Friday, November 2, 2018

Get Ready to Ring in the Holidays with the 'Merry X-Men Holiday Special'

Marvel.com: The holiday season is fast approaching, and Marvel is wasting no time in getting into the holiday spirit! On Wednesday, December 5, Marvel's merry mutants will all get together for Merry X-Men Holiday Special #1! Marvel Editor Jordan D. White has a preview of the issue, which will feature 25 new X-Men stories filled with holiday joy, action, and -- of course -- some trouble!

Marvel.com: As everyone knows, the X-Men are all about family. What kind of holiday is Marvel’s mutant family going to be having?

Jordan D. White: They’re going to have a merry one, naturally, since that’s what we promised in the title. You can’t lie in those — it’s like a legally binding contract. One time they put out an issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN that accidentally had him being spectacular in it and it almost destroyed the company.

Marvel.com: There are 25 stories in this holiday special – what went into getting this kind of issue together?

Jordan D. White: It’s been a ton of fun and a ton of work. We knew we were going to be doing an X-Men Holiday Special, and my assistants, Annalise Bissa and Chris Robinson, were spitballing ideas when I came up with the idea to do it as an “Advent Comic” with one-page stories for every day. I thought it was a funny idea, but I probably would have assumed it was too crazy if both of them were not immediately excited about it. From there, I came up with the idea of there being one story that actually recurs a few times and culminates on Christmas Day. That was five of the 25 stories. From there, we divvied up the other 20 between us, editorially, and started reaching out to writers to see if they had a one-page holiday X-Story in them! Everyone was incredibly game for it, and we ended up with a great spread of creators, characters, and ideas!

Marvel.com: What kinds of “ghosts of battles past” will be haunting the X-Men in these holiday stories?

Jordan D. White: There are villains, there is personal history, there is family, there are friends, and there are lots of emotions.  Oh, and presents, naturally.

Marvel.com: Does anyone get to have a truly happy holiday?

Jordan D. White: You know, a lot of the stories are happy! But definitely not all of them. There’s one in particular that I find heartbreaking. I will leave it to you to figure out which one.

Marvel.com: What kind of direction did you give to the artists who drew the stories for this issue?

Jordan D. White: Art-wise, since most of the people drawing the book were just drawing one page, we just did our best to cast someone whose style worked really well with the story, at which point we were able to just give them the script and do what they do best. And they did — again, such a wide range of styles all in a row, it’s a book that has a lot to offer this holiday season.

Marvel.com: Which mutant power – besides Iceman and Storm – comes in the most handy during the holiday season?

Jordan D. White: Probably Multiple Man, so you could get together with all your loved ones all over the place without having to choose between them. Although I am sure Banshee and Dazzler would make an awesome caroling troop!

Here's the entire creative team, along with the stories they'll be writing and drawing:

1. Jubilee in “Mele Kalikimaka!”
Written by Chris Sims & Chad Bowers, art by Marco Failla, color by Israel Silva

2. Kitty Pryde in “Title TBA”
Written by Chris Claremont, art by Terry Dodson, color by Chris Sotomayor

3. Wolverine in “#Hotclaws for Hanukkah”
Written by Charles Soule, art by Ryan Browne, color by Jordan Boyd

4. Jean Grey in “Dreaming of a Wade Christmas” 
Written by Jean Grae, art by Shawn Crystal, color by Rico Renzi

5. Nature Girl in “I Hate Christmas”
Written by Zac Thompson & Lonnie Nadler, art/color by Amilcar Pinna

6. Jubilee in “Jingle All the Wait a Minute...”
Written by Chris Sims & Chad Bowers, art by Marco Failla, color by Israel Silva

7. Gambit in “The Chiche Who Stole Christmas”
Written by Styles P & Poobs, art by Luciano Vecchio, color by Carlos Lopez

8. Iceman in “White Elephant”
Written by Sina Grace, art by Cory Smith, color by Jordan Boyd

9. Magneto in “Title TBA”
Written by Cullen Bunn, art by Roland Boschi, color by Dan Brown

10. Storm in “To All a Good Night”
Written by Charlamagne tha God, art by Alitha E. Martinez, color by Jay David Ramos

11. Jubilee in “Deck the Malls”
Written by Chris Sims & Chad Bowers, art by Marco Failla, color by Israel Silva

12. Dr. Nemesis in “The Giving Season”
Written by Christopher Daniels, art by Ray-Anthony Height & LeBeau Underwood, color by Jay David Ramos

13. Rogue & Gambit in “Christmas Cat-astrophe!”
Written by Kelly Thompson, art by David Lopez, color by Chris Sotomayor

14. Sabretooth in “Red Christmas”
Written by Aubrey Sitterson, art by Juan Gedeon, color by Jesus Aburtov

15. Cannonball in “Home for The Holidays”
Written by Al Ewing, art by PJ Holden, color by Antonio Fabela

16. Domino in “The Naughty List”
Script/art/color by Anthony Piper

17. The Braddocks in “Baby Steps”
Written by Leah Williams, art by Marcio Takara, color by Chris O’Halloran

18. Glob Herman in “Deck the Halls”
Written by Ed Brisson, art by Pere Perez, color by Chris Sotomayor

19. Gabby Kinney in “Secret Santa”
Written by Vita Ayala, art by Pere Perez, color by Chris O’Halloran

20. Jubilee in “All I Want for Christmas Is You”
Written by Chris Sims & Chad Bowers, art by Marco Failla, color by Israel Silva

21. Hope Summers in “The Longest Night”
Written by Tini Howard, art by Brent Schoonover, color by Chris O’Halloran

22. Beast in “Blue Christmas”
Written by Rainbow Rowell, art by Kris Anka, color by Matt Wilson

23. Nightcrawler in “X-Mas Bamf”
Written by Esoteric, art by Michael Shelfer, color by Federico Blee

24. Jamie Madrox in “The Gift of the Madri”
Written by Matt Rosenberg, art by Andy MacDonald, color by Tamra Bonvillain

25. Arcade in “Walkin’ in a Winter Murderland”
Written by Chris Sims & Chad Bowers, art by Marco Failla, color by Israel Silva

Merry X-Men Special Holiday #1 goes on sale Wednesday, December 5!

4 comments:

randybear said...

So happy it looks like Psylocke will get an on panel meeting with her niece. Perfect time for Brian and Meggan to see Psylocke back to her true form. Only thing I'd love if the one page was drawn by Alan Davis, but you know.. Editors... lol

Anonymous said...

One true form eh? Then why you still gots Asian-locke as your profile pic? Bwahahaha.

BMS said...

I really hope she's in it. It would be offensive to Psylocke fans if she's not in the Braddocks.

randybear said...

Cause I loved Ultimate Psylocke you anonymous dope. Hahahahahahahahah