Editor Nick Lowe Talks About The X-Men Books

News

All week X-Men group editor Nick Lowe has been doing conference calls on the individual titles in the X-line, along with the writers of those books. Yesterday he and Kieron Gillen talked about Uncanny X-Men, Wednesday was all about X-Men: Legacy with Mike Carey. Tuesday was Rick Remender and Uncanny X-Force, and Monday was the announcement that Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning would be writing New Mutants. So what was left for today? Well, the adjectiveless title for one, and the line as a whole as Lowe takes this session by himself.

When asked to word associate the titles, he came up with the following.

  • New Mutants: PTSD
  • X-Men: Legacy: Insane
  • Uncanny X-Force: Ballsy
  • Uncanny X-Men: Insane
  • Generation Hope: Innovative

Lowe then mentions X-Men: First to Last, by writer Christopher Yost (New X-Men, X-Force, Red Robin), which will begin in Giant Size X-Men before moving to X-Men for four issues. When asked to describe it, Lowe said it has a “new angle on an X-Men villain that we haven’t seen before.” He also confirmed that current writer Victor Gischler would return to the series after Yost’s arc.

On the note of Astonishing X-Men, which has sort of floundered about over the past few years, Lowe noted that “This Astonishing is taking place in current X-Men continuity.” Which I guess means the book might actually matter again for the first time since Whedon left.

Lowe also puts over writer Peter David and his X-Factor run saying the title is “all about Peter David,” and that he is “one of the greatest living comic book writers.” The man has good taste.

Next up Lowe was asked about characters to keep an eye on and listed off Strong Guy, Archangel, Idie (from Generation Hope), and X-Man. He jokes that Doop will be the next breakout character, before relating a story about a few years ago when Marvel was high on Warpath, thinking him to be the next breakout star, but then the fans didn’t get nearly as excited as the creators. You can’t force a breakout star.

When asked about classic villains showing up, Lowe teased an upcoming event with a single word that should radiate in the minds of all X-fans.

“Hellfire.”

He then went on to confirm that there will be resolutions to plots like Gambit’s “Death” dark side, and more importantly, the connection between Hope Summers and the Phoenix will be revealed in the next two years.

The comes news that Namor will “Absolutely” be sticking around, and that the love triangle between himself, Emma Frost, and Scott Summers has only just begun.

On the topic of the upcoming X-Men: First Class movie, Lowe is excited, but also says that “Xavier won’t be stepping into a leadership role anytime soon,” confirming that they won’t be altering the comics to cater to the audience of the movie, though at the same time…..  “As far as Magneto? That’s a question.”

As far as the X-Men interacting with the rest of the Marvel Universe, adjectiveless X-Men will be the book for that, though X-Factor will be doing it too.

On the note of some fan-favorite characters, Lowe had this to say.

“Hellion is a big part of Age of X, and X-Men Legacy is your main book to see all things Hellion.”

“Sage, much to the disappointment, won’t be showing up in X-stuff for a while. She’s still dancing out in the Multiverse. I do like Sage, but as for right now, we don’t have current plans for her.”

“Domino, she’s in Age of X, a minor role there. There’s not too much going on with Domino right now, sad to say.”

“Elixir’s pursuing his own ends, and won’t be returning to Utopia in the near future.”

Finally, on the note of the X-Men’s most well known creative alumni, the legendary Chris Claremont (whose out of continuity stories have recently wrapped up with X-Men Forever coming to an end), “Chris always comes back to us in the X-Universe with regularity. I don’t have anything to talk about solidly right now, but I’m sure it won’t be long before we’re working together again, and I’m looking forward to it, because Chris is a great guy and we wouldn’t be here without him.”

A lifelong reader and self proclaimed continuity guru, Grey is the Editor in Chief of Comics Nexus. Known for his love of Booster Gold, Spider-Girl (the real one), Stephanie Brown, and The Boys. Don't miss The Gold Standard.