X-Men
Quote of the Day | Brian Bendis feels like he’s won something
“Not to sound like a doofus, but as of tomorrow I am officially an X-writer and I couldn’t be more honored. I feel like I’ve won something. I used to work behind the counter at Super City Comics in Cleveland. We would argue X-Men all day — as of tomorrow all arguments … won! Switching from Avengers to X-writer isn’t just some new gig. It’s a complete brain change. My entire psyche feels different. Scary. Exciting.”
– writer Brian Michael Bendis, looking forward to the Wednesday debut of Marvel’s All-New X-Men
The Fifth Color | Forward into the past with Marvel in December 2012
It won’t even be January before the Marvel Universe changes as you know it. Yep, the slow roll of Marvel NOW! continues to rearrange our common landscape into something new. As longtime readers, we both hate and fear change yet long for it deep down in our bones. Spider-Man shouldn’t change his costume! But that black version was really cool! It’s a constant war we wage internally and externally and, as a comic shop employee, I have seen its front lines. But as change and hope war with one another on the fields of the Marvel Universe, we should all spare a moment and look behind us. Sure, NOW! might be a confusing and frightening place, but what about the after-NOW! What will grow in the fields, plowed and sown with new titles? Deep down, there’s something I think we all want, both large companies and small readers: new fans.
It all comes down to new fans, another reader to the story, another dollar to the register. Commerce continues as more people pick up or download (legally!) a story and read along. It’s a simple, basic wish and I would like to think everyone shares it, at least all the people who would come to a comics blog and read these very words. So please, Dear Reader, take all this news of new No. 1 issues and of titles that are ending with a grain of salt. It’s a bitter grain for sure, but one that’s going to flavor unseasoned palettes and help new fans get a taste for the Marvel style.
Are you hungry? I’m hungry. I’m going to go grab a snack and then we’ll talk about the NOW! ahead of us, Marvel solicitations for December 2012.
Comics A.M. | CBLDF goes to bat for SideScrollers in Connecticut
SideScrollers
Graphic novels | The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has written to the Enfield, Connecticut, school district to ask that Matthew Loux’s SideScrollers be reinstated to its summer reading list and to point out that the district did not follow its own procedures when it removed the book last month after the mother of a ninth-grader complained about the graphic novel’s profanity and sexual references. [CBLDF]
Digital comics | Digital distributor iVerse has unveiled a new deal to sell foreign-language translations of Marvel and Archie comics worldwide. iVerse will have exclusive global rights to Marvel’s foreign-language comics, both floppies and trades, while for Archie they will create apps in different languages for different countries, starting with Japan, China, and India. iVerse CEO Michael Murphy says that 50 percent to 65 percent of the company’s digital sales are to international customers (including Canada). Nonetheless, the comics will be “platform-independent”: iVerse will provide translation (through a combination of machine translation and human editors) and distribution, so the comics will be available through their Comics + app but also through other channels, such as Amazon or iBooks. [Publishers Weekly]
The Fifth Color | The future has to be better than this
We all knew it was coming, right? Possibly by the first issue, someone was already taking bets on which character would bite the big one during Avengers vs. X-Men. After all, I think there’s some sort of rule of thumb that after so many characters get involved in an event storyline, some of them have to be picked off so that the other get inspired by the loss and push on to victory. Or to make the point that these battles haven’t been just tossing action figures in the dryer and watching them tumble for twelve issues.
Anyway, I didn’t come here to be bitter, I came here to be rational, and rationally, the death in the event book makes sense as a classic comic storytelling maneuver. These last few months have been exciting in their philosophy and their theories on power and destiny, but haven’t really knocked people’s socks off in terms of summer blockbuster action. The penultimate issue is the best place for a big twist to take us into the last few moments, and the biggest twist is the odds-on favorite, death.
WARNING: We talk about who died in this week’s Avengers vs. X-Men Round 11, so grab your copy and read along!
