Marvel Teases Big, Violent Wedding Plans for April

Psylocke is cordially invited!

Cable and X-Force #19 Advanced Preview

X-Men #9 Advanced Preview

X-Men #8 Art

X-Men #8 Spoilers

Spoilers: Typhoid Mary breaks into the Jean Grey School. Psylocke chases her after Mary retrives a box containing all data and files on Karima and Shogo and a live sample of Arkea. Rachel calls Sublime to warn him about the Arkea situation. Sublime plays dumb, but he's actually in Colombia, facing Deathstrike. Sublime attempts to make Deathstrike realize how dangerous Arkea really is, but it's useless. She's inclined to use Areak to further her own plans. Mary arrives and hands the live sample to Deathstrike. Sublime is surprised to learn that the sample is inert, realizing that there's a way to kill Arkea. Mary uses her powers on Sublime and finds out about four other locations where they cand find samples of Arkea. Mary and Deathstrike leave in pursuit of the other samples. Psylocke gets to Sublime and takes him back to the school. Meanwhile, Deathstrike and Mary heads to Norway where a meteror has struck two months earlier. They accidentelly meet the Enchantress who's been exiled and stripped of her powers by Thor. At the school, Monet interrupts Jubilee and Bling's chat, asking Jubileee to tag along on a mission. Back at Norway, Deathstrike finds the meteorite with Arkea's sample. She promises to give Mary and Enchantress whaterever they desire if they help her gather the other samples. A new Sisterhood is born.

Uncanny X-Force #15 Art

 

Uncanny X-Force #15 Spoilers

Spoilers: At the Underworld, Psylocke creates a psychic bubble to protect Puck and herself from the revenants. Betsy tries to contact the Demon Bear, but it's still under Cassandra's control. The Great Corruptions is almost complete, while revenants are running wild in LA. Outside the Observatory, Spiral teleports Bishop to the rock giang. Bishop hits it with revenant evenom, shattering it into pieces. Storm takes the chance to enter the Observatory, where she strikes the Demon Bear with lightning, breaking Cassandra's hold on it. Psylocke manages to contact the Bear, who comes to her and Puck's rescue. Bishop faces Cassandra, who locks him in his black bug room. Cassandra reminds him of Hope Summers and how Storm erased his memories. Spiral takes the chance to strike Cassandra with evenom, which prompts her to leave Ginny's body. Spiral takes Ginny and teleports out. Cassandra takes over Psylocke's revenant's body. The real Psylocke and Puck return. Spiral teleports back just in time to save Psylocke from Cassandra's attack. Psylocke then stabs Cassandra to death. The Great Corruption has ended. Betsy says she has made it 20 days without killing. The Demon Bear ends up trapped in the Underworld, while X-Force reunite. Bishop is not happy with Storm.

Uncanny X-Force #15 Preview

Uncanny X-Force #15

Writer: Sam Humphries

Art by: Phil Briones

Cover by: Ramon Perez

The Story:

• THE GREAT CORRUPTION reaches its conclusion!

• One of the X-Men’s greatest foes is rampaging through Los Angeles in the guise of the Revenant Queen. What sacrifice will one member of Uncanny X-Force make to stop her and her army?

X-Men #8 Preview

X-Men #8

Writer: Brian Wood

Art & Cover by: Terry Dodson

• Lady Deathstrike is building an all-new empire and the X-Men will be her calling card!

• Without her tech, Karima struggles to remember who she was.

• And introducing… Monet!

X-Solicits for March 2014

	X-Force #2 Writer: Simon Spurrier Art & Cover by: Rock-He Kim Variant Cover by: Adi Granov • Cable. Psylocke. Fantomex. Marrow. They are mutantkind’s protectors, spies, assassins and torturers! • But just what has driven each of them to join the deadliest incarnation of X-FORCE yet? Yes, Marrow is back! • But how has she regained her mutant powers and what does it have to do with X-Force’s first target?
	X-Men #12 Writer: Brian Wood Art by: Kris Anka Cover by: Terry Dodson Variant Cover by: J.G. Jones Conclusion to Ghosts • The Sisterhood is fully formed, and the battle for leadership begins! • The X-Men must choose…take down the Arkea Sentinels or go after the Sisterhood.

Lady Deathstrike Returns With Surprising New Allies in X-Men

Newsarama spoke with Brian Wood shortly after X-Men #7 was released, talking about future plans for the book and his thoughts on this newly recruited Sisterhood.

