Comics The '07 X-Event: Endangered Species, Messiah Complex, & Disassembled

[spectre]

Intelligent, logical, thought-out reasoning. Duh.

Why should I condemn Tony Stark for being an intelligent man with a plan for either scenario? Answer: I should not.

It's called human descency. Tony knew that Peter is a very trusting man who saw him as a mentor and to some extent a father figure. He knew that Peter was taking a big leap of faith when he side with Tony and publicly revealed his identity. He knew Peter was a good man who wouldn't do anything without a very good reason. The least he could do was to reciprocate some of that trust.

 

[DarthCyclopsRLZ]

Man...

FEATURING Vulcan...??? A SHORT STORY???

This is Marvel showing they have a sick sense of humor, right? Good God.

 

[OutcryX]

so after a 12 issue event..then another mini series follwing that up..Havok, Lorna and Vulcan's story gets reduced to a tiny insert....

 

[Varient]

okay,... alright marvel,.. drop the other booyt already,.... i'm ready for it.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

so after a 12 issue event..then another mini series follwing that up..Havok, Lorna and Vulcan's story gets reduced to a tiny insert....

Well the whole Vulcan/Havok thing will most likely get another mini

 

[El Bastardo]

It's called human descency. Tony knew that Peter is a very trusting man who saw him as a mentor and to some extent a father figure. He knew that Peter was taking a big leap of faith when he side with Tony and publicly revealed his identity. He knew Peter was a good man who wouldn't do anything without a very good reason. The least he could do was to reciprocate some of that trust.

Human decency is overrated. Honor is overrated.

You want to win, you play the game of thrones. Iron Man wins.

That logic is unable to be defeated, thank you. And if you need any proof of it, read A Game of Thrones.

 

[Specter313]

Marvel’s X-Men have always been known for being their best when they are down and out and things haven’t looked this bleak for the Children of the Atom in quite some time. The end of the Messiah Complex saw the dissolution of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters and a somewhat terminal fade to black for Charles Xavier, the forefather of the leagues of ‘X’ baring mutant heroes of the Marvel Universe. Now, a new era is beginning with “Divided We Stand”—as each of the X-titles deal with the aftermath of the results of the Messiah Complex.

In April, Marvel releases X-Men: Divided We Stand #1—a one-shot featuring a series of short stories that follow individual X-characters in the wake of the events of Messiah Complex and how each of these spotlighted characters are dealing with their drastically altered lives. The first of two issues, Divided We Stand boasts a bevy of talent—with writers Mike Carey, Matt Fraction, Chris Yost and artists the likes of Skottie Young, Brandon Peterson, and Jamie McKelvie.

Newsarama had a chat with X-office editor Nick Lowe, as well, as X-Men: Divided We Stand contributors Mike Carey and Chris Yost to discuss their offerings to the project and some of the ins and outs of what make the X-Men such a spirited and resilient group of heroes.

Newsarama: Now that all the chips are down and the "Divided We Stand" storylines are being set in motion this month—how are the many splintered "factions of the Atom" starting to react to the disparity remaining from MC? How do the “Divided We Stand” books connect all the pieces together?

Nick Lowe: They focus a lot on the Dividing more than the standing. The thing we noticed as we were putting the X-Books together coming out of the crossover was just how wide-reaching the “No More X-Men” thing was. And we noticed that the books we were putting out didn’t yet cover all the bases. There are a lot of important stories that needed to be told before we could move on. That’s where these books were born. There are loose-ends to Messiah Complex in here. There are loose-ends to Endangered Species in here and the X-Men: Blinded by the Light storyline. There are several stories here that set up big changes in the X-world come July and beyond.

Mike Carey: Yeah, it's become this very rich and dense tapestry—I think because the books were already playing off each other to some extent as they went into the crossover, and the casts have been so thoroughly intertwined now. There's kind of a shared momentum—and Divided We Stand is giving us a chance to show how that plays through in relation to characters who can't or won't be spotlighted in the main ongoing books.

