Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #3 Art

        

Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #3 Spoilers

Spoilers from X-Man's Comic Blog: Thanks to Fantomex's misdirection, coupled with Psylocke's telepathy, the two heroes manage to trick the Purifier they were tangling with last issue into believing that he had successfully blown himself up and was allowed into Heaven. After the Purifier reveals that Standish was headed to New York where his brain bomb would kill everybody within a 25 square mile radius, Psylocke breaks the fantasy and Fantomex proceeds to shoot the Purifier in the head. Now knowing where Standish was headed, Fantomex and Psylocke hop into EVA, collect the rest of X-Force and fly towards NYC. Standish is slowly flying into Manhattan, and is being pursued by two US Air Force fighter jets. After Standish fails to turn around, the jets launch missiles at Standish's airplane, which Wolvie orders Fantomex to intercept with EVA since he feared the missiles would detonate Standish's brain bomb. Fantomex unhappily does as asked and EVA gets knocked out, causing all of X-Force (except for Fantomex, who was still hooked up to EVA) to fall out of the ship. Archangel goes to catch Psylocke, but Wolvie instead instructs him to stop Standish's plane, telling Archangel that he'd cushion the fall for Psylocke with his own body. Pool, Wolvie and Psylocke smash down onto a rooftop, while Fantomex manages to land EVA in the streets of NY in one piece. As for Standish and his plane, Archangel lands on top and cuts the wings off, which causes the plane's body to slam down in the street right in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral. Standish emerges from his damaged plane and takes the sight of the Cathedral as a sign that he was doing the right thing before pulling out a gun. Archangel tells Standish it was all over, but ends up getting shot by Standish. Standish walks back in the plane and prepares to push the button to blow the brain bomb up, but has his hand chopped off by Deadpool. Standish falls to the ground and is surrounded by X-Force, at which time he tries to explain that he only wanted to save humanity from the evils of superhumans and their ilk. Wolvie tells Standish that the world would be better off without him and lops his head off.

Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #3 Preview

Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #3
Written by: Rob Williams
Pencils and Cover by: Simone Bianchi

The Story: “Fear Itself” Tie-in! With The Serpent's destruction spreading across the globe and time seemingly running out for Planet Earth, Jonathan Standish and his Purifiers make their final move. How many human lives can they take before the 'devil' claims the souls of the human race? And can X-Force successfully track down the location of Standish's 'brain bomb' and the Purifier's main target? In the final moral battle against sin, can a mutant kill crew possibly win?

In Stores: September 21, 2011

        

Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #3 Advance Preview

        
    

Uncanny X-Men #542 Scan

Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #2 Art

        

Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #2 Spoilers

Spoilers: After Jonathan Standish’s internet broadcast, over 3000 people killed themselves. Back at Standish’s hideout, he believes that the gateway to heaven is somehow hidden within neurons. He wants so send as many people as he can to heaven, before the devil comes to claim their souls. Meanwhile, X-Force just hovers in Earth orbit waiting for the Purifiers’ next move. EVA detects simultaneous incidents in small towns all over America. Archangel is sent to Texas, Deadpool to Oklahoma, Wolverine to Arkansas, and Psylocke and Fantomex to Missouri. Their plan is to kill them all, except for one, so Betsy can retrieve Standish’s location out of his mind. Betsy finds it ironic she has too keep the Purifier alive when she so wants to hill him. She tries to dismantle a bomb attached to his chest, but it ends up exploding. Meanwhile, Standish has built a giant time-bomb powered by the brains of his victims. 

Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #2 Preview

Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #2

Written by: Rob Williams
Pencils and Cover by: Simone Bianchi
The Story: “Fear Itself” Tie-in! With the events of Fear Itself causing worldwide panic, Jonathan Standish and his cell of rogue Purifiers look to take their murderous mission to the next level. Believing superheroes have brought about the end of the world, just how many innocents can these Purifiers kill? How many 'souls' can they save from the devil? And where will they strike next? If ever there was a group worthy of X-Force's lethal talents, this is it. But is there a grain of truth hidden in Standish's askew thinking?
In Stores: August 10, 2011

        

Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #1 Art

        

Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #1 Spoilers

Spoilers from X-Man's Comic Blog: This issue gets started with two separate threats for X-Force to deal with. The first one is a crazy suicide bomber who screamed out the word “Purify!” before killing a bunch of people, the second is a quick Internet video showing what appeared to be a tied up, super-powered kid in what would seem to be a pretty dire situation. X-Force feels the two events are both connected to those crazy Purifiers, and decide to get some answers. To that end they sneak into the penthouse of a secret Purifier financier and kidnap him. With the rich bigot tied up, Wolvie threatens to let Psylocke loose in his mind unless he talks. Not wanting a dirty mutant mucking around in his brains, the bigot tells X-Force the name of the Purifier's leader, Jonathan Standish, as well as the most likely location of the kidnapped kid, an abandoned military base in Baltimore. X-Force rushes to the scene and tears through the Purifiers stationed there, but are unable to find the kid. Wolvie grabs one of the Purifiers and threatens to do him grievous bodily harm(what, he did!) unless the Purifier gave up the whereabouts of the kid. Unfortunately for Wolvie and company, this Purifier explains that his group didn't have the kid, and that Standish was leading a splinter group of the Purifiers... And what of Standish? After seeing the actions of the Serpent's Worthy on television, he has come to the conclusion that the Purifiers were wrong to only target mutants, since all superhumans were obviously wicked abominations. With that, he enters the room with the captured kid, turns on the camera, puts the gun to the kid's head and warns everybody to save themselves from the hell superhumans had made the Earth by taking their lives. With that, he pulls the trigger and ends this issue.

Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #1 Preview

Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #1

Written by: Rob Williams
Pencils and Cover by: Simone Bianchi

The Story: “Fear Itself” Tie-in! As armageddon hits the Marvel world in the events of Fear Itself terror grips the planet. An extreme faction of the mutant hate group The Purifiers believes that the end of the world has come, that the devil is here
for humanity and it is up to them to “save” as many human souls as they can before he strikes. Can X-Force stop their drive for worldwide suicide? And what, exactly, is a mutant kill crew afraid of?

In Stores: July 6, 2011

        
    

X-Position: Rob Williams

CBR: In addition to having his hands full with Logan's son, Rob Williams also keeps himself occupied with a few other dark characters in "Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force" and the new "Ghost Rider" ongoing series. Thankfully, he's not too busy to answer questions for his readers, as he's our guest for today's X-POSITION. Williams is one busy little fish, so let's not waste time and jump right in!

Where'd you get the inspiration to create this rogue faction of Purifiers in "Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force?" They seem to mean more hurtful business than past incarnations. How does the new antagonist Jonathan Standish embody their ideals?

Rob Williams: These Purifiers are a splinter group. While the main Purifiers believe mutants are the children of the devil, this group think that it's all superhumans. They see the events of "Fear Itself" and think this is the end of the world -- the stuff of the Book of Revelations -- and they think the super-people have brought the devil to earth for humanity's souls. It's up to them to get as many good human souls to Heaven "before the devil knows they're dead." They're basically very scared people, and fear makes humanity do terrible things.

Their leader, Jonathan Standish, is a neurosurgeon who believes he has been called to "save" as many people as he can. As ever in these instances, he thinks he's the hero here -- the one with the moral high ground. And he's got a mutant kill crew coming after him, so maybe he has a point (albeit a very screwed up one). The storyline was really generated by the moral question of "Should a mutant kill crew exist?" And if they are necessary, as Wolverine and company believe, then what does that say about society (and superhero books) in general? While "Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force" has big, summer blockbuster-style action sequences, hopefully it asks a few interesting questions too. And Simone Bianchi's made it look stunning!

Your story ties into the chaos as the Serpent's Armageddon hits, but how else are your themes and story differentiating themselves from the awesome job that Rick Remender has already lain out in the main "Uncanny X-Force" book? Will your story be picking up on small seeds and threads from his title?

