X-Position – ResurrXtion Revealed With The X-Editors: Part 1

CBR: This week in X-POSITION, the X-Men editors Mark Paniccia, Daniel Ketchum, Christina Harrington and Chris Robinson answer your questions about “X-Men Gold,” “Generation X” and “Jean Grey”!

While I’m excited about ResurrXion, I am disappointed that Psylocke and Archangel are nowhere to be seen after all the amazing character development both got in Cullen Bunn’s “Uncanny X-Men.” Will we see them anytime soon?

Mark Paniccia: First, let’s give Cullen a round of applause for the work he (props to editor Daniel Ketchum as well) put into the series and the craft he invested in these characters. Second, Psylocke and Archangel are very popular but we need just one more e-mail asking for their return before we can seriously consider anything. 😉

Christina Harrington: These are two of my favorite characters, especially after Cullen’s run on “Uncanny.” And after that great character development, I don’t think Archangel or Psylocke will stay off the table for long…

Daniel Ketchum: We have received so many e-mails and tweets about Psylocke and Archangel! Fear not: there is a concrete plan in place for the pair. You’ll hear about it very soon…

Gambit wasn’t a part of any ongoing for years and appeared only as guest star. Can we expect Gambit to join any teams in 2017?

Robinson: I think you’re gonna wanna see the cover to “X-Men Gold” #4…

Paniccia: And there’s some place else he could be popping in the summer. Shhhhh.

I really miss Emma Frost. Specifically, I miss the interactions between young Jean and Emma…even the Cuckoos. I believe Emma was able to push Jean to try new things making her more than she had ever been before, with exception of the Phoenix Force. Are there any plans to have Jean interact with a Emma or the Cuckoos?

Ketchum: Has everyone read the end of “Inhumans vs. X-Men”? Without giving anything away, that series leaves Emma in a very different place than she’s been for the past few years. Needless to say, there are big plans for Emma. I wouldn’t rule out a run-in between Emma and Jean, but Emma has some bigger fish to fry in the immediate future…

Paniccia: Emma has such a rich history with the X-Men that it’s hard to imagine a world without her. There is something sizzling in the kitchen. You’ll hear about it soon.

Marvel Announces New X-Men Books

Marvel.com: You asked for it—and you’re going to get it. After years in the darkness, the X-Men step back into a colorful tomorrow.

  

Coming in Spring 2017, the X-Men family of titles regroups with a diverse line-up of ongoing series including CABLE, GENERATION X, ICEMAN, JEAN GREY, and WEAPON X. Leading the ResurrXion will be two new flagships: X-MEN BLUE and X-MEN GOLD.

While exact details on this upcoming initiative remain scarce, we spoke with editors Mark Paniccia and Daniel Ketchum about the heart of the X-Men, why this shift should please longtime fans, and much more.

Marvel.com: What is the mission statement of ResurrXion?

Mark Paniccia: Easy. X-Men are heroes. Of the Marvel Universe. These mutants have saved the world enough times they deserve to be called what they are.

Daniel Ketchum: Without spoiling too much about the ending of INHUMANS VS X-MEN, the X-Men have been living with a cloud hanging over their heads—literally. The current roster of X-Men titles has been defined by this pervading sense of doom, the fact that mutantkind is on the brink. Well, one way or another, the impending threat of extinction subsides, and this is the story of what happens next. The X-Men have a future. Now what are they going to do with it?

Marvel.com: What are the most important elements of the X-Men books that will be present in ResurrXion?

Mark Paniccia: The same stuff that made these stories and characters we love so much stand out time and time again. Crazy cool adventures. Awesome super powers. Groundbreaking science fiction and heartbreaking romance. And the element of surprise. When I was first introduced to the X-Men as a reader back in the [Chris] Claremont/[John] Byrne days I was always on the edge of my seat. I want readers to feel like they are on that same emotional roller coaster that made me come back month after month. I want to tap into that same creative energy that had us feeling what the characters were feeling, rooting for your heroes and cheering them on during battles where you thought they had no chance. And those quiet moments that made you smile because they were so real and relatable. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this line and the stories we’re going to be telling.

