bengan
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Im surprised that no one had posted this:
marvel will bring you this and other bad-ass jawdropping teasers in july
"IGN Comics: How did this crossover originally come about? Whose idea was it originally?
Matt Fraction: I wanted to do it from the very first when I was being asked about this stuff. Being involved with X-Men I wanted to do an X-Men/Avengers crossover. Everyone just sort of rolled their eyes. But then as Brian's story unfurled with the Cabal and we got Emma into it, it made more and more sense. I brought it up and got Brian into the idea, and we got excited about it very quickly.
We've been working on bringing the X-Men back. They've been isolated in their little pocket of the Marvel U. and we've been working on bringing them back into the mainstream for a while. Even though they might not be in New York anymore, their story is going become much more front and center with where the Avengers storyline has been. It was one of those things where I wanted to do it for the fun of it and because I wanted to work with Brian. It's just me – he's not actually on it anymore – but we've kind of worked together organizationally. It's just one of those things that synchronicity made happen.
IGN Comics: So how exactly are the writing duties being divided? Did you sit down with Bendis...
Fraction: It's just me. There's no Bendis.
IGN Comics: Oh, really?
Fraction: We've talked about it. But yeah, it's just going to be me.
IGN Comics: So you'll be writing both Uncanny and Dark Avengers for those months?
Fraction: Yes. There's an Alpha special which will be drawn by Marc Silvestri. Then it's Uncanny #513, Dark Avengers #6, then Uncanny #514, Dark Avengers #7, and then there's an Omega issue. And I'm writing all of them. And the Alpha and Omega specials will be oversized.
[Editor's Note: Silvestri will also be drawing the Omega one-shot.]
IGN Comics: What event would you say brings the two teams together? Is it a case where Osborn shows up to call in Emma's favor?
Fraction: I don't want to blow it. You should read it. But Emma is a part of the Cabal. We all know what Emma and Norman's agreement is, and something happens. The long and the short of it is – Norman says to Emma, "You need to control your people." That's the origin of it. Without giving too much away, something happens, and it's something we've been building towards in the X-books. There's an incident in San Francisco, and suddenly the human and mutant populations come to a head. Norman has to get involved because he's the face of law and order in the Marvel U. now. Wackiness ensues.
IGN Comics: I think we've all been wondering when the rest of the team is going to find out about this bargain Emma has entered. Will that conflict play into the crossover?
Fraction: A lot of questions get answered. A lot of cats get let out of the bag. Definitely a lot of questions get answered and a lot of secrets get revealed. Let's put it like that.
IGN Comics: Does the story build on anything you introduced in the Annual a couple months back?
Fraction: Of course. All this ties in. There's been a road map in place for a very long time. We're getting to it one step at a time. Hopefully you can sit back when all of this is done and look at where we've come from and where we've been to and see what the plan is and what the design has been. This has definitely been going for a while. The Annual was the start of it, the Cabal special too. We've really gone a long way to make this very meaningful and not just another summer fight scene.
IGN Comics: How wide are you casting the net in terms of the characters involved? Is this the full roster of the Dark Avengers and the X-Men?
Fraction: Oh yes. This is the grand royale. This is the big time. All hands on deck for both sides of the equation. Norman's got some surprises we haven't seen yet that will blow minds and melt faces and all that good stuff.
IGN Comics: I think there are a lot of readers who have been waiting for the Dark Avengers to be unleashed on one of the other major superhero teams. Bendis teased that in New Avengers this week but then went in a different direction.
Fraction: Ask and ye shall receive. Like I said, this isn't just another summer fight scene. We're blowing the f---ing doors off the joint, and as much as things have changed so far, we're changing them even more. This is all the storylines in a place where the X-Men and Avengers happen to converge. Both of their ongoing storylines are changed as a result. Things keep shifting, and there are real consequences. There are real payoffs and real resolutions and real changes that happen because of this story. This is a very big, very fun, very exciting story to write because it's so rich in payoff and resolutions and such.
IGN Comics: The Alpha special is drawn by Marc Silvestri. Its interesting, because he seems to be involved with a lot of the major X-Men projects of the past few years. He drew the opening issue of Messiah Complex, and he handled the covers for Deadly Genesis too. In your opinion, is Marc an important part of any modern X-Men event?
