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With over 4500 Issue Summaries now online, chances are you may not have read the following Issue Summary:
X-Men: Black Sun # 3
So why not go read it now.
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Beast and Nightcrawler don't have blue skin, only a fine coat of blue fur.
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| | Author : Iceman (Trevor Cates) | Last Modified : 12-11-04 |
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Trevor Cates -- The love triangle between Josh, Laurie, and Rahne seems to be catching some attention, as others are wanting to outdo you two with a love rectangle. What's the girls attraction to this guy? What in your opinion makes this 14 year old girl and this 19 year old girl like him so much?
Nunzio -- If you mean Laurie and Rahne, Laurie is 15-16 (she started out 15 in New Mutants, and we figure she's 16, but it's hard to commit to aging in the MU). 14, while only 1-2 years younger, is a very different period in life, I think. Even though she is shy, Laurie is still a typical teen girl and responds to a lot of the things many teen girls respond to.
Josh is good looking, cocky and funny. He's also a little self-absorbed and can be a bit selfish. And in my high school those were the guys who got all the attention. There's something about that "frat boy" (though he's in high school) confidence that attracts people, especially at an age where insecurities are the norm. Of course, those guys are as insecure as any other teen. But because they mask it, they attract others to that confidence. The same holds true for Julian.
Now, Rahne's attraction is something else entirely. Rahne is coming off a diffuclt stretch of her life. The death of her mother, the loss of her powers... when she came back to the school in New Mutants #9, she was a bit of a mess, trying to change herself with wild ways, losing her accent, dressing differently. Josh was the one who saw through that and understood her. That was a quick bond, but a strong one. Then he gave her back her powers and she gutted him. There's a connection there that has all sorts of ups and downs and that's not easy to break. Is being attracted to a student a bad decision for her? Oh, yeah. But the bond with Josh is not easy to walk away from.
Trevor Cates -- You've mentioned a mini-series can you talk about it, or is it still hush-hush?
Christina -- I think for right now it's still hush-hush. But it's slated for release in the summer of 2005 and as soon as we can talk, we'll fill you in. It's with Mike Marts as an editor, and he's the X-editor, so make of that what you will.
Trevor Cates -- Will Michael Ryan be leaving the title since his recent "exclusive" signing with Marvel or do you foresee his talent staying here with you?
Nunzio -- His exclusive is great. It means Marvel recognizes his value and wants to lock him up so DC can't steal him. The down side is that Marvel could decide he's best suited working on something bigger. For now, though, he's on our book and wants to stay. And we want him to stay. Which makes this very good news because it means Marvel also sees how valuable he is.
Trevor Cates -- Both of you, I think, have done an excellent job since your beginnings at Marvel. Who do you look to, now, to as mentor and guide through the jungles of Marveldom?
Nunzio -- Our mentor is comics is Greg Rucka. He got us in the door, he taught us the script format, he's also just a very talented writer and a good friend. At Marvel, however, we don't have a specific mentor. We don't have a lot of contact with the higher ups like Joe Quesada or Dan Buckley, though both have been very nice to us and so long as they keep us employed, they've done plenty well by us in our eyes. Early on, C.B. Cebulski helped usher us in at Marvel, but since he left the editorial duties on our book, we haven't talked to him as often as we'd like. Mike Marts is probably the closest we have to a mentor. We talk to him all the time, and he is a voice that helps guide both this book and our coming miniseries.
Trevor Cates -- Christina, you're always so quiet when it comes to message boards, while your husband, Nunzio, has no qualms about speaking. I'd love to know what you think about this gigantic world on the web and how, if any, it has either caused you to question your comic work or inspire it?
Christina -- Nunzio likes to talk a lot. Both in person and on the web. It's
impossible to keep up. But it's been fun discovering the whole comics
community on the internet. And I enjoy seeing what fans have to say.
But you have to make sure you approach it with the right attitude.
It's really easy to get discouraged if you read negative feedback and
conversely it's really easy to get over-excited if you read positive
feedback. I think the internet has been an interesting addition to the
world of entertainment, in general. It allows a certain amount of
anonymity, so that people don't have to stand behind their comments the
same way a reviewer in a newspaper or magazine has to. However, when
we post online, people know exactly who we are, so we have to be
careful how we represent ourselves. And in the few cases where an
online poster angers us, we can't necessarily strike back the way we
might want to. But fortunately, those instances are rare. And while
it will always be gratifying to go online and read that people are
enjoying the book, I think we ultimately have to look at whether our
editor/Marvel is happy, whether Michael Ryan is happy and how the book
is selling. If those people are happy, then we know we're doing a good
job.
Trevor Cates -- David happens to be one of my favorite characters and as any fool can tell, he is a central character to the group. What are your guy's plans for him not only in "Haunted" and "Too much Info," but in the future as well?
Nunzio -- Early on, fans on the boards seemed down on David - they thought he
was too bland or too nice. There was no "hook" with him. He suffered
the same 'boy scout' derision Scott suffered before Grant Morrison
really opened Scott up with some human frailty and confusion. We knew
the potential in David back then, but the criticism made us resolve to
tell some stories that really opened that potential up. "Haunted"
isn't really a David story. His somewhat larger role is due entirely
to the presence of his sister Kim at the school. But "Too Much
Information" is THE David story. It explores his power, and the limits
on that power. Why is his power limited to knowledge of those close to
him? Why doesn't he keep that knowledge when the target leaves the
room? The answers tell us something about David. And what happens
when that limit is gone tells us more about him. And not every answer
we get is a good thing.
