NYCC ‘08: MONDO MARVEL PANEL

Report by Albert Ching

Mondo Marvel, a convention circuit staple focusing on Marvel Comics product as a whole, kicked off that company’s programming at the third annual New York Comic Con. In attendance Friday afternoon was senior editors Axel Alonso and Tom Brevoort, writers Greg Pak, Dan Slott, Brian Reed, Marc Guggenheim, Fred Van Lente, Cable writer and incoming Immortal Iron Fist writer Duane Swierczynski, C.B. Cebulski, Marvel marketing’s Jim McCann and, hosting the panel, Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada. Spider-editor Steve Wacker and writer Jason Aaron were said to be arriving shortly.

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WWLA ‘08: MONDO MARVEL PANEL

Report by Albert Ching

Marvel’s last panel of WizardWorld: Los Angeles, "Mondo Marvel," kicked off a little after 12:30 p.m. local time on Sunday. Present at the panel was Marvel editor Aubrey Sitterson, writers Matt Fraction, Chris Gage and Charles Knauf, along with panel host, Marvel Marketing Manager Jim McCann.

Technical issues delayed the planned slideshow presentation, so McCann turned to Knauf to talk about Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., asking "Since someone else is going to ask this, ‘What’s it like writing such a big douchebag,’" further joking "I’m going to be playing the role of Newsarama today." Knauf laughed off the question by saying that after the current Mandarin arc, a familiar "femme fatale" will appear in the book, and the comic will be "a little more fun."

Staying on Iron Man, Fraction talked about his upcoming Invincible Iron Man series. "He might the right decision, but the ends didn’t justify the means," said Fraction of Stark’s actions during Civil War. "He is his own arch-rival," said Fraction, describing his comic as a "redemption arc."

When asked about the level of cooperation between the two comics, Fraction said that they communicate, but both books have such different goals that it hasn’t been much of an issue.

Gage (whose wife’s birthday is today) talked about Avengers: The Initiative, saying that "old school New Warriors fans" should pick up #11, which will also feature an appearance by the Mighty Avengers. In #12, readers will find out "who lived, who died, who got maimed," and who graduates and what super-hero teams they’ll join. Gage said he wrote #13 by himself, but stressed that Dan Slott is still on the title.

Gage then talked about his four issues of Thunderbolts, repeating that in his first issue a major Marvel character will be revealed as a Skrull and go after the Thunderbolts.

With the technical issues worked out, McCann turned attention to an image from the current Dark Tower mini-series, and sung the praises of the Stephen King novel spin-off.

McCann talked about Marvel’s new working relationship with French publisher Soleil, and titles like Sky Doll and Scourge of the Gods, that Marvel will be bringing to the states.

Marvel’s Free Comic Book Day offerings were disucssed, both the Marvel Adventures Iron Man & Hulk & Spider-Man, and the X-Men comic by Mike Carey and Greg Land featuring Pixie.

Fraction added that the X-Men Free Comic Book Day book sets up Uncanny X-Men #500.

Salvador Larocca interiors from Invincible Iron Man were shown the crowd, with Fraction noting that Pepper Potts (late of Fraction’s The Order) will play a role in the title. "In a way, The Order kind of ends up as a weird prequel to what we’re doing with Iron Man," he said. "Pepper lives from The Order, that’s at least one character that makes it out (meaning Pepper Potts is at least one character no dead at the end of the series).

More Iron Man - specifically, Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas by Iron Man movie director Jon Favreau and Adi Granov - was up. "It’s definitely Robert Downey, Jr. Tony Stark," said Sitterson. "The Iron Man you want to hang out with."

Greg Pak and Ron Garney’s Skaar: Son of Hulk, coming in June, was plugged. "12 issues that well set up a whole hell of a lot of stuff, pay off a lot of things," said McCann.

The new Guardians of the Galaxy got some good cheers from the audience. McCann said they’ll be "cleaning up as much as they can" from the two Annihilations, and strongly hinted that these cosmic characters will be involved with the Secret Invasion.