Newsarama: X-Men kicked off a new arc last month with #7’s “Muertas,” featuring the return of a dead villain as well as a X-Men alum. First off, Lady Deathstrike – what drew you to her?

 Brian Wood: Sort of a process of elimination mixed with some personal interest. We needed a villain, a big one, and I wanted it to be someone who could be a constant presence in the book, not just for an arc. But like a villain in the old school sense, that reappears frequently. I ran down a list of potentials that I thought seemed cool, editorial did checking on their end, and we ended up with a new Sisterhood with Lady Deathstrike at the helm.

Nrama: And I have to ask about this great way to bring about the return of a character thought dead – being hosted in another body by way of a seemingly digital download of her consciousness. Writing superhero comics I’m sure the issue of bringing back “dead” characters is one you have to deal with more often than in other forms of fiction, so can you talk about this way to re-introduce her – and do it with this new Columbian, almost Dia De Los Muertos design?

Wood: Yeah, there's always lot of dead characters and, weirdly, an awful lot of disembodied consciousnesses. In the case of Lady Deathstrike, she needed a new body to inhabit and I wanted to switch it up and give her a new look, not just a copy of what she was before. It's safe to say, without spoiling anything, that this can come to no good, this notion of two personalities in the same body, so no one is going to assume this is a permanent change. But it’s what's going on right now. The Day Of The Dead look I've loved ever since Fiona Staples did that amazing cover for DV8 #2, and I guess its stuck in my head since then.

Nrama: Another return in this issue is Monet. We talked about her briefly before, but seeing you now writing her in this issue and she leaps off the page. How do you view her as a character, and what are you aiming for when you write her?

Wood: A few things.... I find it a big challenge to write these "perfect" characters, in the sense of these perfectly powered, perfect looking superheroes. Where do you find the faults, or how do you threaten them? And how do they handle failure? It's also going to be fun to write some Monet vs. Jubilee moments. I can only imagine the despair Jubilee feels seeing Monet breeze through those doors. High school all over again.

Nrama: I wanted to ask about that – you wrote both of them inGeneration X, and they have a bit of history. How would you describe what’s going on between them?

Wood: I'm build it up over time, but at the start its sort of a revisit of the old Gen X sass, the snarky comments back and forth, a sort of rivalry of peers. But Jubilee's changed [Newsarama Note: She’s now a mother via adoption – oh, and a Vampire with no mutant powers], as has Monet [Newsarama Note: She died, and was brought back to life by Strong Guy, who himself undead (and soulless) became a Hell king in order to do the deed], so we'll evolve their relationship as the two start to see each other as who they are now. No longer just students, but serious operators worthy of each other's respect. (Also, sass.)

Nrama: The returning Lady Deathstrike originally came to the Jean Grey School to get Karima, but she soon discovers something even more alluring – Arkea. Can you say what she wants out of it?

Wood: I'm enjoying writing Lady Deathstrike as a body modification junkie. I guess she always was, but I'm speaking plainly about it... she has this new body and wants to jack it up as much as she can, to try and regain her former edge and the feeling she's used to. What is Arkea if not the absolute very ultimate in body mod upgrades? She's so into it that she'll brush off the warning signs.

Nrama: And to help her in this new quest, the final page reveal shows she’s recruited another storied Marvel villainess – Typhoid Mary. Typhoid Mary’s almost exclusively known for her Daredevil stories, so what led to her being brought in here?

Wood: In the 90's one of the first comics I bought was this John Van Fleet Typhoid Mary series, and it was great, the images have really stuck with me.

Nrama: That was in 1995, Typhoid written by Ann Nocenti and drawn by Van Fleet.

Wood: Right. And I could see some benefit to looking for villains outside the typical pool that is drawn from. Of course, she's a mutant, so it all makes sense.

Nrama: And this Sisterhood is more than just a duo; from the advance solicits we know another member being added, the Asgardian Enchantress, Amora. What can you say about her inclusion?

Wood: Pretty much the same as with Mary, looking for new villains and new threats to bring to X-Men. I am terminally jealous of any writer that gets to write the Norse stuff, so I was personally eager to tap into it here. Coming up in a future issue we have a fight scene between Amora and Monet, which is a pretty intense clash.

Nrama: This issue says “Muertas” is a six part arc, but that’s now split in half with X-Men #10 starting a new arc titled “Dead.” Was this decision based just on the artist change from Terry Dodson to Kris Anka, or something else?

