November solicitations for Marvel released [List: here]
JAMIE “MAGNETO WAS RIGHT” HATTON: Not to be a shill here, but come on! DOOM by Brubaker, Bachalo back on UNCANNY, Paul Jenkins doing GENERATION M, the return of X-FACTOR, ESSENTIAL X-FACTOR!? Hell yes!
IAIN “MEGATRON WAS RIGHT” BURNSIDE: I’m definitely interested in getting Brubaker’s DOOM, but I’ll probably just wait for the shiny trade paperback to show off that lovely, lovely artwork better. The same goes for Dan Slott’s THING, which I would much rather leave well alone until it gets all bound and sturdy rather than just getting it all loose and floppy each month. Hmm. That line-up for AMAZING FANTASY #15 looks like a can’t-fail prospect. Slott and Kirkman alone are enough to convince me to pick up this issue, floppyness be damned. And come on let’s be having some love for MARVEL TEAM-UP #14! Kirkman presents: Invincible and the New Avengers! Who are you to resist??
News on Reed & Sue Richards’ 40th wedding anniversary party plans [Click: Here]
KEVIN “BRET WAS RIGHT” MAHONEY: Hmm, a Fantastic Four issue focusing on Reed and Sue and their marriage? I’m there, if only for the honeymoon stretch and vanish bedroom bits. :p
RUMOUR: Neither Magneto nor Charles Xavier will make it out of HOUSE OF M alive [Details: Here]
KEVIN MAHONEY: For the record, the HoM death rumor isn’t even worth talking about. How many times have Chuck and Mags been collectively killed or cloned? The number’s at least six by my count. Even if HoM kills one or both of them, it can’t last.
JESSE “NOBODY WAS RIGHT” BAKER: I call BS on this if only because it’s been stated that Xavier would be a regular in ASTONISHING X-MEN as of AXM #13, though I wouldn’t be suprised if Magneto gets added to the “characters killed by Little Miss Rebel just because he can” list.
MATT “DOOM WAS RIGHT” MORRISON: Come to think of it, based on the cover of HOUSE OF M #6… anyone else getting “Been there, done that” flashbacks?
Oh well. Morrison does it, it’s the work of a mad Scotsman. Bendis does it, it’s brilliant!
JESSE BAKER: Uh, Morrison made a point to establish that Magneto can’t die, that his secondary power was that he could come back to life when he dies. It’s not Morrison’s fault TPTB didn’t give a damn about the outs he created for bringing Magneto back/absolve him of mass murder after killing him off.
MATT MORRISON: Funny how I don’t remember Morrison establishing that. I just thought it was a power of all X-Men villains. :)
JAMIE HATTON: Wheee, it’s time to play brush under the carpet of continuity. As predicted, HOUSE OF M is a manuever to wipe clean the slate of Morrison and Austen. So yes, somewhere in that clusterfark that Morrison called his X-Run – he apparently let it slip in for the three people that read it and didn’t shrug it off that Mags might be able to return from any death…
Well, if that’s a plot point that is never ever ever referenced again, the only people who are going to notice are Morrison shills – and the fact is that Morrison just wasn’t that great on X-Men. I’m sure the rest of the collective writers of HOUSE OF M are also ignoring it completely… it wouldn’t be the worst thing that was ever ignored – and as Iain and I discussed, Xavier not being around (if that is the case) would allow Scott to take over the mantle without any question of the leadership.
The fact is, those two guys not being around could lend itself to some great storytelling, and that’s what this should be about… aside from that sweeping of Grant and Chuck.
IAIN BURNSIDE: Yes, it’s true, Jamie and I spend a great deal of time plotting the death of fictional cripples. Xavier “dying” and leaving Scott as the undisputed leader figure of the school would be a great move and a nice way to let the franchise evolve without actually changing anything fundamental. Scott’s finally grown up and got over Jean, why not let him finally become the figurehead that they’ve spent 40 years grooming him to be? They’ve still got Emma around to fulfill the telepathic Deus Xavier Machina duties if need be. You see what I did there? Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
*cough*
As for Magneto… I think you’re reading too much into his comments in Morrison’s story. What he actually said was “I became a legend in death and a saviour upon my return. I always come back, haven’t you noticed? Perhaps that’s my secondary mutation. To always come back.” There’s no need to take that literally. For starters, he never actually died on Genosha, he just made it look like he had done in order to become a martyr for his cause. Plus, when he did came back he not only had the same huge ego he always had, he was essentially little more than a ranting smack addict that had been taken over body, mind and soul by a sentient bacteria intent on stirring up as much shit as possible. Why not intimidate Xavier by giving the impression that he can never be stopped?That’s Super Villainry 101 right there. It also works as Morrison passing judgement on some of the more absurd aspects of mainstream superhero comic books, just like when Reed Richards started channelling Neil Gaiman in 1602. Whatever, the point is that it wasn’t meant to establish Magneto as being immortal in the more traditional sense of the word.
