Mutants Are "Natural Resources" In Wood's "Ultimate Comics X-Men"

CBR: In March, you kick off a new arc titled "Natural Resources." What exactly is it about?

Brian Wood: The mutants are privatized by the government. Literally, they are declared a resource and property and are denied their human rights. An attempt is made to round them up and, presumably, create things like the sentient seed as a government program. Very similar to the way a government may privatize an oil company. They figure, we made mutants, so we own them. The US needs to rebuild itself, and fast, following "Divided We Fall." They need to regain their world superpower status. That's about all I can tease up-front. We'll also see some progress on the Mach Two storyline, and some answers to the questions readers have about Psylocke.

Uncanny X-Force #2 Art

Uncanny X-Force #2 Spoilers

Spoilers: Downtown LA, Bishop unleashes against the cops. Meanwhile, Betsy telepathically influences a man in the club to help her fight the mind-controlled partygoers. Inside their minds, Betsy finds the little girl controlling them. Storm and Puck find the girl being kept on the vault. Spiral arrives and teleports the girl away with her. Puck manages to be teleported along them. At the rooftop, Spiral defeats Puck easily. Spiral seems attached to the girl, Ginny. Storm rescues Puck from falling from the rooftop and engage Spiral in a battle again. Inside the club, Psylocke goes berserk and fries everyone’s mind. At the rooftop, Spiral teleports away again and brings the girl with her. In Hungary, Fantomex and Cluster go on a date. Cluster says that she misses Betsy. Fantomex says he doesn’t. Regardless, Cluster thinks that Dark Fantomex must miss her too, and that they need to protect her from him. Back to LA, Storm concludes that Spiral’s powers must be limited since she only managed to teleport to the rooftop, so she must be close. Storm and Psylocke realize the girl is a new mutant, and that she was mentally influencing the partygoers. Betsy tracks the girl via telepathy before Spiral could place an anti-tracking bracelet on the girl. X-Force finds Spiral, but the encounter is interrupted by an angry Bishop, who looks more powerful than ever. Storm and Psylocke are shocked to see him. Bishop attacks Psylocke and state they have no idea what he is now, seemingly possessed by the Demon Bear.

X-Position: The "All-New" Brian Bendis

CBR: This week, Brian Michael Bendis continues his responses to fan questions about his other X-Book, "All-New X-Men," which features the original five X-Men transported through time to the present and trained by Kitty Pryde as they adjust to the shocking events of the last fifty years of continuity.

I saw in an interview that you eventually plan on having Psylocke come face-to-face with Teen Angel. It was said a few times during Rick Remender's "Uncanny X-Force" run that Betsy and Warren at least discussed the possibility of leaving the X-Men and starting a family together. I'm interested in how you see Psylocke's mental state pushing and pulling her when she has to bargain this new, hardened demeanor she's had in Sam Humphries' "Uncanny X-Force" and the obvious emotional toll it would take to see a young version of one's deceased true love. Will this be an exchange that quickly comes and goes, or something that bears down on them both for a while?

Brian Michael Bendis: I will only say that there are some big surprises coming for Warren Worthington III. You've laid out a whole scenario there. This is a great question, but you've already written your own answer that's fantastic and well thought-out. I'm going to show you something and see what you think of it.

Marvel Teases "Marvel" #1

CBR: Marvel Comics has kicked off the new week with a teaser for a project referred to simply as "Marvel" #1, including the names of dozens of the publisher's characters.

No further information has been made available at this time. You can spot Psylocke between Kid Omega and Iron Man.

Marvel #1

Begin with the best super heroes in comics -- Marvel does it FIRST!! HUGE story coming soon to fans, worldwide.

Sam Humphries Talks Psylocke

Uncanny X-Force writer – Sam Humphries – answers Psylocke related questions on his Tumblr.

With Spiral on the team, is there any hope that we'll see Betsy's original body again?

Sam Humphries: IF I AM NOT MISTAKEN Betsy’s original body became Kwannon and Kwannon died and the body was destroyed. It was all very complicated and I had to hire a tudor to help me understand it all, so I think I am going to let poor Kwannon rest in peace.

Do you have plans to address some aspects of Psylocke's life that are barely touched anymore like that she's filthy rich or that she was a popular fashion model gracing the covers of Vogue or the friends she had back in England, I mean, this kind of stuff that is related to Betsy Braddock (not Psylocke). I feel like we barely know her apart from the superheroing side.

Sam Humphries: Have you been reading my scripts??? Betsy is our central character so the short answer is yes. The other short answer is check out the first page of issue 3.

What sports would Psylocke follow? Football (soccer)? Rugby? Cricket?

Sam Humphries: Good question. Probably none — she’s more into music and fashion. But I bet she enjoys a good MMA fight once in awhile.