Trevor Cates -- In "Haunted" we've already witnessed the so-called ghost of the mansion; I think, is this Sammy in human form or is it a new character?
Christina -- But if I answered that, wouldn't it take away from Issues 8 & 9? I think people will be very surprised when they find out who the ghost is. However, it's important to keep in mind that we're not writing a mystery per se with this story. The clues aren't necessarily there for the reader to piece together the answer before the characters do. We're writing a story about a place that may very well be haunted. In those stories the audience and the characters find out the ghost's history at the same time and the identity is less important than the effects. I think it's fun that the readers are trying to guess who the ghost is, but the central thrust of the story is the effect all of this is having on our kids and on David's sister.
Trevor Cates -- Continuing with "Haunted," I just wanted to make a comment. I would literally die with laughter if Kim tells the others, for her "believed" mutant powers, "I see dead people!" (Sixth Sense) Oh, it would be hilarious.
Nunzio -- Yeah, that line was very tempting to write - trust us. We worried about literally quoting something so ingrained in pop culture. Where many, like you, would be amused, others might call it a cheap laugh. So we debated it. We went for something very related to it without literally aping it.
Trevor Cates -- Regarding the other students; who else (other than the New Mutants) can we expect to play a large role in both "Too Much Info" and "Haunted"?
Christina -- Julian will be come very involved in "Haunted." And Kevin will
remain involved in more of a sub-plot way. But because "Haunted"
centered on the visit of Kim, we wanted to keep the cast size down, so
it mostly focuses on the New Mutants. In "Too Much Information" you
can expect to see more of the Hellions.
Trevor Cates -- Can you give me a rundown, as much as you want, of both "Haunted" and "Too Much Info"?
Nunzio -- Well, as you see now, "Haunted" is not just the story of a ghost at
Xavier's. That's the story that holds the 3 issue arc together. But
just as important is Kim's visit and her response to mutants. The
school really takes center stage here. Not just because it may have a
ghost, but because that ghost raises questions about it's history. And
then there's Kim. Through her, we see how cool the Institute can be,
and she then gets to see the darker side through the haunting.
Christina -- "Too Much Information" focuses on David. He wants to better
understand his power and how it works. The big limit on his power has
always been that he doesn't retain the knowledge he absorbs after the
person has left the room. He's under pressure to be more valuable
because David always puts pressure on himself. So this story is about
David trying to reach his potential and overcome the limits on his
power. The question becomes how good an idea this is. Maybe a power
has a limit for a reason.
Trevor Cates -- Can you give us any hints about any other Marvel projections you are either negotiating for or have already gotten? If no other project is slated, would you mind telling me what you would like to do, be it Cloak and Dagger, Daredevil, F.F., etc. ?
Nunzio -- If given free reign... we'd do a Birds of Prey type book using some
of the "grey area" females of the Marvel Universe. We keep envisioning
Black Cat, Diamondback and the Black Widow teaming up, if for no other
reason than all the cool animal imagery - a spider, a snake and a cat.
We're trying to pitch that now, but Black Cat and Black Widow are both
involved in other things. That leaves Diamondback, and you really
can't get a book started up centered on her. We'd love to do an X-book
with more traditional superheroics. Not in place of our school book -
we love writing that stuff. But another book where we can show the
other (more traditional) side of the X-Men. I'd love to revamp Cloak
and Dagger because they've always been favorites of mine. But
honestly, I have no specific take on them to mention right now. If we
wrote Nighcrawler, we'd bring him back to the swashbuckling and high
adventure he once was so fond of. We proposed a take on Nightcrawler
that centered on that. Boy did we misread what Marvel was looking for,
huh?
Trevor Cates -- Please let us know about your projects for other companies like "Once in a Blue Moon," which I understand is named after a dragon that Christina owned. Other projects you may have, any, I'd love to hear about them.
Christina -- "Once In A Blue Moon" is a graphic novel published by Oni Press.
It came out this fall and is a fantasy story about a girl who falls
into a storybook to discover she has a grand destiny in this other
world. She must find the last dragon and ride him in order to save the
kingdom. And yes, Blue Moon is the name of a stuffed dragon I have
that Nunzio gave to me when we were in college. The story was a lot of
fun to write and is the first volume in a series. We also have a book
coming out in February entitled "Amazing Agent Luna." We're doing that
with a new company called Seven Seas. Luna is a top secret government
spy who was bred from a test tube and has been trained to be the
ultimate undercover agent. However, her latest assignment takes her
into a world she has never experienced before - high school. She'll
have to learn to negotiate homework, friends and boys while she tries
to catch the bad guy. This will also be the first volume in a series.
We're working with a great new artist, Shiei, who is so amazingly
talented. And watching her bring our characters to live was a lot of
fun. We're very excited for this series.
Nunzio -- Amazing Agent Luna and Blue Moon will, however, further cement the
image of us as 'teen' writers. So we're talking with Oni about doing
some more spooky and adult fare. We want to keep both sides of our
career going - the "New X-Men" side and the "Skinwalker" side.
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