ROBERTO SACASA ON NIGHTCRAWLER

[MattBrady]

by Matt Brady and Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

He’s been through a lot – years in near-exile from the main X-Men team, then a return, some pretty weird paternity issues, and now, thanks to Marvel’s “Reloaded” initiative on the X-titles, Nightcrawler is once again firmly a part of the X-Men. But bringing him back to the team was only part one.

Thanks in part of both the character’s showcase in X2 as well as both a company-wide expansion of the X-Men franchise, and the fact that he hadn’t had his own go at it since his 2002 miniseries, Kurt Wagner, a.k.a. the “fuzzy elf,” a.k.a. Nightcrawler gets his own ongoing series starting next month courtesy of Roberto (Marvel Knights 4) Aguirre-Sacasa and Darick (Wolverine) Robertson.

For Sacasa, a successful New York playwright who came to Marvel under less than ideal circumstances (he was originally to be the writer replacing Mark Waid on Fantastic Four, whose firing caused a huge fan outcry – and was later given his own FF title, the earlier mentioned 4 to run concurrently to the main FF series), the roots of his stint as Nightcrawler’s writer run back to his earliest days with the publisher.

“A few months into MK4’s run, after people had read the first arc and were responding pretty positively to it - at least, I think and hope they were… I know my brother and sister were liking it, at least, Marvel and I started talking about a follow-up,” Sacasa told Newsarama. “A second monthly book or a mini-series or something. So I pitched a Mary Jane series, but not a Mary Jane in high school series—which was the direction Marvel ultimately decided to take—but a Mary Jane as a grown-up and married to Spider-Man series. A struggling actress in New York/super hero-widow type of thing, which I thought could be fun. And while we were waiting to hear on that, Teresa Focarile, one of Marvel’s talent-coordinators at the time, put me in touch with X-Editor extraordinaire Mike Marts, and one of the characters we talked about was Nightcrawler.”

A fan of the character from the start (“I was always glad whenever he popped up in whatever X-Men comic book I happened to be reading at the time”), Sacasa was immediately intrigued by the idea to tackle the character – and really establish him as his own man…er, mutant.

“One of the things Mike I talked about when we were first getting started—and then Darick and I talked about and have continued to talk about—was how there’s never been one definitive take on Nightcrawler,” the writer said. “There’s Nightcrawler, the religious guy… Nightcrawler, the swashbuckling pirate guy… Nightcrawler, the suave ladies’ man… Nightcrawler, the self-conscious-about-his-appearance mutant… Nightcrawler, the philosopher… And on and on…

“What we’ve ended up doing in a weird way is taking elements from all those different incarnations—the ones we liked, I mean—and made them individual traits of a whole character, not substitute them for who the character is, if that makes sense. So I guess our take borrows a little bit from all those versions without being limited by any particular one.”

So, clarifying even further, Sacasa said he sees Nightcrawler’s spirituality, which has had varying levels of importance for the character, depending upon the writer handling him, as one aspect of Kurt’s personality, not the whole of his being. “Character is action, after all, so hopefully we’ll get to know Kurt—and what kind of person he is—by what he does, as opposed to by seeing him brood and meditate and pray and be introspective a lot,” Sacasa said. “I mean, Kurt’s a truly decent, thoughtful, sensitive guy—apart from his spirituality, you know?”

That’s not to say that Sacasa doesn’t see Wagner as a man with a host of issues below the surface. While he’s not quite the tortured soul, as portrayed by Alan Cumming in X2, Sacasa feels that Nightcrawler’s none-too-happy past still reverberates.

“As Darick reminds me every time we talk, when Kurt was a kid, he was chased by a mob of angry villagers brandishing torches,” Sacasa said. “Which, I mean…I’m not a psychologist…but that affects you, obviously. You don’t ever truly work that kind of trauma out of your system, I’ve been told. And that’s not even bringing up the issue of how you deal with Mystique being your mom… So yeah, Kurt is—like many of us—a tortured individual, and that stuff is definitely swirling around underneath the surface, but at least to start—in the first few stories—it’s going to be emotional subtext, not text. Kurt’s going to have plenty to deal with the moment without being all angst-y about his childhood.”