Daniel Ketchum: Extinction is no longer staring them in the face, so the X-Men can exhale and turn their attention back to doing what’s defined them since the beginning: Protecting a world that hates and fears them. These new titles won’t cast the X-Men as members of a species fighting for their survival but rather as big, bright, colorful super heroes who want to demonstrate to the world that they want to walk with them hand-in-hand into the future. They’ll have costumes with capes, a school, and softball games. Oh, there will be softball games. The goal is to tell exciting new X-Men stories while keeping an eye on the tropes and touchstones that longtime X-Men fans cherish.

Marvel.com: Why give solo books to Iceman and Jean Grey?

Mark Paniccia: These are characters rich with stories to tell. And characters readers want to read about. We’ve given a lot of face time to other characters and felt it was time to put the spotlight on two of these beloved cast members.

Daniel Ketchum: Because it’s about time, isn’t it?

Jeff Lemire wisely identified that there’s much story to be told when it comes to both Iceman and Jean Grey, which is why he included them in EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN. But one of the pitfalls of writing a team book is that you can really only spend so much time with any one member of the cast. So while we did get hints of larger stories, we didn’t really get to delve deep with either one of these characters. Doing solo series will give writers and readers that opportunity.

Marvel.com: What can we expect from the new books with old names, GENERATION X and WEAPON X?

Mark Paniccia: With GENERATION X we’re tapping into the demand for the school book. The school is such a big part of the X-Men mythos it feels wrong not to have a series devoted to it for this long. And I think readers will like the cast and the creative team. This will be a book that will seem familiar but it’s going to have a very fresh vibe to it and I can see it being a very endearing run for fans of this kind of book.

WEAPON X is our darkest book and that’s an understatement. I’m asking my writer to push the boundaries on this, go as far as we can take it in the rating. I haven’t done a lot of dark books in my career at Marvel. I’ve always had that itch I wanted to scratch. This is going into the abyss. Visceral. Shocking. You’ll step back and for a minute and be like “What the [expletive] just happened? Did they really do that? I’m loving this!!!”

Daniel Ketchum: GENERATION X and WEAPON X follow in the footsteps of their predecessors in terms of tone and spirit, but otherwise they blaze their own trails.

So, GENERATION X will bring you plenty of teenage drama, school uniforms, awkward kissing, and young X-Men being thrown into peril that would test the mettle of even the most seasoned veterans. And—of course—Jubilee. Because how could you do a GENERATION X book without Jubilee?

Marvel.com: How will the flagship Blue and Gold books appeal to X-Men fans?

Mark Paniccia: These are the return to the quintessential X-Men team books. Rosters you’re going to love. The kinds of stories we all grew up on. You’re going to dig them and maybe even feel a little competition between the books, trying to outdo each other. If I do my job right, there will be readers who are Team Blue or Team Gold. Don’t get me wrong. You’ll enjoy both but you will have a home team.

Daniel Ketchum: Let’s not skip over the fact that we titled these books X-MEN BLUE and X-MEN GOLD! From the top down, we conceptualized these series as our love letters to the characters and stories that made us the stalwart X-Men fans we are today. Both books boast all-star lineups and the adventures they embark upon are fitting of their statures. These are the classic heavy-hitter X-Men, doing what they do best.

Marvel.com: How were the creators working on ResurrXion selected?

Mark Paniccia: It wasn’t easy. There are lots of great creators with great X-Men stories to tell. All I can say is that everyone involved has a particular love for the X-Men, a passion that’s only rivaled by my editorial team. With that kind of energy behind the books I can tell you these are going to be some amazing runs and I couldn’t be prouder of the lineup of talent we have.

Daniel Ketchum: Well, Mark wanted to put a bunch of pictures on the wall and throw darts, but I thought that might give people the wrong idea. So instead we just reached out to creators we love, who we knew had X-Men stories to tell. Some are creators readers are familiar with and others are new voices we’re bringing to into the mix.

What else can you tease about this initiative?

Daniel Ketchum: Some random thoughts I’ve had in the past week:

• If I say, “A beloved X-Man returns and will lead the X-Men into the future,” who will readers think I’m talking about?
• It's always the Phoenix. Always.   

X-Position: X-Editors Reveal Their "Apocalypse Wars" Battle Plan

CBR: This week in X-POSITION, X-Men editors Daniel Ketchum and Chris Robinson join us and answer your questions about "Apocalypse Wars" and touch upon the state of the X-Men line and even the still mysterious "Death of X."

