Beast
07-12-2005, 08:34 PM
Nunzio posted this over on Comixfan, and I figured you guys would be intrested. It's the much hyped but Marvel killed 'Victor Suicide' story that was meant for New Mutants (Vol. 2) #8. While no firm answer was ever stated for why it was cut, it's assumed it was due to the sensitive nature of the story.
Okay...
So it's parent's week, and all the kids have parents visiting. Josh is complaining about his roommate who won't talk to him (David) and Victor is complaining that yet another roommate moved out. Victor invites Josh to switch rooms, and Josh says he will.
Parents visit the school - very few parents actually came. Shan meets Victor's parents, then goes on a date with Luna - as set up by Dani.
Shan and Luna have their date, it goes well, they have a goodbye kiss - right in front of the Grind Stone. Inside, David and his parents are talking about David having to leave Xavier's because it hurts his chances of getting into college. Then his parents see the kiss and are outraged.
David's parents tell the other parents about Shan kissing Luna, and by the time Shan gets back to the school, the parents are demanding Xavier fire Shan. They're led in this by Victor's parents, who have taken this very personally. Northstar calls the protesting parents bigots. Shan is overwhelmed by this, and hints to Xavier that if it'll make things easier, she'll quit. Northstar is not impressed.
Victor seeks out Shan and confides in her that he is gay. He tells her he plans to tell his parents this, in the hopes that this will make them back off of Shan. Shan tells him not to. He should only tell them when it's right for him, and not do it to protect her. He leaves, and Northstar enters, telling off Shan for being a coward and even thinking of leaving.
David faces off with his parents, furious at the trouble they've caused for Shan, who is his friend. They explain that they don't want her fired. They just don't think she should be doing that in front of kids. He's pissed. If Shan had kissed a man, his parents wouldn't have cared.
Victor doesn't heed Shan's advice and tells his parents. They insist on pulling him out of the school as it has corrupted him - Shan did this to him. He refuses, so they disown him.
Julian and Josh are playing pool, and commenting on how they never knew Shan was gay. Josh comments on Julian's advisor (Northstar) being gay, which upsets Julian a LOT.
They see Victor chase after his parents, who are leaving.
They ask Victor what's wrong and he tells them. They flip out. Julian thinks all the sports they've played and the times they've played tackle football were just Victor hitting on him. Josh thinks the invite to move in was a come-on.
They very nearly beat Victor up, and he runs off.
Victor goes back to his room, having lost his family and his friends, and kills himself. End of issue.
Second issue. Shan visits Luna and tells her Luna was wrong to kiss her in front of the kids. Luna gets angry and says she has no desire to date someone so ashamed of herself that she can't kiss someone in public. Shan leaves, Luna goes out back and is fried by Nori.
Josh goes to Victor's room to apologize - he was being a jerk. He finds Victor dead. He tries to heal Victor, but it's too late. Another kid in the hall runs to get help, and brings back Shan, who pulls Josh away from the body.
Outside, Sofia, David and Laurie are stunned by what's going on. An ambulance is out front and stories have already started to circulate. Josh is standing there, covered in blood.
Julian approaches Josh and says "too bad you hadn't moved in yet. I hear you get straight As for the semester if your roommate offs himself." Josh decks Julian, and the fight breaks out.
David and company arrive to help Josh, who doesn't want their help.
Inside, Northstar finds Shan with the body and says that Victor was an idiot. He was in the one place in the world that is all about acceptance. He lost his family, yes, but look how few parents came. Did he think he was the only one? Shan nearly kicks his ass, saying 'you're talking about being rational. He was fifteen.' To which Northstar says 'you're right, he was fifteen. What's your excuse?'
The fight goes on (with Julian saying 'if you want to blame yourself, go ahead. But don't lay this on me, Josh') until the body is carted out. Laurie sees the body and gets so upset that she starts crying, and her pheromones spread across the schoolyard, forcing all the kids who are fighting to break down in tears too.
The next day, Julian seeks out Northstar and drops him as an advisor, saying he'll switch to anyone who's straight. Northstar acts as if the rejection of a delinquent like Julian doesn't bother him, but when Julian stomps off, we see that even Northstar can have his feelings hurt. Emma swoops in and takes on Julian as an advisee.