Wood: The second arc is called “Ghosts.” It’s a bit of everything, really... the artist was changing, and #10 fits in well with a big “All-New Marvel NOW” push. But despite that, these two arcs still form a whole, the story is continued from one to the other in a way that's pretty seamless.

Nrama: I want to step back and talk big picture. Looking over your work at Marvel, I’ve noticed that you’ve exclusively worked on the X titles; from Generation X back in the day to your current run with X-Men. Is that more your instigation, or what Marvel’s offered you? What’s your fascination with the X-Men side of the Marvel U?

Wood: When I approached Marvel following my DC expulsion, the X-Men office is where it seemed like I would feel most at home, I guess having worked there in the past. I was pretty happy with that, and to be honest is the part of the Marvel U that I know the best. I also like Thor, and Daredevil, so maybe in the future I'll venture out. But for now I'm 100% content with the X-Men. I hope to write them for a really long time.

X-Force #1 First Look

Uncanny X-Force #14 Art

Uncanny X-Force #14 Spoilers

Spoilers: Cassandra retrieves Psylocke and Phil’s head to the Griffith Observatory, LA, where her revenants awaits her. She orders the Demon Bear to reduce Psylocke’s psychic powers while the Revenants place Phil’s head inside the ring of corruption. The Revenants focus their energies to block their fortress from teleporters, and so the Great Corruption takes place with a giant being rising from the ground. Elsewhere, X-Force tries to protect the civilians while the Revenants are let loose in LA. Back to the Observatory, Psylocke wakes up and Cassandra offers her an alliance: in exchange for Psylocke’s information on how to defeat Wolverine and Cyclops, Cassandra will give her original body back. Cassandra tells Psylocke she can start her life over, leaving her murderous ways behind if she takes her offer. X-Force realizes they’ll have to sacrifice either Psylocke or Ginny to stop the Great Corruption while they head to the vortex. Puck drives Psylocke’s flying Bentley and breaks into the Observatory. Puck rescues Psylocke, who leaves the place with a sad look on her face as she watches her original body. Cassandra prevents them from escaping, and both Psylocke and Puck fall into the vortex right into the Underworld.

Humphries and Hopeless Pursue Their "Vendetta" With "X-Force"

CBR News spoke with writers Sam Humphries and Dennis Hopeless about Vendetta and how they plan to wrap up their respective "X-Force" titles.

Dennis and Sam, let's talk about the origins of"Vendetta." When did you guys first start talking about this crossover and how did it evolve over time?

Dennis Hopeless: Sam and I have been friends for a long time and as soon as we knew we were both going to be writing X-Force series, we started thinking about crossing them over. We just wanted to let the two teams find their footing before smashing them together. Once we both had a few arcs under our belt, we started talking seriously about what a crossover might look like.

Sam Humphries: It started as "X-Cutioner's Song 2: A Dubpunk Odyssey." A bunch of roller-skating ravers saving the future from a dystopian future where Apocalypse and Doop rule the planet. But neither X-Force team was in the story, which is kind of important for an X-Force crossover, so it got shot down.

I would have read that. [Laughs I know one of the great appeals of doing crossovers is the chance to play with another creator's toys. Which characters that you don't normally write are you excited to play with in "Vendetta?" What do you find most interesting about these particular characters?

Humphries: I'm excited to write Forge. He's been a lot of things over the years, but Dennis has been able to make him a clean character again, boil him down to the essence of who he is -- a brilliant guy trying to work his way out of mixed karma with technology.

Hopeless: Spiral and Puck. Sam's DJ Spiral is one of my favorite character ideas ever. The woman has six arms. OF COURSE she's going to rock the turntables. As for Puck, I'm really enjoying his shamelessness. He's a ladies man and isn't afraid to flaunt it. Puck and Boom Boom have been my favorite unexpected duo to script so far.

The conflicts in "Vendetta" are very personal for some characters: we have what Cable & Hope went through at the hands of Bishop in the previous "Cable" series and Cable's long standing animosity toward his arch-enemy Stryfe. How personal is "Vendetta" for some of your other characters? How invested are they in the two big rivalries at the heart of this story? What do these conflicts mean to them?

Humphries: Plenty of these characters have had intense histories together. Storm and Forge, Betsy and Peter, Puck and Domino -- but the centerpiece is definitely Cable/Hope/Bishop. That trio has so much bad blood between them, it's like the elevator scene in "The Shining." They've got a lot of scores to settle, and it's not gonna be easy.