Fraction: He's got a pedigree that very few people have these days. He's a marquee named X-guy, you know? His name is really synonymous with one of the most legendary runs on the book. He can still deliver that essential whatever it is that made people go crazy for him back in the day. He still has that, and he draws the X-Men like nobody else. It's kind of special to be able to get him on these things every now and again for these big, earth-shaking moments. He's perfect for it.
IGN Comics: As far as the actual Uncanny and Dark Avengers issues go, who will be handling the art on those?
Fraction: That'll be Terry Dodson on Uncanny and Mike Deodato on Dark Avengers.
IGN Comics: In a general sense, how would you say Osborn views the mutant population right now? Are they a threat to his new power, or more a resource that he feels he can exploit?
Fraction: It's like we saw in the Cabal special. His deal was, "You keep your people off my game board, and I'll keep my game board off your people." He doesn't want to deal with them. He doesn't want to deal with 200 super-powered, potentially militant minority members fighting against extinction. He wants them out of sight and out of mind, and in exchange for that he gives them protection. Or at least, protection from overly aggressive incursions. The deal we saw in Secret Invasion: Dark Reign is the default setting for their relationship. "You keep your people quiet and I'll make sure they stay safe." The problem is that they don't stay quiet.
IGN Comics: Looking at the whole of 2009 so far, there's not really any one all-encompassing event storyline like we had with Civil War and Secret Invasion. Instead, we're seeing a lot of these smaller crossovers between books like Cable and X-Force or Thunderbolts and Deadpool. Do you think this is the start of a new approach to event comics?
Fraction: It's not like there's been a mandate or anything like that. I don't know that I necessarily believe in event fatigue as a market force. But as creators, it's easier to feel like "This is six issues and then you're out." It's easier to get your head around it and power through it. It's interesting. I don't know that I'm qualified to answer that. The way Brian and I were talking about it was – he's just coming out of Secret Invasion. God knows how toasty he is. He was really writing three books. It wasn't just the Secret Invasion book, it was the Avengers stuff too. That was a really elaborate thing that he did.
This is our story. Let's just focus on our story. Let's muscle up and tell the strongest story we can and do it quick and not ask another eight or nine months and 40 parts. Let's not build these massive things. Let's just focus on high octane, high firepower stories. Let's hit people fast and hard. And hopefully these people will be wanting more. Rather than risk overstaying our welcome, let's just do what we came to do and get the hell off the page. Leave people wanting more.
IGN Comics: I also wanted to touch on the next couple months leading into this crossover. What can you tease about Uncanny #507 and the end of your second big arc on the series?
Fraction: Issue #507 is the end of Terry's first arc called "Lovelorn", and then we go into "Sisterhood", which we've actually been building to since #499. We started to see the build-up there. It kind of flows into the crossover after a standalone #512. This is dealing with who the Sisterhood are, what they're up to, and why they want the X-Men not in San Francisco. Some old favorites come back, new favorites get the chance to shine. There's the biggest fight scene I've written in my entire career.
The subplots throughout rise to where we're going in X-Men/Dark Avengers. These little things we've been seeing in the background that might be a panel here or a two-page sequence there – these drumbeats become pretty cacophonous by the end. These subplots are what unite X-Men/Dark Avengers. The main story is self-contained. It shows who the Sisterhood are and what they want and how the X-Men try to stop them. But the B and the C stories are what flow into the crossover. Scott and Emma are keeping secrets from one another, and the nature of Scott's secrets and the nature of Emma's secrets...
I don't want to blow anything that happens in #507, but Beast and Angel are alone on an island with a very angry atomic mutation. It doesn't take a genius to figure out how they're going to get out of there. Beast is stunned to find out that one of his oldest and best friends has been lying to him. All of these big secrets are coming home to roost. All of this stuff is building, so all these subplots that may seem random really start to pile up. And then X-Men/Dark Avengers is the first really big payoff we get for all these places we've been heading for a while.
IGN Comics: One of the big developments in this current arc is that footage of the Alaska massacre has leaked out to the public. Is that another of those subplots that will play out in the future?
Fraction: Yeah, that's exactly it. The Humanity Now Coalition and Simon Trask and what he's up to – that's exactly the kind of stuff I'm talking about. The tone of anti-mutant rhetoric, Proposition X and what it means for mutants. Human/mutant distrust is starting to boil. That might just be what our tipping point is in the story. "
marvel will bring you this and other bad-ass jawdropping teasers in july
"IGN Comics: How did this crossover originally come about? Whose idea was it originally?
