X-Position: Sam Humphries

X-Position: This week, Sam Humphries joins X-Position to answer the burning fan questions about the series' still-in-progress first arc, bringing on former Alpha Flight mainstay Puck, the development of Storm as a leader of the new incarnation of Uncanny X-Force and things to come for Bishop moving forward.

Is there any chance that down the line we'll get to see a Puck-centric arc that will involve the team in something connected to his past as a adventurer?

Sam Humphries: I am loving Puck, glad you are too. I would love to do a story that shows Puck from the perspective of his three ex-wives. Puck is a guy who, whether he understands it or not, is defined by his relationships with women. But we've got a lot of mayhem to slice through first...

With Storm being the most experienced member of this cast when it comes to field leadership, and given that this "crew" is a far cry from a typical X-team, will we get to see her apply her leadership in way that we have not seen from her before (i.e. "screw winning you over -- I'll just stab your ass to get in line")?

Sam Humphries: This is definitely a scrappier Storm, one that harkens back to her time as leader of the Morlocks or her childhood as a thief in Cairo. The questions of "leadership" and "getting in line" will be difficult for Uncanny X-Force to address without some serious drama.

What is your favorite 'bad-ass wildcard' Storm moment? Will you be looking to top that in this book?

Sam Humphries: Tough to beat the knife fight between Storm and Callisto! Especially with that Paul Smith art. Classic.

Storm made her disapproval quite clear to Cyclops when she found out about his secretly sanctioned X-Force team. Even though this team isn't out to kill threats to mutants (sure those morally questionable moments are coming) will we get to see him react to finding her on an X-Force roster? 

Sam Humphries: Scott is accused of murdering Professor X, the closest thing Storm had to a father figure. I doubt Storm would respect any moral high ground from him. I would love to see Storm and Scott come to terms with all the recent changes in their lives. I'll have to arm wrestle Bendis for that one.

It was fun to see the spotlight scenes on Betsy and Spiral in the most recent issue. Do you have plans to use that flashback format for the other team members as well? In the same vein, we got to see the inside of Bishop's head -- very cool. Are the psyches of various characters something you're looking to explore? How do you go about designing something like that?

Sam Humphries: Great questions, cora. You'll absolutely be seeing more flashbacks as the story demands it. Issue 5, for example, will fill us in on where Bishop has been since his last known appearance in the Marvel U. And very shortly, we'll be seeing what exactly happened between Betsy, Fantomex and Cluster in Paris previous to the first issue. Our past makes us what we are, and this is a book full of characters with very complex histories. I aim to bring those into the mix frequently.

 Betsy is a psychic and I've always loved the astral plane mutant stories. Not just 'cuz they're cool, but that's a place where truth can be mixed up with lies, and secrets start to fold in on themselves. Anything goes. We'll continue to see stories play out in the elasticity of the psychic realm -- specifically issues 5 and 6.

With Adrian Alphona, it's easy to design psychic sequences because he is such a monster talent. I mapped out what I wanted to see, threw in some visuals and symbols, and Adrian ran away with it and made it beautiful. You are going to love issue #5.

Spiral seems to be defying expectations by the third issue, going from a villain to a sort of savior for Ginny. Is this a transformation that the UXF squad is going to be able to accept?

Sam Humphries: Spiral is indeed going through a transition in her life -- or trying to. Don't we all deserve a chance to change our lives? Whether or not Uncanny X-Force can let that happen is a very loaded question. Let me know what you think after issue #6.

I really want to know more about this mysterious drug Tao. When are we going to find out more about it?

Sam Humphries: Re-read the conversation at the beginning of issue #3, it reveals the secret behind Tao. But the secret of the secret behind Tao will be a very big factor coming up in "Uncanny X-Force." See the last page of issue #4 for a hint.

Dear Mr. Humphries, I've definitely become a believer in Fantomex and his two siblings. It's a very cool mystery you're ramping up to. How do you deal with writing three versions of the same character that actually have to interact?  

Sam Humphries: Fantomex was a complex guy to begin with -- roughish, murderous, and romantic. He was split into three, so I write them as three separate characters -- with unequal distributions of the characteristics that made up the "whole" Fantomex.

You seem to be on a crusade to bring Puck back to relevancy in the Marvel U. Are there any other obscure Marvel characters you want to get your hands on to bring back to prominence?

Sam Humphries: Ha, a Puck Crusade? I'm into it. I'm just showing everyone what I've known about Puck for years -- the dude is a serious badass. (Okay, Jason Aaron knew it too.) We've got an old obscure X-Men character burning up issues 3 and 4 and then making a big impact in issues #5 and #6. Can't wait.