Chris Yost: Readers will probably get a good idea how ‘No More X-Men’ affects Cyclops and Wolverine. But it’s important to see how that that decision is a ripple effect that turns the world upside down for the rest of the X-Cast, from X-Men to students to ‘Joe Mutant’ out on the street—the handful that are left, anyway.

NRAMA: Nick, when this storyline was being organized by the X-office, what ultimately led to the direction these books are taking?

NL: It was a combination of the things I mentioned above and a big part of it was closing some doors. Let me explain. I think it’s fair to say that we aren’t done over here in the X-Office. Endangered Species and Messiah CompleX were the set-up and first punch for the big changes that we started into motion when Axel Alonso took over as Group Editor of the X-Books. They were our way of summing up the past few years of X-Books, kicking them into high gear and breaking down the status quo so we can move the X-Men in a new direction. It’s part of the constant evolution of the books. Puns!!!

NRAMA: What did you think the line was lacking and how have things changed with the advent of Messiah Complex and now Divided We Stand?

NL: I think the only thing the line was lacking was some clarity. If you look at the stable of creators (who are a lot like horses, so they didn’t mind that we kept them in a stable as long as they get top-quality hay), there aren’t many changes. Marc Guggenheim was added to the list and there were some artistic shuffles, but the writers are pretty much the same guys we had. If it ain’t broke, so to speak. But what Axel and the rest of us wanted to do is make sure that every book had a simple mission statement and reason for existing. We didn’t want it to be, “Well, the characters are different and they’re fighting different bad guys."

CY: I think the line became much more focused with Decimation, but it was really crisis management. Now—after Endangered Species and Messiah—the X-Men are super focused. Cyclops took a big leap of faith in what he did, but he’s a realist. The focus for the X-Men for me is now literally survival of the species, while waiting/praying for that gamble to pay off. These are the stakes for every mutant on the planet, whether they are a hero, villain, or other.

MC: There's a sense in which Messiah Complex - along with everything else it did - just shook the box up hugely and made it clear how much all the different X-Men and X-teams live in the same world and deal with the same issues. It wouldn't have made sense, after that, to go back to a status quo in which all the books were ploughing their own furrows and the teams barely acknowledged each other.

NRAMA: Are there a smattering of events spread over the Marvel Universe (Civil War was a huge one) that are indicative of the occurrence of the foretold "Days of Future's Past" timeline? With other glimpses of the future, none of them good, will this current stable of creators be pushing the more of the characters towards bleaker times? Heck, we don't even know if there are X-Skrulls yet…

NL: Things have never been particularly bright and sunny for the X-Men. Don’t think you’re the only one who’s noticed that things seem to be getting bleaker. Imagine you were Scott Summers. You’ve just come out of a war. Your species is still being hunted, like it has since you were a teenager. You’re in charge. How do you make it less bleak for your people?

NRAMA: Mike and Chris, what two stories are you two telling in the first book? Who are the artists involved?

CY: Craig Kyle and I are doing a story in book one of Divided We Stand about the Wakandan student Nehzno. Nehzno stepped up big time in Messiah Complex, taking down a Sentinel single-handedly, and fought Predator X. And he wasn’t even on the team.

Nehzno never really mingled with the other kids at the Institute, and rarely even talked to them. So the story really looks at how the ‘No More X-Men’ decision affects him. Storm’s taking him home to Wakanda, but things aren’t as cut and dried as one might think.

We wanted him to live happily ever after, but Nick Lowe was all like, ‘No! Make his life harder!’

The art is by Japanese painter Sana Takeda, and the pages I’ve seen are pretty amazing.

MC: Mine is a Cannonball story—and it finally gave me that chance I was looking for to bring Cannonball and Husk back together. It's essentially Sam working through a lot of the stuff that's happened to him lately, and realizing—or at least having Paige point out to him—how badly he's been affected by it. It's really a character piece, even though it's built around a fight scene. The fight is one that didn't have to happen.

