I love Whedon's Cyclops. It's stuff like this that makes me that much sadder he didn't do X3.

Typhon24 | April 25, 23:12 CET

I truely wish he could go and save the main X-men comic. The dialogue is so bad!

I would love to see him write Rogue and Gambit.

Zip-Ity-Do-Da | April 25, 23:20 CET

AXM should probably be considered the 'main' X-Men title now. It's definately the flagship. The issues can't come fast enough.

Cassaday's take on Jean Grey is interesting too. I have Byrne's version tattooed in my brain, but Cassaday has such a way with consistently distinct faces.

ReneRitchie | April 25, 23:49 CET

Well, the other one is just called X-men. And the team is lead by Havok. So I have no idea which is the main team anymore.

X-men has an issue every month as well. I don't know about sales.

Zip-Ity-Do-Da | April 25, 23:58 CET

Generally speaking, 'Uncanny X-Men' is considered the flagship title, since it's the once that debuted in the 60s (though at the time, it was just called 'X-Men'). Then 'X-Men' became 'Uncanny X-Men', and in the 90s Jim Lee started a *new* book taking over the title 'X-Men', which is still running (but was briefly retitled 'New X-Men' during Grant Morrison's run). Since then, a bunch of other X-Men books have drifted in and out (like Claremont's 'X-Treme X-Men' a few years ago). But Astonishing is their best selling X-Title right now, and it features the most X-Men staple characters (Cyclops, Beast, Wolverine) of any of the three running X-Books. So I guess it depends on how you define 'main team'.

[ edited by Typhon24 on 2006-04-25 22:51 ]

Typhon24 | April 26, 00:50 CET

Well, really technically, Uncanny X-Men would be the main book, as it's been around the longest by far, but I don't think you can really look at the books like that. All three are considered core books--they all deal with different characters (mostly) but all of those are X-Men.

And we have reason to be optimistic--both Uncanny and 'adjectiveless' are getting new creative teams this summer, and the writers lined up are Ed Brubaker and Mike Carey. Ed Brubaker is probably my favorite comic writer of the moment (Joss just doesn't write enough comics to earn that title) and Mike Carey, aside from having written the amazing Lucifer series, is a huge Joss-fan. ;-)

Niels van Eekelen | April 26, 00:57 CET

I agree with you Telltale about Brubaker. He's done amazing stuff on Cap, Daredevil, and Books of Doom. His run so far on Daredevil has been good, even with the spoilers released by marvel about the major character death months before the actual book was released. My favorite writer at the moment is actually Robert Kirkman, who you should all check out on Invincible, Battle Pope, Marvel Team Up, Walking Dead, Ultimate X-Men and the run he just completed on Marvel Zombies.

On another note, does anyone know more about what exactly Joss contributed on Civil War? It was discussed somewhat in this month's Wizard, but I was wondering if there was another article out there that went into more depth.

[ edited by theyarescientists on 2006-04-25 23:07 ]

theyarescientists | April 26, 01:04 CET

There was a thread on what Joss did for Civil War here and another one here. Hope that helps.

Paul_Rocks | April 26, 01:35 CET

Did anyone else get the Hardcover collection of the 12 issues? The emails were very droll and actually insightful and revealing. The second plot arc reads a lot better in one sitting. I really enjoyed it.

Simon | April 26, 02:38 CET

Wow, that's a brilliant preview. The line "Did I make you sad?" really got to me. And, yes, Joss' take on Cyclops is one of the most interesting in a good long while.

Telltale...Ed Brubaker is going to be writing an X-book? Holy shit! WOO! I am tres excited. His Captain America is the best version of Cap I've ever read, and in only three issues, his work on Daredevil has already been phenomenal.

And to whoever mentioned Robert Kirkman...yes, The Walking Dead is genius (I've only read the Vol. 1 TPB), but I don't care much for Marvel Team-Up.

UnpluggedCrazy | April 26, 03:27 CET

Simon, I also got the Hardcover collection of the first 12 issues. I had collected the other issues and their variants, so that wasn't new to me. I think it was just worth it to see Cassaday's art in a large format and I also agree that it was nice to be able to read the 2nd plot arc in one sitting. I had forgotten about the parts where Logan was thinking about beer and where Kitty said Bub, both of which made me giggle like a school girl.

theyarescientists | April 26, 03:37 CET

Phoenix: Oh, sweetie are you really comparing...Scott, love, you're just a man. I'm Phoenix.

