http://www.newsarama.com/WWPhilly06/Marvel/Pak_Warsong.html
Yay! Looks like the sequel is coming in September.
So, after reading about it, still very excited for this. Different artist, but the art still looks good. A little annoying that Emma is going all Phoenix-y on us. Pak also says in the interview that this is not a Jean Grey resurrection story.
He makes it sound like its mainly about the Stepford Cuckoos which is very exciting. I've always thought they were interesting characters, and I'm sure their history/future will be very cool to read about. Are they the children of the Phoenix or something?
Heres the article:
Remember back at the end of X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong, after the whole shebang was said and done, and the Phoenix force left again…there was that little bit that approached the Stepford Cuckoos?
Thought that was just some kind of "someday, someone will get back to this" thread that writer Greg Pak left in there, never to touch again?
The first issue of X-Men: Phoenix - Warsong in September will prove you wrong. Pak is back, this time joined by Tyler Kirkham (with covers by Marc Silvestri) to explore just what was going on, and why the Phoenix Force would approach the Cuckoos. We spoke with Pak about the five issue miniseries.
Newsarama: To start, 95% of the people who are reading this are probably familiar with Phoenix/Jean's history, but hey, comic book sales are growing, so for new fans or people coming back that missed the last few years of X-Men, including Endsong, can you briefly give us the status quo in terms of the Phoenix/Jean bond, the events of Endsong and where that left off?
Greg Pak: Whoa, that's a big one. The key stories are Chris Claremont's legendary Dark Phoenix saga in Uncanny X-Men #100-137, Grant Morrison's New X-Men #114-150, and X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong. But rather than get into a point-by-point plot breakdown, maybe the best way to introduce the story to new readers is to talk about the big emotional throughlines... So here goes, two and a half decades of Phoenix stories in one paragraph:
The Phoenix saga is about a young woman named Jean Grey who discovers an insanely powerful cosmic force called the Phoenix within herself. The power allows her to save her friends and the world. But the power has a destiny beyond human understanding and the potential for horrifying destruction. So if our heroine loses control, she could destroy everything and everyone she knows. Ultimately, the love she experienced as a mere human, the strength of her bonds with her friends and her husband, gives her the ability to control her powers and save the world. But to do so, our heroine sacrifices herself and dies, passing on to another plane of existence to incubate, finding all her pieces so that she can understand and fulfill her destiny as the Phoenix. Will the enormous power of the Phoenix, beyond human comprehension and morality, threaten the world again? No one knows. But the love of her friends stays with our heroine to help and guide her as she grapples with the responsibilities and temptations of the Phoenix.
The key plot point readers should know as they launch into Warsong is that after Jean Grey last died in X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong, a tiny firefly representing a fragment of the Phoenix approached a group of young telepathic women known as the Stepford Cuckoos. What does the Phoenix want with the Cuckoos? Does it bear the terrible power of Dark Phoenix or the enormous love of Jean Grey? Who the heck are these Cuckoos, anyway, and why haven't any of the X-Men ever asked where they came from? And what's up with Scott and Emma? All these questions and more answered only within the pages of X-Men: Phoenix - Warsong!
NRAMA: Did you have this story in mind when you wrote Endsong? Is Warsong part of a larger arc of stories, perhaps a trilogy?
GP: From the beginning of our development of the Endsong story, X-Men editor Mike Marts related unto me a vision of the Phoenix approaching the Stepford Cuckoos. So absolutely, we had the last page of Endsong and this new miniseries in mind from the very beginning.
NRAMA: So what can you tell readers about Warsong and what it is about? The title sounds almost…well, not almost, it sounds ominous…
GP: You bet, it's ominous! In Morrison's New X-Men, Jean says the Phoenix "burns away what doesn't work." That sounds nice and helpful - for example, in Morrison's "Here Comes Tomorrow" alternate future story, the Phoenix takes out the evil Beast/Sublime character whose apocalyptic vision clearly needs disinfection. But earlier in the same story, the Phoenix calmly wipes out an entire species known as the Termids because they have an "inbred genetic obsolescence." Whenever there's a scent of Phoenix fire in the air, we all should tremble with fear - she has responsibilities that may involve saving the day or destroying us all.
Warsong explores the shocking reasons why the Phoenix approached the Stepford Cuckoos at the end of Endsong. I can't say too much for fear of spoilers, but get ready for a mind-bender which delves into the origins of the Cuckoos, the destiny of the Phoenix, and the emotional turmoil of the X-Men as they face these new revelations.
NRAMA: Generally speaking, do you think Jean/Phoenix can continue to go through the cycle of rebirth and then death and still be compelling and have readers invest themselves in the stakes, or do you have to find new situations to involve Phoenix that aren't necessarily the fate of the universe and her/its continued existence?