The artist is Brandon Peterson. I haven't worked with Brandon since Ultimate Vision, and man, did I love what he did on that book! But there are no killer spaceships in this story, no sexy robots or psychotic cyborgs, so we get to see the other thing that Brandon does brilliantly, which is vividly rendered emotion...

NRAMA: Chris, with the transition of reactionary defense to pro-active black-Ops, will X-Force exceed its own boundaries as the group that is "willing to do what it takes"? Will there be more members involved--or is the core group a mathematical elimination of weaker character elements? Your cast is a bloodthirsty lot...

CY: I have no idea what you’re talking about. X-Force is all about love. But yes, as the book goes on, you’ll see exactly what lengths the team will go to in order to complete their missions. Because this isn’t revenge. It’s not for gain. They’re doing what they’re doing to ensure the survival of their species.

The people X-Force are going after aren’t innocent. They’re not going to reform. They have blood on their hands and are never going to quit, ever. X-Force is the last resort. And yes, more members are coming. But every member won’t be involved in every mission. And quite honestly, Wolverine doesn’t want the members he’s got. He’s not really looking to expand, but things happen.

Issue #1 was just setup, a necessary evil. By the time readers get to the end of two, everyone’s going to be saying, ‘what the hell is going on?’ And then in three and four, we honestly think people are going to be floored. We’re literally just getting started. The X-Universe is our playground, and we’re making the most of it.

NRAMA: Mike, we've talked about the nature of the X-Men and the core dynamics of race, genetics, and suffering numerous times--do you see these characters finding new dilemmas within these concepts and even beyond them?

MC: Bear in mind that Legacy isn't a team book. It's a book with a solo protagonist—Charles Xavier—who arguably has done more than any other man alive to define the terms on which humans and mutants interact. Now he's looking back at a long and varied life that hasn't always taken the path he would have wanted it to: he's confronting tragedies and errors of judgment as well as triumphs, and while he's doing that he's moving forward into a very new and very different phase of his life. So those issues are still at the core of his life—how can they not be?—but the direction from which he comes at them and the answers that he finds won't necessarily be the ones that you'd expect.

NRAMA: A number of the people involved on all these current X-books have all said that the creative energy and cohesion in the X-office is at an all-time high and that all of you are on the same page--do the three of you foresee a moment of hesitation or divergence on the horizon? Are all the decisions being made currently a part of a grand scheme for all that is X or are readers truly at a point that they can say is a "fresh start"? Are there even darker perils ahead?

NL: I hope that everyone feels that we’re all on the same page. All the decisions are certainly part of our grand scheme (we don’t make any hastily) and we’re just trying to give the readers the best X-Men comics possible. What I’ll say is this: Messiah Complex is a sign of things to come.

CY: Darker perils? For the X-Men? Nah. Honestly, even though the X-Men have been given a little hope (the baby), the road ahead is going to be a bumpy one—for the characters…and hopefully not for the creators.

It’s a whole new direction for the line, and I think each book is making the most of it.

NRAMA: Care to give readers something to chew on in regards to X-related upcoming events as we head into Convention season in the next coming months?

MC: Legacy basically carries on immediately from the end of Messiah Complex. We learn where Professor X's body went and what became of it. It's a story that delves very deeply into the X-Men's past but is set in the present and resolves in the present - and we reflect that by having two different artists, with John Romita Jr. handling the flashback scenes and Scott Eaton the present-day ones. The scope is huge: at some point we'll be visiting all the most resonant and iconic moments in the X-Men's history, and the X-Men's history is one of the biggest epics ever written.

CY: Look for the future of mutant kind to be threatened in big, big, huge ways in X-Force. If you thought the enemies of the X-Men were going to just give up after Messiah Complex, think again.

NL: There are some huge changes (for the X-Men, more than the X-Office and creators). We have another addition to the X-Creator family coming. And the biggest status quo change for the X-Men in 20+ years.

NRAMA: Will the Children of the Atom ever stand united again? Is there a perfect storm brewing that will lead to another successful series of crossovers within the X-books like Messiah Complex?

NL: That would be interesting, wouldn’t it? If this was all part of Cyclops’ plan?

