I Follow Where My Mind Goes

Apparently, podcasting once a week for The Comic Addiction isn't enough. Fellow editor and X-Men junkie, Antony Ellis and I have started a monthly spin-off podcast called X-Addiction. We get together over Skype and discuss the previous month's worth of X-Men related comic books. The first episode went fairly smoothly and has met with enthusiasm by a few of our regular listeners.

The guys that run the Uncanny X-Cast podcast seemed a little miffed at first. I guess having two of their most loyal, longtime listeners, who have been extremely active on the message board, decide to take on an endeavor that could be perceived as direct competition might be little unsettling. Antony and I felt that we reached the limit of what we could do as X-Men fans through the Uncanny X-Cast and felt that X-Addiction was a natural progression for us. Also, Editor-in-Chief Chris Partin and I had been talking about new ways to expand the regular podcast and this seemed like a perfect outgrowth.

We chose the end of July to launch since it coincides with the new status quo for the X-Books. The team moved out the San Francisco and this was reflected in Uncanny X-Men #500 and Astonishing X-Men #25. Also, X-Factor starts its first storyline since that team moved to Detroit with issue #33. This makes it a good month for new readers to take a look at the X-Books, so it was a nice fit.

Sticking to a monthly schedule may be a problem. I have a feeling there will be a push for us to go twice a month after a while. I'm having a ton of fun podcasting for both shows, but I don't want to burn out. I'll worry about that when it happens.

Just One More... And Then I Gotta Go...

You'd think between playing with Old Man, writing and recording a podcast for Comic Addiction, and writing for this blog, I'd have enough projects to occupy my time. I'm now venturing into the dark and forbidden world of fan fiction. It's been surprisingly fun, so far.

The idea was pitched by someone over at the Uncanny X-Cast forum and a bunch of us regular posters (FUXers - Forum of Uncanny X-Casters) decided to give it a whirl. I quickly claimed Uncanny X-Men as my title and established the era that we would all work from. The idea is that no more Marvel Comics were published after the cover date of October 1986, right before the Mutant Massacre. I thought that would be a good jumping off point, since the X-Books start to really change around that point and there were a lot of cast change ups afterwards.

Basically, I'm rewritting history from that point forward. The Mutant Massacre will have a different end result and the cast change will not be as drastic. There will be some additions to the X-Men, but no subtractions, leaving me the cast I want to write. The reaction to the first issue has been pretty positive, so that's encouraging. Also, the first issue of another person's X-Factor project has been really good, which makes the whole project even more worthwhile. I'm looking forward to reading the other series that will eventually join the "FUX Universe". Some forum members are also going to provide illustrations so even more people can get involved.

If anything this is a fun creative exercise. I start out by writing an issue in the format of a script for a twenty-two page comic book. After that, I translate it into prose form. This way I can make sure I'm writing just enough material for a regular comic book series on a monthly basis and that the format stays consistant.

C'Mon Marvel! It's Really Easy If You Think About It!

This picture got me thinking:

All you need is a classic batch of X-Men drawn by a kickass artist and written by a really good writer.

Build it and they will come, Marvel.

The real reason why Uncanny and Adjectiveless aren't rocking the sales charts like they used to, despite having the best writers on the books in over a decade is this: the casts. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving the books and I don't mind the strange lineups, but when I see a picture like this, my heart skips a beat. Those are X-Men. If you couple really good writing with classic, recognizable characters, people are more willing to come back or take a chance. One of the reasons why Morrison's New X-Men and Astonishing get alot of outside readership is the casts. If you are an infrequent X-Reader and you saw Astonishing, Uncanny, and Adjectiveless on the shelf which would you pick up? Probably the one that looks like the X-Men, or at least the closest to a classic lineup of characters.

You can't really blame Joe or Jane Comic Book Reader when they skip over Uncanny with Hepzibah, Caliban and Warpath or Adjectiveless with Omega Sentinel, Lady Mastermind and Sabretooth. It's not that I'm calling for an embargo on any new characters in the X-Men, but rather I think that instead of drastic lineup overhauls, it should happen more naturally. Remember the good ol' days? At the end of the Claremont/Byrne run? Cyclops left and Angel came back, Kitty joined, and Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Storm and Colossus were still there. Eventually Angel left (again), Cyclops would pop in and out, Rogue eventually joined, a few years later Rachel came in, and Magneto would occasionaly lend a hand here or there. My point is that the team evolved at an organic pace. It seemed real (or as real as a comic book can).

Which brings me to my biggest gripe with the X-Books: a book like Astonishing is fun and awesome, but it reduces any significant storytelling for its cast members down to about five or six issues a year. This causes all the other creators on the X-Men books to have to tip-toe around and not do anything of substance with those characters as not to interfere with the "A-List" creator's story plans. I've loved Astonishing, but when a three or four issue story is ballooned to six issues for trade reading purposes, and in turn takes at least a year to be completely published, there is no momentum and development is slowed to a snail's pace. Now we're going to get Warren Ellis as writer and Simone Bianchi as the artist; I'm less than thrilled. But that's another article altogether.

So, Marvel, if you really want to win the hearts and minds and wallets of comic readers and X-Fans alike, try following these steps:

1. Put a reliable and well-liked writer on Uncanny X-Men. Make is someone that understands the continuity and history, but isn't driven by it (Brubaker is fine, Carey would be awesome).

2. Add two eyecatching artists that can alternate storyarcs and whose styles aren't extremely polarizing. In other words, less cartoony but distinct. It wouldn't hurt if their styles were somewhat relatable, say if you had Marc Silvestri, David Finch and Billy Tan taking turns. It would add cohesion.

3. Six classic X-Men on the team. By classic I'm talking about the most recognizable mutants that have long histories with the team as former members of the X-Men. The more Pre-Mutant Massacre characters you use the better. A couple of the 90s era Blue/Gold team members have their place and are heavily recognizable, too. Throw in one character that has never been an X-Man for a dash of spice and you're in business.

4. I don't care how ridiculous they would look in real life, this is a comic book, so give me superhero costumes. No movie black leather, no bland Ultimate-zation - I want pointy shoulders on Colossus and Nightcrawler, capes on Storm, and Wolverine in a mask. Immediate visual recognition.

5. Balance old school villains and threats with brand new ones. Hit us with the Children of the Vault, but then follow up with the Marauders; introduce us to Vulcan, but then give us some Morlocks (they're actually doing a decent job of this).

6. Give me a couple quiet issues a year. What separated the X-Men from the other comics back in the day was the soap opera nature it had. The team would go on a mission, bad stuff would happen, but then there would be an issue where the X-Men chilled out at the mansion or Harry's Hideaway, and reflected what had happened and what they need to do. This more than anything made me understand and fall in love with these characters.

7. Tell daring stories but stay true to the characters. Early Claremont did it, Morrison made a good go of it, Whedon and Carey seems to be getting it right.

This went on longer than I intended, but when I saw that picture, it really hit me. It summed up what I love about the X-Men and what the core X-Men (Uncanny and Adjectiveless) have been lacking. Maybe this is a sign of what's in store for Uncanny post-Messiah Complex - moving forward while giving us a little of the good ol' days. I can only hope.