Nova was discussed, with McCann pointing to the return of New Mutants character Warlock as something interesting going on in the book. With the Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch’s Fantastic Four up, McCann promised that there would be no Ultimates or Ultimates 2 type delays with FF.

Marvel Illustrated’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was shown on the big screen, with McCann calling artist Skottie Young a huge fan of the Oz mythology.

The Alex Ross and Jim Kruger Avengers/Invaders project was discussed, with McCann reminding the audience that it takes place in the present day, with the New and Mighty Avengers features. "It’s not an imaginary story," added Fraction.

Knauf talked about the upcoming Eternals ongoing he’s co-writing with his father. "We’re explaining a lot of questions people might have," the writer said. "Where the Celestials come form, what’s their plan, things like that."

A Captain America cover showing someone in Steve Rogers’ classic Captain America costume facing the current Bucky Barnes Captain America was shown, with McCann saying that it’s a scene that definitely happens inside the book.

Sitterson discussed Ghost Rider, turning to Fraction, a fan of the title. "Ghost Rider’s going to be what Iron Fist was last year, everyone who reads it is going to love it," Fraction said. Sitterson informed the audience about how the character has been revealed to be an angelic entity, and said that the next arc will be drawn by former Doom Patrol artist Tan Eng Huat.

Fraction talked about Punisher War Journal and the upcoming six-part Jigsaw storyline, calling it the "ultimate Jigsaw story," and "the best Punisher movie that will never be made." "It’s Jigsaw’s ultimate revenge plot against Frank," Fraction said, adding that it’s been building since his first issue of Punisher War Journal.

Moving on to another one of his books, Fraction talked about The Immortal Iron Fist, and an upcoming story involving Danny Rand’s 33rd birthday

Another Fraction project - three Thor one-shots - was announced. Fraction joked that it would be good for fans of the "Led Zeppelin III" album. The first one-shot will be drawn by Patrick Zircher, and interior art was shown (which elicited oohs and ahs from the crowd). "See, just imagine ‘Immigrant Song’ in the background," said Fraction, referring to the opening song of the aforementioned Led Zeppelin album.

The first question from the audience spun directly from the last slide - "Why doesn’t Patrick Zircher get more work at Marvel?" The panel pointed to the just announced project, with Fraction adding that he thinks the artist is a "stone cold genius."

"Do you think Secret Invasion will be bigger than Civil War?" McCann said from a sales point, yes, and in terms of scope, it’s much bigger.

He continued by saying there will be a "little less" tie-in issues.

Q: Any more details about why Captain America’s shield is on the Guardians of the Galaxy #2 cover? The panelists of course responded they can’t say anything at this point.

Q: Will any young mutant characters join the Initiative? "I would say a firm wait-and-see on that," answered Gage. "It’s not that there’s not going to be mutants in The Initiative, but it’s not going to become the new Xavier’s school for the gifted. There will be a mix - weapon-based characters, power-based characters."

Marvel talent manager Chris Allo was then brought to the panel, in case anyone in the crowd had "talent related questions."

A fan apparently displeased with the new Fantastic Four logo expressed displeasure to the panel (though not really in the form of a question). McCann said it was designed by Bryan Hitch and will stay as long as Hitch is on the book.

A fan asked a rather common convention question - how can aspiring writers break into the biz? "The best way to get to write comics is to write comics," said Sitterson. "Writers don’t just come out of the blue and work for Marvel Comics."

Fraction spoke from his experience, and said that all of his Marvel work came from his independent gigs.

Q: Will we see Dr. Strange again in the near future? Sitterson: "There are definite plans for Dr. Strange." McCann said "there are approved Dr. Strange projects," but nothing that can be announced yet.

Q: Anything new with Nextwave? A: No. "Everybody wants to do more, but it’s not just Warren (Ellis), it’s also Stuart (Immonen), and Stuart is busy, busy, busy with Ultimate Spider-Man," said Sitterson.

