Originally posted by Dwarf lord
If Stan Lee is the father of the X-Men, then Chris Claremont must be the Don Vito Corleone of Marvels mutants.
Claremont first wrote the adventures of Marvels merry band of mutants in the pages of X-Men #94 (now known as Uncanny X-Men) in 1975. Over the years, his stories such as God Loves, Man Kills (which originally appeared in Marvel Graphic Novel #5), The Dark Phoenix Saga, Days of Future Past, Mutant Massacre, Inferno, X-Tinction Agenda and others have been cult favorites among fans of the X.
Not to mention over twenty years worth of monthly stories.
During the 1980s, the creator also introduced the New Mutants in Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants in 1982 and subsequently wrote the New Mutants series for 54 consecutive issues from 1983 to 1987, including a few Annuals, a Special Edition and a return to the series on two occasions later on. His four-issue Wolverine limited series with artist Frank Miller became such a phenomenon, it's fame continuing even to this day.
In 1987, Claremont and Davis collaborated on Excalibur Special Edition and later on, the both of them worked on the new Excalibur series that further chronicled the adventures of Captain Britain, Meggan, Nightcrawler, Phoenix (Rachel Summers), Shadowcat and a few additions along the way.
X-Men fever peaked in 1991 when Claremont and super-hot artist Jim Lee launched a brand-new X-Men #1. However, the era of Chris Claremonts X-Men ended when the writer left the series (and his mutants) after just three issues.
His return to the world of the X-Men began with Wolverine #125, where Wolverine and Viper married in the four-part arc in 1998. A year later, in X-Men #95, he was a part of the Revolution event that ran through all of Marvels X-titles.
2001 saw the writer and artist Salvador Larroca launch a new X-Men series, X-Treme X-Men. With the already announced cancellation of X-Treme in Aprils issue #46, Claremont is once again involved in the X-event of the year.
This May, as part of Mays Reload of the X-Men titles, Claremont is once again back on board Uncanny X-Men, this time with Marvel exclusive artist and former Excalibur collaborator Alan Davis. The veteran X-scribe is also relaunching Excalibur with artist Aaron Lopresti.
We spoke with Claremont about both.
Uncanny X-Men
What goes around comes around, Claremont told Newsarama. Its bittersweet to bring X-Treme to an end, when it feels like the series was only just getting started and we were in the process of building our momentum through a really exciting series of stories.
On the other hand, only an idiot would complain about (a) the opportunity to work with Alan Davis and (b) work with him on what Ive always considered the flagship book of the X-Canon, especially since it appears Im coming onto the title 350 issues after I took it over for the first time,way back in the day!
Apart from the fact that its 350 issues after his first love, what does he have in mind for Uncanny this time? By surprising the readers in a good way. Im older, Im hopefully - wiser, Im - even more hopefully - better at my craft.
The first arc of his return to Uncanny runs for four issues, Claremont said. It establishes the status quo and mission statement of the series, introduces the characters and some potential conflicts and sends them up against a number of adversaries, all of whom will have significance down the road, culminating in an encounter with a significantly major villain who in the past has proved to be well-nigh unstoppable - but only because he was written back in the day by Alan Moore. Theres also some equally significant quiet time, hopefully containing some delightful surprises in terms of character interaction. And a surprise guest-star who has nothing to do with the X-Canon but has major past connections with a number of the characters.
Then, with the second arc, we up the ante big-time, in preparation for the upcoming Uncanny #450!
As for his roster, the only ones Im prepared - or allowed - to confirm at this time are Storm, Bishop and Sage.
In one sense, one might view this trio of characters, Storm, Bishop and Sage, as representing the three major eras of Uncanny, post #94: Storm, of course, dates from the very beginning, Bishop represents the era after I left the series, and Marvel, in 1991, while Sage came into the team with the 21st century. Storm represents Xaviers Dream from the perspective of elemental passion, as an evocation and personification of the planetary life-force, while Bishop is an inheritor of it, having come from a somewhat dystopic future wherein the Dream remains as-yet unfulfilled. Sage represents the passion of intellect. She is someone who embraced the Dream early on, its as seminal a defining force in her life as the other X-Mens, but has through force of circumstance and necessity chosen to stand apart from it for most of her adult life, to the point of standing alongside some of the teams most formidable adversaries, the Hellfire Club, for much of that time. They each speak to different aspects of the theme of the series and to me as the writer. For anything more than that, Im afraid youll have to read the books.
As for a list of characters or possibilities for filling out his roster or storylines, we ran some ideas by Claremont:
Nightcrawler spoken for
Colossus -- isnt he dead?
Banshee always interested
Wolverine always interested, but spoken for at least four times over!
Dazzler always interested
Longshot always interested
Shadowcat incredibly silly question, but also incredibly and proprietarily spoken for
Rogue equally silly question but also incredibly spoken for
Gambit equally silly question but also incredibly spoken for
Psylocke isnt she dead???
Forge spoken for
Jubilee spoken for
Cable spoken for
Cannonball always interested, but spoken for
Sunspot always interested
Dani always interested, but spoken for
Karma likewise
Rahne likewise
Lifeguard always interested
Neal always interested
Juggernaut spoken for
Sinister spoken for all over the place, yes?