Brian Wood tamps down rumor about conclusion of his X-Men run
X-Men #37
Clarifying a shipping update for Marvel’s X-Men that’s been interpreted to mean his run was cut short, Brian Wood assures that his stint on the series was always meant to end with October’s Issue 37.
In an email sent last week by Diamond Comic Distributors, retailers were notified that X-Men #38, “solicited as being written by Brian Wood and illustrated by David Lopez, has a new creative team: writer Seth Peck and artist Paul Azaceta,” sparking online speculation about a sudden change by the publisher.
But over the weekend, Wood took to his Tumblr for “rumor control,” writing, “I was, way back, asked to write 8 issues of X-Men, and I have, concluding with #37. My name appeared in the solicitation for #38, but that was a typo. I have not written #38, as that blog post suggests. Seth [Peck] and (the amazing) Paul Azaceta are taking over the title. So it’s all according to plan, I wasn’t taken off the book or anything weird like that. I’m sure it won’t be the last 616 X-Men I write. It also won’t be the last time I work with David Lopez.”
Wood, who’s best known for his creator-owned work on such titles as Demo, DMZ, Northlanders and The Massive, returned to Marvel in January with the miniseries Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha and Omega before taking the reins of X-Men and Ultimate Comics X-Men in June. He’ll continue as the writer of the latter title.
The Fifth Color | Paradise burns
Fire is terrible and beautiful. From someone deep down in our earliest roots, we as human beings know that fire can be useful and can be deadly, sometimes both at the same time. Action movies love to watch things explode, and artists can tickle our emotions with depictions and metaphors of the ever-burning flame. I certainly don’t have to be the one to tell you that fire can also slip out of control and ruin lives and forests; to burn away something you love means you’re never going to get it back.
The Phoenix myth, at heart, needs both of these qualifiers. After all, it’s a cycle of death and rebirth, not just one or the other. Death is normally the first part of the equation, as we need to lose something forever to have it be reborn, not just resurrected. It’s also kind of a fiery chicken-or-the-egg story, too, as the Phoenix myth is a cycle, but the two essential elements are clear: death and rebirth.
WARNING: We’ll be talking about the reasonably guessed ending to the recent Uncanny X-Men #17 and the Sinister Earth story line. Grab your finest ascot and a copy of the comic and read along!
Comics A.M. | Todd McFarlane cover sells for record $657,250
The Amazing Spider-Man #328
Auctions | Todd McFarlane’s original cover art for The Amazing Spider-Man #328 sold at auction Thursday for $657,250, shattering the record for a single piece of American comics art set last year by a splash page from The Dark Knight Returns #3 ($448,125). However, the price falls well short of the $1.6 million shell out last month for the original cover art for Tintin in America. A 9.8 graded copy of X-Men #1 was also sold by Heritage Auctions for $492,937.50, more than twice the previous record for that comic. [ICv2]
Publishing | Lily Rothman takes a look at iVerse’s newly announced comics-only crowdfunding platform Comics Accelerator, which will allow immediate delivery of digital rewards in a more sophisticated format than an e-mailed PDF and cap its share of the take at $2,500. As Laura Morley of Womanthology points out, it can go both ways: Being on Kickstarter, a trusted platform with wide visibility, helped boost the project, but on the other hand, “Any site that’s able to take advantage of the fact that comics online already work as a big community, as a place where people talk to their friends and promote things they’re interested in, is likely to do well.” [Time]
Food or Comics? | GloriAnaheim chiles
Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a splurge item.
Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.
Fatale, Volume 1: Death Chases Me
Chris Arrant
If I had $15, I’d walk out of the comic store with one book this week Fatale, Vol. 1: Death Chases Me (Image, $14.99). I fell off this book after the first issue, preferring to read in trades, and now that time has come. I’m looking forward to being surprised at what Brubaker and Phillips have done in this first arc as the debut issue was very promising.