Q: After Secret Invasion, are you going to kind of leave everybody alone for a while?" Sitterson: "If we left everybody alone, why would you keep reading?"

McCann said that they have plans up until 2010 at this point. "One leads to another," said Gage. "You break the toys to put them back together again," added Sitterson.

Q: Will we see the Imperial Guard on Earth? McCann said that they’ll be involved, somehow, in a Secret Invasion tie-in.

Q: Plans for Luke Cage outside New Avengers? "He’s in Iron Fist," said Fraction. Sitterson plugged the upcoming out-of-continuity, Genndy Tartakovsky-helmed Cage mini-series.

Q: Will the new Guardians of the Galaxy series have a tie-in to the old series? "That would be telling," said McCann, before adding, "Yes, there will be."

Q: Will S.W.O.R.D. play a more prominent role? "There will be huge plans for S.W.O.R.D.," said McCann. Fraction added "Make sure you don’t miss Secret Invasion #1."

Q: More work from Charlie Huston? Allo said that there should be down the road.

Q: More work from Ron Lim? "He’s hard at work on Anita Blake," said Allo.

Q: Plans for Deadpool? Sitterson reminded the fan that Daniel Way is writing a new Deadpool title starting in August.

"It’s not a Deadpool series off to the side," said Sitterson. "It’s in the center of the Marvel Universe,

Q: Plans for Cloak and Dagger? McCann said that something might be coming in the future, but they don’t have definite plans.

Q: Plans for The Loners? McCann said that there will be something again down the line.

Q: "Will Gravity join the Initiative?" Gage said there’s no plans for that, but asked the crowd for some ideas on who should. Fans yelled out names like Darkhawk, Howard the Duck, and, in an inside joke from a panel earlier in the convention, "Golden

Q: Any more Marvel work from Joss Whedon? McCann and Fraction both reminded the fan that he’ll be busy with his new Fox series Dollhouse.

Any plans for a weekly Marvel book? McCann echoed the play on words of Tom Brevoort at panels past, saying "We don’t do comics weekly, we do them strongly."

Any chance of collecting Bob Gale’s issues of Daredevil? "There’s always a chance," said McCann, adding that no one at the panel worked for the collected editions department.

End of live updates.

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WWLA ‘08: MARVEl’s MARVEl’s SECRET INVASION PANEL

Report by Albert Ching

Marvel’s Wizard World Los Angeles programming continued Saturday afternoon, with a panel focusing on the company’s latest event - Secret Invasion. In attendance? Marvel marketing guru Jim McCann, writers Chris Gage, Brian Reed and Chris Yost and editor Steve Wacker.

McCann began the panel by joking that Marvel knows what’s behind Final Crisis - showing a slide of a guy at a con in a Superman costume with a Skrull mask on (or more likely Photoshopped on).

McCann discussed the "homage" covers of Secret Invasion (which can be seen below), like the one reminiscent of New Avengers #1, saying they’re not just homages, but there’s a storyline reason behind those covers. McCann said New Avengers and Mighty Avengers will, as one might expect, go "hand-in-hand" with Secret Invasion, "like Secret Invasion #1.2 and 1.3."

A slide from Avengers: The Initiative with Yellowjacket shown as a Skrull was shown, though Gage said there are many images of many characters as Skrulls, so "take it with a grain of salt." Gage talked about Avengers: The Initiative Annual, where a high-ranking member of the Initiative was revealed to be a Skrull, and thus it’ll tie-in to Secret Invasion in an important way.

An image of Captain Britain and MI:13 was the put up, with McCann saying that it’ll show that Secret Invasion is, indeed, a global invasion, with Pete Wisdom, Black Knight and Spitfire playing a role. The cover of #2 was shown, with Pete Wisdom holding the sword of Excalibur standing over what looked to be a dead (or badly hurt) Captain Britain. McCann noted the lightning on the cover, saying Skrulls always seem to attack in bad weather, and that may be a hint - or not.