At a special assembly (no Shan) the parents are gathered to deal with this news. The Borkowskis blame Shan. Northstar is ready to really tear into them until Shan arrives on the scene and tells them this is everyone's fault. She blames herself for being so wrapped up in how the parents saw her that she didn't realize she needed to stay at the school for kids like Victor.
The Borkowskis protest, but Shan says she's staying, to which Northstar smiles his approval. Xavier says that of course she can stay.
David's parents get ready to leave, worried about David having gotten into a fight, when he's already in college trouble staying at the school.
David tells his parents he's not leaving the school. This is where he belongs. His parents disagree with the decision, but he tells them he may not even come home for the holidays. He's angry with them for their role in this.
They had no idea it would get this far, they tell him. And he points out to them that bigotry always gets this far at some point.
He goes inside and finds Josh in the room. He asks Josh if he wants to talk about what happened with Victor. Josh says no. But then Josh thanks David for standing up for him, and we know that their private feud is over.
And that was the original, 2 part, parents' week.
As you can see, a lot of what was in the final issue was transformed into something different, but still wound up in the final issue.
And a lot of what was there never came to pass.
The next issue featured a scene of the kids passing by Victor's door, where candles and flowers have been laid out. After they leave, Sofia goes back and sees that Julian, thinking no-one is watching, has gone to the door to apologize to Victor and to tell Victor he's angry that Victor killed himself before Julian could make things right. Sofia listens in on the wind, and when Julian leaves, he realizes it and asks "what are you looking at?" and she says "nothing," keeping his secret, but realizing he has feelings he's not letting his friends see.
Still, even with that scene, the net result was a much bigger jackass moment for Julian.
So for that reason, and because Victor is a favorite, I guess I'm glad the story never happened.
Still, it was something we were very proud of, and something that could have raised the profile of our book.
Ah, well. Like I said, Julian has changed as a character now, so it's almost impossible to look back and think he would do that to a friend over something as meaningless as sexual orientation.
So, it's better that it never happened.
Unpublished pages from New Mutants (Vol. 2) #8:
http://newxmen.cacophany.com/gallery/inkedpages/nm08_pg13_unpublished.jpg
http://newxmen.cacophany.com/gallery/inkedpages/nm08_pg16_unpublished.jpg
http://newxmen.cacophany.com/gallery/inkedpages/nm08_pg18_unpublished.jpg
Okay...
So it's parent's week, and all the kids have parents visiting. Josh is complaining about his roommate who won't talk to him (David) and Victor is complaining that yet another roommate moved out. Victor invites Josh to switch rooms, and Josh says he will.
Parents visit the school - very few parents actually came. Shan meets Victor's parents, then goes on a date with Luna - as set up by Dani.
Shan and Luna have their date, it goes well, they have a goodbye kiss - right in front of the Grind Stone. Inside, David and his parents are talking about David having to leave Xavier's because it hurts his chances of getting into college. Then his parents see the kiss and are outraged.
David's parents tell the other parents about Shan kissing Luna, and by the time Shan gets back to the school, the parents are demanding Xavier fire Shan. They're led in this by Victor's parents, who have taken this very personally. Northstar calls the protesting parents bigots. Shan is overwhelmed by this, and hints to Xavier that if it'll make things easier, she'll quit. Northstar is not impressed.
Victor seeks out Shan and confides in her that he is gay. He tells her he plans to tell his parents this, in the hopes that this will make them back off of Shan. Shan tells him not to. He should only tell them when it's right for him, and not do it to protect her. He leaves, and Northstar enters, telling off Shan for being a coward and even thinking of leaving.
David faces off with his parents, furious at the trouble they've caused for Shan, who is his friend. They explain that they don't want her fired. They just don't think she should be doing that in front of kids. He's pissed. If Shan had kissed a man, his parents wouldn't have cared.
Victor doesn't heed Shan's advice and tells his parents. They insist on pulling him out of the school as it has corrupted him - Shan did this to him. He refuses, so they disown him.
Julian and Josh are playing pool, and commenting on how they never knew Shan was gay. Josh comments on Julian's advisor (Northstar) being gay, which upsets Julian a LOT.
They see Victor chase after his parents, who are leaving.
They ask Victor what's wrong and he tells them. They flip out. Julian thinks all the sports they've played and the times they've played tackle football were just Victor hitting on him. Josh thinks the invite to move in was a come-on.
