ONCE UPON A TIME…: CEBULSKI ON TELLING X-MEN: FAIRY TALES

[MattBrady]

by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

Telling X-Men stories is like telling modern-day folklores and fairy tales.

Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, virtually all of the elements are there (although surely The Brothers Grimm never imagined their stories going on for over 30 years) – danger, heroes, monsters, and morals – all (ideally) speaking to larger truths. Over the years, hundreds of creators have contributed to the X-Men folklore, producing stories from the classic “Dark Phoenix Saga” to “Riot at Xavier’s.” From “Age of Apocalypse” to “Onslaught.” From “God Loves, Man Kills,” to “Days of Future Past.”

Next month, in the tradition of the classic X-Men story “Kity’s Fairy Tale,” writer C.B. Cebulski makes the fairy tale/X-Men connection a little stronger by taking Marvel’s mutants and thrusting them into whole new worlds of myths and fables in the four-issue X-Men: Fairy Tales.

Can Cebulski and artists Sana Takeda, Kyle Baker, Kei Kobayashi and Bill Sienkiewicz’s X-Men: Fairy Tales give Hans Christian Andersen, The Brothers Grimm, Tuan Ch’ing-Shih, Joseph Jacobs, Robert Southey, Carlo Collodi, L. Frank Baum and other authors’ timeless classics a run for their money?

Like all things fairy tales and folklores, only time will tell.

We turned to Cebulski for some bedtime stories…

Newsarama: Momoutarō-san, momotarō-san
Okoshini tsuketa kibidango
Hitotsu watashi ni kudasai na!
Agemashou, agemashou…

Sorry, got carried away with the popular children’s song. So, the first issue is a reimagining of the legend of Momotaro, a hero from Japanese folklore. The difference between the original Peach-Boy and the Marvel version is that the boy who came to earth inside a giant peach is now one with a peach pit for an eye who shoots ruby-red optic blasts. Firstly, for the sake of those who’re unfamiliar with the legend of Momotaro, could you give your compressed version of it?

C.B. Cebulski: In a nutshell, the original story of Momotaro is about a boy [who] is found inside a giant peach and raised by kindly old woodcutters. When he's old enough, he sets off to battle ogres who threaten his lands. Along the way he meets a cast of animal characters who he befriends that accompany him on his journey and assist him in his battle. We've taken the general setting here and tweaked it a bit, but it remains very similar at its core. (Pun intended)

NRAMA: Of all the Japanese folktales available such as “The Tale of the Two Frogs,” “The Mirror of Matsuyama,” “Visu the Woodsman and the Old Priest,” “The Tongue-Cut Sparrow,” “TA Woman and the Bell of Miidera,” etc, why did you choose the story of the Little Peachling?

CBC: Momotaro is one of the best known and most beloved of Japanese folktales. And for me, it's one of my favorites. Plus, when looking for tales that corresponded to X-Men adventures, this one fit the bill perfectly with its themes, cast members and morals.

NRAMA: Clearly, this four-issue limited series was created in the tradition of "Kitty's Fairy Tale” from Uncanny X-Men #153. And there was also a story of the X-Men set in a time of sword and sorcery told by Todd Dezago and Mike Wieringo in Wizard’s X-Men #1/2.

CBC: Don’t forget Uncanny X-Men Annual #8.



NRAMA: But how did this project come about in the first place? Why now?

CBC: After leaving Marvel, it was one of the first things I pitched them. I grew up in a very international environment and developed a love of fairy tales and folk stories from a very young age. I was back issue hunting at Wizard World Philly last year and came across copies of both these X-Men issues [UXM #153 and UXM Annual #8]. After rereading them, I thought it was a cool concept that Marvel should definitely revisit and wrote up my ideas. I'm glad they agreed.

NRAMA: Why the X-Men, instead of other Marvel characters?

CBC: As the inspiration for this came from Uncanny X-Men #153 and Annual #8, it just seemed like a natural fit for the launch. But don't worry, I have plenty of Avengers Fairy Tales in mind!