 As opposed to events from the X-Men's past, each "Apocalypse Wars" arc feels like a natural continuation of what's come before as opposed to a total interruption of the ongoing's larger story. What steps were taken to make each arc feel like a natural progression of each book's story?

Ketchum: That's all Cullen, Jeff and Dennis. They took the idea of Apocalypse and personalized it to their books, finding those organic ties to their material. It was really cool seeing how each writer did it, and each one took a pretty different approach. Jeff Lemire takes the stakes of "Extraordinary X-Men," but projects them into a dystopian fantasy world ruled by Apocalypse. Cullen Bunn tells a mystery/horror story in "Uncanny X-Men" that's fueled by Psylocke's desire to help her longtime teammate/sometimes lover, Archangel. And Dennis Hopeless brings his book's mission statement of characters wanting to step out of the shadows of their predecessors to a head when he puts Genesis face-to-face with En Sabah Nur, the child who will one day become Apocalypse. They really did amazing work, marrying the idea of Apocalypse to what they were already doing in their titles.

Dennis Hopeless mentioned in his previous X-POSITION that the X-books would link up a bit more after "Apocalypse Wars." Can you tell us what to expect in terms of how the three major X-books ("Extraordinary," "All-New" and "Uncanny") will affect one another in the future?

Ketchum: I think I'll have to answer this question with the dreaded, "Wait and see!" But I'll tell you that everything really starts with "Death of X." Once that story stars, we'll start to see some big developments in the "X-Men" titles...

Only The Strong Will Survive The "Apocalypse Wars"

Marvel.com: This Spring, one of the X-Men’s greatest foes wages a cataclysmic battle on three fronts. Marvel is pleased to announce Apocalypse Wars, three blockbuster stories taking place across the three can’t-miss X-Men titles!  

“In the same vein as the classic event Fall of the Mutants, Apocalypse Wars is a thematic crossover that sees each of the three X-Men titles telling an Apocalypse-centric story organic to its own mission statement,” says Editor Daniel Ketchum. “Because it’s not a single tightly-knit storyline, each creative team has the breathing room to tell their unique version of an Apocalypse story that will have lasting consequences for their cast of X-Men.”

It all kicks off this March in EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN #8, as Jeff Lemire and Humberto Ramos take you into the distant future! Mutantkind is an endangered species once more. What better way to ensure your people make it to tomorrow…than to skip right to it? As the mutant race’s last hope is jettisoned into the time stream, it’s intercepted by one of their most formidable adversaries: Apocalypse. Now, Storm and the Extraordinary X-Men must race into a perilous and deadly future if they are to have any hope of reclaiming the present!

Then in April, Cullen Bunn and Ken Lashley bring the Apocalypse Wars to Magneto and his squad in UNCANNY X-MEN #6. There is something wrong with Archangel. Aim him at his target and he will destroy. Beyond that, he is little more than a lifeless drone. And it’s time Psylocke got to the bottom of why. What really happened to put him in this state? Only one thing’s for sure: her quest to uncover the truth will lead to a lot more than she bargained for…

Finally, in May, ask yourself – can you change your fate? As the young X-Men strive to shirk the legacies left to them by their older counterparts, they’ll crash headlong into Apocalypse Wars in Dennis Hopeless and Mark Bagley’s ALL-NEW X-MEN #9!  Their uncertain future hangs heaviest on young Evan – also known as Kid Apocalypse. Is he destined to become a genocidal madman like his namesake? Or will he rise above? He will be tested like never before, and truth will shock you!

One of their most dangerous adversaries has returned, to strike at the X-Men from three sides. Don’t miss the start of Apocalypse Wars when it comes to EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN #8, UNCANNY X-MEN #6 and ALL-NEW X-MEN #9 this Spring!

NYCC 2014: X-Men

Marvel.com: Editor Daniel Ketchum talks about bringing G. Willow Wilson on board for the mutants' next saga!

By the time the ladies of X-MEN return to Earth, their series will just be getting fired up.