Speaking of Sacasa’s collaborator on the series, anyone who’s seen one of Marvel’s “Cup ‘O Joe” panels at a convention has seen Marvel’s editor in chief, Joe Quesada gleefully showing off a picture of Robertson in his early teens, dressed as Nightcrawler (including blue face paint) for Halloween. Passion for a character like that, Sacasa said, is something you don’t find every day.

“The guy is a huge Nightcrawler fan and has a boundless—and infectious—passion for the character,” the writer said. “In fact, the last time I was at the X-Offices at Marvel, we were trying to figure out what kind of blurb we should put on the cover of our first issue. You know, something like… ‘At last, in his own series!’ And Stephanie suggested putting ‘At last in his own series—because Darick demanded it!’ And, I’ve been a huge fan of his work for a long time—so much so, in fact, that when I got the Nightcrawler gig, I remember thinking that I wanted Marvel to assign ‘the guy that drew that great Nightcrawler/Wolverine story in Wolverine #6.’ That guy being, of course, Darick. And the stuff he’s turned in so far has been pretty spectacular. Really moody and horrific when it needs to be, but combined with a lot of subtlety, as well. Because really, there are a lot of quiet moments in the series—conversations and character moments—that Darick, thank God, makes as dynamic as most super hero fights. Plus, he draws the curviest, loveliest ladies around. Wait until you see his Night Nurse…

“Also, on a personal level, he’s a great guy to talk to about comics and the business. He’s been around a lot longer than I have, but he doesn’t pull any weird seniority stuff with me. Really, I feel like we’re pretty much equal partners, working together closely—we talk a lot—to put out the best Nightcrawler book we possible can. So he makes suggestions about my story and I listen to them, and although I haven’t yet because his stuff’s totally kicking ass, I’m sure I could make suggestions about his art and he’d listen. (Right, Darick?)

“Although, I’ve got to tell you that I can’t imagine anyone being harder on Darick than he is on himself. Like, he’ll draw a totally brilliant page, e-mail it to me, it’ll blow me away…and then the next morning, there’ll be another version of the same page from Darick on my e-mail—even better than the first—and he’ll have written a note like: ‘Wasn’t totally happy with what I’d drawn… What do you think of this?’ Which, considering how much of comics-making is like meatball surgery, is pretty damn amazing.”

Back to the character, something the book won’t be dealing with is any of the implications of Kurt’s recently-revealed “origin” in “The Draco” storyline from Uncanny X-Men. “I read ‘The Draco’—but it just doesn’t fit in with the kind of stories were going to be telling in Nightcrawler - at least not at first,” Sacasa said. “Also, it’s really important for all of us working on the book that people who haven’t read ‘The Draco’ don’t feel like they’re missing some essential part of Kurt’s history when they pick up our book—which they won’t be. Although we’re not ignoring continuity, it’s going to be dealt with on ‘as needed’ basis. And whatever you’re going to need to know to enjoy the story will be there in the pages of our book.”

Sticking with that theme of not playing the extreme “tortured soul” as he’s been occasionally portrayed, Sacasa said that in the new series, there won’t be an image-inducer to make him pass as a normal human. He’s not wallowing self-pity due to his appearance.

“That said, I do think of Kurt—and Darick thinks of Kurt—as an outsider,” Sacasa added. “And in our series, he is definitely drawn into stories involving other outsiders. He becomes, in a way, their champion. He gives them a voice—and is looking out for their best interests.”

The writer was also quick to add that his and Robertson’s portrayal of the character won’t ignore his happy go-lucky side either. “The first arc, ‘The Devil Inside,’ is pretty serious, but I don’t want to turn Kurt into a downer,” Sacasa said. “Because he isn’t. And even when the proceedings get grim and gruesome around him, as they do—fast—in ‘The Devil Inside,’ Kurt tries to maintain a sense of humor about things. A sense of irony. “

On the first arc (four parts, by the by) front, Sacasa pointed to the forefathers of his and Robertson’s inaugural Nightcrawler arc. “It’s an occult mystery in the tradition of Angel Heart, that great - in my opinion - Mickey Rourke, Robert DeNiro, Lisa Bonet movie, with definite nods to The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby throw in for good measure. It starts with the horrific murder of thirteen children—which Storm asks Kurt to investigate—and then just keeps spiraling downwards into the abyss from there.