Hopeless: Yeah, character relationships and shared history are what tie the whole story together. Tonally our two books are very different. We wanted to tell a story that made sense for both of these teams. The best way to do that was pretty obviously to mine the relationships. When you have Bishop on one team and Hope and Cable on the other, it's not terribly difficult to find the drama. And then, you know, Stryfe is Cable's evil twin. The worst member of Cable's "family" shows up at the worst possible time and screws everybody.

We've talked about story so let's shift gears to the art side of things. Which artists are drawing "Vendetta?" What do they bring to this crossover?

Hopeless: Angel Unzueta is drawing my issues. The work he's done with Sam on "Uncanny X-Force" has been absolutely phenomenal so I was stoked to hear he'd be our artist. This story requires a lot of emotion from two teams worth of characters along with crossover worthy action. Angel brings the perfect mix of both.

Humphries: I'm working with Harvey Tolibao who brings his experience with Psylocke to the table. Plus his action scenes are dynamic as hell. Perfect for pitting the two teams together on the battlefield.

Wrapping things up, we now know that "Vendetta" is the concluding story in both "Uncanny X-Force" and "Cable & X-Force." How does it feel to bring your runs to a close? Were you able to bring all your plot threads to a satisfying conclusion?

Humphries: I am bummed to leave, but Marvel is keeping me busy elsewhere. I can't talk about any of it yet, but it is all very exciting.

(And yes, I am continuing on "Avengers A.I." without interruption.) Si Spurrier and Rock He-Kim's "X-Force" is launching in February. It is going to be awesome. I will be picking it up and so should you."

Special thanks to all the amazing artists, colorists, and letterers who made the book so thrilling and gorgeous. Thanks to [editors] Nick Lowe and Daniel Ketchum for keeping the book from collapsing on itself.

BUT there's still plenty of fight left in "Uncanny X-Force" We've got three incredible issues to go. The end of the Revenant War, then the "Vendetta" crossover with "Cable & X-Force!"

Hopeless: I had an absolute blast writing these characters. It has been an outstanding experience. I'm proud to have been a part of the X-Force family. I can't wait to read what happens to these characters next. And like Sam said, Marvel is keeping me plenty busy going forward. Fans of my work should read "Avengers Undercover" launching in March and keep their eyes out for new project announcements to come.

The four-part "Vendetta" begins in "Cable and X-Force" #18 on January 8, and continues in "Uncanny X-Force" #16 on January 15.

'Vendetta': X-Force vs. X-Force Leads to 1 New X-Force

Newsarama: “Vendetta” will take place in January, starting with Cable & X-Force #18 then Uncanny X-Force #16 followed by two more issues of each leading to their finale. And as we count down the days to this double series finale, Newsarama talked with series writers Sam Humphries and Dennis Hopeless to find how out how it all goes down.

Newsarama: Guys, this is like an old school boxing match – so give us the story of each of your team as they come into the “Vendetta” crossover.

Sam Humphries: The Uncanny X-Force team are licking their wounds after the Revenant War with Cassandra Nova, and split in two by a revelation from that story that hits Bishop and Storm the hardest.

Dennis Hopeless: Cable’s X-Force are doing great. They have their cool new underground headquarters up and running, from which they’ve just completed a few missions. Cable has finally accepted Hope as a member of the team and they’re getting along great. Colossus and Domino are a full-fledged item and managing to juggle their work and sexy business. Forge and Nemesis are… Forge and Nemesis. And Boomer is blowing stuff up right and left. This crossover represents the worst thing that could possibly happen to Cable’s X-Force now that things are finally going smoothly.

Nrama: Finally going smoothly, until this “Vendetta” crossover happens. With these two team sharing the same name and featuring some characters that have hunted each other down at one time or another, a showdown was always on the horizon – so what is the catalyst that puts it all into motion?

Humphries: Hope learning that Bishop is alive, and in the present. This is the man who turned her childhood into a war zone. It fills her full of fear...but also bloodlust. If Hope has two fathers, Cable and Bishop, this story will show which father she takes after most.

Hopeless: Yeah, I’d say white-hot rage is the catalyst. First Hope’s when she realizes her own personal boogey man is hanging out in Los Angeles. Then Cable’s when he realizes what Uncanny X-Force allowed to go down by not warning him Bishop was back.

Nrama: Cable, Hope and Bishop have enough venom for one another to be story enough, but you also have Stryfe coming into this. What's Stryfe playing at here?