Starjammers spoken for, big-time
The Shiar always interested
The Brood always interested
The Hellfire Club always interested
The problem here is that I have a structural plan in place that will take Uncanny up to around #470, which is easily the middle of next year, depending on how the bi-weekly formula is applied, Claremont said. I have stories and characters all lined up. But the same held true for X-Treme, from the very beginning Editor Matt Hicks and I spend the better part of six months building the first couple of years of the series, and me writing the first dozen issues only to have the whole structure totally crashed before the first issue was even finished. Fortunately, thank Heaven, it looks highly unlikely that history will repeat itself. Were off to a great start and hope to remain on-track throughout.
The point Im making is this comics are a periodical medium. We have to plan ahead but at the same time remain totally receptive to changes in the publishing environment, publishing philosophy and policy, what works in the market place, what does not. A character might catch fire and move from the crowd to center-stage, as Wolverine did, as Sage appears to be doing, resulting in a reorientation of stories to reflect that. A character may abruptly vanish, as Beast did. A character may crash and burn, as Neal Shaara did, suggesting we not emphasize him, unduly in future.
Or, goodness gracious, I - or my editor, or my penciller - may just come up with a better idea. You adapt to the world around you and the circumstances, as a major league baseball manager does when structuring his daily line-up. I could tell you just about anything right about now, secure in the knowledge that in the normal course of events those plans will end up changing pretty much beyond all recognition. Thats why the creative process and the X-Men have so much in common theyre all about the ongoing process of evolution.
By the way, did I mention that my debut issue this time around marks 350 issues since I first started writing Uncanny - or All-New, All-Different as it was known then? How time flies!
Excalibur
While the original Excalibur formed in the wake of Fall of the Mutants and brought together X-characters Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde, Rachel Summers, Lockheed and teamed them up with Captain Britain, Meggan and later on, Widget, the new Excalibur is the sole responsibility of the man who started it all back in the 1960s: Professor X himself.
With the announcement that X-Treme would be cancelled, Igor [Kordey] and I were kicking around the idea of what to do next. I had some thoughts that had been percolating for some time, that Id been planning for X-Treme, that synergized with the news that Charley [i.e. Professor Xavier] would be leaving Uncanny after Grants run. I pitched Editor Mike Marts, who pitched Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada, and we got a green light for the book. In and around finishing Storm: Arena and then Bogan, Igor and I began constructing the world we wanted to create on Genosha, the visual feel for the book, the type of characters whod live there and the stories wed tell. We were going great guns. Now, due to circumstances wholly beyond his control, Aaron Lopresti has to play six months worth of pre-production catch-up in half as many weeks, which is a challenge I wouldnt wish on anyone but one which hes embraced enthusiastically. So, despite all the speed-bumps, I think the book will be off to a great start.
After being under the X-Men umbrella on and off all these years, the time has come for Xavier to really let loose and take control amidst the Genoshan ruins. What brought him to the Genoshan Ground Zero, the place where 16 million of the population was killed in Morrison's E is for Extinction arc? How has his ideals and visions changed, if at all? Is there still a dream to fight for?
I suspect he has a far more graphic and literal sense of the consequences of failure, which in turn leaves him that much more committed to the ideals of his dream, Claremont said. To my eye, this is Xavier very much as an active, action hero, regardless of the fact that hes a functional paraplegic. This is - I hope - where we get to see the reason why teenagers were willing to commit to him, and his dream, so wholeheartedly that he became, and remains, the defining thrust of their lives. What is there about him that makes him so irresistibly charismatic and admirable? But at the same time what aspect of him allows him to place children in positions of such ongoing peril? To me, these are questions that have never been addressed much less answered. This is where Id like to start.
Read the next couple of issues of X-Men and Uncanny. Theyll answer part of the question far better than I. As for the rest of the answer, read Excalibur!
[Newsarama note: In Aprils Of Darkest Nights two-parter in Uncanny X-Men #442 and #443, writer Chuck Austen brings Professor X to Genosha to memorialize his greatest foe and oldest friend [Magneto].]
The first Excalibur arc is currently slated for four issues, although that may change as Claremont and Lopresti get more in sync. Basically, it deals with Charleys first days on the island, introducing the setting, certain characters, certain adversaries, stuff like that. Theres a moment with Unus the Untouchable that I really cant wait to see. Therell be some surprises - I hope - and, a real treat for me, the opportunity to once more work regularly with my favorite letterer - and in my eyes the best in the business, Tom Orzechowski. Greedy sod that I am, if I could get him assigned to all my books, it would be a happy, happy day. But Ill settle for the one weve got. For the moment.
Identity Crisis will have cross overs in many books. Flash and Teen Titans are some of the best pure Superhero titles on the market. If you haven't tried them....please do. Geoff Johns is the master of modern comics IMO. His work on JSA is awesome as well. It's a shame he doesn't write X-men. He's probably the only modern writer that LOVES continuity and uses it in a way it doesn't confuse readers.