​

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=147480​

 

[Valechan]

Old times

 

[HandOfFate]

LOL, just a year or two later (Marvel time) and Bishop is trying to put a hole in his head.

 

[OutcryX]

the art was horrible

 

[Colossal Spoons]

That ship is hideous

 

[El Bastardo]

The art isn't that bad. It's just simple and straight.

 

[Havok83]

Ive seen worse. I didnt think it was bad

 

[Colossal Spoons]

The art is ok, but Cable ship looks worse than Blue Beetles lol

 

[El Bastardo]

It's ECONOMICAL

 

[Colossal Spoons]

Very jet-fuel efficient

 

[chris moore]

I'm not sure I understand all the claims of Cohesion and Energy in the X-office right now. It looks like the X-Men disbanded, Uncanny covers a 70's timewarp with three X-characters, Astonishing does its own thing that has no bearing on any current events, Adjectiveless becomes Legacy and features no present time X-Men or has any bearing on anything (cept rogue and gambit cos we havent done that to death), X-Factor loses two members and continues its own thing with no bearing on anything, and X-Force starts anew with four/five members (is Hep in it?) and operates entirely away from anything Mansion/X-Men related so we dont have to worry about continuity but still get some fights while the other books trawl through "reflective" stories. So then they bring out this 'Divided they stand' one shot that does nothing for taking steps towards re-establishing anything and features characters half of which have only been around for a couple of years.

Seems to be that there are 20 or so X-Men who're just left on the sidelines or in limbo to be possibly called upon six months down the line to form a new team with the explanation "went home to visit parents" to explain why they were dumped by the creative teams.

The motivations are all wrong: Cyke restarts the school after Xorneto blows it up. He then loses 90% of the student body and changes tack to a safehaven and training ground for new x-men rather than regular school with mutants in it that have occasional classes in how not to blow up the TV with their powers. Then the first new mutant since HoM is born and everyone goes for it. People die, Bishop goes nuts, and Scott gives Cable to baby to protect (Wow did a lot of people die just cos Cable didnt confide in his own father!). Xavier gets shot.

And so with the future of the mutant race still in jeopardy, protection of existing mutants now paramount to keep the species alive, public opinion of mutants back to where it was in the beginning where an 'evil' mutant acting like a supervillain (world domination, terrorism, theft etc) requires mutant superheroes to keep them in check and keep public opinion up, and the father of the team dying - they break up? What? Sure, take a month off to regroup and recoup and plan how th operation will be run. But break up and everyone just potters off?

If the plan is to reform under a new mantra, then at least make that clear to us. Forget all this 'finding themselves' and 'tying up stories' bollocks. Half the dangling threads in the core books were unimpressive when introduced that they could easily be left unattended like they did with Iceman's "secondary mutation" or Psylockes relationship with Thunderbird III (Oy...). More exciting would be seeing the restructuring of the team. Defined purpose as a whole. More use of multiple science guys in the mansion rather than Beast being engineer, medic, biochemist, weaponeer and mechanic all in one and stuck inside all the time (not even Hank Pym or Tony Stark are the geniuses they are PLUS bloody surgeons of every speciality). Teams being chosen based on combination of abilities (skills, powers and experience) for once rather than the writers liking certain characters and ending up with a team comprised of three powerhouses, four telepaths and a flier.

 

[roach]

I'm not sure I understand all the claims of Cohesion and Energy in the X-office right now. It looks like the X-Men disbanded, Uncanny covers a 70's timewarp with three X-characters, Astonishing does its own thing that has no bearing on any current events, Adjectiveless becomes Legacy and features no present time X-Men or has any bearing on anything (cept rogue and gambit cos we havent done that to death), X-Factor loses two members and continues its own thing with no bearing on anything, and X-Force starts anew with four/five members (is Hep in it?) and operates entirely away from anything Mansion/X-Men related so we dont have to worry about continuity but still get some fights while the other books trawl through "reflective" stories. So then they bring out this 'Divided they stand' one shot that does nothing for taking steps towards re-establishing anything and features characters half of which have only been around for a couple of years.

