This wound up being an unexpectedly stressful week as a family emergency had me racing back from the city on Tuesday. For the rest of the week, i was splitting my time between working remotely and being over at the hospital as situation was evaluated and treatments were worked out. It really wasn’t a bit of fun. Hopefully, though, the worst should be over now, and we can get back to business as usual around here. And fortunately, having spent so much time working remotely during the lockdown, it was relatively familiar territory and didn’t keep us from sending a bunch of books (including
What’s the protocol for mutants being allowed to be on non-mutant teams? It seems like Wolverine is allowed to be wherever as long as it doesn’t effect his solo, and Storm gets to be an Avenger in this new era, but could Gabby Kinney be a Champion? Could Sunspot be a Guardian of the Galaxy? It doesn’t have to be those specific mutants, I’m just wondering if writers in other corners of the Marvel universe are allowed to play with whatever X-Men they want if there are no plans for them at the time.
Television animation eventually recovered from the restrictive censorship of the 1970s and 1980s to become extraordinarily viable in the 1990s and 2000s. I have chronicled the whole thing in my non-fiction books.
The Elseworlds 80 Page Giant had more that a couple of copies that made it out. All the UK copies were sent out slightly earlier through Diamond and were never recalled. No one realised it was an issue for weeks, copies sat on the shelves in the UK. I may have been one of the earliest people to realise it was an issue when US retailers complained they had not had their copies while I had already run a review on Usenet newsgroups. Sharpish when we all realised what had gone down, I went to Forbidden Planet in London, picked up 40 of their unsold copies (left about 20) and proceeded to sell them, initially $10 each and by the end $200 each to Americans. I gave one to Kyle Baker for free. It paid for my honeymoon and a new bathroom.
Thanks for sharing the books that survived your culling! Marvel got obliterated! And this just reinforces my desire to read those old Batman and the Outsiders.
I would like to know how the creation of the From the Ashes teams worked, especially Exceptional X-Men. Was the decision to specifically have Kitty and Emma lead a new team of young mutants an editorial decision or an Eve Ewing decision? I mean, there are several other mutants who have also been teachers in the past, right? Dani Moonstar, Karma, Northstar, Husk, Rachel Summers, Warpath... well, a lot
Are solo books limited to being just that, focused on a single, solo lead, or can we except smaller titles with duos akin to the Black Widow & Hawkeye book that's currently out?
Hoping you can clarify something for me: how is putting Storm - one of the most recognizable members of the X-Men, who's been in practically every piece of X-Men media for decades - on the Avengers meant to help the X-Men line? Which X-books do you expect Avengers readers to pick up in light of this, considering Storm isn't going to be in any of them? How is this any different from her being shipped off to Wakanda and kept out of key X-Men stories for years on end?
A solo book where, according to the writer, she's off fighting gods and going into space. Feel free to explain how that's supposed to generate interest in X-Men titles.
Is the 2021 miniseries Kang the Conqueror (subtitle: Only Myself Left to Conquer) canonical? It's one of my favorite stories with the character ever but I could never tell if it was canon to the main universe. It does initially seem to present some retcons that place it firmly in an elseworlds/what if scenario, but it's also such a self contained/insular story that I could see it just being something that happened in our universe that just never got brought up before or after
Also, wanna join my party for the new multiverse RPG? We need a 5th player
You’ll most likely be fielding questions and comments about the new X-titles once they hit the racks, but for myself, I’d love to see your take on the upcoming DC Versus Marvel Omnis when those go on sale! I was only peripherally involved in putting them together but was definitely a participant in the collected issues’ original publication, so I can attest to the omnibuses being big hunks o’ fun (IMO, of course). Were you involved in QC’ing the omnis on Marvel’s end, or in on the creation of any of those original DC/Marvel crossovers, Tom?
How much of an editorial workload difference is there between doubling the size of an issue for one month and adding a 13th issue for that year? And is one generally more successful than another?