Rob Williams: I've tried to stay away from the main plot points in Rick's run (which is terrific and I'm really enjoying each month). But hopefully the character dynamics are the same. I've thrown in some sexual tension between Psylocke and Fantomex, for example; Archangel's in a pretty aggressive state-of-mind, etc. Jody Leheup's my editor on the miniseries and Jody edits the main "Uncanny X-Force" book, so he kept me on the straight and narrow. But, as I said earlier with Daken, I want this to be a self-enclosed story that new readers can pick up and immediately get what's going on. If I came in heavily referencing a bunch of Rick's plot points there'd be little room for our plot.

Uncanny X-Men #541 Cover

Uncanny X-Men Fear Itself Tie-In cover featuring Psylocke. Art by Greg Land.

X-Solicits for September 2011

	Uncanny X-Force #15 Written by: Rick Remender Penciled by: Jerome Opeña Cover by: Esad Ribic Marvel Architect Variant also available Marvel Architects Sketch Variant also available “The Dark Angel Saga: part 5” Genocide has incinerated half of Wolverine’s body, leaving only two remaining members of X-Force to defeat Archangel and his army. Someone has wiped out a small town in Northern Montana and in its place a new alien landscape has grown. What is Tabula Rasa? Can Fantomex and Deadpool work together to survive its harsh terrains long enough to unlock its mystery? The acclaimed team of Rick Remender (Venom, Punisher), Jerome Opeña (Punisher, Moon Knight) and Dean White (Avengers) return to introduce you to the strangest territory in the Marvel Universe.
	Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #3 (of 3) Written by: Rob Williams Art & Cover by: Simone Bianchi Fear Itself Tie-In! With the Serpent's destruction spreading across the globe and time seemingly running out for Planet Earth, Jonathan Standish and his Purifiers make their final move. How many human lives can they take before the 'devil' claims the souls of the human race? And can X-Force successfully track down the location of Standish's 'brain bomb' and the Purifier's main target? In the final moral battle against sin, can a mutant kill crew possibly win?
	X-Men: Schism #4 (of 5) Written by: Jason Aaron Pencils & Cover by: Alan Davis Variant Cover by: Frank Cho The events of Schism #1 have launched the world into turmoil, and the all-new Hellfire Club is ready to take advantage of the chaos. But when the survival of the mutant race is on the line, just how far will the X-Men go? Once a line is crossed, there’s no going back. The event that promises to tear the X-Men apart at their very core continues, by writer and Marvel Architect Jason Aaron, and superstar artist Alan Davis!

Williams Purifies "Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force"

CBR: This July, in the three issue miniseries "Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force" by writer Rob Williams and artist Simone Bianchi, X-Force will hunt a new target, one that seeks to exploit the chaos of Marvel's summer event storyline. In order to achieve their objective, the team will have to confront a horde of heavily armed foes as well as tough questions and fears about the team's bloody nature. CBR News spoke with Williams about the project.

CBR News: Rob, in the past we've talked about how much you enjoy writing heroes and how much you enjoy darker and more gray-hued characters. With "Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force." you seem to have landed an assignment that let's you do both.

Rob Williams: Right -- the whole hook with X-Force is that they're a kill crew. That's a definite line and you have to honor that or otherwise it's just another super hero book. I think writer Rick Remender has done a brilliant job of doing that in the regular series. The first arc in particular was great, and the ending really took you aback. It was bold, it was brave and it set a very, very high standard.

The culminations of Rick's stories have felt very organic. They haven't felt forced. The stories weren't daring simply because they involved super heroes killing people. The stories all felt true to the characters. There's a real trick to that, which we had to try and do with this miniseries as well. We don't want to do something sensationalist for the sake of it.

Is that tough to do on a project like this, an event tie-in miniseries featuring characters from an ongoing title that you don't write?

It's intimidating to do. Especially here because the standard of the "X-Force" book is incredibly high. Plus, it's a high profile book and it sells very well. Rick, the artists and the editorial team have been doing stellar work on "Uncanny X-Force." I think it's one of the best books Marvel is currently putting out. I trust editorial to tell me if I'm veering the characters away from their voices. I'm not too concerned about that. My concern is making sure this book doesn't feel like a let down compared to the regular series. [Laughs] The bar is set pretty high and we want to maintain that. So there's a certain amount of pressure.

