Back to School with Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir

[Beast]

DavidQ, I doubt that Marvel would be very happy with N&C if they were to spoil what's to come with the new direction of the book. That's a sure fire way for them to never be hired again.

[DavidQ!]

Snaps his fingers and pouts. (I really wanted to storm the ramparts. My day will come! hehehe)

[Astonishing X-Fan]

"DC keeps saying that. But quite frankly when you could be beaten by the wondertwins i cant think of you as being a big anything save embarrassement."

You clearly need to start watching JLU...as Aquaman totally owned the onder Twins in the "Ultimatum" episode.

[Nunzio DeFilippis]

Hey all,

Been a while. Still, not many posts here. Traffic is dying down as our run comes to a close, I guess...

In my perfect world, I would love if you and Christina to become editors in the X-office. In youre writing, I have noticed passion for the characters you write, and you realize the importance of cohesivity and continuity (especially in issue number 13). With the problems that the X-books are suffering from today, Marvel needs editors who know what they are editing, and are passionate about their work.

That's just my wish. That would be my House of M if I had Wanda's powers

That is very flattering.

I'm a big fan of the medium of comics because you can weave connected tales that create a huge universe full of long and convoluted histories.

So I would love the challenge of being an editor and trying to make it all come together seemlessly.

But unfortunately, no one is offering us those types of jobs.

And at this stage of our career we might not take it even if they did. That kind of job takes up all your time and writing becomes very hard. And we're writers first and foremost.

Still, it's a very flattering wish. If I had Wanda's powers, I'd have gone for fortune and glory, myself.

what's the deal with Dani's eyeglow in the House of M tie-in? Is that indicative of a link with Longshot, or Cable, or some unrevealed third party?

It'll be explained before the arc is through, but it's not as convoluted as all that. It's a replacement eye. It's mostly meant to show her as a battle-ravaged veteran, and also designed to be a throwback to Cable, since he was the last one to change the book from students to strike force.

How does co. writing a book work?

It works in stages. We do a lot of it together, and work step by step.

We brainstorm on story ideas, story arc ideas, and then break them down together.

We then take those ideas and break them down issue by issue together.

Then we do a page breakdown for an individual issue, breaking it into scenes and then breaking the scenes into individual pages, determining what occurs on that page. This processs is usually done by both of us together, but can occasionally be done by one of us, with the other coming in and giving notes.

That breakdown is sent to editorial if it's a DC or Marvel book, so they can see how we plan to pace the book. Everyone knows we may have to adjust as we go, but in general this becomes the skeleton of the issue.

Then we write the pages - first we make page skeletons, bare bones breakdowns into panels with preliminary dialogue. This is done together unless we're feeling the need to work fast. If we need to work fast, one of us will take point on this process, and the other will come in and adjust. While the back and forth takes time, it's often faster than the preferred method which is to do it together. That encompasses more talk between us, and talking leads to diversions, which slows down writing. Christina and I can distract each other like nobody's business.

Then we flesh out the skeletal pages into a final script. If we broke them down together, we often flesh them out together. If one person took the lead on the breakdown, the other does the same on fleshing out.

Rewrites are always done together.

When we write together, Christina works the computer and I pace like a lunactic behind her, talking a LOT. She then types the stuff she wants and ignores the rest of my rantings.

Could somebody give me a full list of their Manga they've done or could you point me to a good site?

We have written a manga-esque book at Oni called ONCE IN A BLUE MOON. Volume 1 came out last year, and we had to change artists, so Volume 2 will be out next year. ONCE IN A BLUE MOON is the story of a young girl named Aeslin Finn who finds an old storybook from her childhood and when she reads it, winds up transported to the fantasy world she read about as a kid. Once there, she learns she's destined to find the last dragon and save the kingdom.

Then we started working with a company called Seven Seas. They do OEL manga with artists from all around the world (many of the first batch of books are by artists from the Phillipines). Our first book with them is called AMAZING AGENT LUNA. 2 Volumes are out already, the third will be out at the start of 2006. We hope to do 3 volumes a year for 4 years. AMAZING AGENT LUNA is about a genetically engineered super-spy who is 15 years old. When she finds her nemesis has sinister plans for a high school run by the U.N. in New York, she has to go undercover at the school. But she's been a spy all her life and has never had to deal with teenagers before.

Our second book with that publisher is a pirate manga called DESTINY'S HAND. The first volume will likely be late in the year or at the start of next year. It's about the crew of an unsinkable pirate ship who want to find a legendary treasure in their dying Captain's name. But the person who has to run the ship when he's too ill is a teenage girl, and no one will follow her. So they have to pretend he's still giving the orders.

Plus, we're doing some adaptation for Del Rey's Manga program. We're adapting SUGAR SUGAR RUNE for them, and are taking over adaptation on a series called GURU GURU PON-CHAN starting with Volume 4.

Was the Magik that we saw in this issue the one that died of the legacy virus in Uncanny X-men 303, or the real, 616 Illyana that has not been seen since the Inferno?

This is Magik from 616, but 616 is severely altered. She has not lived in Limbo and therefore been aged. She was taken from Russia by SHIELD and a lot of her formative years have been in SHIELD training. Like Belasco before them, SHIELD has cultivated Illyana's darker nature.

As to how dark this Illyana is... stay tuned.

will Christina Weir & Nunzio Defilippis be continuing on NEW X-MEN for the foreseeable future?
.......

Also, anything else any of y'all would reccommend by Christina Weir and Nunzio Defilippes? And that question is wide open to the authors themselves.

Glad you decided to check our stuff out.

As others mentioned, we're off the book as of Issue 20. Sadly, the kids will be in someone else's hands.

We've got our manga, as listed above, plus our Oni Press work.

For Oni Press we've written:

SKINWALKER (a four issue miniseries, also a TPB, supernatural thriller)
THREE STRIKES (a five issue miniseries, also a TPB, a crime tragedy)
MARIA'S WEDDING (an original graphic novel, comedy about family/romance)
ONCE IN A BLUE MOON (first in a series of manga-esque graphic novels, fantasy)
THE TOMB (an original graphic novel, haunted house story mixed with an Indiana Jones adventure)

we also have more coming up from Oni:
PAST LIES (an original graphic novel due in January, a reincarnation murder mystery)
ONCE IN A BLUE MOON Volume 2
and an as-of-yet untitled romantic comedy

Plus, we're filling in on ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN issues 644 and 645 for DC, and we did a 5 page story in the TITANS/OUTSIDERS secret files.

So there are plenty of places and genres to try our stuff.

Let us know what you think.

For a little while now, it seems like Laurie would be a great villain. And this first issue for House of M only makes it seem even more like she would be a great villain. Did you guys ever have any plans to explore that possibility? If there were any plans, would you be able to tell us how you would have done it?

What keeps Laurie from being a villain is her mother. So, in our next arc (had we stayed) Garrison would have kidnapped Gail, and her absence would have left Laurie (already struggling with her powers and her morality) rudderless. Then he would have revealed himself as her father, and the two would work together to take over the school.

And the only one immune to their powers would be Cessily, Laurie's romantic rival and ex-roommate.

Then Laurie would have to decide if she was a villain working with her father or a hero working with her rival.

But that story will never happen now. Sorry.

Well sure he rules most of the surface of the planet ..... but the most empty parts of all

Empty is a relative term. Empty as in few people, sure.

But there's more life in the oceans than on the land, so he deals with more life than anyone else. It's a question of viewing non-human life as important.

This lends credence to the Aquaman as environmentalist angle, which brings us back to angry Aquaman, and the fact that the best Aquaman is too much like Namor. Like I said, I don't envy anyone trying to make Aquaman into an icon.

Which one would you prefer to be picked up and sign with DC or Marvel?

There are stories we want to tell in both universes. So we'd love to work with both companies. But DC seems to have more enthusiasm to work with us than Marvel right now, so I'd imagine most of our work in the near future will be DC.

Still, I'd not expect an exclusive offer in the near future, sadly.

Is soon to be limbo characters such as David Sofia kevin and several others like tag and Jay die? (although I doubt it.) or are they simply moving on? :)

The new writers aren't sharing their plans with us, and what little I do know, I won't divulge. I want to let the new team tell their stories without worrying about what the old team has to say, or about us ruining their surprises.

Anyway, that's what we got. Love to hear your thoughts on our HOM arc. Let us know!

[StarsAndGarters]

Anyway, that's what we got. Love to hear your thoughts on our HOM arc. Let us know!I'm really enjoying it, which was surprising to me since I wasn't very warm to the idea of taking everything in NXM and switching it around. It's very enjoyable though. Especially the way all the characters interact differently.

Like Laurie being a traitor, David and Noriko finally being official, and Sooraya and Jubilee being the ditzy twins!! That was a lot of fun. :D

On a side note, I've been working my way back through New Mutants since I started reading with NXM, and it makes me smile. :)

[Shadow Crawler]

What keeps Laurie from being a villain is her mother. So, in our next arc (had we stayed) Garrison would have kidnapped Gail, and her absence would have left Laurie (already struggling with her powers and her morality) rudderless. Then he would have revealed himself as her father, and the two would work together to take over the school.

And the only one immune to their powers would be Cessily, Laurie's romantic rival and ex-roommate.

Then Laurie would have to decide if she was a villain working with her father or a hero working with her rival.

But that story will never happen now. Sorry.
Aw man, that is really saddening. A story like this would have been like two dreams come true. I have wanted to see Laurie as a villain for a while now, and it looked like Cessily would have finally gotten the spotlight in New X-Men. And Cessily is my FAVORITE character in the title! ROAR!

Seriously, that looks like it would have been a really great story. Seeing Laurie struggle to find out what she truly is, hero or villain, would have been fantastic.

It is really saddening to see that this story will never happen now. But I am loving the current New X-Men arc. Great work with it, Nunzio and Christina!

[xakko]

Aw man, that is really saddening. A story like this would have been like two dreams come true. I have wanted to see Laurie as a villain for a while now, and it looked like Cessily would have finally gotten the spotlight in New X-Men. And Cessily is my FAVORITE character in the title! ROAR!

Seriously, that looks like it would have been a really great story. Seeing Laurie struggle to find out what she truly is, hero or villain, would have been fantastic.

It is really saddening to see that this story will never happen now. But I am loving the current New X-Men arc. Great work with it, Nunzio and Christina!
*sigh* I almost wish they hadn't told us... we'll always be wondering how it would have turned out. It's like hearing some of Claremont's plans that never came to fruition

Nunzio, Christina, those that follow you had better bring their A game...

Oh, and I'll definitely be getting "Once in a Blue Moon" for me and my wife... it sounds great.

