I honestly think it's a much cheaper choice to ignore that and not explore its consequences for his character. How WOULD Kurt feel in the aftermath after being pushed into a situation where he had to kill or let other mutants be killed? I want to know that, because I agree - in any situation other than this, he should not be killing.
I'd argue that stuff WAS dealt with in the Fall of X, and that UXM 700 left him in an incredibly hopeful and positive place where there really wasn't any reason to still be bitter about that. Krakoa lived, Krakoa WON, all 16 million mutants of Genosha are back, the Spark lives in all of them, and I just don't see why you're ignoring all that and Uncanny Spider-Man actively dealing with his survivor's guilt
Uncanny dealt with survivor's guilt. Fall pushed him into fighting. 700 left him hopeful. He had a very clear arc.
That's not what we're arguing. Breevort's complaint is that he wouldn't have had Kurt killing, much less killing while quipping. I think that it made sense for him to do so with everything that had happened to the mutants and everything Spurrier set up up to that point.
We agree - He shouldn't feel bitter about it, as was written in 700.
But Breevort feels the opposite. And if he feels the opposite, why not take the opportunity to talk about it in the book, and explore Kurt's feelings, instead of just publicly shitting on the work the writers put in during Krakoa just because you're salty that they made a choice with the character. Because I do think that Kurt would have STRONGER feelings about it than was shown in 700, and 700 wasn't enough space to decompress those feelings anyway because a rushed relaunch was coming up.
My points are - So far most of the books are straight up ignoring the shit that happened during Krakoa, which sucks. And bashing the work of other writers is much cheaper than just focusing on writing the books you have now. I just generally feel like Breevort is quicker to critique Krakoa than to compliment FTA, and I think that's very telling of how this relaunch will go.
Glad to see a shout out to Paul at Captain Blue Hen. During my time as one of the hangers on and occasional staff (IIRC, we were dubbed the Blue Blazer Ireegulars, albeit wearing bowling shirts) in the late 90s and early 00s, Paul was always a great guy, both as an owner, boss and human being. And luckily, Joe keeps the legacy of the store high.
I remember going to that store in my VERY early days of collecting - 1988, 1989 or so. I bought a really beat up copy of Fantastic Four #91 for cheap there, and I thought it was so old... funny that it came out only 20 years or so prior. Actually, it must have been 1988 because I remember people talking about how Steve Rogers was The Captain currently.
It’s basically in the same location on Main Street in Newark, although now in a strip mall behind the house on the street where the store used to be. Unless you mean what we used to call “the anti CBH” which is the store in Lancaster that the other original owner kept when they went their own way. I once had to drive to the Lancaster UPS Hub on a Wednesday morning from Newark to pick up a box of books that Diamond shipped to the wrong store. :)
The one I went to, I believe was in a L-shaped shopping center, and I think there was a Service Merchandise store around the corner. I might be confusing the Service Merchandise with a shopping center that had a Toys R Us in Salisbury.
When I was there, the shop was next to a Whole Foods style co-op and a few blocks down main street from the shopping center in Newark where the movie theater was located.
I know it won't happen for some time since it's a "return to basics" to make it easier to onboard new readers but is there any chance we'll address the phoenix stuff from the end of x-men forever, Namely Hope Summers' status, in the Phoenix book down the road? She died and rebirthed the phoenix but also is the phoenix? Seems like Kieron was going for a Father, Son/Messiah, Holy Spirit sort of analogy with in this case it being The Mother (Jean), The Daughter/Messiah (Hope), and the Holy Spirit (Phoenix Force). Did she die and get taken with the white hot room? IS she alive but in the white hot room? is she a part of the phoenix? is she the phoenix? I know the story had nothing to do with your editorial or writers so you've been handed this status quo but I guess I'm asking what your interpretation is?
I know there was a change of editorial and teams right after but it's still sad that a teenage girl gave her life to save reality and nobody in-universe, not even her family, seems to care that she's gone. Hell, the most she got from her father was a nod and he didn't comment on it after. I hope when the "setup" is done and we can get back to some more complicated characters like Cable we can get like some level of acknowledgement at least
You've talked a little about how the various editorial offices (X-office, Avengers, Spider-Man etc.) are custodians of associated characters. How does that play out with well-known characters (or team concepts) who don't have a series right now, aren't tied to a particular office (at least from an outside fan's perspective) but still have a fairly long history (and, in commercial terms, are well-established brands)?
I'm sure there are books where one series has ended but a relaunch is actively in the works, and I can imagine that there are once-popular characters who've been dormant so long that they might not have an editorial 'owner', but is there a grey area in between? How does that work out? Where do, say, the Eternals, the Inhumans, the Runaways or the Defenders sit now?