NRAMA: In the original story, Momotaro was befriended by a talking dog, monkey and pheasant on his quest to destroy oni or demons. The cover to the first issue shows that there’s clearly a dog, pheasant… and Beast?

CBC: No, as you'll see in the interior art, it's a monkey.

NRAMA: Sana Takeda, who’s also drawing Drain, your centuries-spanning vampire epic, is illustrating the first issue. In what way does the artist bring your ideas to life? After all, her work is not familiar to most American readers compared to guys like Katsuhiro Otomo, Masamune Shirow, Kia Asamiya, CLAMP, etc…

CBC: Going from a dark, bloody vampire epic to a more light-hearted fairy tale may seem like a stretch, but I think it speak volumes about Sana's abilities as an artist. We really wanted to give the first issue a more classic painted feel and Sana did a few samples for us. The softer touch she brought to the project was just what we were looking for.

NRAMA: The second issue features the work of Kyle Baker and deals with the tragic origin of Professor Xavier and Magneto, reimagined/retold from “The Friendship of the Tortoise and the Eagle.”

CBC: I told [editor] Nate [Cosby] that I'm going to love him forever for getting Kyle to do this story!

NRAMA: Why did you choose to base it on the ancient Central African tale?

CBC: The African folktale, The Friendship of the Tortoise and the Eagle, was one I came across in my research. It was originally supposed to be a different African myth, but I just couldn't get the story to meld correctly with the X-Men adventure I had in mind. But when I came across this one, a story of the ups and down of a lifelong friendship, I immediately saw a parallel to the lives of Xavier and Magneto and it just clicked.

NRAMA: And who’s the frog in the story?

CBC: A few different X-Men characters show up in different forms in the story.

NRAMA: Moving on, didn’t you announced at WizardWorld LA that issue #3 was supposed to feature a Grimm fairy tales retold as the "Dark Phoenix Saga" by Bill Sienkiewicz? Instead, issue #3 retells the romance of Rogue and Gambit, with voodoo and black magic thrown in? Is Sienkiewicz still on for #4, perhaps?

CBC: Bill Sienkiewicz! Can you believe it?! Yes, Bill is still involved. His story has been moved to issue #4, as you wisely guessed. I recently saw all the pencils and they look amazing!

Issue #3, our Southern Fairy tale, was originally supposed to be Peter and the Wolf retold using the origins of Wolverine and Colossus, but my editors felt that it was too close in nature to Momotaro story. So we're holding that off for another day. But when Nate suggested doing an old Southern ghost story, Rogue and Gambit seemed like the natural fit.

And we couldn't do a series of fairy tales without tipping our hate to the Brothers Grimm. The hardest part about make this issue work was figuring out which stories to use. There were so many that were just perfect that in the end we had to pick and choose just a handful of classic characters that we could incorporate into this Dark Phoenix retelling, which begins of course, with the Cylcops kissing and waking out "sleeping beauty" Jean Grey.

NRAMA: With interiors by Kei Kobayashi, who’s previously collaborated with you on the I (Heart) Marvel: AI special, and cover by French illustrator Claire Wendling, what makes you think that the artists would be perfect for a story set in the American South?

CBC: For me, it was all about setting a mood, and that's what Kei does. In capturing the feel of these characters in that spooky setting, he nails it. He uses heavy inks to convey shadows and darkness while capturing more detail with his pen that you could possibly imagine.

And Claire Wendling... what can I say?! She's one of the most acclaimed artists in the world and on my list of "top five people I would kill to work with." And I didn't even have to kill anyone! I cannot even begin to tell you the response I have gotten to her cover.

I've never seen anything like it. More people have e-mailed me about that cover than you would believe.

NRAMA: Is this Kei Kobayashi the same Japanese jazz singer who's billed as "the Harry Connick Jr of Japan"?

CBC: No, this Kei Kobayashi is a young artist who is quickly becoming one of the most acclaimed illustrators in Japan for his hyper-detailed yet flowing brush and pen work. It's a style that's truly unique and original and being lauded and looked at by several big name Japanese illustrators and manga-ka. You can check out Kei's site at www.no-k.net

NRAMA: Lastly, if this project proves to be a success and you’re given the green light to produce another mini-series, which other folk tales and legends that you’d like to retell, and why?