“I will say that there’s more than one big bad guy. There’s at least two, and quite possibly as many as fifteen or sixteen…”

Storm’s appearance won’t be just a one time thing by a member of Nightcrawler’s X-Men family, as Sacasa said that the mutants will be popping in and out as needed by the respective stories. “We’ll see everything from cameos to major team-ups, hopefully,” the writer said. “I mean, this is Kurt’s book, no question, but his friends—his family—his support-group—are, by and large, the X-Men, so they’ll be popping up all over. It’s like we’d have to go out of our way to not include them, you know? And Storm’s sort of functioning as Kurt’s boss in the series, his advisor, so she’s a major player…”

In more ways than one, maybe, as Sacasa said that he’s planning on introducing a new love interest for Kurt, as well as bring back some old girlfriends, and even play up some of the sexual tension with Storm. “All that and more, True Believers,” Sacasa added, with a chuckle.

And after the initial arc?

“We’ve got a two-parter called ‘Night Trains’ - I think, set—largely—in the subway tunnels beneath New York City,” Sacasa said. “After that, we’ll see, but I’ve got an idea for a story that might be called ‘Blue Moon Rising,’ which probably tells you something. And Darick and I were just talking last night about how great it would be to have Kurt and Logan go on a buddy-type road trip adventure together and see what kind of trouble they might get mixed-up in…”

[Steve Wasser]

Out of all of the X-Men, I think that Nightcrawler has the most depth and story potential. It doesn't hurt that he looks amazing.

With Sacasa and Robertson, this book has a fantastic team and is bound to pop.

It'll be great to have the best of both worlds: a spotlight on a great character but still be able to see him with the main team in the group book (kind of the way I feel about Flash and Green Lantern).

This book will go the distance.

[DaveM]

Of all the new Solo X-Men titles, I think this one has the most potential. I've always been a big fan of Nightcrawler, but don't think he's had a chance to shine much lately. The Draco story was particularly awful (IMO). I'm glad to hear the creators love the character as much as I do.

[xdemon]

Back to the character, something the book won’t be dealing with is any of the implications of Kurt’s recently-revealed “origin” in “The Draco” storyline from Uncanny X-Men. “I read ‘The Draco’—but it just doesn’t fit in with the kind of stories were going to be telling in Nightcrawler - at least not at first,” Sacasa said. “Also, it’s really important for all of us working on the book that people who haven’t read ‘The Draco’ don’t feel like they’re missing some essential part of Kurt’s history when they pick up our book—which they won’t be. Although we’re not ignoring continuity, it’s going to be dealt with on ‘as needed’ basis. And whatever you’re going to need to know to enjoy the story will be there in the pages of our book.”

Thank god for small favors.


Sacasa and Robertson really seem to have a passion and understanding for Kurt. I am looking forward to the series.

[MatthewSmith]

YES!!!

I'm a total sucker for a good Nightcrawler story, and this looks to be one. I was greatly ticked off with how Austen was handling his character, but this looks to be a step in the right direction.

[SuperStories]

Is The Draco being turned into the clone saga, a "Don't say, try to avoid" situation?

[xpositive]

Originally posted by MattBrady

Back to the character, something the book won’t be dealing with is any of the implications of Kurt’s recently-revealed “origin” in “The Dracon” storyline from Uncanny X-Men. “I read ‘The Draco’—but it just doesn’t fit in with the kind of stories were going to be telling in Nightcrawler - at least not at first,” Sacasa said. “Also, it’s really important for all of us working on the book that people who haven’t read ‘The Draco’ don’t feel like they’re missing some essential part of Kurt’s history when they pick up our book—which they won’t be. Although we’re not ignoring continuity, it’s going to be dealt with on ‘as needed’ basis. And whatever you’re going to need to know to enjoy the story will be there in the pages of our book.”

I'm more than willing to just completely and totally ignore everything Austen did to the team. You can say that the The Draco was a lie, dream, whatever. It was just stupid. If a demon had to be the father, why the hell was it not Belasco. Damn, Kurt BECOMES Belasco in the Earth X saga.

All they have to do is say Azazel was full of it and leave it at that. That was by far the dumbest storyline ever (though rivaled by She Lies with Angels and the current Xorn story). He ported Mystique in for no reason (she just kinda stood there), changed Abyss from weird reality altering kinda freak to ugly Nightcrawler guy, and just plain sucked all over the place.

So go at it. Make whatever Nightcrawler story you want, just don't use Austen as a reference. I like Claremont's origin for him. Destiny was the mother ... and Mystique is the father. There. Weird, funny, and fits with the characters. I mean come on, Mystique and Destiny obviously had something going on.