[fishtaco]

This is Magik from 616, but 616 is severely altered. She has not lived in Limbo and therefore been aged. She was taken from Russia by SHIELD and a lot of her formative years have been in SHIELD training. Like Belasco before them, SHIELD has cultivated Illyana's darker nature.

As to how dark this Illyana is... stay tuned.Darkchylde!!!! :D :D :D

[xakko]

For the record, we did pick up "Once in a Blue Moon" at Borders today, so we'll let you know how it is...

[Shadow Crawler]

*sigh* I almost wish they hadn't told us... we'll always be wondering how it would have turned out. It's like hearing some of Claremont's plans that never came to fruition

Nunzio, Christina, those that follow you had better bring their A game...

Oh, and I'll definitely be getting "Once in a Blue Moon" for me and my wife... it sounds great.
I ALMOST feel the same way. However, knowing that Cessily was about to get some big spotlight makes it worth knowing. Though knowing it will never happen now is kind of saddening. And it's like hearing about any great writers' plans never being printed.

I agree that anybody following better bring their A game. The two of you have definitely set some high standards for any creative team to live up to.

[The Lucky One]

On a side note, I've been working my way back through New Mutants since I started reading with NXM, and it makes me smile. :)

And the original New Mutants too, I hope. Damn good stuff.
;)

-D

[StarsAndGarters]

And the original New Mutants too, I hope. Damn good stuff.
;)

-DThat's on my list of back issues to get after Alpha Flight and Power Pack. I've heard it's amazing.

[The Lucky One]

That's on my list of back issues to get after Alpha Flight and Power Pack. I've heard it's amazing.

Oh, it is. Takes just a bit of time to get going (the crossover with Team America, the motorcycling superheroes, is pretty painful), but once you get to the Nova Roma storyline -- and particularly the Demon Bear Saga -- it hits you hard and doesn't stop until Claremont leaves. Be sure to read UXM #167 if you get the chance too... first meeting of the X-Men and New Mutants, and my favorite X-Men comic of all time. Spectacular issue.

-D

[fishtaco]

That's on my list of back issues to get after Alpha Flight and Power Pack. I've heard it's amazing. New Mutants (1st Series) is the bomb. All the stuff by Claremont and later Simonson, plus Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, and later Excalibur is the core of the 80's that glorified the X-men.

I have read almost the whole run. The only one issue that I actually dislike is 92. Everything else rocks.

[DavidQ!]

if we are reverting back to the "Good old days" when it comes to everything Taco mentioned leave me out of it. Back to the retro stuff. However I will say this, new stuff rarely sells. Its always continuity and relation to the classics that sells. Interesting enough. I always wondered about the popularity of Uncanny, Deadpool and anything xfactor generation X or new mutants. Guess I got my answer.

[DavidQ!]

"We must move foward, not backward upward not downward and always twirling twirling twirlings towards freedom."

Okay I love the simpsons.

[The Lucky One]

I don't quite get your point- we're advising him on back issues to read, not what direction the current book should take. Nor is there any true moving forward anyway... every story in the world has already been told in some form or another.

Aside from which, today's writers could do a LOT worse than using classic New Mutants issues as inspiration. Actually, given the state of things, I wish that a lot more would.

-D

[DavidQ!]

hmmmm times are changing hun. Its either time to change with it or get out of the way.

[The Lucky One]

....hun?

-D

[The Lucky One]

hmmmm times are changing hun. Its either time to change with it or get out of the way.

he said, while quoting a Simpsons episode nearly a decade old.

Like I said - no new stories under the sun. They've all been told; it's just a matter of how well they're told, and everything is cyclical. The trick is in picking what's worth saving out of the cycle.

-D

[DavidQ!]

Hun, dude whatever. My point is comics are getting to old or sticking to the old ways way too much. People buying more of the old ways is telling me something. People buying continuity. It lessons the future of comics much much more to a point where people will say. Its a dying art.

There is nothing new about it, and people will use the same reappearing villian concept which we got with magneto. Killing a character without meaning another concept, and ressurrecting them.

Why should people get interested in comics in the first place if it never progresses? Fewer new readers every year. More so than usual.

[Beast]

There's been nothing new in every medium for years. From films, to literature, to TV shows. All it is is just the same product with a new spin and a new twist. That's what you seem to not get. Everything has been done, there is no such thing as fresh ideas. There's only so many possible ideas out there, so you go what works.

[DavidQ!]

hmmm If it hasnt been done, its because no one has thought of it yet. What fools these mortals be.

[Beast]

hmmm If it hasnt been done, its because no one has thought of it yet. What fools these mortals be.
That's the point, it has all already been done. Look at the so-called revolutionary Matrix. The whole notion of whether or not life is real or a dream is an ages old concept. There's only a very small handful of core concepts which can be used to make stories out of.

[DavidQ!]

see what I mean stop the cycle now! Beast represents the cynicism of most comic readers. Si Se puede It can be done. I yeild back the balance of my time.

[fishtaco]

see what I mean stop the cycle now! Beast represents the cynicism of most comic readers. Si Se puede It can be done. I yeild back the balance of my time.From, your posts, you clearly dont know what you are talking about at all. Stories with continuity and based on classic stories arent the same story. What is the point of writing a story in an ongoing title if more stories are not going to be bulit to continue from that story, into many more stories. Progession is great, but not without a basis. Sure, Days of Future Yet To Come may be based off Days of Future Past, but what it is is the story of Rachel Summers, her teammates of Excalibur, and a rebel band of mutants in 2013 fighting for freedom and the destruction of the sentinel regime, and to end the threat of Ahab, the master of the hounds.

Why create new characters when there are so many characters that already exist? You can do new things with those characters, sure. That is progressing. But a character's time in a book establishes a personality that helps direct the flow of a story. This is the story of the X-Men, a revolutionary band of mutants who fight for co-existance between mutants and the baseline human race. As the stories develop, so do the characters. The status quo changes, but it is the past that determines what will happen in the future. To progress the DOFP status quo, Alan Davis wrote Days of Future Yet To Come, in order to continue the story of the X-Men's quest to overthrow the sentinel regime, and restore the Earth. The mission to send Kate Pryde back in time was a failure, and only Kate and Rachel survived. Alan Davis progressed the story when Rachel chose to come back to her nightmare world (after "fleeing" to 616) to complete her goal. While the sentinels were reprogrammed to protect both humans and mutants, Ahab got away. With Ahab on the loose, there is still much more story to be told.

That's an example of progression. Instead of creating new plots, writers should develop stories that even over the course of 40 years have not been finished. Chris Claremont, Roy Thomas, Louise Simonson, and others established all the plots, characters, places, etc that we will ever need. So let's progress those plots.

Plenty of progression.
if we are reverting back to the "Good old days" when it comes to everything Taco mentioned leave me out of it. Back to the retro stuff. However I will say this, new stuff rarely sells. Its always continuity and relation to the classics that sells. Interesting enough. I always wondered about the popularity of Uncanny, Deadpool and anything xfactor generation X or new mutants. Guess I got my answer.Deadpool and Generation X are not what I would consider the "Good old Days".

[DavidQ!]

Sure I'd call Deadpool a good old days title definitely.

[StarsAndGarters]

New Mutants (1st Series) is the bomb. All the stuff by Claremont and later Simonson, plus Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, and later Excalibur is the core of the 80's that glorified the X-men.

I have read almost the whole run. The only one issue that I actually dislike is 92. Everything else rocks.Perfect! Simonson did some awesome stuff with Power Pack. I'll probably like both hers and Claremont's New Mutants.

[xakko]

We have written a manga-esque book at Oni called ONCE IN A BLUE MOON. Volume 1 came out last year, and we had to change artists, so Volume 2 will be out next year. ONCE IN A BLUE MOON is the story of a young girl named Aeslin Finn who finds an old storybook from her childhood and when she reads it, winds up transported to the fantasy world she read about as a kid. Once there, she learns she's destined to find the last dragon and save the kingdom.

My wife just came down and asked me when the next book of Once In a Blue Moon is coming out. She said it compared favorably to the very best CLAMP had to offer, and really wanted to read more... so keep us updated, ok?

[fishtaco]

Nunzio/Christina,

At the end of issue 17, a guy with blonde hair and a bladed weapon runs at the New Mutants. Was that Donald Pierce? Pierce has blond hair, and is known to use a lot of bladed weapons. I was wondering if that was him?

thanks.

[Dizzy D]

Nunzio/Christina,

At the end of issue 17, a guy with blonde hair and a bladed weapon runs at the New Mutants. Was that Donald Pierce? Pierce has blond hair, and is known to use a lot of bladed weapons. I was wondering if that was him?

thanks.

I think you will find out next issue, because it was obvious that guy would play a role in it. He looked too young to be Pierce IMHO. (I personally was thinking Wild Child, but non-mutant.. which is possible seeing his origin.)

[fishtaco]

I think you will find out next issue, because it was obvious that guy would play a role in it. He looked too young to be Pierce IMHO. (I personally was thinking Wild Child, but non-mutant.. which is possible seeing his origin.)Youre right, he did look a little young for Donald Pierce, but as we find out this issue, it is indeed Donald Pierce. Gotta love those bladed weapons, y'know?

Nunzio and Christina, congrats for another great issue. I totally love the two-rival-schools format like the original New Mutants and Hellions. Your plots for this arc are great. When Mr. Collins went through the door as a silhouette with the pheremones floating around him, I kinda got let down, because I thought it was Sunspot! That'k ok, though :p

1. Is Donald Pierce still filthy rich in the HoM? Will we see that aspect of him, or has his wealth been stripped of him by the mutants because he is human?

2. Will we still see any of Elixir or Wither?

3. You set up Magma as a teacher at the end of issue 15. Is this something that the new writers will continue with, or should you just not say anything about it?

4. Will the Silver Samurai show up? Was that guard standing next to Sunfire last issue the Silver Samurai?

[xakko]

Well, it looks like Nunzio and Christina have left us, hopefully for better and brighter things, but I thought I would make some comments on the Yearbook special anyway.

I liked it a lot. The story felt a bit rushed, but there was so little space to wrap up so many little danglers. And the tender moments- Shan, Amara and Dani talking; Noriko and David - these were wonderful. It was a nice coda for something I wished weren't ending.

The yearbook intros to the Corsairs, Alphas and Paragons were great, and make me more sad for the state of the Marvel Universe after the House of M.

[Black Hole]

Well, it looks like Nunzio and Christina have left us, hopefully for better and brighter things, but I thought I would make some comments on the Yearbook special anyway.

I liked it a lot. The story felt a bit rushed, but there was so little space to wrap up so many little danglers. And the tender moments- Shan, Amara and Dani talking; Noriko and David - these were wonderful. It was a nice coda for something I wished weren't ending.