The real question here is whether or not Marvel has the guts to kill off Magneto and Xavier when they remain such a vital part of the X-Men movie franchise.
Also, Jesse, where was it stated that Xavier was going to become a regular in ASTONISHING X-MEN?
JAMIE HATTON: Oh, that’s what he was referencing… ironically the only part of the Morrison run I liked. Turning Magneto into the Che Guevera-esque legend. All followed up by the fact that by not dying, he had sullied his entire legacy. Right… screw him… Mags can die and I won’t feel guilty.
Will you?
IAIN BURNSIDE: Maybe. I mean, technically he’s just out to avenge the Holocaust and keep his mental daughter happy so it’s a bit hard to argue with that…
PAUL “ARANA WAS RIGHT” SEBERT: Personally I think if Bendis really does off Magneto it’ll be a favor because let’s face it… Chris Claremont’s retconning of Magneto’s death from NEW X-MEN was one of the most contrived idioitic plot-twists in the history of comics.
Granted, it did inspire the hilarious Death Becomes Them parody.
That reminds me… Matt Gardner has recently done a HOUSE OF M parody as well.
Marvel’s recent poll for which character should be revamped in AMAZING FANTASY #16 [Click: Here]
IAIN BURNSIDE: Please everyone vote for Death’s Head!! Please!!
PAUL SEBERT: I’m going to guess this is one of those “which name do you like best” deals, ala Scorpion (who’s kicking major ass in PAD’s Hulk House of M tie-in.) I voted for Death’s Head as well. I imagine you could only have a character named “WoodGod” in a MAX-line book.
KEVIN MAHONEY: Feel free to hate me, but I voted for WoodGod. I like the fact that he’s half-man and half-goat. I love the whole SCREAM thing… it debuted years before the Green, Red, and Clear made their telepathic appearances in DC. And paired with the Hulk, Woodgod made a great guest griper, bashing humanity’s violent tendencies at every turn.
But then, maybe I’ve just lost my mind.
PAUL SEBERT: An argument well made… but I still think Woodgod sounds like a porn name.
In hindsight I think I should have chosen Texas Twister. I can’t say that name without laughing.
MATT MORRISON: As a Texan, I must admit to being very afraid of how such a character would be modernized.
Mind you, I’ve often pondered trying to write a group of superheroes set in the DFW area. But then I realize that with the traffic in Dallas being what it is and their being a suitable lack of tall buildings to jump between or swing around… either all my characters are going to have to fly or there will be a substantial ammount of time depicting the Battlevan trying to make the 635 to I-35-E change over at rush hour… :)
MANOLIS VAMVOUNIS: I voted for Woodgod! I’ve never actualy seen him on page (apart from the Ashley Wood interpretation in ALPHA FLIGHT v2 #13, but no-one is even mildly recognisable when portrayed by Wood), but I just love the name!
IAIN BURNSIDE: Death’s Head won the poll! Whoo hoo!! I can’t believe I’m actually going to buy AMAZING FANTASTY now. Strange, yes?
So exactly who the hell is Spidey fighting in SPIDER-MAN 3?! [Confusion: Here]
MATT MORRISON: I’m with the guy on this page, who said (and I’m paraphrasing from memory here) “So this is a news annoucement to tell us that no news is known at this time?”
AICN has been choking on its’ own self-importance for way too long. A place for rumor-mongers and fanboys who have their keyboards grafted to their wrists to spend countless hours regurgitating the same bits of information at each other.
All I know is that they really should have Black Cat in the movie. I’m just saying…
IAIN BURNSIDE: Damn straight. Eliza Dushku should be playing her too.
Nexus has a new logo courtesy of Hatton’s better half [Here, There and Everywhere]
KEVIN MAHONEY: I am digging the new logo. I might have to mention its existence in the Monday blurb for Top Stories. So thanks go out to the other half of Hatton.
JAMIE HATTON: Doesn’t she rock so hard? Her name is Danielle, and you will be able to see her here at the Nexus with ‘FANGIRL RAMBLINGS’ sometimes this month.
IAIN BURNSIDE: Ah, pimping. The cornerstone of any healthy relationship ;)