Matt Fraction: I wanted to do it from the very first when I was being asked about this stuff. Being involved with X-Men I wanted to do an X-Men/Avengers crossover. Everyone just sort of rolled their eyes. But then as Brian's story unfurled with the Cabal and we got Emma into it, it made more and more sense. I brought it up and got Brian into the idea, and we got excited about it very quickly.
We've been working on bringing the X-Men back. They've been isolated in their little pocket of the Marvel U. and we've been working on bringing them back into the mainstream for a while. Even though they might not be in New York anymore, their story is going become much more front and center with where the Avengers storyline has been. It was one of those things where I wanted to do it for the fun of it and because I wanted to work with Brian. It's just me – he's not actually on it anymore – but we've kind of worked together organizationally. It's just one of those things that synchronicity made happen.
IGN Comics: So how exactly are the writing duties being divided? Did you sit down with Bendis...
Fraction: It's just me. There's no Bendis.
IGN Comics: Oh, really?
Fraction: We've talked about it. But yeah, it's just going to be me.
IGN Comics: So you'll be writing both Uncanny and Dark Avengers for those months?
Fraction: Yes. There's an Alpha special which will be drawn by Marc Silvestri. Then it's Uncanny #513, Dark Avengers #6, then Uncanny #514, Dark Avengers #7, and then there's an Omega issue. And I'm writing all of them. And the Alpha and Omega specials will be oversized.
[Editor's Note: Silvestri will also be drawing the Omega one-shot.]
IGN Comics: What event would you say brings the two teams together? Is it a case where Osborn shows up to call in Emma's favor?
Fraction: I don't want to blow it. You should read it. But Emma is a part of the Cabal. We all know what Emma and Norman's agreement is, and something happens. The long and the short of it is – Norman says to Emma, "You need to control your people." That's the origin of it. Without giving too much away, something happens, and it's something we've been building towards in the X-books. There's an incident in San Francisco, and suddenly the human and mutant populations come to a head. Norman has to get involved because he's the face of law and order in the Marvel U. now. Wackiness ensues.
IGN Comics: I think we've all been wondering when the rest of the team is going to find out about this bargain Emma has entered. Will that conflict play into the crossover?
Fraction: A lot of questions get answered. A lot of cats get let out of the bag. Definitely a lot of questions get answered and a lot of secrets get revealed. Let's put it like that.
IGN Comics: Does the story build on anything you introduced in the Annual a couple months back?
Fraction: Of course. All this ties in. There's been a road map in place for a very long time. We're getting to it one step at a time. Hopefully you can sit back when all of this is done and look at where we've come from and where we've been to and see what the plan is and what the design has been. This has definitely been going for a while. The Annual was the start of it, the Cabal special too. We've really gone a long way to make this very meaningful and not just another summer fight scene.
IGN Comics: How wide are you casting the net in terms of the characters involved? Is this the full roster of the Dark Avengers and the X-Men?
Fraction: Oh yes. This is the grand royale. This is the big time. All hands on deck for both sides of the equation. Norman's got some surprises we haven't seen yet that will blow minds and melt faces and all that good stuff.
IGN Comics: I think there are a lot of readers who have been waiting for the Dark Avengers to be unleashed on one of the other major superhero teams. Bendis teased that in New Avengers this week but then went in a different direction.
Fraction: Ask and ye shall receive. Like I said, this isn't just another summer fight scene. We're blowing the f---ing doors off the joint, and as much as things have changed so far, we're changing them even more. This is all the storylines in a place where the X-Men and Avengers happen to converge. Both of their ongoing storylines are changed as a result. Things keep shifting, and there are real consequences. There are real payoffs and real resolutions and real changes that happen because of this story. This is a very big, very fun, very exciting story to write because it's so rich in payoff and resolutions and such.
IGN Comics: The Alpha special is drawn by Marc Silvestri. Its interesting, because he seems to be involved with a lot of the major X-Men projects of the past few years. He drew the opening issue of Messiah Complex, and he handled the covers for Deadly Genesis too. In your opinion, is Marc an important part of any modern X-Men event?