The yearbook intros to the Corsairs, Alphas and Paragons were great, and make me more sad for the state of the Marvel Universe after the House of M.


I couldn't have said it better myself. It was so bittersweet, but

at least David got himself a kiss from Noriko...YEEEEHA!!!!

Man I haven't felt this way about a comic in a long time. It's such a shame that it has to end.

[StarsAndGarters]

I couldn't have said it better myself. It was so bittersweet, but

at least David got himself a kiss from Noriko...YEEEEHA!!!!

Man I haven't felt this way about a comic in a long time. It's such a shame that it has to end.Oh totally. I just hope Nunzio and Christina get a monthly again some time soon.

It was a nice way to go out though.

[Shadow Crawler]

I put off reading New X-Men #19 and the Yearbook Special as long as I could. For the following reasons: 1. I did not want the HoM arc to end, and 2. I did not want Nunzio and Christina's run to end. That lasted only until Saturday. Both issues were great, and I LOVED the Yearbook and Profile pages in the back of the Yearbook Special.

[Brian Cronin]

Thanks Christina and Nunzio!!

-Brian

[Jack Flash]

I'd like to echo the many who have thanked Christina and Nunzio. What a great thread and what a fun run on a fun book. Happy Trails and let us know what else you have coming up the pike.

[fishtaco]

From what I see, I don't think that Nunzio and Christina have much love for Marvel right now. Throughout the run, I don't think they were treated right. The artist instability, and then booting them off without any approaches for any new projects. oh, well.

[Nunzio DeFilippis]

Hey all,

I see the thread is unstickied - a sure sign that it is slowly gonna die. That makes sense... while I'm happy to talk about our other work (on Adventures of Superman or our Oni or Seven Seas books), it's not really an X-thread.

I expect there may be questions about our aborted plans and the like, and I'm happy to answer them, but in not too long, you guys are going to want to focus on Chris and Craig's work, and that's only right.

But for now... here's what I've got.

My wife just came down and asked me when the next book of Once In a Blue Moon is coming out. She said it compared favorably to the very best CLAMP had to offer, and really wanted to read more... so keep us updated, ok?

The second volume may finally have an artist. We think we have the guy for the job, now we just need him to agree to do it, and we'll have a schedule for Volume 2.

This is very exciting to us.

You set up Magma as a teacher at the end of issue 15. Is this something that the new writers will continue with, or should you just not say anything about it?

I'm not sure, but think not. I believe her tenure as a teacher is going to be about as long as her stint on the XSE. Shifts in creative teams have not been kind to that girl.

Well, it looks like Nunzio and Christina have left us, hopefully for better and brighter things

As I said above, I'm still here to answer questions, though I'd imagine the need to ask X-questions to a former X-writer will fade.

The yearbook intros to the Corsairs, Alphas and Paragons were great, and make me more sad for the state of the Marvel Universe after the House of M.

Me too. I'm not angry at Marvel, but I think it would have been nice for the squad setup to continue.

Ah, well. There's always change in comics, and a good 1/2 of it is just to take things back to what they used to be.

From what I see, I don't think that Nunzio and Christina have much love for Marvel right now. Throughout the run, I don't think they were treated right. The artist instability, and then booting them off without any approaches for any new projects. oh, well.

Well, I don't hate anyone over there, that's for sure. Mike Marts is a good guy, and Nick Lowe and Sean Ryan have been good to us.

I would very much like for Marvel to offer us more work, but instead we're in the unenviable position of pitching projects to them with no inside information on who or what to focus on. Sadly, we're stuck looking for work with them as if we hadn't worked for them for the last 3 years.

So, on that level, yeah, I'm not feeling the love. But it's more that I worry they soured on us. We haven't soured on them, and will keep pitching.

But I'd expect us to land more DC work before Marvel, honestly.

Lastly, on a debate from way back.

I agree that there's no story that hasn't been told in one form or another before. It comes down to execution. The details make a story fresh and different.

I disagree with FishTaco's notion that writers should only finish up the plots left by others. Writers create. It's what they do. They deserve the right to create new twists, new characters and new conflicts. To ask someone to just come in and complete another writer's story is to deny them the very spark of creativity that allowed a Chris Claremont to create so many great conflicts. What if he were asked to only continue someone else's stories and not to create anyone new?

Anyway, that's all for now.

Thanks for all the kind words on our departure. The sales of the book weren't setting the world on fire, but we knew we had a solid fanbase big enough to sustain the book had Marvel not been looking for something top 20 from us. It's been great to read the message boards and see that a lot of people really did like what we were doing. It confirms that for us, and that's important.

[LoneWolf21]

Yeah, I for one, hope you guys stick around, I've been with the book from day one, and I'll miss you both on the book

[TheWolfOfAsgard]

Love you on Adventures of Superman. Didn't read your Marvel stuff, that's why I never posted here before.

[Beast]

Hope they stick around also. I really liked the book, since it was different than the others. Still wish we would have seen Beast's Exemplers and Iceman's Excelsiors. :(

[Atomic Mongoose]

we're in the unenviable position of pitching projects to them with no inside information on who or what to focus on.

Oh, don't be silly, Nunzio. There's PLENTY of characters that Marvel would love for you to focus on. Let's see... there's Wolverine. Oh, and X-23. Then there's Ultimate Wolverine... oh, and maybe an Alternate Wolverine - y'know, for Exiles! Let's see here... okay, looks like they've got an opening for a Manga Wolverine as well. Ooh, heavens to Betsy - they're also juggling around the idea for a clone of X-23 - a clone of a clone! Genius!!! Oh, and it says here at the bottom of the list that there are 2 openings for screenwriting positions... for... one second, this is a bad photocopy... The Wolverine & X-23 Variety Hour!!! Now come on, Nunzio... just LOOK at the abundant cornuccopia of characters available for which Marvel would be interested in producing stories about!!! THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!!!

:rolleyes:

Seriously, though, y'all did an awesome job with your run on New Mutants and NXM:AX. Editorial mandate has got to be a bitch, and you & Christina managed to put out something DIFFERENT and WORTH READING every month. That can't be something easy to do when you've got marketing execs and focus groups breathing down your necks. Great job and thank you!!! :)

[Ryan K]

Nunzio/Christina,

I have a question for you regarding Magik at the end of the House of M issues. She leaves the team right before the climactic battle, teleporting away.

My question is did you purposefully have her teleport away to leave an opportunity for her to be returned in the regular Marvel universe (by maybe being in Limbo when Wanda's power returned the rest of the world back to normal she escapes the effects or something along those lines)? Either because maybe Marvel asked you to leave an opening for her to return or becase maybe you yourselves wanted to write an "out" for anyone who wanted to use it in the future?

Thanks.

-Ryan Kirk

[fishtaco]

I disagree with FishTaco's notion that writers should only finish up the plots left by others. Writers create. It's what they do. They deserve the right to create new twists, new characters and new conflicts. To ask someone to just come in and complete another writer's story is to deny them the very spark of creativity that allowed a Chris Claremont to create so many great conflicts. What if he were asked to only continue someone else's stories and not to create anyone new?I didn't really mean it that way (did I?). In the last few years, I have just been noticing wayy too many new characters coming in from all over the place, and it is convuluting the X-universe. The New X-Men kids are the exception to this surge of new characters, because they are New Mutants, right? About creators resolving danglers, did I say that? whoa. No, I'm wrong. Creators/writers should build their own plotlines and develop them, although it would be nice if there was still a lot of continuation of the dangling plots to be resolved. In today's comics, writers' stints are so short, compared to way back in the 80's, like Claremont's Uncanny X-Men 97-278, New Mutants 1-53, Louise Simonson's X-Factor 5-65, Alan Davis's Excalibur, Walt Simonson's Thor, Lobdell's Uncanny X-Men, Nicieza's X-Men, Byrne's Alpha Flight, etc. When writers are given such short stints, it becomes so hard to resolve all the danglers that were left there, but were planned to be resolved. It would be nice to clean up a bit before taking out new toys, but new stories and concepts should always be part of the books. I want a lot of the same characters to be used instead of a new villain for every story that we never see again, but different schemes, plots, paradigms etc that progress the saga of the X-Men, and possibly resolve a plot or two along the way.

My opnions are always changing :o

[Black Hole]

Nunzio, I hope to see you and Christina working in the world of mutants again sometime. But until then I'll certainly be looking for your other works...take care!

[StarsAndGarters]

Nunzio, I hope to see you and Christina working in the world of mutants again sometime. But until then I'll certainly be looking for your other works...take care!Ditto!tenten

[Nunzio DeFilippis]

Love you on Adventures of Superman.

Thank you. That's great to hear. Getting a chance to write Superman really is the fulfillment of a life-long wish for me. I hope to get a chance to do it again after this 4 issue stint is done.

Hope they stick around also. I really liked the book, since it was different than the others. Still wish we would have seen Beast's Exemplers and Iceman's Excelsiors. :(

Yeah, when we were told we'd get a final Yearbook issue, we asked for bonus pages for the squads and they graciously said yes. We thought about asking for 7 pages to get all the squads we mentioned in our run, but were worried we'd lose too many story pages to do it, so we settled for the less ambitious 5 pages, for the squads who'd actually been seen in-story.

Then Marvel gave us all the extra pages for the Handbook entries and we regretted not asking for the extra 2 pages for Excelsiors and Exemplar Yearbook pages.

If I had a time machine...

Oh, don't be silly, Nunzio. There's PLENTY of characters that Marvel would love for you to focus on. Let's see... there's Wolverine. Oh, and X-23. Then there's Ultimate Wolverine... oh, and maybe an Alternate Wolverine - y'know, for Exiles! Let's see here... okay, looks like they've got an opening for a Manga Wolverine as well. Ooh, heavens to Betsy - they're also juggling around the idea for a clone of X-23 - a clone of a clone! Genius!!! Oh, and it says here at the bottom of the list that there are 2 openings for screenwriting positions... for... one second, this is a bad photocopy... The Wolverine & X-23 Variety Hour!!! Now come on, Nunzio... just LOOK at the abundant cornuccopia of characters available for which Marvel would be interested in producing stories about!!! THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!!!

As funny as that is (and it was very funny), it sadly isn't even the case. If we pitched anything Wolverine or X-23, we'd just be told they're in use. We're in an odd catch-22 position. Writers with more clout have dibs on the bigger characters, leaving us to pitch exclusively with B, C & D listers (mostly C & D) and then be told those characters aren't big enough to justify a book.