Seems to be that there are 20 or so X-Men who're just left on the sidelines or in limbo to be possibly called upon six months down the line to form a new team with the explanation "went home to visit parents" to explain why they were dumped by the creative teams.

The motivations are all wrong: Cyke restarts the school after Xorneto blows it up. He then loses 90% of the student body and changes tack to a safehaven and training ground for new x-men rather than regular school with mutants in it that have occasional classes in how not to blow up the TV with their powers. Then the first new mutant since HoM is born and everyone goes for it. People die, Bishop goes nuts, and Scott gives Cable to baby to protect (Wow did a lot of people die just cos Cable didnt confide in his own father!). Xavier gets shot.

And so with the future of the mutant race still in jeopardy, protection of existing mutants now paramount to keep the species alive, public opinion of mutants back to where it was in the beginning where an 'evil' mutant acting like a supervillain (world domination, terrorism, theft etc) requires mutant superheroes to keep them in check and keep public opinion up, and the father of the team dying - they break up? What? Sure, take a month off to regroup and recoup and plan how th operation will be run. But break up and everyone just potters off?

If the plan is to reform under a new mantra, then at least make that clear to us. Forget all this 'finding themselves' and 'tying up stories' bollocks. Half the dangling threads in the core books were unimpressive when introduced that they could easily be left unattended like they did with Iceman's "secondary mutation" or Psylockes relationship with Thunderbird III (Oy...). More exciting would be seeing the restructuring of the team. Defined purpose as a whole. More use of multiple science guys in the mansion rather than Beast being engineer, medic, biochemist, weaponeer and mechanic all in one and stuck inside all the time (not even Hank Pym or Tony Stark are the geniuses they are PLUS bloody surgeons of every speciality). Teams being chosen based on combination of abilities (skills, powers and experience) for once rather than the writers liking certain characters and ending up with a team comprised of three powerhouses, four telepaths and a flier.

The Xmen Universe has been like this for some time. Gone are the days of good writing. Everyone is trying to leave their mark on the books. I always thought that Scott would run the school after Xavier left. But in the past few years Scott has disbanded the Xmen and closed the school twice. It doesnt seem like he is committed to the Dream. The Xmen and every subsequent team need a purpose beyond just another place to get that Wolverine cameo in.

 

[El Bastardo]

I'm not sure I understand all the claims of Cohesion and Energy in the X-office right now. It looks like the X-Men disbanded, Uncanny covers a 70's timewarp with three X-characters, Astonishing does its own thing that has no bearing on any current events, Adjectiveless becomes Legacy and features no present time X-Men or has any bearing on anything (cept rogue and gambit cos we havent done that to death), X-Factor loses two members and continues its own thing with no bearing on anything, and X-Force starts anew with four/five members (is Hep in it?) and operates entirely away from anything Mansion/X-Men related so we dont have to worry about continuity but still get some fights while the other books trawl through "reflective" stories. So then they bring out this 'Divided they stand' one shot that does nothing for taking steps towards re-establishing anything and features characters half of which have only been around for a couple of years.

Seems to be that there are 20 or so X-Men who're just left on the sidelines or in limbo to be possibly called upon six months down the line to form a new team with the explanation "went home to visit parents" to explain why they were dumped by the creative teams.

The motivations are all wrong: Cyke restarts the school after Xorneto blows it up. He then loses 90% of the student body and changes tack to a safehaven and training ground for new x-men rather than regular school with mutants in it that have occasional classes in how not to blow up the TV with their powers. Then the first new mutant since HoM is born and everyone goes for it. People die, Bishop goes nuts, and Scott gives Cable to baby to protect (Wow did a lot of people die just cos Cable didnt confide in his own father!). Xavier gets shot.

And so with the future of the mutant race still in jeopardy, protection of existing mutants now paramount to keep the species alive, public opinion of mutants back to where it was in the beginning where an 'evil' mutant acting like a supervillain (world domination, terrorism, theft etc) requires mutant superheroes to keep them in check and keep public opinion up, and the father of the team dying - they break up? What? Sure, take a month off to regroup and recoup and plan how th operation will be run. But break up and everyone just potters off?