I imagine it helps to have some experience writing the team's co-leader, Wolverine. Your first work for Marvel was a special Christmas themed "Wolverine" issue with Laurence Campbell, and you recently wrote the character again in the one-shot "What If? Wolverine: Father." What's it like coming back to the character?

Wolverine is a character I've read a lot of over the years, and his voice is easy to get because we all know it. So it's fun to write him, but the thing that I like about him is that's he got this great sort of moral grounding. He's a berserker at times and is one of the best killers on the planet, but there is a wisdom to him as well.

I think his choices are informed by a grim sort of realization that some things are necessary. That's why he and Archangel made the very pragmatic choice to form their own version of X-Force. Wolverine understands that Cyclops won't necessarily go this far, but he and the characters in X-Force feel like they're doing necessary work they believe in. Wolverine understands the responsibilities he has with this team. X-Force isn't something he jumped to on a whim or established after a burst of anger. He's taken a look at the world and believes in these hard choices. For him, this is an ethical decision. That's really attractive. It makes him far more interesting than just being a psycho with claws.

What about the other members of X-Force? What do you find most interesting about them?

They're all gray area characters, aren't they? They're all compromised in one way or another, but I also think -- and this is something that Rick nicely worked in -- they have all made the choice to be there. No one is there because they've been blackmailed into it. No one has got a chip in their head which is forcing them to play along or anything like that. They've made a political decision and one that they feel is necessary, for the greater good. That makes them heroic, even though a lot of people would take issue with what they're doing.

Plus, they're all just really cool characters. From a dialogue and writing point of view, Deadpool and Fantomex are just great to write. They spark off the page. Visually, Psylocke is one very cool character. She looks terrific on the page. All of these characters have been written so well that you feel they're three dimensional characters. It's a nice, tight group and they all get their page time. It's not diluted. You won't get one or two of them for just a panel a book. As a result, they've been given a great amount of depth. That's part of why the book has been so well written.

The cast of "Uncanny X-Force" is currently embroiled in a story arc titled "The Dark Angel Saga." Will that storyline affect "Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force?" Or is this more of a story that happens in between the "continuity raindrops?"

Our mini is a three-issue story, and we wanted to keep it tight, contained and accessible. You don't have to have read an issue of "Uncanny X-Force" to pick up this series, but it still fits in. My intention is that it feels like three issues of the regular series. The team is basically coming into the events of "Fear itself," which are having great effect on the wider world.

This is your second "Fear Itself" tie-in. Your "Ghost Rider" ongoing, which launches in June, also ties into the event. What's the appeal of telling stories against a back drop like "Fear Itself?"

The stakes couldn't be any higher. The whole world is under threat here. This isn't a small localized event. With "Fear itself," it does look like to all concerned that the world is ending. That just sort of naturally leads to high drama. The stakes couldn't get any higher. It's just a great environment to tell stories in because everything is heightened. Everyone is right on the edge. It makes every story you tell feel naturally important.

How exactly does your X-Force mini tie-into the larger tapestry of "Fear Itself?"

The general populace of the Marvel Universe is unaware that the evil fear god, The Serpent, is behind everything. All they know is that it looks like the end of the world. It looks like Armageddon. That's causing a lot of people to freak out in different ways.

A splinter faction of the extreme anti-mutant religious group, the Purifiers, believes that it's not just mutants that are responsible for things. This is a group that's visually and technologically different from the main branch of the Purifiers. They have their own belief system. They feel all super-powered people are at fault for the world coming to an end, not just mutants. They think society has come to its end and people are morally bankrupt.

So the question we're asking through our story is, when you have a super hero team that's a kill crew, do these guys have a point? Maybe society's morals have gone down the toilet. X-Force will be forced to look at themselves and go, "As nutty as these super terrorists are, maybe they're right. Maybe we've brought on the end of the world." There's a line where Wolverine says, "We've all saved the world so many times, it stands to reason that sooner or later we'd fail." We're really looking at the ethics inherent in them being X-Force in the first place.