Seriously, though, y'all did an awesome job with your run on New Mutants and NXM:AX. Editorial mandate has got to be a bitch, and you & Christina managed to put out something DIFFERENT and WORTH READING every month. That can't be something easy to do when you've got marketing execs and focus groups breathing down your necks. Great job and thank you!!! :)

We knew we were doing something different (not ground breaking, but just different from standard superhero books). What we're glad to hear is that people thought it was worth reading.

Comics fans like things a certain way, and being one myself, I can understand and appreciate that. So we always knew the risks of focusing on teen drama and high school stakes in a medium dominated by super-powers and life & death.

We didn't have a big niche, but we did have a niche and that made the run worth it to me.

And I don't know if we were subject to focus groups, but it was frustrating to have a book rated for teens (and be about teens) but be told to write the dialogue for all ages.

I have a question for you regarding Magik at the end of the House of M issues. She leaves the team right before the climactic battle, teleporting away.

My question is did you purposefully have her teleport away to leave an opportunity for her to be returned in the regular Marvel universe (by maybe being in Limbo when Wanda's power returned the rest of the world back to normal she escapes the effects or something along those lines)? Either because maybe Marvel asked you to leave an opening for her to return or becase maybe you yourselves wanted to write an "out" for anyone who wanted to use it in the future?

Yes and No.

We were well aware of the back-door we created for Magik's return. We're doubtful Marvel would let us or anyone else use it, having pushed for her return ourselves, only to be shot down. But we knew it was there to be exploited and may try to pitch it someday.

But the main reason we did what we did was to further the story. We wanted the big Butch & Sundance moment, and didn't want a) the prisoners or Genesis to clutter the moment and b) the easy out of Magik teleporting everyone away.

Plus we wanted the HOM Illyana, a character eager to prove herself in battle, to have to nobly turn away from battle to save the innocent sapiens, allowing her new teammates to nobly sacrifice themselves to buy time.

So it was mostly a question of plot logisitics. But we knew we were creating a (relatively) simple way to bring her back.

I didn't really mean it that way (did I?). In the last few years, I have just been noticing wayy too many new characters coming in from all over the place, and it is convuluting the X-universe. The New X-Men kids are the exception to this surge of new characters, because they are New Mutants, right? About creators resolving danglers, did I say that? whoa. No, I'm wrong. Creators/writers should build their own plotlines and develop them, although it would be nice if there was still a lot of continuation of the dangling plots to be resolved. In today's comics, writers' stints are so short, compared to way back in the 80's, like Claremont's Uncanny X-Men 97-278, New Mutants 1-53, Louise Simonson's X-Factor 5-65, Alan Davis's Excalibur, Walt Simonson's Thor, Lobdell's Uncanny X-Men, Nicieza's X-Men, Byrne's Alpha Flight, etc. When writers are given such short stints, it becomes so hard to resolve all the danglers that were left there, but were planned to be resolved. It would be nice to clean up a bit before taking out new toys, but new stories and concepts should always be part of the books. I want a lot of the same characters to be used instead of a new villain for every story that we never see again, but different schemes, plots, paradigms etc that progress the saga of the X-Men, and possibly resolve a plot or two along the way.

My opnions are always changing

It may just have been that in the heat of a debate, you followed your point of view to an extreme you hadn't realized and it took me extrapolating from that to make you realize you wouldn't like that so much.

Either way, it's always good when someone can actually change their mind in the usually entrenched online debates, so kudos to you.

Nunzio, I hope to see you and Christina working in the world of mutants again sometime. But until then I'll certainly be looking for your other works...take care!

We seem to have made a good impression on Eddie Berganza at DC, by stepping in and filling in at the last minute.

So hopefully our next project will be with him. Trust me, we'll let you know what's coming next in the superhero stuff.

But for now, we have Amazing Agent Luna Volume 3 and Destiny's Hand coming out early 2006 with Seven Seas, plus Past Lies from Oni in January, and Once In A Blue Moon Volume 2 down the line in 2006.

Plus, we should be able to announce our videogame work sometime in the near future, and we have a show we're trying to get started on the Disney Channel's Jetix (though that's still a longshot just now), so we're keeping busy.

[Beast]

Yeah, when we were told we'd get a final Yearbook issue, we asked for bonus pages for the squads and they graciously said no. We thought about asking for 7 pages to get all the squads we mentioned in our run, but were worried we'd lose too many story pages to do it, so we settled for the less ambitious 5 pages, for the squads who'd actually been seen in-story.

Then Marvel gave us all the extra pages for the Handbook entries and we regretted not asking for the extra 2 pages for Excelsiors and Exemplar Yearbook pages.

If I had a time machine...
So... does that mean that you figured out who would be on those squads and their color schemes and such? Yeah, I know that it's beating a dead horse about the squads, but only because I'm curious as to who ended up getting Beasty and Icicle. :)

[Sentinel K]

Errr.....resurrection?

[fishtaco]

heh. Forgot about this thread.

[Nunzio DeFilippis]

Hey, all...

There were some questions about our old plans that were being asked of me in the Issue 27 preview thread, and they really belonged here, so someone was gracious enough to resurrect this thread for me.

First, I'll answer an old post left way too long...

So... does that mean that you figured out who would be on those squads and their color schemes and such? Yeah, I know that it's beating a dead horse about the squads, but only because I'm curious as to who ended up getting Beasty and Icicle. :)

We hadn't planned much beyond the squads you see in the Yearbook. Angel was supposed to be on Beast's squad, though.

No color schemes had been planned.

And here are the questions from the other thread...

Nunzio, if you can, what was the inspiration for Jessie Vale's name? Randomness, friends....? I like the fact that there's always something behind the name such as Dallas. I'd sure do it the same way to have easter-eggs or pay homage to people or things I care about.

Jessie Vale is a name from 2 different characters from role playing games. The Jessie came from one of Christina's characters, Jessie Parrish. That character was adapted in graphic novel form in our book THE TOMB, from Oni.

Vale was from a Non-Player-Character from another game and was used because it sounded good with Jessie.

Another question about Miss J. Vale and her sister: would they happen to be Hispanic or something other than Americans?

Americans of typically American mixed heritage. We hadn't decided where they were from, though.

If you and Cristina were to continue writing this book through Decimation, which students would you guys chose to depower? Surely, editorial would ask you to depower a bunch of them.

We don't know if editorial mandated any of the specifics, or it those were writer choices.

If it were left totally up to us...

Well, our initial plan was to depower as few as possible, but given the scope of decimation, we would have been asked to rethink that.

In that case, we has wanted our HOM arc to take the kids into Genosha briefly, allowing Scarlet Witch to see the Hellions and the New Mutants, thus creating a certain logic to most of those kids keeping their powers.

Still, we'd have depowered most of the undefined kids, and probably would have depowered a couple of high profile kids just to shock people.

Then we'd have had Josh repower the ones we needed/wanted before he'd go too far and have to be stopped (which would have stopped him from repowering the whole student body).

We likely would have depowered all the students except:
The New Mutants
The Hellions
Victor
the Vale sisters
Pixie
Quill
Dryad
D.J.
Jeffrey Garrett
Hisako and all other kids needed for other books
and there's no way we would have depowered X-23 as we had been planning to add her to the book anyway.

Everyone else would have lost their powers.

Then we likely would have depowered a couple of Hellions and NMs and had Josh repower them before his story went out of control.

The only one we know we would have done that for sure with was David. But as we said, Josh would be our way of bringing back the NMs and Hellions.

Now, had editorial mandated a 7 person squad, I'm not sure who we would have picked.

If it were up to you and Christina would you have kept Sofia and Dani de-powered or would you guys have let them still have their powers?

If so, then Josh would have re-powered them. Both were too central to our concept for the book to have been written out.

But if we'd been asked to depower Dani, we would have. We woould have kept her in the book, though. As a former SHIELD Agent, she's pretty well trained. And we'd established her death sense was still there, so she still had some aspects of her Valkyrie abilities.

Also, if it were up to you guys, would you have used X-23? I guess you may have but not in a way that would overshadow the other characters that was in the comic before she came along.

Well, I don't think the guys have written her to overshadow anyone. She's definitely part of an ensemble there, so everyone's fears on that front seem unfounded.

We'd have used her - we not only were willing to, we were excited to.

She'd have gotten about as much spotlight as she's gotten with the new writers.

Ooh good question. As an additonal question to that--who would've Josh repowered specifically?

See above. Whichever NMs and Hellions lost their powers.

The only one we have definitely thought about is David.

Now, bear in mind, much of this is just idle speculation on our parts after we'd been asked to leave and had discovered the scope of the Decimation but before the new team started.

And we still discuss that speculation from time to time, but it's not like we're still developing plans or anything.

That'd be just... weird, you know?

[fishtaco]

Hey, Nunzio. I just have two questions.

1. I recall you saying once that the you originall wanted the Hellfire Club to be in the New X-Men: Hellions mini series, but Marvel asked you and Christina to create someone new (Kingmaker), because Joss and Chris both had plans. I was wondering, what members of the Hellfire Club did you have in mind?

2. I also recall you mentioning a Nova Roma story that you wanted to do. Can you give us a few more details on this story, and whether Magma or Selene were going to be in it, etc? Also, what other plans did you have more Magma?

Thanks!

[Beast]

We likely would have depowered all the students except:
The New Mutants
The Hellions
Victor
the Vale sisters
Pixie
Quill
Dryad
D.J.
Jeffrey Garrett
Hisako and all other kids needed for other books
and there's no way we would have depowered X-23 as we had been planning to add her to the book anyway.
No love for Wolf Cub? I'm hurt. He's much cooler than Quill and Pixie. :(

[Legato]

No love for Wolf Cub? I'm hurt. He's much cooler than Quill and Pixie. :(

Hey be fair now. At least Wolf Cub wont be killed off.

The question Id like to ask Nunzio is that when you and Christina were doing the Hellions mini-series was that a way of you two planning a spin-off series of the Hellions or was the mini-series a one shot deal?

I personally would have loved to see what you would have done with X-23. Im sure you and Christina would have turned Laura into somthing more than just a female version of Wolverine.

[Zombienorthstar]

Hey Nunzio...Im really interested in what you would have done with mroe of the characters post HoM and what your plans were previously.

What was your intention for Anole and DJ? Were they likely to contiue to be background characters or were either of them going to be brought to the forefront?

Is there any single character of yours that was killed and/or depowered that you really wish hadnt been harmed?

What is your opinion on the idea circulated by many fans that Indra and Anole are in a relationship? Was this your intention or pure fan wishing?

Thanks so much man

[Legato]

Also what would your plans be for X-23? Would you have paired Laura with Hellion or someone else?

[Faded]

The New Mutants
The Hellions
Victor
the Vale sisters
Pixie
Quill
Dryad
D.J.
Jeffrey Garrett
Hisako and all other kids needed for other books
and there's no way we would have depowered X-23 as we had been planning to add her to the book anyway.