If the plan is to reform under a new mantra, then at least make that clear to us. Forget all this 'finding themselves' and 'tying up stories' bollocks. Half the dangling threads in the core books were unimpressive when introduced that they could easily be left unattended like they did with Iceman's "secondary mutation" or Psylockes relationship with Thunderbird III (Oy...). More exciting would be seeing the restructuring of the team. Defined purpose as a whole. More use of multiple science guys in the mansion rather than Beast being engineer, medic, biochemist, weaponeer and mechanic all in one and stuck inside all the time (not even Hank Pym or Tony Stark are the geniuses they are PLUS bloody surgeons of every speciality). Teams being chosen based on combination of abilities (skills, powers and experience) for once rather than the writers liking certain characters and ending up with a team comprised of three powerhouses, four telepaths and a flier.

You know, sir, I've usually always agreed with a lot of points you've made on this forum, and respected your thoughts and what not - but like Spec said in another thread, paraphrased, hot dang, won't you get a clue before you start going off on a rant? I mean, I'm sorry, but did said rant have a central, cohesive idea? It seems about as split and all over the place as you claim the X-Office must be.

The X-Office has cohesion and energy because they have plans for what direction each book is going in. You do understand that comics are not magically created, and scripts are produced before issues are released, yes? Thus, they have knowledge of where the scripting is going. Uncanny is the flagship once more - it will, by default, more than likely feature some of the biggest names and the biggest, most hard-hitting "events" of the X-Men line. That comes with being the FLAGSHIP title. It's the center. Yes, Adjectiveless now has a name, and thus a general premise behind it - it does feature Rogue, who would technically be a "present day" X-Man, and possibly even Gambit could be considered that. And Xavier, more or less. To say that it has no bearing on anything, however, when we haven't even seen a first issue, is ignorance at its best. Astonishing is a fluke at the moment, because it's still wrapping up Whedon/Cassaday. None of us have any idea what will happen when Ellis comes on. It could very well be tied into everything - but then, given that Astonishing was not a part of Messiah Complex, one could argue that it does not necessarily matter in the same way the other books do. X-Force handles another avenue of the X-world, and X-Factor continues to do what it always, always has - the street level, fringe community of mutants, or everything that happens under the radar of the big superhero X-Men. And Cable will follow the journey of the characters Messiah Complex was all about - well, the two biggest, more or less.

Each book has a direction and marks a certain niche of the X-World. Oh, no, that's not cohesive or energetic at all.

But you're exactly right. Cyclops isn't too motivated by Xavier's dream. He's become disillusioned, and it's been a long time happening. House of M made him more disillusioned, and everything past that has added to it. Yeah, instead of defending mutants and preaching co-existence, it became a matter of making sure mutants could survive. Right, right, that makes no sense at all.

And again, for heaven's sake, as if Brubaker didn't make it painfully clear for those who can't read between the lines, Cyclops didn't disband the literal X-Men. The literal X-Men still exist, albeit in a splintered form right now. The physical grouping of mutant superheroes, that X-Men, still exists. What Cyclops disbanded was Xavier's dream. The figureative "X-Men," those mutants who fought for everything Xavier believed in, was ended.

It's time for something new.

 

[Specter313]

 

[spectre]

i'm diggin peterson's art on the guthries, and nezhno's is okay, but surge's just looks ridiculous way over the top manga.

 

[Havok83]

Who is that in scenes with Surge? Moonstar?

 

[spectre]

most likely...

this is gonna sound a little offtopic but was it ever esplained why random was involved with the acolytes? i seem to remember carey mentioning he was a part of the acolytes for a very specific reason, that he had some unrevealed motivation. the way he was written in x-men seemed to infer that he wasn't happy being a part of what was going on.

 

[Specter313]

 

[OutcryX]

WHY is Sam soo angry? missing Bobby?