Fraction: He's got a pedigree that very few people have these days. He's a marquee named X-guy, you know? His name is really synonymous with one of the most legendary runs on the book. He can still deliver that essential whatever it is that made people go crazy for him back in the day. He still has that, and he draws the X-Men like nobody else. It's kind of special to be able to get him on these things every now and again for these big, earth-shaking moments. He's perfect for it.
IGN Comics: As far as the actual Uncanny and Dark Avengers issues go, who will be handling the art on those?
Fraction: That'll be Terry Dodson on Uncanny and Mike Deodato on Dark Avengers.
IGN Comics: In a general sense, how would you say Osborn views the mutant population right now? Are they a threat to his new power, or more a resource that he feels he can exploit?
Fraction: It's like we saw in the Cabal special. His deal was, "You keep your people off my game board, and I'll keep my game board off your people." He doesn't want to deal with them. He doesn't want to deal with 200 super-powered, potentially militant minority members fighting against extinction. He wants them out of sight and out of mind, and in exchange for that he gives them protection. Or at least, protection from overly aggressive incursions. The deal we saw in Secret Invasion: Dark Reign is the default setting for their relationship. "You keep your people quiet and I'll make sure they stay safe." The problem is that they don't stay quiet.
IGN Comics: Looking at the whole of 2009 so far, there's not really any one all-encompassing event storyline like we had with Civil War and Secret Invasion. Instead, we're seeing a lot of these smaller crossovers between books like Cable and X-Force or Thunderbolts and Deadpool. Do you think this is the start of a new approach to event comics?
Fraction: It's not like there's been a mandate or anything like that. I don't know that I necessarily believe in event fatigue as a market force. But as creators, it's easier to feel like "This is six issues and then you're out." It's easier to get your head around it and power through it. It's interesting. I don't know that I'm qualified to answer that. The way Brian and I were talking about it was – he's just coming out of Secret Invasion. God knows how toasty he is. He was really writing three books. It wasn't just the Secret Invasion book, it was the Avengers stuff too. That was a really elaborate thing that he did.
This is our story. Let's just focus on our story. Let's muscle up and tell the strongest story we can and do it quick and not ask another eight or nine months and 40 parts. Let's not build these massive things. Let's just focus on high octane, high firepower stories. Let's hit people fast and hard. And hopefully these people will be wanting more. Rather than risk overstaying our welcome, let's just do what we came to do and get the hell off the page. Leave people wanting more.
IGN Comics: I also wanted to touch on the next couple months leading into this crossover. What can you tease about Uncanny #507 and the end of your second big arc on the series?
Fraction: Issue #507 is the end of Terry's first arc called "Lovelorn", and then we go into "Sisterhood", which we've actually been building to since #499. We started to see the build-up there. It kind of flows into the crossover after a standalone #512. This is dealing with who the Sisterhood are, what they're up to, and why they want the X-Men not in San Francisco. Some old favorites come back, new favorites get the chance to shine. There's the biggest fight scene I've written in my entire career.
The subplots throughout rise to where we're going in X-Men/Dark Avengers. These little things we've been seeing in the background that might be a panel here or a two-page sequence there – these drumbeats become pretty cacophonous by the end. These subplots are what unite X-Men/Dark Avengers. The main story is self-contained. It shows who the Sisterhood are and what they want and how the X-Men try to stop them. But the B and the C stories are what flow into the crossover. Scott and Emma are keeping secrets from one another, and the nature of Scott's secrets and the nature of Emma's secrets...
I don't want to blow anything that happens in #507, but Beast and Angel are alone on an island with a very angry atomic mutation. It doesn't take a genius to figure out how they're going to get out of there. Beast is stunned to find out that one of his oldest and best friends has been lying to him. All of these big secrets are coming home to roost. All of this stuff is building, so all these subplots that may seem random really start to pile up. And then X-Men/Dark Avengers is the first really big payoff we get for all these places we've been heading for a while.
IGN Comics: One of the big developments in this current arc is that footage of the Alaska massacre has leaked out to the public. Is that another of those subplots that will play out in the future?
Fraction: Yeah, that's exactly it. The Humanity Now Coalition and Simon Trask and what he's up to – that's exactly the kind of stuff I'm talking about. The tone of anti-mutant rhetoric, Proposition X and what it means for mutants. Human/mutant distrust is starting to boil. That might just be what our tipping point is in the story. "
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