Not just a question here: first, thank you for answering my question last week. Secondly, re Kurt: in the absence of a priest, a trained layman may administer the Viaticum or last Communion to a dying person. He may also offer baptism if the person has not been baptized and the dying person requests it. I really enjoyed that story by the way.
Secondly, this is a bit obscure, but apart from Xavier and Carter Ryking were there other victims of the Black Womb Project?
Hi Tom! Thank you for being available and taking the time to answer these. Why do you think the characters in the Avengers seem to be able maintain solo character series better than X-Men characters outside of Wolverine and Cable? I’ve been reading comics and X-Men specifically for over 30 years now and have always wondered about that. With characters like Storm, Jean, Cyclops, Gambit, etc clearly having strong and very vocal fanbases, their ongoings don’t tend to make it or they’re only given mini series that don’t go beyond that. On the other hand, Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Hulk and so on always seem to generate interest and in a lot of cases sales to justify solo ongoings.
Tom, we see that Jason Aaron's Namor is being promoted among the From The Ashes titles. With that in mind, do you have any plans to bring Namor into future mutant stories? I know it might be a bit early to ask this, but since you're someone who values long-term planning, I can't help myself.
Despite the chaos, I’m digging most of these Deathlok covers. I didn’t buy this comic, but current me things they’d look pretty good on the comic book shops shelf!
As an editor, how do you approach maintaining a status quo in terms of how weak or powerful writers can make characters? While it is never, and should never, be the main focus, power levels are undeniably an intrinsic part of superhero comics. So as an editor, what is your stance when it comes to power levels? Do you make sure that writers maintain the status quo of how powerful characters are (character X is normally this strong, so let's keep them at around that level), or can writers make characters as powerful or as weak as they like? For example, if a writer suddenly is going to have Storm or Vulcan blow up an Earth-sized planet (uninhabited, etc) by their own power without any external forces aiding them or special context/circumstances, can they do that, or would you step in and say, hey, this is a bit much for characters like these. Maybe we can find a way to justify them being able to do this by some external amps etc. Likewise, can extremely powerful characters like Thor or Silver Surfer be made to be much much weaker and say, struggle with lower street level opponents without any specific circumstances or context to justify this? would you step in a situation like that, or it's all par for the course?
Vulcan blowing up a planet would be about par for the course, and while storm probably couldn't blow one up, she could devastate one almost as utterly. Those two are insanely powerful, them blowing up a planet wouldn't require a special circumstance. Hell, it's been said that if Storm and Exodus ever fought EACH OTHER, the earth would be destroyed as collateral, not even as the main target
But I'm sorry to say that the new Phoenix uniform is not good, even a little ugly. The forehead, shoulders, chest are weird. Plus the artist is also suspected of copying other artists. Maybe we need to eliminate all traces of him from the comic as soon as possible. LukasWerneck recently took to Twitter to post his stunning new Phoenix uniform, which has been praised by x-fans. He is also currently in xoffice. I wonder if you would consider using his design to replace that of the artist involved in the plagiarism scandal?
The I buy crap section is very relatable. I bought a run of Team America for next to nothing a few years ago. I read a couple of issues as a pre teen back in the early 1980’s. Not the best Marvel
Comics I’ve ever read and no real continuity impact. Did I need them? No. Did I want them? Yes. Was it a good deal? Yes! There’s actually quite a lot of comics in my collection now as a result of the easy access to cheap back issues via eBay that I wouldn’t have purchased ordinarily.
Interesting to hear this take on Marvel NOW! From my perspective, that's is the period, up through Secret Wars (2013-15) in which Marvel was publishing it's literal strongest work ever. There seemed to be creativity spilling out of every book. I have a fondness for most of the line at that time which hasn't subsequently been matched at any point. (I keep buying, though not as much I was reading back then.) Count me as one who would love to hear a fuller history of that era, if ever it came.
(Also, FWIW, since of the most adaptable-into-other-media stories of all-time happened then. The Secret Wars thing has been tried and is being tried again... but the O5 X-Men in the present, Cap in Dimension Z, Thor and the God Butcher (which was sort-of tried, but not well), Doc Ock as Spidey... man, there was a lot going on then. And like I said, most of it is just great.)
I honestly think it's a much cheaper choice to ignore that and not explore its consequences for his character. How WOULD Kurt feel in the aftermath after being pushed into a situation where he had to kill or let other mutants be killed? I want to know that, because I agree - in any situation other than this, he should not be killing.