Incredible Hercules was discussed, with McCann saying that the SI tie-in will be the "God squad," or deities of the Marvel Universe teaming up and responding to the Skrull threat.

Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust? a one-shot by writers Reed, Gage, Zeb Wells, Jeff Parker and Mike Carey was announced, focusing on these characters: Captain Marvel, Wonder Man & Beast (Gage specified it as the "leisure suit" Wonder Man and "ape" Beast), Marvel Boy, Agents of Atlas and Agent Brand.

McCann said Marvel Boy will play a "really big role" in the main arc of Secret Invasion, so his story (by Wells) in the one-shot will lead into that.

Reed then took a call - on McCann’s phone - from Secret Invasion crafter Brian Michael Bendis. "What do you want," Reed joked, "You’re not good enough to come to the show but you’ll call in?" Now a Wizard World Los Angels panel staple, Bendis was put on speaker phone. He joked that his next project will be a "Captain Carrot and the Amazing Zoo Crew vs. Rocket Raccoon" crossover.

This all led, somehow, to a slide of Ms. Marvel - and then, quickly, one of the Fantastic Four: Secret Invasion tie-in by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Barry Kitson, showing Johnny Storm and his Skrull ex-wife, Lyja.

So what’s Chris Yost doing on the panel? Well, he’s writing Young Avengers/Runaways: Secret Invasion. Yost said "There’ll be a little bit of action" in the book, and reminded that both of the teams have Skrulls on their rosters. The art will be by former Runaways artist Takeshi Miyazawa.

Gage will be writing the Secret Invasion tie-in issues of Thunderbolts (which will be part of the main title), hinting that an iconic Marvel character will be revealed as a Skrull and go after the Thunderbolts.

Heroes writer Joe Pokaski was announced as the author of Secret Invasion: Inhumans, naturally spinning out of the New Avengers: The Illuminati revelation that a Skrull was impersonating Black Bolt. "It’s seeing how the whole family deals with a bunch of Skrulls," the writer said.

The first question from the audience was the level of research Bendis did preparing for Secret Invasion. "If you’ve never read a Skrull issue before, I think you’ll be able to pick this up, and hopefully be greatly entertained," Bendis said, via telephone, seemingly to assure new fans. He then said he read almost every major Skrull story, though he had already read most of them before, and that Tom Brevoort sent him a box of what the Marvel editor deemed was the "worst" Skrull stories.

A fan asked how far back the Skrull conspiracy goes, with Bendis quipping "George Washington was a Skrull." Bendis said that it dates to the beginning of New Avengers, and then reassured that there’s not going to be anything like someone revealed to be a Skrull and "everything you knew was a lie."

"In the past, Skrulls have been able to detect other Skrulls if they changed forms. Has that changed? Can they still fool themselves?" Bendis: "There’s a new science here, and all will be revealed."

"Did you consciously make the Skrulls more menacing, instead of cheesy as they’ve been in the past?" Bendis said he loves doing that with his characters, citing his use of Purple Man in Alias as an example.

Bendis then closed the call by praising the panel, and saying "no one does more behind the scenes to keep comics fun" than Jim McCann.

This segued into the announcement of Secret Invasion: Front Line, by Brian Reed, which there’s an article about already on the Newsarama front page. Reed said the series will allow readers to see events "the same way people in the Marvel Universe see it."

The next questioned concerned the Marvel Boy that will be in Secret Invasion. "Is it the ‘Grant Morrison Marvel Boy’?" The answer to that - yes.

A fan asked about Ms. Marvel’s involvement int he storyline, and Reed said that #25 will deal in part with how far back the Invasion’s origins are - since before Carol Danvers became Ms. Marvel.

"I haven’t heard a lot about the role of the Kree," remarked a fan. "No you haven’t," McCann answered, ominously.