Interesting. I like hearing who everyone would've chosen out of the students. I definitely would've kept Loa and Indra powered though.

BTW, Indra displayed his powers in an issue of the new run. Is the rhino exoskeleton what you guys had intended or something the new writers thought of?

[Volk1]

We hadn't planned much beyond the squads you see in the Yearbook. Angel was supposed to be on Beast's squad, though.
FADED! You're girl Angel was on the smartest X-Man's squad. That's gotta count for something right?;)

Jessie Vale is a name from 2 different characters from role playing games. The Jessie came from one of Christina's characters, Jessie Parrish. That character was adapted in graphic novel form in our book THE TOMB, from Oni.

Vale was from a Non-Player-Character from another game and was used because it sounded good with Jessie. Oh, sweet. Thanks Nunzio for that tidbit. Inspiration comes from within I see. The Tomb sounds interesting, a modern-day Indiana Jones escapade. I'll try to check that out.:)

In that case, we has wanted our HOM arc to take the kids into Genosha briefly, allowing Scarlet Witch to see the Hellions and the New Mutants, thus creating a certain logic to most of those kids keeping their powers. Does that mean Wanda would have been sympathetic? Hmmm...that's interesting in review of what her mental-state was going through at that time (and I persume still does)....

We likely would have depowered all the students except:
The New Mutants
The Hellions
Victor
the Vale sisters
Pixie
Quill
Dryad
D.J.
Jeffrey Garrett
Hisako and all other kids needed for other books
and there's no way we would have depowered X-23 as we had been planning to add her to the book anyway.Hell yes! That's a perfect cast IMO. I'm glad to hear you had love for the Vales. Although, Loa and/or Trance wouldn't have been bad to keep too....

But if we'd been asked to depower Dani, we would have. We woould have kept her in the book, though. As a former SHIELD Agent, she's pretty well trained. And we'd established her death sense was still there, so she still had some aspects of her Valkyrie abilities. That's still my best logical outlet that some of our recently dead kids can get revived, is if Dani regains her powers somehow and utilizes her Valkyrie talents to respawn some of the kids. She's a special character truly under-appreciated.

And we still discuss that speculation from time to time, but it's not like we're still developing plans or anything.

That'd be just... weird, you know? Hey, you never know when you'll get another chance! Marvel should know that you guys still have a strong fan-base. I'm sure if you guys are ever needed again, you'll be there.

Thanks again Nunzio!:cool:

[Faded]

. Does that mean Wanda would have been sympathetic? Hmmm...that's interesting in review of what her mental-state was going through at that time (and I persume still does)....

Yeah, I read this lost concept they had before too. I really enjoyed it. It really would have humanized Wanda and she wouldn't be as much of a joke as she is right now to me.

FADED! You're girl Angel was on the smartest X-Man's squad. That's gotta count for something right? ;)

Man oh man I wish she was used more! I definitely would like to see how she'd cope with teen parenthood especially seeing how much she grew up in Exiles (or so it appeared).

[chickrockguitar]

We likely would have depowered all the students except:
The New Mutants
The Hellions
Victor
the Vale sisters
Pixie
Quill
Dryad
D.J.
Jeffrey Garrett
Hisako and all other kids needed for other books
and there's no way we would have depowered X-23 as we had been planning to add her to the book anyway.
Aww... No Ben? (Match).

We'd have used her - we not only were willing to, we were excited to.
She'd have gotten about as much spotlight as she's gotten with the new writers. Yay! I would have loved to see what you guys would do with Laura.

[Huzzah!]

No love for Wolf Cub? I'm hurt. He's much cooler than Quill and Pixie. :(

Quill is awesome. Wolf cub is the lamers. Quill is corsair to Wolf Cubs Havok

[Effect]

Finally finished reading th entire thread. Doing so just makes me even more disappointed at the direction the title has taken since Nunzio and Christina were removed from it. :( To see all of their hard work and time seemingly ignored and then killed off for what is amounting to shock value is just sad.

I know that's the cost of doing such work but that doesn't make it any better. I loved reading New X-men. As such it was my favorite title until after the House of M arc, really enjoyed the camping issue as well. Now I can't read throught the title at the store (don't buy it anymore since I don't care at all for how the new writers are doing things) without being disappointed by thinking about what the title was and what it would and could have been under N & C. I've read #1 to 19 with the Yearbook several times now and have enjoyed it each time. Trying to find the New Mutant issues as well both volumes 1 and 2.

There is just something about the X-23 character that rubs me the wrong way. I have a feeling I'd have the dislike for the character even if N&C was around but I'm sure they'd have better presented the whole situation. The idea that their needs to be another Wolverine doesn't work for me. Especially with the whole "lets make her a female, so she'd have Logan's badassness and can be sex object for the male readers at the same time" vibe that just screems off of the character. In fact that's what I got just from the first image of her I saw. Then I felt, it wasn't fair to just to conclusions like that so I read her arc in Uncanny X-men and the feeling just stayed and just continued to be there with this new title under C&C.

Nunzio I think commented before on how sales weren't good enough for a book titled "New X-men" and how the game from New X-men: Academy X was done as a way to bring in more readers but possibly hurt it more. I'm think that just might have been the case as well. In fact had they simply renamed the title Academy X or New Mutants (again) perhaps N&C might still be on the title.

Now it's just coming off as a normal (though lower in quality) X-men team book. It was the whole school and student aspect that N&C showed that made the title enjoyable and a welcome change from the other X-titles where it's almost all action all the time.

I have to ask though, N&C, if given the chance to make a New Mutants/New X-men: Academy X style title again (say with DC comics or even another company like Dark Horse for example) would you do it?

Or is the chance that you could be removed form the title and it handed to someone else that wouldn't really follow up your storylines (having it happen with New X-men, not that there is any ill will between the two teams) something you'd rather not expereince again?

If you were promised your stories would be followed up you were removed from the title, would you be more inclined to do it?

Or would you rather a new team bring in their own cast of characters if you were really given the choice of having a say in the characters you created being used by anyone butt the two of you? (Say the character still exist but the new team has their characters located somewhere else in the same world but the title focuses on them instead of the past characters)

Just wondering.

[Midnite]

I wish your ideas were used.

[Marty4Magik]

*Sigh*

I used to love this book.......:(


Any news about some DC work Nunzio?

[xakko]

I was skimming some NX:AX trades last night to get character references for a drawing, and ended up reading all of "Choosing Sides" and the HoM one.

Nunzio and Christina wrote some of the best Cyclops we've seen- a person who wasn't whipped by Emma, someone who had a sense of humor, but was still straight laced and, for the most part, by the book.

Great job, you too...

[Lady Obie]

*Sigh*

I used to love this book.......:(


Any news about some DC work Nunzio?

Same here

It's tough to let a book you once loved go but I realized this isn't the same book I used to love so it had to go ;)

[Huzzah!]

Plus i doubt we will ever see that coffee shop again. It had a chance to become a new harry's hideaway.

[Nunzio DeFilippis]

Hey guys,

Looks like this thread has come back from the dead, at least for a short while. Enough posts here that I need two posts to reply.

Here's what we have this week:

I recall you saying once that the you originall wanted the Hellfire Club to be in the New X-Men: Hellions mini series, but Marvel asked you and Christina to create someone new (Kingmaker), because Joss and Chris both had plans. I was wondering, what members of the Hellfire Club did you have in mind?

We hadn't planned so far as to pick specific members. I'd have liked Sebastian Shaw, honestly, but we expected to be told which roster to use and then have to pick one as a POV character.

I also recall you mentioning a Nova Roma story that you wanted to do. Can you give us a few more details on this story, and whether Magma or Selene were going to be in it, etc? I recall in New Mutants (1st Series) #75, Selene said that she has plans for the Amazon (where Nova Roma is located), but Louise Simonson never got around to telling that story because she was forced off the book, and I thought it would be pretty cool if the dangler was (knowingly or unknowingly by you) solved. Also, what other plans did you have more Magma?

I posted about Nova Roma in another thread - which was probably a giant off-topic no-no. Here's what I said then about Nova Roma (and the Amara/Allison question):

When we originally wrote our run of New Mutants, everyone referred to Amara as Allison (as they should have at the time). Then, when Josh woke her up, he was talking to her, calling her Allison.

And when her eyes opened, she said "My name is Amara" and then BOOM, she blew up the infirmary.

Editorial changed Issue 7, for no discernable reason, and just had everyone calling her Amara (even though she was called Allison in Issue 2-6). And they cut the pre-explosion line.

It kinda confused us, because we don't know why they did it.

But what we had intended was indicative of our approach.

Amara wakes up, and everyone's calling her Allison, but she insists that she's Amara.

While in her coma, she realized that the "truth" about Allison was a lie. And that Nova Roma was real.

Then Chris got her, and followed up on that, but made it almost an accepted fact, instead of a disputed one.

When we got her back, we intended to have people like Dani and Shan ask her about it. Amara would get defensive. No one believed her, they were humoring her. But she knew Nova Roma was real.

And when she talked to her new Squad, the Paragons, they'd get swept up in her tales of Nova Roma's glory.

So, they would go to Nova Roma to prove their teacher right. And Amara would have to get Dani and Shan to go with her to bring the kids back (and maybe Rahne, since the Paragons used to be her squad).

When they get to Nova Roma, they'd find Selene there, with Empath. The duo have been excavating. The city has some artifact of power buried beneath it, and Selene needed to clear it out so she could search for it.

Thus, she and Empath created a false story about "real identities" and British flights to force everyone to go.

Also, during the setup for this, we'd show various other Nova Romani citizens living displaced lives in Britain. Homeless, penniless, trying to connect with families who don't remember them.

Then the story would become a big Indiana Jones adventure as Dani, Shan and Amara are captured by Selene, but the Paragons get away. The Paragons decide the only way to save the teachers is to get the artifact first, so they go into the excavation and race against the baddies.

That sort of thing. It wasn't definitively plotted, but those were the initial broad strokes. Lots of it was very flexible, as we half expected editorial to ask us to work the NM squad into it. But those were the bare bones.

I think that answers most of what you asked. We definitely wanted to build off the idea that Selene had plans - in our minds, that's why she created the big lie that spawned Allison Crestmere.

That's part one of my answers. Part two to follow.

[Nunzio DeFilippis]

No love for Wolf Cub? I'm hurt. He's much cooler than Quill and Pixie. :(

I like him just fine. But he's another feral. Since Wolverine and Sabertooth were not gonna lose their powers, and Rahne was likely to keep hers, and X-23 was gaining prominence, we would likely have let Nicholas go just because his "area" was well covered.

