
The geek world shuddered when Marvel ditched Uncanny X-Men’s numbering and relaunched with a brand new one after the Schism event. If you’ve been reading Kieron Gillen’s new Uncanny you know why – it’s a very different book because of Cyclops’ mission – to create an Extinction team to maintain peace and protect mutants through a show of power. Captain America demonstrates his own show of force when he arrives on Utopia in Avengers Vs. X-Men #1.
“I’ll be entirely candid here: my entire run has been conceived in order to build towards AvX. I knew that was coming, and I wanted to do everything I could to increase its importance for it. You get people saying how they hate their favorite books derailed for a crossover, and I wanted to avoid that. AvX is the logical endpoint of huge chunks of what I’m doing. I sort of call the process “Steering into a crossover.” I’ve done it with most of my Marvel work — in that if you know something enormous is on the horizon, your story best veer in its direction otherwise it ends up feeling false when you do a story which does tie in. If you’re writing a shared universe book, you want it to help the book rather than hurt it. ” Gillen told Comics Newsarama in their exclusive interview.
Uncanny X-Men #11 courtesy Marvel
“So, yes, it’s no accident that final arc is a team-up to defeat a string of world-level threats. It’s about seeing them together one final time before it all goes bad. It’s also about delineating the fundamental difference between the two groups. And part of me is always trying to at assume some people are only reading my book. I even try to assume that people have only read my book ever, so may not even be aware who the Avengers are. In that case, if they’re going to go to war shortly, I want to introduce them into the narrative before it happens.”