"Will more villains be brought in," a la the government recruiting the Thunderbolts during Civil War? Gage: "Wait and see."

Gage talked about the role of the Thunderbolts in the crossover. "They’re either going to be best weapon against the Skrulls or a trainwreck."

McCann asked Pokaski about his experiences thus far with Marvel. Pokaski called it a "dream come true" and hinted that the Kree will play some role in Secret Invasion: Inhumans.

A fan asked if Pokaski read comics growing up. Pokaski said he was a huge Spider-Man fan as a comic, but lapsed in college because he "started having sex." Pokaski cited working with Jeph Loeb on "Heroes" as helping him getting interested again in comics, and that he dated some girls in college just because they resembled Crystal of the Inhumans (whether or not they wore that weird hair accessory was not revealed).

A fan asked why Marvel characters don’t seem to be able to "detect" Skrulls anymore, like Black Bolt being among the Illuminati. McCann said that question will be addressed in the very first issue of Secret Invasion.

"Is Nick Fury going to be showing up?" After playing dumb for a bit, McCann said that Fury "definitely plays a major role" in Secret Invasion.

A fan asked how much consideration is given to revealing a character as a Skrull - specifically, at which point they were switched with a Skrull. McCann and Reed both answered that the story has been very carefully plotted, and a lot of consideration has been given. "Marvel’s very careful with that kind of thing especially something that big," added Wacker.

Will there be a Secret Invasion tie-in involving the X-Men? McCann said yes, but they’re not going to announce anything specifically yet.

How do Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest relate to Secret Invasion? McCann said, mixing metaphors, "All of these things are like one big chess piece…puzzle."

"Are not just super-powered beings replaced?" McCann: "That’s a great question."

What will Iron Man’s role in SI be, and would it perhaps offer some redemption for his role in Civil War? "Iron Man plays a massive role," said McCann. "The vast majority of the world doesn’t see him as having done wrong," reminded Reed. "The citizens of the United States are 100% behind him."

A fan made the point that the lack of thought bubbles in Marvel Comics recently may have contributed to making Secret Invasion possible, since we haven’t seen as many characters’ thoughts, and thus can’t rule out that they’re Skrulls. Reed said that was a good point and we’d have to think about what characters have had interior monologues lately, and what haven’t.

Aside from the aliens themselves, will other cosmic characters involved in Secret Invasion? Reed: "Wouldn’t a Galactus Skrull be cool?" McCann said that some yet to be announced tie-ins will deal with this.

End of live updates

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WWLA ‘08: MARVEl’s X-MEN PANEL

Report by Albert Ching

Marvel continued their Wizard World Los Angeles programming Saturday with their X-Men panel. Current Immortal Iron Fist, Punisher War Journal and The Order writer Matt Fraction was seen in the crowd minutes before the panel - perhaps a sign of an announcement to come?

 

The panel, hosted by Marvel Marketing Manager Jim McCann, consisted of X-Force co-writers Chris Yost and Craig Kyle, Matt Fraction, editor Aubrey Sitterson and X-Factor writer Peter David. Young X-Men writer Marc Guggenheim confirmed via speaker phone (quickly becoming a staple of this convention) that he’d be joining them in around 15 minutes.

 

The first slide showed three of the "Divided We Stand" titles - X-Force, Cable and X-Men Legacy. McCann described Cable as "Two men, two natural arms, and a baby."

 

Sitterson then talked about X-Men: Legacy, saying "There is a nostalgic aspect to it, but it’s also a story picking up directly from ‘Messiah Complex.’" Sitterson teased upcoming appearances from Gambit and Rogue in the book.

 

McCann then let readers know about the current arc of Uncanny X-Men. "The San Francisco stuff is not just for fun, this is definitely leading up to something," said McCann.

 

Wolverine: Origins was next up, with Sitterson saying that Daken would be making an appearance again soon.