What’s the protocol for mutants being allowed to be on non-mutant teams? It seems like Wolverine is allowed to be wherever as long as it doesn’t effect his solo, and Storm gets to be an Avenger in this new era, but could Gabby Kinney be a Champion? Could Sunspot be a Guardian of the Galaxy? It doesn’t have to be those specific mutants, I’m just wondering if writers in other corners of the Marvel universe are allowed to play with whatever X-Men they want if there are no plans for them at the time.
Cyclops was a Champion, so that’s okay, evidently.
Television animation eventually recovered from the restrictive censorship of the 1970s and 1980s to become extraordinarily viable in the 1990s and 2000s. I have chronicled the whole thing in my non-fiction books.
Does Rasputin IV appear in this new phase of the X-Men, or was she shelved?
The Elseworlds 80 Page Giant had more that a couple of copies that made it out. All the UK copies were sent out slightly earlier through Diamond and were never recalled. No one realised it was an issue for weeks, copies sat on the shelves in the UK. I may have been one of the earliest people to realise it was an issue when US retailers complained they had not had their copies while I had already run a review on Usenet newsgroups. Sharpish when we all realised what had gone down, I went to Forbidden Planet in London, picked up 40 of their unsold copies (left about 20) and proceeded to sell them, initially $10 each and by the end $200 each to Americans. I gave one to Kyle Baker for free. It paid for my honeymoon and a new bathroom.
If memory serves, there was a number of pulping books around that time, for one reason or another.
Earth X: Spidey, the book that had a nasty hidden message about outgoing Marvel EIC Bob Harris, was around that time, too.
Were you expecting X-Men fans to be like this?
You’re a very patient person. I hope things are home are good!
Thanks for sharing the books that survived your culling! Marvel got obliterated! And this just reinforces my desire to read those old Batman and the Outsiders.
Hello Tom
I would like to know how the creation of the From the Ashes teams worked, especially Exceptional X-Men. Was the decision to specifically have Kitty and Emma lead a new team of young mutants an editorial decision or an Eve Ewing decision? I mean, there are several other mutants who have also been teachers in the past, right? Dani Moonstar, Karma, Northstar, Husk, Rachel Summers, Warpath... well, a lot
Are solo books limited to being just that, focused on a single, solo lead, or can we except smaller titles with duos akin to the Black Widow & Hawkeye book that's currently out?
Hoping you can clarify something for me: how is putting Storm - one of the most recognizable members of the X-Men, who's been in practically every piece of X-Men media for decades - on the Avengers meant to help the X-Men line? Which X-books do you expect Avengers readers to pick up in light of this, considering Storm isn't going to be in any of them? How is this any different from her being shipped off to Wakanda and kept out of key X-Men stories for years on end?
You are aware that Storm is getting an ongoing series, right?
A solo book where, according to the writer, she's off fighting gods and going into space. Feel free to explain how that's supposed to generate interest in X-Men titles.
... it IS an X-Men title
Any chance you might eventually collect all the Deathlok Chronicles in order at your blog?
Is the 2021 miniseries Kang the Conqueror (subtitle: Only Myself Left to Conquer) canonical? It's one of my favorite stories with the character ever but I could never tell if it was canon to the main universe. It does initially seem to present some retcons that place it firmly in an elseworlds/what if scenario, but it's also such a self contained/insular story that I could see it just being something that happened in our universe that just never got brought up before or after
Also, wanna join my party for the new multiverse RPG? We need a 5th player
So sorry to hear about the family emergency. I hope everything is better now.
Just out of curiousity, who is an editor you really admire their comics and creator casting that you have not had the chance to work directly with?
You’ll most likely be fielding questions and comments about the new X-titles once they hit the racks, but for myself, I’d love to see your take on the upcoming DC Versus Marvel Omnis when those go on sale! I was only peripherally involved in putting them together but was definitely a participant in the collected issues’ original publication, so I can attest to the omnibuses being big hunks o’ fun (IMO, of course). Were you involved in QC’ing the omnis on Marvel’s end, or in on the creation of any of those original DC/Marvel crossovers, Tom?
How much of an editorial workload difference is there between doubling the size of an issue for one month and adding a 13th issue for that year? And is one generally more successful than another?