CBC: Oh, I've already got a long list... Aside from revisiting that Peter and the Wolf story I mentioned earlier, tackling a Native American legend with Dani Moonstar and a Korean folktale with Karma would be next. The X-Men are truly international characters and their backgrounds and upbringings have always been featured prominently in their stories over the years. With these fairy tales, we get to expose readers to aspects of foreign culture and literature they might not normal get a chance to see by using X-Men mythos as our basis.

[sequart]

interiors by Kei Kobayashi, who’s previously collaborated with you on the I (Heart) Marvel: AI special, and cover by French illustrator Claire Wendling

Some great choices by Marvel management here. I'll definitely be picking this up!

[cynic79]

I love the Momotaro story, so I'll definitely be picking this one up!

[bishop-m]

I remember uncanny x-men 153 being one of my favorites growing up. When I first heard of this, I was like, another X mini series, but after seeing who was involved, I quickly changed my mind. This has already been added to the pull list. I can't wait!

[shady878]

This is very interesting. It's not the kind of mini they usually do (which is great) and the art by Kei Kobayashi looks fabulous, I might just pick this bad boy up. Oh yeah the color looks great too, very bright and fits with the tone of this kind of book.

[man_nanny]

My curiosity is definitely piqued, now. Kudos to Marvel for trying something different.

[Michael P]

"And there was also a story of the X-Men set in a time of sword and sorcery told by Todd Dezago and Mike Wieringo in Wizard’s X-Men #1/2."

I was not aware of that. I'll have to look for that one at my next convention.

[User Name]

Interesting.

This will be either one of the most fun and unique things that have come out of the X-office in a while or a complete and total train wreck.

I'm hoping for choice number 1

[RammerM]

It would be smart if Marvel reprints these X-Men issues, all together in a nice trade slated along with the release of this mini series (or before). Are you reading this Marvel?

I think this is a great idea and it makes readers aware of other worldly fairytales, not just Grimm or such etc. (not that they suck, it's just that there're more great tales out there, from all over).

All the art work looks great, but I'm glad I am introduced to the work of Kei Kobayashi. I'mma be slowly perusing his website tonight while eating popcorn and a soda.

[OcCaM]

Hmmmm I'm going to do something I rarely do with Marvel and that's not wait for the tpb!!

I'm really looking forward to this. It just looks fun! Normally, the only thing I don't wait for the trades is a Spidey Unlimited I want, since they're not collected in tpb. Also, those "5th week event" special comics I get in singles as I rarely want all of them. Welll, that wasn't true with the 1st batch of What If's or Capt. Universe or those Monster one-shots, but usually they are. With the I ♥ Marvel I only wanted 2 of the issues and thus it would be a waste of money to get the tpb. Ditto on the last What If batch because it all looked like crap except one. Ditto on the forthcoming western, as only the Dan Slott one appeals to me.

So, this really is an exception as I could wait for the tpb, but I really want to give this one double support!

Odd thing is, when I was younger I HATED X-Men #153. Still isn't one of my favorites to this day! When I was younger all I could remember is thinking how rude of Marvel to put tihs crap within the X-Men and make me wait another month for the X-Men. Almost dropped the title then and there! Fortunately, I didn't until Quesada came along...

Anyway, great art choices all! Probably the weakest to me is the Gambit/Rogue one, but that's ok I love the characters so it's fine by me! Esp. since I've not read anything with Rogue in it for ages!

[Oh and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't collect this in one of those tiny, crappy paper digests! You listening Gabriel, Gruenwald and the rest of the Collections dept.?]

[Floodnado]

God, that Sana Takeda art is gorgeous. Get her on more stuff like right now, Marvel!

Anyway, this is a great concept; shame it's only a mini though. I'll definitely be checking it out, though.

[Moriarty]

This looks kick-ass; I can't wait.

[AlexLothos]

These look really good!