I'd argue that stuff WAS dealt with in the Fall of X, and that UXM 700 left him in an incredibly hopeful and positive place where there really wasn't any reason to still be bitter about that. Krakoa lived, Krakoa WON, all 16 million mutants of Genosha are back, the Spark lives in all of them, and I just don't see why you're ignoring all that and Uncanny Spider-Man actively dealing with his survivor's guilt
I'm not ignoring it?
Uncanny dealt with survivor's guilt. Fall pushed him into fighting. 700 left him hopeful. He had a very clear arc.
That's not what we're arguing. Breevort's complaint is that he wouldn't have had Kurt killing, much less killing while quipping. I think that it made sense for him to do so with everything that had happened to the mutants and everything Spurrier set up up to that point.
We agree - He shouldn't feel bitter about it, as was written in 700.
But Breevort feels the opposite. And if he feels the opposite, why not take the opportunity to talk about it in the book, and explore Kurt's feelings, instead of just publicly shitting on the work the writers put in during Krakoa just because you're salty that they made a choice with the character. Because I do think that Kurt would have STRONGER feelings about it than was shown in 700, and 700 wasn't enough space to decompress those feelings anyway because a rushed relaunch was coming up.
My points are - So far most of the books are straight up ignoring the shit that happened during Krakoa, which sucks. And bashing the work of other writers is much cheaper than just focusing on writing the books you have now. I just generally feel like Breevort is quicker to critique Krakoa than to compliment FTA, and I think that's very telling of how this relaunch will go.
Glad to see a shout out to Paul at Captain Blue Hen. During my time as one of the hangers on and occasional staff (IIRC, we were dubbed the Blue Blazer Ireegulars, albeit wearing bowling shirts) in the late 90s and early 00s, Paul was always a great guy, both as an owner, boss and human being. And luckily, Joe keeps the legacy of the store high.
I remember going to that store in my VERY early days of collecting - 1988, 1989 or so. I bought a really beat up copy of Fantastic Four #91 for cheap there, and I thought it was so old... funny that it came out only 20 years or so prior. Actually, it must have been 1988 because I remember people talking about how Steve Rogers was The Captain currently.
It’s basically in the same location on Main Street in Newark, although now in a strip mall behind the house on the street where the store used to be. Unless you mean what we used to call “the anti CBH” which is the store in Lancaster that the other original owner kept when they went their own way. I once had to drive to the Lancaster UPS Hub on a Wednesday morning from Newark to pick up a box of books that Diamond shipped to the wrong store. :)
The one I went to, I believe was in a L-shaped shopping center, and I think there was a Service Merchandise store around the corner. I might be confusing the Service Merchandise with a shopping center that had a Toys R Us in Salisbury.
Does this sound possibly correct?
When I was there, the shop was next to a Whole Foods style co-op and a few blocks down main street from the shopping center in Newark where the movie theater was located.
I know it won't happen for some time since it's a "return to basics" to make it easier to onboard new readers but is there any chance we'll address the phoenix stuff from the end of x-men forever, Namely Hope Summers' status, in the Phoenix book down the road? She died and rebirthed the phoenix but also is the phoenix? Seems like Kieron was going for a Father, Son/Messiah, Holy Spirit sort of analogy with in this case it being The Mother (Jean), The Daughter/Messiah (Hope), and the Holy Spirit (Phoenix Force). Did she die and get taken with the white hot room? IS she alive but in the white hot room? is she a part of the phoenix? is she the phoenix? I know the story had nothing to do with your editorial or writers so you've been handed this status quo but I guess I'm asking what your interpretation is?
I know there was a change of editorial and teams right after but it's still sad that a teenage girl gave her life to save reality and nobody in-universe, not even her family, seems to care that she's gone. Hell, the most she got from her father was a nod and he didn't comment on it after. I hope when the "setup" is done and we can get back to some more complicated characters like Cable we can get like some level of acknowledgement at least
You've talked a little about how the various editorial offices (X-office, Avengers, Spider-Man etc.) are custodians of associated characters. How does that play out with well-known characters (or team concepts) who don't have a series right now, aren't tied to a particular office (at least from an outside fan's perspective) but still have a fairly long history (and, in commercial terms, are well-established brands)?
I'm sure there are books where one series has ended but a relaunch is actively in the works, and I can imagine that there are once-popular characters who've been dormant so long that they might not have an editorial 'owner', but is there a grey area in between? How does that work out? Where do, say, the Eternals, the Inhumans, the Runaways or the Defenders sit now?
Thanks!
Not just a question here: first, thank you for answering my question last week. Secondly, re Kurt: in the absence of a priest, a trained layman may administer the Viaticum or last Communion to a dying person. He may also offer baptism if the person has not been baptized and the dying person requests it. I really enjoyed that story by the way.