Peter David discussed X-Factor, specifically the previously announced Quicksilver one-shot. He continued that there’s also going to be a Layla Miller one-shot coming soon that will deal with what happened to the character after she was stranded in the future in "Messiah Complex." "We are going to be showing where she’s been, what’s going on, and some surprising developments," said David.

 

David also talked about returning X-Factor artist Larry Stroman, saying, "his art has done nothing but get better." David said that Stroman will be drawing an upcoming crossover between two of his Marvel books, X-Factor and She-Hulk. Sitterson added that the story will also tie-in to Secret Invasion.

 

This led to David mentioning what was announced earlier this week - that Longshot and Darwin will be joining the X-Factor cast.

With Guggenheim still in traffic, Young X-Men was briefly mentioned in a slide, with a promise that they would get back to it when Guggenheim arrives.

 

Next up was two upcoming Divided We Stand one-shots that will detail what happened to certain characters after "Messiah Complex," like Cannonball and Surge. Fraction will be contributing to a Nightcrawler story to one of the books.

 

This led to the announcement that Fraction will be joining Ed Brubaker as of Uncanny X-Men #500, along with artist Greg Land. Black and white images of Land’s art was shown, as Fraction called Brubaker - who didn’t answer, but Fraction left a message to the effect of "If you have a problem with me joining you on Uncanny, please let me know."

 

McCann then announced another artist coming to the book - "our newest Marvel exclusive, Terry Dodson."

McCann asked Fraction for a hint as to what’s coming in Uncanny, with Fraction answering, "Stuff explodes, everybody has lots of sex, and everybody dies." He also said the team will be moving to San Francisco to "clear their head."

 

Simone Bianchi sketches from his upcoming run of Astonishing X-Men was shown, along with a team shot - comprised of Beast, Cyclops, Emma Frost, Wolverine, Storm and Armor.

 

With the floor opened up to questions, a fan asked about the Siryn-Jamie Madrox pregnancy. "Developments that will happen in that storyline that will make the Internet light up like a Christmas tree," answered David.

 

Noted Dazzler fan McCann then asked Fraction if the character would appear in Uncanny X-Men, with the writer answering in the affirmative, though given Fraction’s dry sense of humor, it’s possible that it was just a joke.

 

McCann then turned to Kyle and Yost to talk about X-Force. Kyle said the team should grow to six by issue #7 or 8. "After issue 3, you’re going to see how big and bad this book is going to get," said Kyle. "We’re going to give you as much as we can pack into 22 pages," he continued, responding to criticism that the first two issues only took three minutes to read (his words).

 

Ed Brubaker called Fraction back at roughly the same time Guggenheim joined the panel (in person).

 

Of Young X-Men, Guggenheim said that the original title was "New Mutants," but it was decided that Young X-Men was a "truer" title. Unlike New Mutants, who were "cadets" or "X-Men in training," Guggenheim said the cast of this book will indeed be X-Men.

 

A fan asked if there was a possibility that Storm and Forge’s paths will cross again, with McCann answered that they’ll both be in books, but they may not "cross paths" - she’s a married woman now, after all.

 

The same fan asked if there was a chance that Jean Grey might come back. McCann said "It’s Jean. There’s always a chance." Kyle and Yost joked that they’d like for her to come back so they can kill her.

 

A fan asked if the X-Factor/She-Hulk story will lead to big changes for the book. David responded that it won’t, since "I don’t think it’s a bad idea to tell a story where a fan can just see a good story, instead of ‘This will change your life forever!’"

 

The same person asked who Mutant Zero in Avengers: The Initiative is, with McCann saying they can’t reveal that and to buy that book. The fan replied "But I don’t want to buy the book, I don’t like it," with David joking that it reminded him of being at a book signing where someone asked him "Have you written anything I might have ever read?"

 

Someone who enjoyed New X-Men (the recently ended Yost and Kyle title), asked what was going to happen to those characters. Fraction answered that Pixie will be "our Kitty Pryde, our Jubilee" in Uncanny (she appears in many images below). Yost answered that Young X-Men is a follow-up to New X-Men, and the characters will be showing up in various places soon.