They very nearly beat Victor up, and he runs off.
Victor goes back to his room, having lost his family and his friends, and kills himself. End of issue.
Second issue. Shan visits Luna and tells her Luna was wrong to kiss her in front of the kids. Luna gets angry and says she has no desire to date someone so ashamed of herself that she can't kiss someone in public. Shan leaves, Luna goes out back and is fried by Nori.
Josh goes to Victor's room to apologize - he was being a jerk. He finds Victor dead. He tries to heal Victor, but it's too late. Another kid in the hall runs to get help, and brings back Shan, who pulls Josh away from the body.
Outside, Sofia, David and Laurie are stunned by what's going on. An ambulance is out front and stories have already started to circulate. Josh is standing there, covered in blood.
Julian approaches Josh and says "too bad you hadn't moved in yet. I hear you get straight As for the semester if your roommate offs himself." Josh decks Julian, and the fight breaks out.
David and company arrive to help Josh, who doesn't want their help.
Inside, Northstar finds Shan with the body and says that Victor was an idiot. He was in the one place in the world that is all about acceptance. He lost his family, yes, but look how few parents came. Did he think he was the only one? Shan nearly kicks his ass, saying 'you're talking about being rational. He was fifteen.' To which Northstar says 'you're right, he was fifteen. What's your excuse?'
The fight goes on (with Julian saying 'if you want to blame yourself, go ahead. But don't lay this on me, Josh') until the body is carted out. Laurie sees the body and gets so upset that she starts crying, and her pheromones spread across the schoolyard, forcing all the kids who are fighting to break down in tears too.
The next day, Julian seeks out Northstar and drops him as an advisor, saying he'll switch to anyone who's straight. Northstar acts as if the rejection of a delinquent like Julian doesn't bother him, but when Julian stomps off, we see that even Northstar can have his feelings hurt. Emma swoops in and takes on Julian as an advisee.
At a special assembly (no Shan) the parents are gathered to deal with this news. The Borkowskis blame Shan. Northstar is ready to really tear into them until Shan arrives on the scene and tells them this is everyone's fault. She blames herself for being so wrapped up in how the parents saw her that she didn't realize she needed to stay at the school for kids like Victor.
The Borkowskis protest, but Shan says she's staying, to which Northstar smiles his approval. Xavier says that of course she can stay.
David's parents get ready to leave, worried about David having gotten into a fight, when he's already in college trouble staying at the school.
David tells his parents he's not leaving the school. This is where he belongs. His parents disagree with the decision, but he tells them he may not even come home for the holidays. He's angry with them for their role in this.
They had no idea it would get this far, they tell him. And he points out to them that bigotry always gets this far at some point.
He goes inside and finds Josh in the room. He asks Josh if he wants to talk about what happened with Victor. Josh says no. But then Josh thanks David for standing up for him, and we know that their private feud is over.
And that was the original, 2 part, parents' week.
As you can see, a lot of what was in the final issue was transformed into something different, but still wound up in the final issue.
And a lot of what was there never came to pass.
The next issue featured a scene of the kids passing by Victor's door, where candles and flowers have been laid out. After they leave, Sofia goes back and sees that Julian, thinking no-one is watching, has gone to the door to apologize to Victor and to tell Victor he's angry that Victor killed himself before Julian could make things right. Sofia listens in on the wind, and when Julian leaves, he realizes it and asks "what are you looking at?" and she says "nothing," keeping his secret, but realizing he has feelings he's not letting his friends see.
Still, even with that scene, the net result was a much bigger jackass moment for Julian.
So for that reason, and because Victor is a favorite, I guess I'm glad the story never happened.
Still, it was something we were very proud of, and something that could have raised the profile of our book.
Ah, well. Like I said, Julian has changed as a character now, so it's almost impossible to look back and think he would do that to a friend over something as meaningless as sexual orientation.
So, it's better that it never happened.
Unpublished pages from New Mutants (Vol. 2) #8:
http://newxmen.cacophany.com/gallery/inkedpages/nm08_pg13_unpublished.jpg
http://newxmen.cacophany.com/gallery/inkedpages/nm08_pg16_unpublished.jpg
http://newxmen.cacophany.com/gallery/inkedpages/nm08_pg18_unpublished.jpg