Secondly, this is a bit obscure, but apart from Xavier and Carter Ryking were there other victims of the Black Womb Project?
Thank you again, sir.
Hi Tom! Thank you for being available and taking the time to answer these. Why do you think the characters in the Avengers seem to be able maintain solo character series better than X-Men characters outside of Wolverine and Cable? I’ve been reading comics and X-Men specifically for over 30 years now and have always wondered about that. With characters like Storm, Jean, Cyclops, Gambit, etc clearly having strong and very vocal fanbases, their ongoings don’t tend to make it or they’re only given mini series that don’t go beyond that. On the other hand, Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Hulk and so on always seem to generate interest and in a lot of cases sales to justify solo ongoings.
Loving seeing X-MEN and X-FACTOR with their iconic logos again!
Tom, we see that Jason Aaron's Namor is being promoted among the From The Ashes titles. With that in mind, do you have any plans to bring Namor into future mutant stories? I know it might be a bit early to ask this, but since you're someone who values long-term planning, I can't help myself.
Despite the chaos, I’m digging most of these Deathlok covers. I didn’t buy this comic, but current me things they’d look pretty good on the comic book shops shelf!
I’m still waiting for that explanation as to how the Red Skull returned to the MU from hell after this story 😄
As an editor, how do you approach maintaining a status quo in terms of how weak or powerful writers can make characters? While it is never, and should never, be the main focus, power levels are undeniably an intrinsic part of superhero comics. So as an editor, what is your stance when it comes to power levels? Do you make sure that writers maintain the status quo of how powerful characters are (character X is normally this strong, so let's keep them at around that level), or can writers make characters as powerful or as weak as they like? For example, if a writer suddenly is going to have Storm or Vulcan blow up an Earth-sized planet (uninhabited, etc) by their own power without any external forces aiding them or special context/circumstances, can they do that, or would you step in and say, hey, this is a bit much for characters like these. Maybe we can find a way to justify them being able to do this by some external amps etc. Likewise, can extremely powerful characters like Thor or Silver Surfer be made to be much much weaker and say, struggle with lower street level opponents without any specific circumstances or context to justify this? would you step in a situation like that, or it's all par for the course?
Vulcan blowing up a planet would be about par for the course, and while storm probably couldn't blow one up, she could devastate one almost as utterly. Those two are insanely powerful, them blowing up a planet wouldn't require a special circumstance. Hell, it's been said that if Storm and Exodus ever fought EACH OTHER, the earth would be destroyed as collateral, not even as the main target
But I'm sorry to say that the new Phoenix uniform is not good, even a little ugly. The forehead, shoulders, chest are weird. Plus the artist is also suspected of copying other artists. Maybe we need to eliminate all traces of him from the comic as soon as possible. LukasWerneck recently took to Twitter to post his stunning new Phoenix uniform, which has been praised by x-fans. He is also currently in xoffice. I wonder if you would consider using his design to replace that of the artist involved in the plagiarism scandal?
I mean, the new uniform don't look any more modern than the classic one, even it's uglier.
The I buy crap section is very relatable. I bought a run of Team America for next to nothing a few years ago. I read a couple of issues as a pre teen back in the early 1980’s. Not the best Marvel
Comics I’ve ever read and no real continuity impact. Did I need them? No. Did I want them? Yes. Was it a good deal? Yes! There’s actually quite a lot of comics in my collection now as a result of the easy access to cheap back issues via eBay that I wouldn’t have purchased ordinarily.
I love rescuing books from dollar/quarter bins, esp if they are 80s independents.
Secret Steward ... (chef's kiss)
Yeah, it's pretty great, isn't it?
I like the new section! I've bet you've got a lot of interesting merchandise!
Anyway, my question is pretty broad: What's it been like seeing Marvel become this massive cultural juggernaut thanks to the MCU?
Thanks Tom!
Interesting to hear this take on Marvel NOW! From my perspective, that's is the period, up through Secret Wars (2013-15) in which Marvel was publishing it's literal strongest work ever. There seemed to be creativity spilling out of every book. I have a fondness for most of the line at that time which hasn't subsequently been matched at any point. (I keep buying, though not as much I was reading back then.) Count me as one who would love to hear a fuller history of that era, if ever it came.
(Also, FWIW, since of the most adaptable-into-other-media stories of all-time happened then. The Secret Wars thing has been tried and is being tried again... but the O5 X-Men in the present, Cap in Dimension Z, Thor and the God Butcher (which was sort-of tried, but not well), Doc Ock as Spidey... man, there was a lot going on then. And like I said, most of it is just great.)