Hopeless: In case we hadn’t made it perfectly clear, we’ll be dealing with a lot of bad blood in this story. Stryfe versus Cable is just one example.

This is basically Stryfe seeing Cable at his weakest and taking the opportunity to attack. Cable’s power set has changed. He’s no longer the Omega Level telekinetic and telepath he once was and that Stryfe still is. And now that Cable has a daughter for whom he would gladly die, Stryfe can manipulate Cable into all sorts of trouble.

Nrama: Guys, your two books were launched simultaneously, and both shared the team name "X-Force" in their titles – it happen all the time with the X-Men and the Avengers, but for X-Force it seems novel. Can you talk about working on separate books with similar names, then it all falling into place that your two books would now crossover?

Humphries: I dunno, our books were pretty different from the get go, so we were able to just do our own thing and root for each other from the sidelines. It was more difficult to get the teams "in the same room" (metaphorically speaking) for the crossover since they walked such different paths. Fortunately, one team has a member that ruthlessly hunted two members of the other team across a thousand years, so that was our in.

Hopeless: Yeah, the big trick has been finding a story that makes sense for these two very different teams. We were lucky to have the Hope/Cable/Bishop connection. It really helped us find a middle ground without contriving some earth-shattering foe that only these two teams can defeat. I love that our conflict is so personal and character driven.

Nrama: How closely together are you two working to make this crossover mesh?

Humphries: Not at all. I send Dennis' calls to voicemail, ignore his texts, mark his emails as spam, and block him on IM.

Nrama: Ouch.

Humphries: Just kidding. We talked it over a lot and came up with an outline together. Each part follows the other, so yeah, we have to work very close.

Hopeless: Yeah, it was a close collaboration from the start. We wanted to find just the right story and bounced ideas back and forth for quite a while to get there. I think we drove our editor Daniel Ketchum nuts with all the brainstorming and scrapping half-finished ideas to start over from scratch. But we ended up with a story we can both sink teeth into so it was definitely worth all the phone calls and outline drafts.

Nrama: It all starts in December, so before I let you guys get back to it, answer me this: what's your favorite member of each other's team that you looked forward to writing, and why?

Humphries: Forge! I love him from his earliest appearances in the 80s. A brilliant guy with spotty karma and a bunch of hot stuff technology. Dennis has been able to boil him down to a clean character again.

Hopeless: Probably Puck. That wouldn’t have been my guess going in but he’s been surprisingly fun to write. I love his bluster and total shamelessness. Puck and Boom are particularly great together. I could write an ongoing all about Tabby busting Puck’s balls.

Uncanny X-Force #14 Preview

Uncanny X-Force #14

Writer: Sam Humphries

Art by: Phil Briones

Cover by: Kris Anka

The Story:

- The Revenant War kicks into high gear as the Uncanny X-Force must battle their fiercest enemies yet!

- The truth about the revenant Owl Queen is revealed – and she’s even more dangerous than any of our heroes expected!

- Meanwhile, Storm has been keeping her cards close to her chest – but the one she finally plays is out of this world!

Also in stores next week, Uncanny Avengers #14. Rick Remender and Steve McNiven bring Magistrate Braddock back to the fold.

X-Men #7 Art

X-Men #7 Spoilers

Spoilers: Bogotá, Colombia - Ana Cortes takes over her family business after her father, a wealthy businessman, passes away. Ana purchases Yuriko's consciousness (USB) and with the aid of Reiko, an old friend of Yuriko Oyama, transfers it into herself. Ana and Yuriko are now one.

Jean Grey School - Monet asks to spend some time at the school to rest. At the labs, Beast reveals to Karima that after Arkea possessed her, her sentinel implants were rendered inert and now she's fully organic. At New York, Deathstrike heads to the School, seeking to retrieve the Omega Sentinal tech, unaware that it is no longer functional. On her way, Deathstrike finds Monet and Karima jogging and approach them. Deathstrike's thugs shot Karima on her shoulder and Monet realizes that the woman is Deatrhsike, who flees. Deathstike contacts Reiko and asks her to provide up-to-date information on Omega Sentinal. Back at the school, Monet and Karima update Storm, Psylocke, Rachel and Jubilee on what happened. Storms asks them to work together with the X-Men to figure this out. Reiko informs Deathstrike that there's better tech to retrieve instead of Omega Sentinel: Arkea.

Variant Covers Featuring Psylocke