The question Id like to ask Nunzio is that when you and Christina were doing the Hellions mini-series was that a way of you two planning a spin-off series of the Hellions or was the mini-series a one shot deal?

Well, we were hoping it'd sell well enough to spawn either, honestly. We'd love to have made a Hellions ongoing. But our real hope was that the Hellions mini would spawn an Alpha Squadron mini or a Corsairs mini.

I personally would have loved to see what you would have done with X-23. Im sure you and Christina would have turned Laura into somthing more than just a female version of Wolverine.

Well, what I like about X-23, and have liked from the beginning, is that she's a blank slate. She's experiencing the world (or large parts of it) for the first time, despite being world-wise in certain other ways. That child/sinner combo is powerful stuff.

That's what we'd have been drawn to if we'd written her. And it seems to be exactly what her creators are exploring - I don't get why people complain about her presence in the book. Chris and Craig are doing a great job exploring her but not letting her overshadow anyone.

What was your intention for Anole and DJ? Were they likely to contiue to be background characters or were either of them going to be brought to the forefront?

Anole would have gotten serious exploration. He was a favorite and we were pushing to do something with Northstar. Anything we would have done would have centered around Anole, and probably that whole squad.

Is there any single character of yours that was killed and/or depowered that you really wish hadnt been harmed?

I wish Sofia had her powers and Laurie was still alive.

Like I've said, I'm not angry they were depowered or killed. I just wish they'd have been among the handful of our creations who would have been pushed to the next level by the new team.

But, hey... what can you do? They have to write the characters that interest them.

What is your opinion on the idea circulated by many fans that Indra and Anole are in a relationship? Was this your intention or pure fan wishing?

Well, that speculation started because on Comix-Fan I toyed with the idea on our boards at Comix-Fan.

So, obviously, I have no problem with that speculation.

But as I said then, it wasn't as if we had plans for Indra to be gay. It was simply idle speculation in my head at the time.

There's actually a different character who'd always been gay in my mind (though Christina was unaware that this was my plan, so even that was not a given). And that character was a likely romance for Victor down the road - in my mind alone, I think.

Also what would your plans be for X-23? Would you have paired Laura with Hellion or someone else?

Hellion and Sofia were a central couple in our run. Any romantic/sexual tension between Laura and Julian would simply have been a way to raise the stakes between Julian and Sofia, if we were writing.

Interesting. I like hearing who everyone would've chosen out of the students. I definitely would've kept Loa and Indra powered though.

If we could get a couple more kids to keep their powers, I would definitely have kept Loa. I always liked the idea Michael Ryan had for her powers.

Indra's, while cool, are a cross between Hisako's and Colossus'.

BTW, Indra displayed his powers in an issue of the new run. Is the rhino exoskeleton what you guys had intended or something the new writers thought of?

Nope, that's what we created, though credit really goes to Michael Ryan on Indra.

Hell yes! That's a perfect cast IMO. I'm glad to hear you had love for the Vales. Although, Loa and/or Trance wouldn't have been bad to keep too....

Okay, Trance too. You guys have convinced me. My hypothetical list would also include Loa and Trance.

I forgot Hope in my original list. I liked her.

That's still my best logical outlet that some of our recently dead kids can get revived, is if Dani regains her powers somehow and utilizes her Valkyrie talents to respawn some of the kids. She's a special character truly under-appreciated.

I'm not expecting a revival. The X-offices definitely wanted to pare down the mutant roster, and undoing these deaths would work counter to that.

Hey, you never know when you'll get another chance! Marvel should know that you guys still have a strong fan-base. I'm sure if you guys are ever needed again, you'll be there.

We would be there if needed.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

Aww... No Ben? (Match).

Almost every name you throw out makes me go 'yeah, I liked him.' Can you tell we got attached to these kids?

I think, Ben would have been cut, just the same, though. He was pretty cool looking, but Christina and I never had as much a sense of what stories we could tell with him as we did with some of the others.

We did like him, though.

Finally finished reading th entire thread.

Wow. This is a LONG thread. That's patience and I'm flattered.

I have to ask though, N&C, if given the chance to make a New Mutants/New X-men: Academy X style title again (say with DC comics or even another company like Dark Horse for example) would you do it?

Or is the chance that you could be removed form the title and it handed to someone else that wouldn't really follow up your storylines (having it happen with New X-men, not that there is any ill will between the two teams) something you'd rather not expereince again?

Of course we'd do it again. Our issues are still there to be re-read. Most of them (save for the second half of our NM run) are in trades.

We have a piece of comics history all to ourselves. Even if it's undone, the stories themselves are still there.

We created kids we enjoyed writing. No matter how their lives turned out, we enjoyed writing them.

So, yeah. We'd do it.

If you were promised your stories would be followed up you were removed from the title, would you be more inclined to do it?

There's no way we could ever get such a title, unless we were working on a creator-owned book, which is all but impossible with DC and Marvel's superhero stuff.

Or would you rather a new team bring in their own cast of characters if you were really given the choice of having a say in the characters you created being used by anyone butt the two of you? (Say the character still exist but the new team has their characters located somewhere else in the same world but the title focuses on them instead of the past characters)

There are some changes a new team can make which very much make you wish they'd just sent your creations into limbo. While death (and depowering) are far from permanent in comics, they are much more permanent than limbo, so sometimes we'd rather see the kids shipped off to limbo.

But when in limbo, they can't have any impact, and having them stay in the book does increase their role in the comic continuity, which is always cool.

So in general, I'd rather they stay in the book.

But sometimes, you'd prefer them being in limbo to them dying.

Any news about some DC work Nunzio?

Well, there is work, but we can't talk about it yet. A couple of issues of an existing book, plus a couple of issues of an upcoming book (though that book won't be coming out for a while).

Plus, some opportunities to pitch for some characters we really love.

All in all, we're making slow progress at DC, but it's progress and that's good enough for us.

Nunzio and Christina wrote some of the best Cyclops we've seen- a person who wasn't whipped by Emma, someone who had a sense of humor, but was still straight laced and, for the most part, by the book.

Great job, you too...

Thanks. We loved writing Scott. I like the character a lot, and while he wasn't a favorite of Christina's at the start, I could definitely tell she warmed up to him.

Plus i doubt we will ever see that coffee shop again. It had a chance to become a new harry's hideaway.

No idea if it'll ever be seen again. But yeah, it was our goal to have it be the Harry's for this generation.

This is the coffee generation, after all.

And that's what I have for you all today.

[Marty4Magik]

When we originally wrote our run of New Mutants, everyone referred to Amara as Allison (as they should have at the time). Then, when Josh woke her up, he was talking to her, calling her Allison.

And when her eyes opened, she said "My name is Amara" and then BOOM, she blew up the infirmary.

Editorial changed Issue 7, for no discernable reason, and just had everyone calling her Amara (even though she was called Allison in Issue 2-6). And they cut the pre-explosion line.

It kinda confused us, because we don't know why they did it.

But what we had intended was indicative of our approach.

Amara wakes up, and everyone's calling her Allison, but she insists that she's Amara.

While in her coma, she realized that the "truth" about Allison was a lie. And that Nova Roma was real.

Then Chris got her, and followed up on that, but made it almost an accepted fact, instead of a disputed one.

When we got her back, we intended to have people like Dani and Shan ask her about it. Amara would get defensive. No one believed her, they were humoring her. But she knew Nova Roma was real.

And when she talked to her new Squad, the Paragons, they'd get swept up in her tales of Nova Roma's glory.

So, they would go to Nova Roma to prove their teacher right. And Amara would have to get Dani and Shan to go with her to bring the kids back (and maybe Rahne, since the Paragons used to be her squad).

When they get to Nova Roma, they'd find Selene there, with Empath. The duo have been excavating. The city has some artifact of power buried beneath it, and Selene needed to clear it out so she could search for it.

Thus, she and Empath created a false story about "real identities" and British flights to force everyone to go.

Also, during the setup for this, we'd show various other Nova Romani citizens living displaced lives in Britain. Homeless, penniless, trying to connect with families who don't remember them.

Then the story would become a big Indiana Jones adventure as Dani, Shan and Amara are captured by Selene, but the Paragons get away. The Paragons decide the only way to save the teachers is to get the artifact first, so they go into the excavation and race against the baddies.

That sort of thing. It wasn't definitively plotted, but those were the initial broad strokes. Lots of it was very flexible, as we half expected editorial to ask us to work the NM squad into it. But those were the bare bones.


Sure, make me miss you guys even more on that book!
This just sounds...awesome.
*Sigh* what could have been....:(

[Lady Obie]

Sure, make me miss you guys even more on that book!
This just sounds...awesome.
*Sigh* what could have been....:(

Amen to that! If we had that (& especially Nunzio and Christina) I wouldn't be turning my back on a series that used to be one of my faves now ;)

[Midnite]

The magic that the two of you poured into that book was the reason I read it. Each month I watch a little more of that magic slip away. It's getting to the point where there's not much left.

[Faded]

Man, rereading the issues (mostly for scanning purposes at first) really makes me miss you guys more! I admit I'm not a fan of all the New Mutants/Hellions, but they just fit so well I'm not sure if I'd do without them :( (and this is coming from someone who definitely did not like Rockslide and Wither).

There's actually a different character who'd always been gay in my mind (though Christina was unaware that this was my plan, so even that was not a given). And that character was a likely romance for Victor down the road - in my mind alone, I think.

Who? :eek:

DJ, the player? Tag, the conformist?

Or is this a note you sent to the new team that they could possibly explore?

Thanks again for answering questions. :)

[jam37wcc]

I really miss you guys run on the book and if I had my way I would have had both yours and the new creative teams series going at the same time because I really like what they are doing. So two New X-Men books coexisting and neither affecting each other.

[Zombienorthstar]

There's actually a different character who'd always been gay in my mind (though Christina was unaware that this was my plan, so even that was not a given). And that character was a likely romance for Victor down the road - in my mind alone, I think.


Who was....? lol

[Huzzah!]

iceman obviously

[Faded]

This isn't really a question, but I really love this quote from the letters page of issue 10 (which sounds really nerdy of me--but what they hey I like your guys vision for what NXM was supposed to be):

"Glad you're enjoying the book, despite your criticism, Jaime. You're right, having Kevin executed would have been shocking. However, shock value isn't really what this book is about. It's a teen drama with superpowers, and killing a kid in the first arc would leave later arcs feeling less weighty and force us to start killing regularly. Ultimately, this isn't that kind of book.

However, we are not above killing a character (or even a student) on rare occasions. Like in this issue, for example..."

[Huzzah!]

No suicide though

This is a kids book.