 

Another fan chimed in to sing the praises of New X-Men. Guggenheim told him to read Young X-Men, which will have Dust, Rockslide and Blindfold.

 

A fan with a nigh-unintelligble British accent asked about British characters like Pete Wisdom, with McCann pointing to Captain Britain and the MI:13, which they’ll talk about more in the "Secret Invasion" panel later in the day.

 

A female fan asked about the status of Havok, which led to Sitterson plugging the two Divided We Stand one-shots, which will feature Havok in part.

 

The next question concerned whether or not the rest of X-Force knows that X-23 has a past as a prostitute. "I like that side of the character," said Kyle. "Someday we may speak for that part of her life, if there’s a good story, so it’s not just - ‘Hey, I was a whore!’" (and yes, there was an Elliot Spitzer joke made by the panel)

 

"What was the idea of bringing in Longshot and Darwin," the same fan that didn’t like Avengers: The Initiative asked. "I think they’re both really cool," said David. "When you’ve got wholes you want to fill on a team, it’s #1 who’s available, #2, who’s dead, #3, who died recently and isn’t coming back anytime soon, and #4, who do you find appealing." David explained that he thinks they’ll "fit in well" on the X-Factor team; not that they’ll get along well with the rest of the cast, but that they’ll provide interesting conflict.

 

The same fan asked if Deadpool will be in X-Factor anytime soon. "There’re no real plans for Deadpool, and there’s really no plans for Shatterstar," said David. "I try to reach a certain tone with the book, and a guy with a mullet and a broadsword just doesn’t fit."

 

"Is there anything you can tell us about what’s going to be happening with Cable and the child?" Sitterson: "Cable is in the future, but it’s not a book that’s off to the side. It is a core X-Men book. We are going to be checking in with Cable and it is going to have ramifications on the regular book."

 

What are upcoming plans for Blindfold? Guggenheim: "Part of the problem with this book is that I have so many plot twists coming up that it’s hard to talk about it. I have plans for Blindfold that will make you look at her in a completely different light."

Question from the audience: "What about Kitty Pryde? Is it basically confirmed now that she’s dead, since she’s ‘lost’?" McCann: "All that was said was that Piotr ‘lost’ a love, not that she died."

 

What’s the status of New X-Men characters Elixer and Wither? Kyle said that you’ll have to wait a while, but Wither "is one story we took with us," and he’ll appear in X-Force eventually.

 

Is New Exiles getting canceled? McCann "No, it just got relaunched." "Why?" a cranky fan asked. McCann came back with "40,000 people didn’t say ‘why?’"

 

Is the Warren Ellis/Bianchi Astonishing going to be separate from the rest of the books like the Whedon/Cassaday run? Fraction said no, and that there’s a "comprehended tapestry where everything fits" and "everyone’s sharing scripts." "Warren’s Astonishing is quite actually astonishing," said Fraction.

 

"Is the PR for the X-Men ever going to get any better," asked the Avengers: The Initiative hater. "I work in PR, and I hate them," joked McCann. Fraction said that’s why they’re moving to San Francisco; the most tolerant place in the country.

"Plans for the Hellfire Club?" Fraction: "There’s a Hellfire cult."

 

The anti-Avengers: The Initiative guy had yet another question - is there going to be a Secret Invasion tie-in book for X-Men? "Come at 2:30," said McCann. "But I don’t have that kind of time," the bold fan answered.

 

Jim McCann called on former X-Men assistant editor Sean Ryan, asking if he had any questions. "I really don’t," said Ryan. "This isn’t working," he joked.

 

Plans for Bobby Drake? "Just a taste of Bobby, a hint" Fraction joked.

 

Plans for Firestar? McCann: "She retired in Civil War: Frontline, but I can say we haven’t seen the last of the character."

Last question - plans for Northstar? McCann: "Yes, but too early to say." End of live updates.

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