GP: Stories about any classic superhero tend to repeat certain themes - Hulk stories usually deal with the price of anger; Spider-Man stories grapple with power and responsibility. Phoenix stories revolve around love and death and creation and destruction. The challenge for creators is to delve deeper into those central themes and come up with new plotlines to keep things fresh and constantly developing for new and old readers alike. So you can't kill Gwen Stacy every day. Nor, frankly, can you resurrect Jean Grey every day. Now Warsong is an essential Phoenix story - and thus an essential Jean Grey story. But get ready, I'm going to go ahead and say it: X-Men: Phoenix - Warsong is not a Jean Grey resurrection story. It's far too early to bring Jean back, both in terms of her own emotional storyline and the Marvel Universe as a whole. But we're doing our best to tell a story with Warsong that respects and deepens the Jean Grey/Phoenix mythos by exploring surprising new revelations and characters, pushing our heroes and themes to the next level, and laying the groundwork for the future. Doncha dare miss it!
NRAMA: Something that received high marks in Endsong was your characterization of the supporting characters. Are we going to see the likes of Scott, Emma, Wolverine, Kitty, and the rest in Warsong?
GP: The three Stepford Cuckoos are absolutely key, of course. The central cast consists of the Astonishing crew -- Emma, Scott, Logan, Hank, Kitty, and Peter -- but we have a few big surprises up our sleeves. Word to the wise: don't miss the last page of issue one. And fans of Morrison's run should be particularly interested with where in the world we're going in issue two...
NRAMA: You mention the three Cuckoos... for fans who know their New X-Men, there were originally five - they were quints. Now when it comes to the Phoenix Force, the laws of life and death are sort of written in pencil... what are the odds of seeing more Cuckoos by issue #5?
GP: My lips are sealed.
NRAMA: Finally, looking at the art side of things, Greg Land and Tyler Kirkham have different strengths artistically, obviously with Greg one might tend to get as many beautiful women in the story as possible. Have you changed to your approach to Warsong as opposed to Endsong tailoring the story to Kirkham's particular strengths?
GP: I think folks are going to be blown away when they see Tyler's work. Marvel readers know him mainly for his recent Amazing Spider Man run where he's doing a great job drawing Peter Parker and Tony Stark. But just wait 'til you see his Emma Frost and Stepford Cuckoos. I'm also excited about having Tyler on board because he comes from Silvestri's Top Cow studios. Silvestri drew the mind-bending "Here Comes Tomorrow" storyline for Morrison's New X-Men run - as our story gets wilder, I have a feeling Tyler's going to go a little crazy on us -- in a very, very good way.
Yay! Looks like the sequel is coming in September.
So, after reading about it, still very excited for this. Different artist, but the art still looks good. A little annoying that Emma is going all Phoenix-y on us. Pak also says in the interview that this is not a Jean Grey resurrection story.
He makes it sound like its mainly about the Stepford Cuckoos which is very exciting. I've always thought they were interesting characters, and I'm sure their history/future will be very cool to read about. Are they the children of the Phoenix or something?
Heres the article:
Remember back at the end of X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong, after the whole shebang was said and done, and the Phoenix force left again…there was that little bit that approached the Stepford Cuckoos?
Thought that was just some kind of "someday, someone will get back to this" thread that writer Greg Pak left in there, never to touch again?
The first issue of X-Men: Phoenix - Warsong in September will prove you wrong. Pak is back, this time joined by Tyler Kirkham (with covers by Marc Silvestri) to explore just what was going on, and why the Phoenix Force would approach the Cuckoos. We spoke with Pak about the five issue miniseries.
Newsarama: To start, 95% of the people who are reading this are probably familiar with Phoenix/Jean's history, but hey, comic book sales are growing, so for new fans or people coming back that missed the last few years of X-Men, including Endsong, can you briefly give us the status quo in terms of the Phoenix/Jean bond, the events of Endsong and where that left off?
Greg Pak: Whoa, that's a big one. The key stories are Chris Claremont's legendary Dark Phoenix saga in Uncanny X-Men #100-137, Grant Morrison's New X-Men #114-150, and X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong. But rather than get into a point-by-point plot breakdown, maybe the best way to introduce the story to new readers is to talk about the big emotional throughlines... So here goes, two and a half decades of Phoenix stories in one paragraph:
The Phoenix saga is about a young woman named Jean Grey who discovers an insanely powerful cosmic force called the Phoenix within herself. The power allows her to save her friends and the world. But the power has a destiny beyond human understanding and the potential for horrifying destruction. So if our heroine loses control, she could destroy everything and everyone she knows. Ultimately, the love she experienced as a mere human, the strength of her bonds with her friends and her husband, gives her the ability to control her powers and save the world. But to do so, our heroine sacrifices herself and dies, passing on to another plane of existence to incubate, finding all her pieces so that she can understand and fulfill her destiny as the Phoenix. Will the enormous power of the Phoenix, beyond human comprehension and morality, threaten the world again? No one knows. But the love of her friends stays with our heroine to help and guide her as she grapples with the responsibilities and temptations of the Phoenix.