Murders are still fine though...and many of them

[Faded]

Oh yeah...I do have a question! As I mentioned earlier, I was recently scanning images (and I noticed I only really liked Ryan's far away shots, designs, and crying scenes and that Paco Medina wasn't NEARLY as bad as I made it out to be at the time) and I found this: http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/3717/gavaskar4fh.gif. Was this supposed to be Indra's sibling you mentioned a while back? They have similiar designs and I must say I like the red.
[/odd question]

[Zombienorthstar]

"Glad you're enjoying the book, despite your criticism, Jaime. You're right, having Kevin executed would have been shocking. However, shock value isn't really what this book is about. It's a teen drama with superpowers, and killing a kid in the first arc would leave later arcs feeling less weighty and force us to start killing regularly. Ultimately, this isn't that kind of book.

However, we are not above killing a character (or even a student) on rare occasions. Like in this issue, for example..."


Lol that couldnt be more apt....

[Huzzah!]

So if given the oppertunity, would you guys kill Hisako?

[Zombienorthstar]

So if given the oppertunity, would you guys kill Hisako?


No...i quite like her.

[Huzzah!]

Ignore him oh great writers. Hisako death is needed

[Midnite]

He already said that he wouldn't kill the kids used by other writers.

[Nunzio DeFilippis]

Who? :eek:

Tag.

Or is this a note you sent to the new team that they could possibly explore?

Nope. I firmly believe that they had every right to write the characters on their own and not have to follow any direct leads from us.

Oh yeah...I do have a question! As I mentioned earlier, I was recently scanning images (and I noticed I only really liked Ryan's far away shots, designs, and crying scenes and that Paco Medina wasn't NEARLY as bad as I made it out to be at the time) and I found this: http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/3717/gavaskar4fh.gif. Was this supposed to be Indra's sibling you mentioned a while back? They have similiar designs and I must say I like the red.
[/odd question]

I think it was just a miscolored Indra, but hey... now that he's in canon, why not consider him a sibling? I believe Michael had intended Indra to have a sister, though.

So if given the oppertunity, would you guys kill Hisako?

Nah, we don't kill other writer's characters.

...which is NOT a judgement on what's going on in New X-Men. The characters being killed there are Chris and Craig's characters now that they write the book. So it's not killing anyone's characters but their own.

It's not about who created them, but who is using them, and Hisako is being used by Joss.

[Stagier]

victor and brian huh... that would have been interesting, esp if Brian were to use his powers on himself in the sack...

but forget that cause he's been....uh blown up.

I know that these threads is like beating a dead horse, but I love the what ifs.. seriously i can't get enough.

Nunz, can you describe a little more as to how michael imagined loa's power to work? she crumbles matter by swimming through it? like phasing?

and wasn't there someone with size changing powers? was that it? just shrinkage?

[Faded]

Tag? I like it. :D Makes me wish he was still alive that much more.

I think it was just a miscolored Indra, but hey... now that he's in canon, why not consider him a sibling? I believe Michael had intended Indra to have a sister, though.

Oh...that's cool. Heh, me and Volk1 were just discussing this, and he originally thought the pic was of a girl anyway.

Speaking of Indra, was there a specific direction you had planned for him had you given him some focus?

I know that these threads is like beating a dead horse, but I love the what ifs.. seriously i can't get enough.


Me too. :) Thanks for answering, Nunzio!

[Zombienorthstar]

Wow..thinking bout it Tag did always seem fairly ambiguous...and did like Juilan ALOT....

I kinda wish he'd stayed alive now...one of my personal problems with Tag of all the Hellions and New Mutants was that i felt he wasnt really that individual...though moves liek thsi would have been interesting.

I think that miscoloured Indra looks so girly it coudl be the sister hes said to have.

[Huzzah!]

Tag.

Nah, we don't kill other writer's characters.

...which is NOT a judgement on what's going on in New X-Men. The characters being killed there are Chris and Craig's characters now that they write the book. So it's not killing anyone's characters but their own.

It's not about who created them, but who is using them, and Hisako is being used by Joss.

What if you took over Astonishing

[Effect]

Sometimes I can't help but wonder. We known N&C cared (care) about the characters they created and understand the new writers have every right to kill them if they want. I'm sure neither of them will ever admit this in public and wouldn't really want them too, but I can't help but pictureing (had a dream like this as well) the following.

Two figures just relaxing after a days work. On a book shelf (in an office or apartment, etc) a picture of the two holding up the first issue they worked together one, one turns a page of the latest New X-men issue to see one of their creations killed off and just happens to let off a few choice obscenities out of nowhere then tossing the book on the nearest table and then turning on the TV. Not before saying a quick calming mantra in between the toss and the TV. The other looks up and over at the other, then down at the book and just goes "Oh" then goes back to whatever they were doing fully understanding the situation without any spoken word between the two. :D :rolleyes: :p

[jam37wcc]

Thinking back on the title, there is no doubt that it was truly a great book. These days it seems so hard for creators to come up with new characters and have them last and be interesting enough to last. In this one title I think yall came up with a fairly good number of great characters.

Julian - I think he is one of the best new characters to come around in years, so far a great character.

David - I saw a great future with him, I saw him as kind of the Cannonball/Havok character, shame he had to be depowered.

Josh - Great power, great back story tons of potential, love the character.

Sophie and Laurie - I always saw them as a possibly Dani or Siryn, two great characters but drifting back and forth out of limbo.

Wither - Don't like him, wish he would go ahead and turn evil then I could love him as a bad guy

And there were other good characters to, some that I think the new creative team will take to higher places. But it amazes me how many great characters the writers created in almost a three year run on the book. I hope you get the chance to come back and add to your creations character one day.

[Volk1]

Okay, Trance too. You guys have convinced me. My hypothetical list would also include Loa and Trance. I forgot Hope in my original list. I liked her. Haha! Sweet.....they have so much to offer....

I'm not expecting a revival. The X-offices definitely wanted to pare down the mutant roster, and undoing these deaths would work counter to that. Oh of course. I'm not expecting to see a revival anytime soon. But time will tell. I mean, the X-editors are going to want to add some mutants in the future aren't they?

We would be there if needed.
Thanks for the vote of confidence.Hey, no problem! And a lot of us would want you guys back....(but bring back Preview if you do :p )

This is the coffee generation, after all. I wish it was the hot chocolate generation.:)

Tag. I knew it! After the Hellions mini, you could just tell....Here's a question deriving from this: Did Tag ask to be with Julian as his wish? The Kingmakers reply was :"You could so much better". I know that's kind of ambiguous but it got me thinkin'......

Oh...that's cool. Heh, me and Volk1 were just discussing this, and he originally thought the pic was of a girl anyway. lol Yeah. We knew there was a sibling running around somewhere, we just never saw her/him.

[Faded]

Oh of course. I'm not expecting to see a revival anytime soon. But time will tell. I mean, the X-editors are going to want to add some mutants in the future aren't they?

Yeah, Nunzio brings up a good point about why a resurrection is unlikely. Personally, I've never seen the increasing population (and likewise, the larger school) to be a problem--I love the stories (and characters) that have come from it.

I was already a fan, but rereading Riot at Xavier's (and Morrison's other stories involving the student body) and N&C's run on NM and NXM, it is just *that* much better now. I have a newer and greater appreciation of them now.

I knew it! After the Hellions mini, you could just tell....Here's a question deriving from this: Did Tag ask to be with Julian as his wish? The Kingmakers reply was :"You could so much better". I know that's kind of ambiguous but it got me thinkin'......

That's really interesting. Good eye. ;)

[Zombienorthstar]

I think that sometimes people forget that Nunzio and Christina created not only two team rosters of fan favourite character but an ENTIRE SCHOOL of background characters...i know that there are/were big fans for:

DJ
Rubbermaid
Anole
Pixie
The Vale sisters

etc etc...

On most runs a writer doesnt creat ONE character that will carryon past their run...think of what Nunzio and Christina actually did in that respect.

[Faded]

That they did, but I don't think they created Rubbermaid (she first appeared in X-Treme IIRC).

I *love* their student body, even the characters I don't like simply because of their dynamic and what they bring to the table. I have to admit I don't like the student body as much anymore though because some of the less interesting ones seem to be left standing while others are now gone. :(

[Zombienorthstar]

The whole Tag thing makes me think about Rockslide now though....i know this was just Nunzios idea but it could be an interesting spin to the funeral issue 'Im sorry Bryan'-they were awfully close and it would explain alot about Rockslide.

[Volk1]

Yeah, Nunzio brings up a good point about why a resurrection is unlikely. Personally, I've never seen the increasing population (and likewise, the larger school) to be a problem--I love the stories (and characters) that have come from it.
Yeah - I dunno.....I kind of like the mutant population to be around like 1,000 or so...not just 198 or 300 or whatever they say it is....

16 million is just too much....I think if it happened in real life, 16 mill mutants would take over the world already.....*shrugs*

But then again, it's not the real world so......what can you do? I just think I would be A LOT happier if some mutants that were dead/depowered were still alive but that's otherwise talking about an old issue...

Other than that I feel like the remaining mutants have a certain "specialness" to them since they're the last ones on Earth. But I still don't get why mutants like Magma, Karma, Sunspot and Husk haven't been shown for the most part (besides the 198 mini). They're part of the X-family, you'd think Scott would want as much as their "family" helping out and being part of a team.....*sigh*

"No More Mutants">>>:mad:

[Volk1]

That's really interesting. Good eye. ;) Yeah....I mean look at everytime we see Tag with Julian....he's practically begging Julian to toss him a bone and pet him every time...lol..


The whole Tag thing makes me think about Rockslide now though....i know this was just Nunzios idea but it could be an interesting spin to the funeral issue 'Im sorry Bryan'-they were awfully close and it would explain alot about Rockslide. Cool concept.....Rockslide is pretty much just a brainless jock right now.....I don't ever remembering if Nunzio and Christina had any plans for that, but it'd be interesting to see the new writers take a jab at that....I'm sure some people would lessen up their hate on poor Santo if they did..... :)

[Huzzah!]

What type of Rock is Rockslide? Volcanic, Sedimantary or the other one

[Zombienorthstar]

Yeah - I dunno.....I kind of like the mutant population to be around like 1,000 or so...not just 198 or 300 or whatever they say it is....

16 million is just too much....I think if it happened in real life, 16 mill mutants would take over the world already.....*shrugs*


"No More Mutants">>>:mad:


16 million is still an insignificant minority...theres far more black, gay people etc...but theyre still considered a minority

[Huzzah!]

yeah but black people and gay people dont fire laser beams out of their eyes.

Too much.

Plus when you have 16 million mutants there are too many not really mutant mutants like longforearm boy, giraffe neck guy and four mouths with which to suck girl.

Wierd looking mutants need to be the drastic minority of a minority population for me to care.