MS. MARVEL writer G. Willow Wilson steps onto X-MEN in January for a story titled “The Burning World.” Starting in January with issue #23, the four-part arc sends the team into a mystery involving an old villain and some new guest stars.

“I don't know if this is known, but Willow has an immense love for the X-Men characters,” editor Daniel Ketchum says. “She’s doing an amazing job.”

Wilson’s story begins with a new face to the all-female X-MEN cast: Remy LeBeau.

“Gambit's got to be in it; I think he’s—in the best way—a really good butt of jokes in an all-female X-MEN comic,” Ketchum laughs. “He’s such a caricature of himself, and there are so many ways he can be really funny. So this starts with Gambit at this kind of Burning Man festival. He’s the one who gets put on the track of this mystery when this giant sinkhole opens in the middle of the desert. Of course he calls in the X-Men and Storm notably because she has this connection to the environment.”

Though the Cajun X-Man won’t be the only guest star arriving in the series.

“There are a couple of cameos from outside the X-Men universe, which I’m really excited about,” Ketchum shares. “Whenever you can do that and broaden the scope of an X-Men story, it makes you feel like you’re not just in your own little pocket. We’re actually living in the same universe as Spider-Man or Captain America.”

As Storm, Psylocke and the rest of the team investigate, the story promises some secrets from the team's past to bubble up, mostly revolving around the book’s mystery villain.

“I don't want to give much away, but with the villains we’ll find out there’s much more going on here,” Ketchum teases. “It's a mystery/suspense story, which is great, but we want the reader to discover clues and try to solve the mystery before the characters do. The villain comes with some twists and turns along the way.”

Wilson’s arc follows the currently running “Exogenous” space saga of X-MEN, and Ketchum says the wide range of adventures for the team stands as part of his plan for the title’s future:

“I took over editing the book from Jeanine Schaefer and Tom Brennan when Brian Wood was writing, and it really was his vision. Brian gave the book a pretty strong direction and voice. When he decided he was going to move on to other projects, I was intimidated by who I’d find to write it because it was so much his baby.”

“So I ultimately decided to do a quick run of rotating arcs where creators could come on, tell their X-Men story and then drop the mic. Marc Guggenheim came first and told this awesome space sci-fi epic, of which I just sent the penultimate issue to the printer.”

“The Burning World” provides a good follow up to the sci-fi story, the editor explains:

“When it came to [whom] to go to next, Willow came to mind very quickly. She’s burning it up over on MS. MARVEL. But more than that, I feel she can get into the heads of characters and tell a story on that level in addition to the cool Marvel Universe stuff.”

But beyond crafting a more personal story for the team, Wilson will also chose a different character each issue to provide the point of view for readers.

“She has this wonderful gift for getting into the heads of characters.” says Ketchum. “And since this is the all-female X-Men book, she’ll be spending time with each of those characters in a way that Brian or Marc maybe didn’t get time for. We'll get into Storm and M—especially M because she’s been with the team for so little time. We’ll get to Psylocke and Rachel Grey so it’ll be really fun.”

NYCC 2013: X-Forces Clash in "Vendetta"

Newsarama: Uncanny X-Force and Cable and X-Force will clash in January with a crossover "where Cable kicks the shit out of those imposters," said Dennis Hopeless. The crossover is called "Vendetta." The event will be weekly for the month of January, with two issues of each shipping that month.

Stryfe returns and also gets into the mix with both teams. "We knew when we had two X-Force titles that it would be cool to have one X-Force running into the other X-Force," said Daniel Ketchum.

X-Position: X-Editors

The editors of the X-books – all of ‘em – join X-Position to answer your questions about “Necrosha,” “Nation X,” "Astonishing X-Men," thongkinis and more.

Is there any way that Psylocke can get a new costume? Or at least have her current one redesigned or updated? The thongkini is iconic, but needs to go the way of the dodo.

Jeanine Schaefer: Is the thong out? When did that happen?

Daniel Ketchum: For better or worse, the “thongkini” is here to stay for the time being. But that’s not the only thing we’ve seen Psylocke wearing recently. Check out the past few issues of “Uncanny X-Men,” where Terry Dodson loves creating new looks for our favorite psychic ninja. And stay tuned for the upcoming “Psylocke” limited series, which will feature a few peeks at some of your favorite Psylocke costumes from back in the day.