If I had $30, I’d load up at Image with Manhattan Projects #4 (Image, $3.50), Prophet #26 (Image, $2.99) and Hell Yeah #4 (Image, $2.99). Prophet is becoming my favorite Image book because it unites my comic heroes of childhood (Prophet!) and one of the top cartoonists out there (Brandon Graham) with a surprising introduction of BD-style science fiction. Hell Yeah is a fun romp reimagining the staples of ’80s and ’90s comics as if John Hughes were the eighth Image founder. Last up I’d get Wolverine and the X-Men #12 (Marvel, $3.99). I was worried this series would get derailed by Avengers Vs. X-Men, but Aaron and Co. have managed to keep it on point as best as conceivably possible. It’s an ideal opening to bring Rachel Summers to the forefront, and the smirking Kid Gladiator on the cover is full of win.
If I could splurge, I’d get Michel Rabagliati’s Song of Roland hardcover (Conundrum Press, $20). I’ll always admire Free Comic Book Day, because it was there that a little Drawn and Quarterly one-shot introduced me to Rabagliati’s work. I’m surprised to see this new volume of his work not published by D&Q, instead published by Canadian house Conundrum. Anyway, this book appears to deal with the death of the father-in-law of the lead character, Paul. It’s been extremely engaging to see Paul grow through the series, and having him deal with events like this as I myself grow up and experience similar events is really touching.
The Fifth Color | AvX Halftime: the future versus our place within it
This wasn’t the halfway point I was expecting. When it comes to summer events, it’s kind of an unstated rule that there’s going to be a bigger focus on spectacle rather than content. When a giant cosmic force of life and death barrels toward your planet, you expect all the heroes to get some new costumes, maybe pick up a couple of new skill sets and give it all they’ve got to battle the Big Bad of Summer 2012. Not a philosophical comment on the nature of man and their relationship and understanding of the future.
Of course, that’s awesome, but unexpected.
It’s like getting a box of Fruit Loops, and about halfway through the box you find the answer to life, the universe and everything (to borrow a phrase). Sure, it’s not the most reliable answer, as it came out of a box of Fruit Loops, but how astounding is it that it’s even here? Does it give the answer more or less weight considering where you found it?
Let’s talk a little thematic philosophy and also kicking and punching in this week’s Avengers vs. X-Men Round 6, shall we?
Chris Claremont on the ‘red-headed red herring,’ Madelyne Pryor
Ann Nocenti, left, Chris Claremont and Louise Simonson
Madelyne Pryor, the Jean Grey lookalike introduced in Uncanny X-Men #168, was put through the ringer by writers over the years, as she went from being Scott Summers’ wife and Cable’s mother to a clone of Jean Grey and eventually a supervillain. You’ve gotta love any Wikipedia entry that comes with the caveat, “Madelyne’s biography has been rendered particularly complicated because of the many retcons involved in the publication history of both her character and that of Jean Grey.”
But that wasn’t always the plan for the character, as legendary X-Men writer Chris Claremont notes in the video below. The footage is from an interview conducted for the upcoming documentary Comics in Focus: Chris Claremont’s X-Men. Filmmakers were able to reunite Claremont, writer Louise Simonson and editor Ann Nocenti for a discussion of their time working on the X-franchise.
Food or Comics? | Mais or The Massive?
Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a splurge item.
Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.
Spider-Men #1
J.K. Parkin
With my first $15 I’d get the following: The Massive #1 (Dark Horse, $3.50), X-Men #30 (Marvel, $3.99), Spider-Men #1 (Marvel, $3.99), and Saucer Country #4 (Vertigo, $2.99). That leaves me roughly 50 cents out of my budget. I dunno if it was planned this way or not, but two of Brian Wood’s latest projects, The Massive and his run on the X-Men (of the un-Ultimate variety), kick off this week. We also have the debut of Spider-Men, the crossover that features Peter Parker of the 616 Marvel U meeting up with Miles Morales from the Ultimate-verse. I’ve enjoyed the Miles Morales/Ultimate Spider-Man stories this far, which is the reason I’m getting it. Finally, Saucer Country is the best of the new Vertigo titles, featuring clever writing by Paul Cornell and great art by Ryan Kelly.