It's interesting that you're writing a story involving a religious sect's belief that the world is coming to an end right around the time some religious figures in America were predicting the end of the world. Did the predictions about the Rapture figure into or influence your story at all?

It wasn't something I was aware of at the time. I was putting the finishing touches on the series last week and then I read about all the Rapture stuff. So it wasn't something that was on my mind when I wrote this, but it's exactly the type of thing we're exploring in this story. Thankfully, the predicted Rapture wasn't quite on the same scale as "Fear Itself." [Laughs]

What type of scale is the conflict you're featuring in "Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force?" How dangerous is this splinter group of the Purifiers? I've seen some covers, and it looks like they're armed with high tech and cybernetic weaponry.

Simone had the chance to design some cool looking battle suits and the Purifiers will be employing some high-powered weaponry. We're going to have some intense fight scenes. You need to create villains who are a threat. When you're dealing with incredibly powerful heroes, they need to go up against people who are a challenge.

Our villains aren't just interested in physical assaults, either. They're also after people's minds and spirits. Initially, they use the internet. In our first issue they broadcast a message to the world that says, "The end of the world is here and the devil is coming." So they're trying persuade people to die now, before the devil arrives to take them. They call out to people via the internet to commit suicide. That's a challenge you can't just punch.

Interesting. So a team of assassins is being put into a position where they'll have to stop suicides?

Yes. We talked about that. My editor and I talked about how X-Force is not just a kill crew. They operate that way for a reason, and the reason is to save lives. They believe that's what they're doing. They're not out there just to murder. It's all for the greater good. So again, we're trying to come up with a thematic ,emotional core to a book where it's not just about battles. It's something that's going to make the characters look at themselves and question themselves, where they'll wonder if they took the correct positions in the first place

What can you tell us about the man in charge of the Purifiers sect in this story? What's his background? Why does he feel the way he does?

He's a new character named Jonathan Standish. He's an ex-neurosurgeon. Basically, he has an epiphany and believes he's the chosen one, he's given the message from God to give to humanity. So he's out to save as many people as he can. He has an unshakeable faith and believes he's doing the right thing. The most interesting villains usually believe they are doing the right thing, and in his own warped way, he does have a point. Maybe if the super heroes hadn't existed then villains like The Serpent wouldn't have come along.

It's the "did Batman create the Joker" thing. Standish thinks the world would have been a far better place without super heroes and maybe he's got a point.

Where will Standish try and prove his point? What are some of the important settings in this story?

It's all set in America, and not just the cities. It hits the small towns, too. An internet suicide call goes out worldwide, too. A message on the internet can kill more people than any number of super villains.

From what you've described, "Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force" really does seem like a story full of characters, conflicts and other elements Simone Bianchi could really sink his teeth into.

Yes, with Simone drawing the book it's going to look absolutely beautiful regardless of what I do. [Laughs] His take on the characters are great.

That's another thing that was important to us. Artists like Jerome Opena and Esad Ribic have been doing fantastic work on "Uncanny X-Force," and now Simone is providing some stunning pages here. It's a story with a great emotional core and socially relevant themes with the ideas of faith and terrorism and things like that. It's also got really, really big action set pieces. It's kind of a pseudo religious Hollywood blockbuster.

Sounds intense. I imagine with characters like Fantomex and Deadpool there will be moments of levity and humor in "Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force" as well.

Oh, yeah. That was part of the appeal of the assignment, especially with those two. Like I said earlier, they're so much fun to write. I really enjoy writing sarcastic characters. Plus, Deadpool's perspective gives the story a surreal bent. You need a bit of comedy in these stories because otherwise, with all the themes were talking about and the fact that we're dealing with a mutant kill crew, things would get dangerously dark and not particularly entertaining. These guys help keep the pace and levity up and put a few laughs in what would otherwise be some very dark material.

So it's got a sort of heavy aspect to it, but there's a lot of laughs in it, which I'm not entirely sure is appropriate. [Laughs] These are the types of books I like, though. You deal with a serious subject but you do so in a way that entertains as well. Hopefully it will provide something for everyone and fits in with the tone of the overall series.

