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News today from this weekend's big convention on X-Stuff:
straight from www.newarama.com:
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No further origins of Wolverine will be explored in the regular comics, but new questions will be raised. This includes other characters referring to him as James, and what they may know about his past. Chris Claremont, who was present, suggested doing an Ultimate Origin book.
While the books will co-exist, there will not be major crossing over. Typically, it will be in ideas such as the secondary evolution elements. Claremont jokingly explained that the secondary mutations were decided by pulling slips of paper from a large barrel full of secondary mutation suggestions.
Phil Tan is the newest member of the Uncanny X-Men team. Salvador Larocca will join later, in early 2004.
Regular artists will start to happen in the form or arc artists on the books for some consistency.
The New X-Men penciler will be Phil Jimenez. Later, Marc Silvestri will be jumping on board for a stint. Grant Morrison will continue writing through 2004. Phil claims that Grant writes sometimes by talking directly to him in his sleep, though they only meet in person about twice a year. Grant has powers like that.
As reported earlier, Brian Bendis and David Finch will take over Ultimate X-Men starting with #34. There will be more overlap between the Ultimate books since the end of Ultimate War.
Jean Gray will be at the core of “Planet X” (#146-#150), a storyline Jimenez was extremely excited about. Jimenez commented that his favorite characters were Jean Gray and Emma Frost, partially because he prefers human-like mutants, pretty people. Morrison will be introducing a new arch-villain this fall.
On the issue of Cable, DirecTV seemed to be more popular with everyone. He's currently involved in Weapon X, with future plans are to be announced.
There was no comment officially on returning to the bright costumes, but comments were made about how that's a lot of what people read comics for, the bright flashy costumes, and that a change like costuming should never be seen as permanent. They also suggested that the characters just be naked, but the idea didn't fly. Maybe because of Juggernaut? *shudder*
Chris Claremont was asked about Bishop, but Jimenez commented that it was more a question for Grant Morrison. Claremont said he might bring back Arcade, however.
Wolverine's new title will be relaunched at #1 because "relaunching at #57 just wouldn't make sense." The story is going in a new direction, there's a new angle to it, and they've reset the general feel of the book. There will be a strong female lead in the book as well, an ATF agent on the same case as Wolverine that may or may not develop into a love story.
It was apparently "too early to tell" if Wolverine's tendency towards red-heads would be addressed. It didn't seem like something they felt they needed to address, but I think were being polite.
As for Wolverine appearing in all of the X-Books, as well as his own, it's because he's a popular character. His own book will take place in the downtime he has away from the team. Then they joked that Exiles will reveal everything, totally clearing up the continuity.
The Exiles will be coming to the "real" world, and this will affect both their title and others.
The Psylocke issue was brought up again, this time to Claremont himself. He said she was killed as a surprise, and suddenly because life can be like that sometimes. He'd had intention to bring her back, as with any character he created, but that hasn't worked out. He reminded us that we may see her if they add her to the Ultimate X-Men, though.
Speaking of dead, Magneto is dead.
Asked if X2 boosted the sales of the books, they said the TPB sales have been great lately, but no mention of the effect on monthlies. There will be more "Essential" volumes, but nothing planned at the moment.
Rogue and Gambit have been enjoying their time off, but Gambit has put on about fifty pounds, as he spends all day sitting around watching NASCAR as Rogue cooks for him. Seriously, they plan on making them the center of a new arc in September, starting with #31.
All of the teams will continue toying with their line-ups in order to fine-tune their balance and dynamic.
Darick Robertson will be working on Deathlok once he finishes Born.
X-Statix will shortly resurrect an actual historical figure for addition to the team. They will also have a cross-over with X-Force, as well as a super battle with an X-team to be announced.
There was a promo for NYX. "If you can make it here...you can make it anywhere." The slide was black, feature the above tagline, a juicy red apple in the middle, and the letters NYX in subway-style lettering. The first issue is in the can, penciled by Josh Middleton, but the writer is still being kept secret. It will feature a good number of female leads, and be more human, though not Oxygen-level.
Sebastian Shaw will return, but there are no plans for Hellfire Club.
Plans to resolve the Mr. Sinister story are to be announced.
Carter's father: "We'll get to it."
Bishop will assert his leadership again.
Chuck Austen is a fan of Archangel, and will explain the issues with the wings in time.
At the mention of the third Summers brother, Claremont shook his head in mock-frustration. He claimed that only two Summers brothers can exist in one plane of reality at a time, so we would have to lose one to gain another. That, or they could do something in the Ultimate line.
The session wound up with a discussion about the possibilities for stories. Initially, the policy had been to keep the number of mutants small, as well as keep them hidden. That way, the stories could still keep the reality of the Real World in place. Now that's all gone, but it opens us up to new possibilities. What if there was a bipolar mutant, using his powers to the whims of his temperament? What if Magneto, one of the most powerful beings alive (for this example) developed Alzheimer’s? What would the effect be on his powers and his ability to control them?
An interesting, if not fast paced and scattered panel. The jokes were flying, especially from Claremont, probably leading to some misinformation for the web in the next few days.
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