Plus im not a fan of the cant turn off power mutants either. The 2 x-men that first couldnt had reasons for not being able to, Cyclops for blunt trama to the head and Rogue because it was strongly hinted at she got sexually molested.

Someone who is always on fire or someone who kills anything they touch, well they cant breed...so conceptually it seems wierd.

Althought that does give me another one of my wildly inappropriate ideas


Instead of a head thats always on fire, how about a guy's gentials. Couldnt really cover that up. Be walking around with his dork out. Ha

I can out Morrison Morrison anyday

[Volk1]

16 million is still an insignificant minority...theres far more black, gay people etc...but theyre still considered a minority

Yeah, I know but like humans aren't mutants. I know they had their own nation and whatever but 16 million powered mutants equate to about how many regular humans 3 billion? 4 billion? With some somega Mutants easily as powerful if not more than human nuclear weapons....

And I know some mutants have powers that aren't really destructive like Jazz's purple skin but then you have mutants like Exodus and Magneto that can do a lot more damage in a wider-scale. I think that more and makes up for that.

Either way, all I'm saying is that the shrinking of the population to me anyways, is a way of avoiding the "whoa! The mutant population is about the state of Florida! They could cause mass murder anytime they want!" scenario.

Of course the X-Men would be there to stop them and not all mutants are
like that, but, I'd just think that 16 million + mutants and counting would have caused major trouble for humans in the long run.

What this has to do with Nunzio and Christina: nothing! :p

So back on topic, thanks for answering our questions Nunzio!:cool:

[Faded]

I have to admit my main gripe is losing some great characters--including, but not limited to (as far as this book goes) Wind Dancer, Preview, Tag, Dryad, etc. etc.

I'd be all for reducing the mutant population just as long as it left a lot of the established characters alone. :mad:

Because in the end, we're only going to get what essentially are replacements (not that about a dozen or so of the 198 are duplicates already).

Blah blah my rant is over.

Long live Preview. :cool:

[xakko]

What type of Rock is Rockslide? Volcanic, Sedimantary or the other one
metamorphic?

i think he's sedimentary.

y'know, watching the X-Men Evolution DVDs, it reminded me that i DO like some of the writing of Messrs Yost and Kyle... what happened?

[Lady Obie]

y'know, watching the X-Men Evolution DVDs, it reminded me that i DO like some of the writing of Messrs Yost and Kyle... what happened?

I think they were aiming for a different (most likely far younger) audience with X-Men Evolution then they are with New X-Men Academy X ;)

Plus cartoons reach a far bigger audience than than comics, which means they wouldn't need as much shock value to bolster a Saturday morning cartoon as they would to bolster a comic that appeals to a far smaller market :eek:

[Zombienorthstar]

I think making Santo gay could be the thing that saves his character...and it would be interesting bcause throughout Bryans death no ones really been helping him deal when perhaps hes the one who needed the most help..cause hsi lover just died.

Nunzio? Comments on this theory perhaps?

Also what were your plans for Mercury?

[Volk1]

Nunzio,

Could you delve into why Kevin Ford was so adamant about being with Laurie Collins and his complete ignorance of Cessily even though she liked him. What was your intention for this and what was so special about Laurie that had "your" Wither so crazy about her?

Thanks!

[Huzzah!]

isnt that how most high schoolers are?

[Volk1]

isnt that how most high schoolers are?
I guess. I just want Nunzio's take on it all.

[Huzzah!]

Maybe he didnt want to sleep with the t-1000 no matter how hot she was :D

[Volk1]

Maybe he didnt want to sleep with the t-1000 no matter how hot she was :D

Then that's hit loss! How could you pass that up?!:p

Nunzio?! Any answers?

Please?:D

[Nunzio DeFilippis]

Thinking back on the title, there is no doubt that it was truly a great book. These days it seems so hard for creators to come up with new characters and have them last and be interesting enough to last. In this one title I think yall came up with a fairly good number of great characters.

Julian - I think he is one of the best new characters to come around in years, so far a great character.

David - I saw a great future with him, I saw him as kind of the Cannonball/Havok character, shame he had to be depowered.

Josh - Great power, great back story tons of potential, love the character.

Sophie and Laurie - I always saw them as a possibly Dani or Siryn, two great characters but drifting back and forth out of limbo.

Wither - Don't like him, wish he would go ahead and turn evil then I could love him as a bad guy

And there were other good characters to, some that I think the new creative team will take to higher places. But it amazes me how many great characters the writers created in almost a three year run on the book. I hope you get the chance to come back and add to your creations character one day.

Thanks. I hope we do, too.

Did Tag ask to be with Julian as his wish? The Kingmakers reply was :"You could so much better". I know that's kind of ambiguous but it got me thinkin'......

That's pretty interesting. But no, his wish was to remain important to his friends when they got their wishes. And Kingmaker thought Brian should want to better himself and not be so dependent on his friends.

I think that sometimes people forget that Nunzio and Christina created not only two team rosters of fan favourite character but an ENTIRE SCHOOL of background characters...i know that there are/were big fans for:

DJ
Rubbermaid
Anole
Pixie
The Vale sisters

etc etc...

On most runs a writer doesnt creat ONE character that will carryon past their run...think of what Nunzio and Christina actually did in that respect.

Thanks. But as Faded said, we didn't create Rubbermaid. That was Chris.

The whole Tag thing makes me think about Rockslide now though....i know this was just Nunzios idea but it could be an interesting spin to the funeral issue 'Im sorry Bryan'-they were awfully close and it would explain alot about Rockslide.

It wasn't in our plans for Rockslide. But who knows what C & C have in mind?

Yeah - I dunno.....I kind of like the mutant population to be around like 1,000 or so...not just 198 or 300 or whatever they say it is....

16 million is just too much....I think if it happened in real life, 16 mill mutants would take over the world already.....*shrugs*

Well, only if 16 million mutants meant 16 million X-Men level powers. I'd like a world with millions of mutants, but only a small number with extreme powers worthy of being superheroes or villains.

What type of Rock is Rockslide? Volcanic, Sedimantary or the other one

Actually, we never made that determination. All we knew was that he was organic (as in carbon-based).

Someone who is always on fire or someone who kills anything they touch, well they cant breed...so conceptually it seems wierd.

Not really. Evolution suggests that mutation is random, and that many mutations are not benificial, and those don't carry on because the creature doesn't survive or breed. So a mutation that prevents breeding is a mutation not able to be passed on.

I think making Santo gay could be the thing that saves his character...and it would be interesting bcause throughout Bryans death no ones really been helping him deal when perhaps hes the one who needed the most help..cause hsi lover just died.

Nunzio? Comments on this theory perhaps?

Also what were your plans for Mercury?

As I said, we had no plans to make Santo gay. But it wouldn't bug me if C & C did.

And with Cessily, our short terms plans were for her to be the one who saved the school when Garrison took over.

Plus, we'd intended for Cessily and Kevin to become a couple. They probably would not have worked out, though.

Long term? Just her coming to accept herself and stop shifting to please others. Which would coincide with becoming more in control of her powers.

Could you delve into why Kevin Ford was so adamant about being with Laurie Collins and his complete ignorance of Cessily even though she liked him. What was your intention for this and what was so special about Laurie that had "your" Wither so crazy about her?

"Our" Wither? Seems like C & C's Wither has the same reaction.

Wither is a prime example of the Woody Allen quote "the heart wants what the heart wants." There's no why to it. Sure, Cessily is the only one he can touch, but life rarely works so simply.

When someone seems perfectly designed by fate to be with us, we often wind up looking the other way.

(Much like me with Christina).

But...

Our original ending to the Hellions mini had Cessily kissing Kevin after he saved her life... and him returning the kiss and getting on with his life.

But editorial asked us to cut that.

[xakko]

Not really. Evolution suggests that mutation is random, and that many mutations are not benificial, and those don't carry on because the creature doesn't survive or breed. So a mutation that prevents breeding is a mutation not able to be passed on.
real life evolution is, but Marvel mutation is the result of Celestial experimentation, isn't it? so while normal evolutionary process might mess up what was designed in, but on balance, I always thought powers would be the norm (not Magneto level or above, but powers). I thought this was a place where GM dropped the ball.

Earth X developed this more, but of course that is out of continuity

[Volk1]

That's pretty interesting. But no, his wish was to remain important to his friends when they got their wishes. And Kingmaker thought Brian should want to better himself and not be so dependent on his friends.Hmmmm, well that's clean and simple. Guess I was looking in too deep.

Well, only if 16 million mutants meant 16 million X-Men level powers. I'd like a world with millions of mutants, but only a small number with extreme powers worthy of being superheroes or villains.That's true. I often overlook the many mutants that have been shown to have disfunctional or unfortunate powers that aren't seriously dangerous. I'd think I'd still be leery in that kind of world if I was human. Guess it would come down to personal experiences with mutants.

And with Cessily, our short terms plans were for her to be the one who saved the school when Garrison took over.
Plus, we'd intended for Cessily and Kevin to become a couple. They probably would not have worked out, though.Awesome - this would have finally shone the spotlight on Mercury. And finally a hookup between the two! But not a long-lasting one? I could see that......

Long term? Just her coming to accept herself and stop shifting to please others. Which would coincide with becoming more in control of her powers.Yes! An even more independent Cessily would have been a joy to watch. I appreciate the friendships she has built up with Julian and Santo, but I just would've liked to see more of the "individual" in Cessily that's rarely shown.

"Our" Wither? Seems like C & C's Wither has the same reaction. Perhaps I should have clarified myself - "your" meaning Wither was your creation and not Y & K's. Basically "their" Wither has been non-existent besides running away and the decaying of Laurie's arm. But I guess "your and "their" is neither here or there lol - since I suppose it's Marvel's Wither when it comes down to it....:rolleyes:

Wither is a prime example of the Woody Allen quote "the heart wants what the heart wants." There's no why to it. Sure, Cessily is the only one he can touch, but life rarely works so simply.
When someone seems perfectly designed by fate to be with us, we often wind up looking the other way.
(Much like me with Christina).LOL. There's truth to that. It reminds me of me in a way, which I guess I can say that it applys to a lot of people with wants and desires. It's a great complexity: Kevin doesn't want what's readily available, he wants what he can't have. Cessily wants what doesn't want her. It's tough to say which point of view is toughest to swallow, but a lot of people have been in either's shoes. It's a good concept that mirrors real-life. And the fact that Cessily is the only one who can touch Kevin adds for a delicious, intriguing twist. It's a good story plot Nunzio.:)

But...
Our original ending to the Hellions mini had Cessily kissing Kevin after he saved her life... and him returning the kiss and getting on with his life. That would have been a great scene to see! After the whole "will they