Uncanny X-Force vs. Armageddon

IGN: In Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force by Rob Williams and Simone Bianchi, the team tackles an increasing threat from a group of extremists -- the Purifiers -- that believe Armageddon is impending, and they're holding superhumans responsible. We talked with Williams about the correlation between his story and the recent "rapture" theories, the book's ties to Rick Remender's Uncanny X-Force series, and more. Marvel also gave us an exclusive first look at some pages from issue #1, hitting stores July 6, 2011.

        
    

IGN Comics: Fear Itself is a pretty topical event, and it looks like your Uncanny X-Force tie-in mini is keeping that tradition with its theme of Armageddon. With all of the rapture hoopla that just passed, was there any influence from those real-life predictions on this story?

Rob Williams: There wasn't, but the timing's become rather pertinent. I guess this is exactly the type of thing that Matt Fraction and company were feeding off with the core concept of Fear Itself. There's hard economic times for a lot of people, there's always some form of apocalyptic tomorrow just beyond the horizon, whether it was the millennium bug in 2000, the recent predicted rapture, the Mayan 2012 thing. Whether you believe in any of these things or not we certainly live in a world where extreme religious groups are driven to terrible actions by their beliefs. That's where our mini-series is coming from.

IGN: In Uncanny X-Force proper, we're about to undertake a journey that points to the downfall of Angel. Will those story beats be reflected in Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force?

Williams: Not really. We wanted to make this a self-enclosed storyline that will be accessible to new readers and which will, hopefully, appeal to regular readers of the core book. So we have three issues and a definite beginning-middle and end here. Rick Remender's planted plot threads in the main X-Force series - which I'm loving, by the way - and they're his to complete. I was pretty thrilled to be asked to have these characters for three issues. But the core X-Force story is Rick's.

IGN: X-Force typically operates behind the curtain, unseen. Is their mission throughout Fear itself going to be more overt or still on the down low?

Willaims: They're, by their very nature, a black-ops, covert team. The world, and the majority of the X-family, don't know they exist. That will continue here. Our finale takes place very much out in the open. But in a world where superheroes are commonplace, no-one's going to be able to identify X-Force as a definable team from their actions here.

IGN: Can you tell us what connection, if any, the "Purifiers" have to the God of Fear and The Worthy?

Williams: They're their little thematic children, even though the God Of fear doesn't have a clue about that. But that is enough to cause widespread loss of life, as you'll see in the story. The wider events of Fear Itself cause a lot of people to think that this is the end of the world. That's going to send this particular splinter group off the deep end. They believe that it's not just mutants who are the children of the devil, it's all super-people. And they think that the devil is here and about to take humanity to hell. So it's up to them to save as many souls as they can right now. The God of Fear would be very proud of their actions, I'm sure.

IGN: This tie-in sounds like it has more of a philosophical bent to it than some of the other minis that are coming. Is this something brought about by the nature of the characters?

Williams: It's about the power of belief. We wanted to write a story which dealt with the themes of Fear Itself. To ask what a mutant kill crew are afraid of. The Purifiers believe that the superhumans have brought the end of days down on humanity, that mankind's morality has sunk to the point where we've reached a tipping point to annihilation. And despite how crazy that might sound, X-Force are going to look at themselves, with all the blood on their hands, and wonder if, amidst the crazy, there's a kernel of a point there. There's a meta aspect to the story too - should superheroes, as a concept, really be a kill crew in the first place?

Plus a lot of widescreen action sequences. I kind of wanted this to be a big Hollywood action movie with a theological edge.

IGN: What does Simone Bianchi bring to the table for this book?

Williams: Unbelievable visuals and a ton of energy on the page. Everyone knows how good Simone is - and when I was told he was on this project the whole nature of it lifted. It's a treat to work with an A-list talent. As a writer you always want to play to people's strengths so giving Simone some killer action sequences was the plan. And I certainly think we've done that. There's two sequences in particular which would cost umpteen millions to put on a movie screen. I'm not sure how much Marvel are paying Simone but he's made this book look like a blockbuster.