[rogue_tomato]

Originally Posted by User Name

Interesting.

This will be either one of the most fun and unique things that have come out of the X-office in a while or a complete and total train wreck.

I'm hoping for choice number 1

Seconded

Hopefully not collected in the too-tiny diges format

[innocentboy]

interesting ...

looking forward to seeing these on the shelves

[AdamYJ]

This looks fun. I'm looking forward to it. I already love the X-Men. On top of that, I've also gotten into folklore recently. I'm still working my way through Russian Fairy Tales from the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library.

[UberShep]

Those pages look like a high school junior manga freak drew them in after school art club. Absolute rubbish. America's Japanese fetish has gotten way, way out of hand.

[mousefolk]

When announced I thought that this was just going to be more X-Filler, of course I'd still pick up the the Sienkiewicz issue, but after reading this I think the idea of matching the characters' heritage and folklore would be a real strength and give this some legs. Although Cyclops isn't Japanese and neither Prof X or Magneto are African, if Marvel revists this concept I think the multinationalism of the X-Men should be a strong focus.

xo
Kevin

[AdamYJ]

I know I've already posted, but I thought I'd just throw in my support for this mini again. It's pretty darn cool that Marvel is paying homage to these old stories. After all, these old stories are where the grand storytelling tradition started. Back before television or widespread literacy, people used to entertain each other by telling each other these stories from memory. The listeners would then pass on the stories to new people. It's kind of sad that oral storytelling without the aid of a book has become such a lost art, even if we did get literacy in the bargain.

I wonder if the Gambit and Rogue story is based on a real ghost story from the Southern US?

[The Marvel]

Thank goodness for this series. I was just thinking the other day about how there aren't enough X-books on the market. I'm glad someone at Marvel discovered the oversight and corrected it.

Bravo, old chap.

[AdamYJ]

Originally Posted by The Marvel

Thank goodness for this series. I was just thinking the other day about how there aren't enough X-books on the market. I'm glad someone at Marvel discovered the oversight and corrected it.

Bravo, old chap.

It's not a big deal. It's four issues of out-of-continuity fun. An entertaining aside, at most. It's not like it affects the canon or anything.

I'm probably looking forward to this series more than most regular X-books.

[Not From Around]

Originally Posted by man_nanny

My curiosity is definitely piqued, now. Kudos to Marvel for trying something different.

Well, half-different, anyway. It's still X-Men, after all. They never try anything completely different. Very nearly everything they do is still an iteration of an established property.

[Not From Around]

[quote=AdamYJ]It's pretty darn cool that Marvel is paying homage to these old stories. After all, these old stories are where the grand storytelling tradition started. Back before television or widespread literacy, people used to entertain each other by telling each other these stories from memory. The listeners would then pass on the stories to new people. It's kind of sad that oral storytelling without the aid of a book has become such a lost art, even if we did get literacy in the bargain.
QUOTE]

There are still good oral storytellers among us. Just a couple of days ago my father told me about a clock that his grandfather owned that struck thirteen on two different occasions. Each time somebody he knew died. He locked the clock so it wouldn't run after that. It was later restored and ran for many years with no more disturbing incidents.

Today the "death clock" sits in my parents' living room.

[AdamYJ]

Originally Posted by Not From Around

There are still good oral storytellers among us. Just a couple of days ago my father told me about a clock that his grandfather owned that struck thirteen on two different occasions. Each time somebody he knew died. He locked the clock so it wouldn't run after that. It was later restored and ran for many years with no more disturbing incidents.

Today the "death clock" sits in my parents' living room.

Yes, there are. I was probably a little overzealous in my statements. I just find the whole oral tradition fascinating, and passion can lead to exaggeration.

There's actually a storytelling festival coming to the local libraries this week. I was going to see if I could get tickets to one of the events.

[Not From Around]

Originally Posted by AdamYJ

There's actually a storytelling festival coming to the local libraries this week. I was going to see if I could get tickets to one of the events.

A storytelling festival at the library, huh? Sounds great! We need to try something like that here some time.