I miss the old swashbuckler days of Kurt, not this religious tortured soul thing. It's fine to keep the inner demons and new spiritual path going, but don't ignore what he used to be.

[saiyanspider]

Nightcrawler kicks @$$ look forward to this book.

[BlueBeetleIII]

I'll wait an see on this. Love Nightcrawler.

But the best mini was Dave Cockrums from the 80's. That was the defivitive Nightcrawler.

Plus I'm always a bit biased on how Kurt is drawn. There are only two great Kurt artists. Cockrum and Davis.

[cyclopsfan]

This is going to be great!

[RTheLastFan]

Can't wait to read this book! Niightcrawler has always been my favorite X-Man, and those pages just look gorgeous. Some people might be souring on 4, but I feel like Sacasa will do a great job establishing Kurt as a real character beyond some of the stereotypical stuff that we all know (Christian Demon, etc...)

[YDLM]

I cant wait to get this, Roberto run on 4 has really impressed me, and from the looks of it, we are going to get some of the best work in Darick's career.

[Defunkt]

[i]Originally posted by MattBrady
....



..and even play up some of the sexual tension with Storm. “All that and more, True Believers,” Sacasa added, with a chuckle.

Storm and Nightcrawler are my all time fave XM. I was for ,a very long time, a Ro/Remy shipper how odd that couple may be, I really thought it had potential because they had a history together.

But Kurt and Ororo!!! That pairing really is odd and I LIKE the thought of it.
Damn I hope Sacasa has the b*lls to pair up Kurt en 'Ro!!

Really, can't wait to have the book in my hands and DR art..love his art ever since New Warriors.

[mpg]

robertson's art is exploding of the page

this book might be real good

[stlfan79]

Although I didn't care for Knights 4 (besides the beautiful Steve McNiven artwork) I ordered this any how. Nightcrawler is such a great character that he needed a shot in an ongoing. It sounds lik Sacasa has a lot planned for the little elf and I bet with his playwriting experience he can really flesh out the character.

[siskods9]

The marvel knights book he writes has been boring garbage to me so i dont hold high hopes for this one being any better.

[Hdefined]

Originally posted by Steve Wasser

This book will go the distance.

You call six issues "the distance"?

[Hdefined]

The fall flooding of solo X-books hath commenced. Ugh to infinity.

[FIG]

Is it me or has Daerick Robertson gotten much better at drawing?-I mean hes awesome to begin with but this work looks much better. I'm picking this one up without a doubt.

[Kolimar]

Great.

[sonicsprawl]

I've really been digging MK4 since the begining, so for that reason, and the sample art, I'll give this a try. I love Nightcrawler and am glad he's getting his own shot, but does every X-Man need their own series? Wolvie, fine. Gambit and Rouge though?
Where's my Blob and Pyro series. Heck lets just expand and give everyone whose in or has been in a team book a series.
D-Man! The Series!....sweet!

[Dave Accampo]

Dammit. I've really had to tighten my comics budget, so I haven't been pre-ordering any of these X spin-offs, and honestly, I'm not really a huge X-men fan, but...

1) Nightcrawler has always been one of my favorites. I loved seeing him on the big screen in X2.

2) Sacasa is a good writer. And he understands "Character is Action." When writers show me they understand the tools and craft of fiction, that's a huge plus for me. Continuity? Not so important to me. Using various elements of his past to create a whole (fictitious) human being? That's the start of good drama.

3) Darick Robertson.

4) Occult Mystery first arc....ooooh, I'm a sucker for this stuff. And he referenced Angel Heart, The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby. Damn you, Sacasa!


I might just have to pick this up after all. But that means something else has to go....aggggh....

[minmin]

*BAMF*

I LOVE NIGHTCRAWLER!!!

*BAMF*

I am cautiously optimistic about the series.

Darick has come a long from his New Warrior days... but my favorite incarnation of Nightcrawler was during Alan Davis' Excalibur run.

[The Creeper]

AAAAHHHHH!


More Darick goodness!

[The Creeper]

Originally posted by FIG
Is it me or has Daerick Robertson gotten much better at drawing?-I mean hes awesome to begin with but this work looks much better. I'm picking this one up without a doubt.

YES IT HAS!!!