The key plot point readers should know as they launch into Warsong is that after Jean Grey last died in X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong, a tiny firefly representing a fragment of the Phoenix approached a group of young telepathic women known as the Stepford Cuckoos. What does the Phoenix want with the Cuckoos? Does it bear the terrible power of Dark Phoenix or the enormous love of Jean Grey? Who the heck are these Cuckoos, anyway, and why haven't any of the X-Men ever asked where they came from? And what's up with Scott and Emma? All these questions and more answered only within the pages of X-Men: Phoenix - Warsong!
NRAMA: Did you have this story in mind when you wrote Endsong? Is Warsong part of a larger arc of stories, perhaps a trilogy?
GP: From the beginning of our development of the Endsong story, X-Men editor Mike Marts related unto me a vision of the Phoenix approaching the Stepford Cuckoos. So absolutely, we had the last page of Endsong and this new miniseries in mind from the very beginning.
NRAMA: So what can you tell readers about Warsong and what it is about? The title sounds almost…well, not almost, it sounds ominous…
GP: You bet, it's ominous! In Morrison's New X-Men, Jean says the Phoenix "burns away what doesn't work." That sounds nice and helpful - for example, in Morrison's "Here Comes Tomorrow" alternate future story, the Phoenix takes out the evil Beast/Sublime character whose apocalyptic vision clearly needs disinfection. But earlier in the same story, the Phoenix calmly wipes out an entire species known as the Termids because they have an "inbred genetic obsolescence." Whenever there's a scent of Phoenix fire in the air, we all should tremble with fear - she has responsibilities that may involve saving the day or destroying us all.
Warsong explores the shocking reasons why the Phoenix approached the Stepford Cuckoos at the end of Endsong. I can't say too much for fear of spoilers, but get ready for a mind-bender which delves into the origins of the Cuckoos, the destiny of the Phoenix, and the emotional turmoil of the X-Men as they face these new revelations.
NRAMA: Generally speaking, do you think Jean/Phoenix can continue to go through the cycle of rebirth and then death and still be compelling and have readers invest themselves in the stakes, or do you have to find new situations to involve Phoenix that aren't necessarily the fate of the universe and her/its continued existence?
GP: Stories about any classic superhero tend to repeat certain themes - Hulk stories usually deal with the price of anger; Spider-Man stories grapple with power and responsibility. Phoenix stories revolve around love and death and creation and destruction. The challenge for creators is to delve deeper into those central themes and come up with new plotlines to keep things fresh and constantly developing for new and old readers alike. So you can't kill Gwen Stacy every day. Nor, frankly, can you resurrect Jean Grey every day. Now Warsong is an essential Phoenix story - and thus an essential Jean Grey story. But get ready, I'm going to go ahead and say it: X-Men: Phoenix - Warsong is not a Jean Grey resurrection story. It's far too early to bring Jean back, both in terms of her own emotional storyline and the Marvel Universe as a whole. But we're doing our best to tell a story with Warsong that respects and deepens the Jean Grey/Phoenix mythos by exploring surprising new revelations and characters, pushing our heroes and themes to the next level, and laying the groundwork for the future. Doncha dare miss it!
NRAMA: Something that received high marks in Endsong was your characterization of the supporting characters. Are we going to see the likes of Scott, Emma, Wolverine, Kitty, and the rest in Warsong?
GP: The three Stepford Cuckoos are absolutely key, of course. The central cast consists of the Astonishing crew -- Emma, Scott, Logan, Hank, Kitty, and Peter -- but we have a few big surprises up our sleeves. Word to the wise: don't miss the last page of issue one. And fans of Morrison's run should be particularly interested with where in the world we're going in issue two...
NRAMA: You mention the three Cuckoos... for fans who know their New X-Men, there were originally five - they were quints. Now when it comes to the Phoenix Force, the laws of life and death are sort of written in pencil... what are the odds of seeing more Cuckoos by issue #5?
GP: My lips are sealed.
NRAMA: Finally, looking at the art side of things, Greg Land and Tyler Kirkham have different strengths artistically, obviously with Greg one might tend to get as many beautiful women in the story as possible. Have you changed to your approach to Warsong as opposed to Endsong tailoring the story to Kirkham's particular strengths?
GP: I think folks are going to be blown away when they see Tyler's work. Marvel readers know him mainly for his recent Amazing Spider Man run where he's doing a great job drawing Peter Parker and Tony Stark. But just wait 'til you see his Emma Frost and Stepford Cuckoos. I'm also excited about having Tyler on board because he comes from Silvestri's Top Cow studios. Silvestri drew the mind-bending "Here Comes Tomorrow" storyline for Morrison's New X-Men run - as our story gets wilder, I have a feeling Tyler's going to go a little crazy on us -- in a very, very good way.