Ouch.

Best. Line. Ever. between Scott and Emma-as-Jean.

But ouch.

Emma Frost | April 26, 03:55 CET

Love it!

Love when these X-ladies remember they are really the most powerful mutants and stop acting like defenseless,lovesick wall flowers.

Zip-Ity-Do-Da | April 26, 04:01 CET

Looks like the link is broken. Is it just on my end or is the preview gone?

TychoCelchuuu | April 26, 07:23 CET

What strikes me most about the preview pages is how distinctly I could see Joss's televisual style in the encounter between Cyclops and Emma-as-Jean. A lot is due to Cassaday's art, but I could feel the wind whipping and the soft, aching, dreamy quietness in which they spoke. I'm not a huge comic book reader (lots of Ellis, Moore, Joss, Gaiman, not much else), but that's something I never got from other writers. That feeling of all 5 senses working on me.

Actually what I wished was for the scene to be filmed by actors -- it felt like a dream sequence from "Restless". Wonderfully evocative and eerie.

dottikin | April 26, 07:50 CET

Every now and then Joss is asked what his favorite current comic books are... Powers is one of them. It is written by Brian Michael Bendis and takes place in its own structured universe that just keeps getting more detailed and elaborate. It is a fantastic book. I especially enjoyed collection #7 of that title.

Another title Joss mentioned liking is Runaways by Brian K. Vaughan. That one takes place in the Marvel universe but has many new twists on the superhero team thing.

Kyle Baker's very cartoony take on Plastic Man also made the Joss list, I seem to recall. PM is goofy but pure fun.

I'm just curious how many of the whedonesque comic book addicts have ventured into these titles and what do you think of them?

Hjermsted | April 26, 09:37 CET

Runaways is freaking brilliant. It's one of Marvel's best books out there. I got into it thanks to Vaughan's amazing run on Ultimate X-Men (another book that Joss NEEDS to write). I wouldn't mind seeing Joss on Young Avengers either, which is currently being written amazingly well by Allan Heinberg - who interestingly enough is writing the new relaunched Wonder Woman comic coming out this August. (Then again, I think Joss should write everything in existence, so I'm a bit biased.)

Wasn't Plastic Man cancelled, Hjermsted? It was a vastly underrated book, but one hell of an enjoyable read.

I actually haven't gotten into Powers as yet, though I've heard of the book.

Emma Frost | April 26, 09:51 CET

Civil War:
There was a story conference where some of Marvel's writers and editors were discussing Civil War, but they were having trouble finding a good ending. Then Joss came in, said hey, why not do this and this, and everyone thought it was genius. :-)

The Harcover:
Beautifully produced, and besides that, worth it for Joss's emails alone. I do hope he'll get around to some of those original ideas. Especially the 'gayathon' one, of course, and the one about instead of having the X-Men *do* stuff, having them just watch it on CNN and talking about it.

Kirkman:
Also good, yes, but I've soured a bit on The Walking Dead since I started hating the main character, and his Ultimate X-Men stuff has the misfortune of following on my favorite run on that book. Invincible's great, though.

Powers:
Oh yes, also a terrific book with complicated but cool characters. (And what other book can say it had a whole issue devoted to prehistoric apes? Talk about awesome...) ;-)

Plastic Man:
Was indeed cancelled. Not really my cup of tea, but highly regarded by the few who read it.

Niels van Eekelen | April 26, 11:27 CET

I received my hardcover yesterday, and my Amazon.com review (along with Ultimates 1 HC) has just gone live:

Needless to say, from production to content, it's excellent. My only regret is that I wish they'd included Joss' original pitch, as they did Morrison's for the New X-Men HC.

ReneRitchie | April 26, 17:55 CET

Well, went out and bought the issue...oh my God, I am once more in love with the series. So so so so so so brilliant.

Joss is the X-writer of the decade.

UnpluggedCrazy | April 27, 07:00 CET