Uncanny X-Force #2 Preview

Uncanny X-Force #2

Writer: Sam Humphries

Art by: Ron Garney

Cover by: Kris Anka

The Story:

Bishop Vs. Uncanny X-Force!

What secrets does the man with the "M" on his face bring from the future?

Uncanny X-Force Solicit for May 2013

Uncanny X-Force #5

Writer: Sam Humphries

Art by: Adrian Alphona

Cover by: Kris Anka

Variant Cover by: Ed McGuinness

• Guest-penciler Adrian Alphona (co-creator of Runaways) joins UXF!

• Psylocke digs deep into Bishop’s head and what she finds will shock you!

• One of the biggest X-Villains of the past 20 years threatens the Uncanny X-Force!

'Runaways' Artist Adrian Alphona Returns to Comics with 'Uncanny X-Force'

ComicsAlliance: Artist Adrian Alphona took the superhero scene by storm when he and writer Brian K. Vaughan created Runaways in 2003. Four 24 issues, Alphona's singularly youthful, highly expressive style endeared readers new and old to the brand new group of super-powered kids, giving Marvel a legitimate modern perennial with Runaways. And then... Alphona was gone. The artist popped up rarely in the comic book biz, drawing a cover here, a one-off single issue of something there, but it seemed that fans hoping for a new Alphona run of anything were out of luck.

That changes in May when Marvel releases Uncanny X-Force #5, beginning the first multi-issue comic book serial Adrian Alphona has drawn since leaving Runaways in 2007. The pairing of Alphona with Uncanny X-Force writer Sam Humphries is very fitting, as Humphries has always been something of a Runaways evangelist, praising the book from the rooftops of LA and loaning out copies to everyone who crossed his path over the years (including myself). Certainly, Humphries' new Uncanny X-Force run recalls some that angst-and-action magic from Runaways.

Alphona's hard at work on his first Uncanny X-Force issue, but we were able to take a look at some of his character studies and talk to Humphries about the new story.

ComicsAlliance: Sam, I know that you're a big Runaways fan from back in the day, and now Adrian Alphona is drawing your big book for Marvel NOW. How's it feel?

Sam Humphries: Runaways by Vaughan and Alphona is one of my favorite Marvel runs of the past 10+ years. I nicked a couple elements from it for Uncanny X-Force -- the marginal, outsider status of the team, the Los Angeles location, and I almost grabbed a character (who may show up down the line. Now we get Adrian, and I couldn't be more psyched. [Current Uncanny X-Force artist] Ron Garney is the co-father of mutant ninja noir and is difficult to follow, but Adrian is a great addition to our twisted little family.

CA: What is it you love so much about his work?

SH: Adrian's got great emotional range for his characters, and that's great for a book like Uncanny X-Force where there's a tendency for characters to be spiky and snarky. But Adrian's also got a fantastical side (if you've seen his gorgeous sketchbooks, you know). So I'm excited to flex that side of his artistic ability as well.

CA: What kind of story have you crafted to fit this auspicious occasion?

SH: Adrian's got a chunk of pages in issues #3 and #4, showing Psylocke on a crucial psychic mission, and his depiction of the mental plane is going to be killer. In issues #5 and #6, Adrian's going to take you on a wild ride into the future as we fill in just what the hell Bishop has been up to in the 68th century, what led him back to the present, and the reasons behind his brutal changes. It's the saga of cowboy Bishop, and it's going to change the way people have thought about him for the past five years. Adrian has got an ability to be versatile without sacrificing beauty, and we're gonna push that to the limit by giving him a ton of weird, alluring, mutant ninja noir stuff to draw.

Adrian Alphona will draw select pages of Uncanny X-Force #3 and #4. His first full issue, #5, goes on sale in May in finer comics shops and digitally from ComiXology.

Ultimate Comics X-Men #22 Spoilers & Art

Spoilers by Plawsky: After Kitty's announcement of the seed, the world is in uproar; stocks are down, corporations are angry; and third world nations are desperate for their hunger cure. Husk shows up to the mutant camp in Utopia. Kitty meets with her, upset about how she left the group when she killed five mutants. Husk claims to have been brainwashed, but is now cured, and tells of other mutants who are making their way to Utopia. Bobby is excited to see Paige, and they reunite. On the Utopia perimeter, Jimmy and Tony Stark set up surveillance equipment. An unknown F-22 flies at them, but Tony jumps in his armor and makes quick work of the plane. Upon interrogation, the pilot reveals nothing. By Tony's suggestion, they let him go. Kitty addresses the mutants, saying they need to put aside their differences and stand as a nation united. During her speech, the greenhouse blows up, seemingly destroying the seed. This drives the group apart again, and Mach 2's group, including Psylocke, Warpath and few others, leaves the camp; Bobby and Husk join them. It's revealed that Kitty and Tony blew it up to keep the seed hidden for now, but they still have some. In DC, an unidentified group meets to discuss how to take down the mutants.