Add another $15 and I’d also get Captain America #13 (Marvel, $3.99), Uncanny X-Force #26 (Marvel, $3.99), Resurrection Man #10 (DC Comics, $2.99), and Frankenstein: Agent of Shade #10 (DC Comics, $2.99). Again, with some change left over for a candy bar or whatever. I laughed out loud at the big reveal at the end of the last issue of Captain America, as we learned who the new guy was behind the Scourge mask. I assume this is a What If? comic, along the lines of “What if (name redacted for spoiler reasons) wasn’t lame?” So I have to see this through. I mentioned this weekend on What Are You Reading? that I’d downloaded a whole bunch of the current run of Uncanny X-Force for 99 cents from comiXology, and since then I’ve completely caught up on the book, so I’ll definitley be getting the current issue. Add to that one of the final times I’ll get to see Abnett and Lanning’s Resurrection Man comic (sniff … well, it was probably a longshot anyway, based on how well his last comic did) and the debut of Matt Kindt on Frankenstein, and that rounds out my week of comics.
I don’t really have anything on my splurge radar this week, so maybe I’ll just hold onto the cash and save it for next time.
Comics A.M. | Plan to replace New York’s Javits Center falls apart
Jacob K. Javits Center
Conventions | New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has mothballed plans for a giant convention center in Queens, leaving the unlovely, unloved, but well-situated Javits Center as the home of New York Comic-Con for the near future. [The New York Times, via The Beat]
Publishing | Alex Klein sees the “outing” of Green Lantern Alan Scott as a desperate move to boost sales by a publisher whose market share is dropping: “Switching up sexual orientation is a cunning way of compensating for flagging sales and aging characters. In the meantime, the industry is rebalancing: toward independent publishers, author ownership, and cross-platform digital tie-ins. As small studios sap talent from the giant conglomerates, comics are changing—and there’s a lot of money to be made in the process—just not in the comics themselves.” And he talks to The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and Image publisher Eric Stephenson about what they can do that the Big Two can’t. [The Daily Beast]
Wish This Was Real | Matthew Humphreys’ X-Men
I want an X-Men cartoon featuring Matthew Humphrey’s X-Men designs so bad. Especially if it features Rogue giving Gambit the brush-off like she does in this drawing. Heck, all of Humphrey’s X-Men have tons of personality just begging to be realized on the screen. Or maybe it’s me doing the begging. ‘Cause it makes me sad in my soul that I can’t watch this version of these characters on TV. Click through to see Kitty Pryde and Jubilee and see if you don’t feel the same way.
Avengers vs. X-Men: Electric Boogaloo
Bobby Rubio came up with a superior way for the Avengers and X-Men to resolve their differences. Less punching and more popping, heroes.
(via /Film)
The Fifth Color | AvX round one rundown
round one... FIGHT!
If you watch boxing or, say, UFC, first round knockouts can be incredibly disappointing. Depending on the build-up and the hype put on for the match, it can seem like a waste of talent. Worse, it can seem like a waste of your time and money that you spent ordering the darn pay-per-view or getting tickets ringside. Maybe you watched months of lead up, interviews, training docs, compilations of past fights and then, with one right hook, Junior Dos Santos is champ and FOX has some air time to fill. You can know your combatant so well that seeing anything less than three full rounds just won’t showcase their talents enough for a satisfying contest.
Well, with Avengers vs X-Men #1, you don’t have anything to worry about as far as first round TKOs go. With around 31 pages to fill, it feels like each team barely gets into the ring.
WARNING: Below, we will shorten some titles and talk about AvX #1, AvX #0 and about combat sports in general, the latter not too well. It’s a metaphor bonanza so grab your copies and read along!