MOVING INTO THE MANSION: AXEL ALONSO TALKS X-MEN

[MattBrady]

The news of Axel Alonso being named X-Men Group Editor came a little while back, and we've finally caught up with him for his views on the mutants, and what he wants to do.

Newsarama: So how'd you land the job as X-editor? Was it something you were vying for, and keeping an eye on, or did you just come into work this week, and notice that the nameplate on your door had been changed?

Axel Alonso: Joe Q and Dan [Buckley] thought this move made sense. I agreed. I wasn’t vying for the job.

NRAMA: This is probably going to sound more blunt than it’s meant to, but on a line of books like the X-books, what does an editor do? Thinking back over the years of X-Men stories, it seems that mostly, the eras were defined by the writers, rather than editors. You're inheriting the books with two strong writers on the core titles, so...is it a gentle hand on the wheel, Captain?

AA: The success of any line is the result of more than just the Group Editor. This is a team game – which involves the assistants and associates and, from time to time, the input of Joe and Dan. That said, the Group Editor oftentimes sets the tone for the line, determines what parameters creators work within, and exploits his creative relationships.

That said, I don’t expect to have any direct impact on the line for 8-12 months. Right now, the core titles are in good hands, and I say that as someone who lent his support to the many of the moves that put certain creators -- Brubaker, Carey, Billy Tan, etc. -- on key titles. As for Whedon and Cassaday – I was ecstatic when we landed them for Astonishing. I love what they’re doing, and what they’re planning for coming months.

NRAMA: Specifically, what books will you be editing?

AA: During this period of transition, I’m playing a background role, with an eye toward the future. That means relying on the guys who’ve been working on the X-books for years -- Nick [Lowe] and Sean [Ryan] – to do their jobs, as I come up to speed. As Executive Editor I’ve always been in the loop with the X-Men books, but not down to the minutia. Luckily, I have good long-term relationships with most of the guys working on the X-Men titles -- Cass, Craig [Kyle] and Christ [Yost], Billy Tan (X-23), Mike [Carey], etc.

NRAMA: Which books are you going to be leaving behind?

AA: Actually, that’s for a later announcement. I definitely want to see some things through to completion: certain story arcs, etc. And I won’t be abandoning books like Moon Knight, Punisher or Punisher War Journal, Ghost Rider or Black Panther.

NRAMA: For you, what "hooks" you about the X-Men as a concept? What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of them? The metaphors? The action? The soap opera?

AA: The metaphor. That’s at the core of the X-books for me. That’s what grabbed a hold of the hearts of so many readers – and inspired so many creators to do their best work.

NRAMA: You came to Marvel from a decidedly non-superhero background at DC, and in your years at Marvel, have worked both in and out of the costumed realm...what kind of perspective do you think this gives you with the X-Men?

AA: Well, at this stage I’ve got six years of experience editing super hero comics, so I’m hardly an indie or alternative guy. It’s just that maybe I tend to come at characters from odd angles. All I can do is bring the same perspective I had when I was handed the reins to Spider-Man or Hulk or Punisher or, say, Moon Knight. It all starts with research and listening. The first step is to figure out all the reasons that make these characters compelling.

NRAMA: The X-Men universe is probably the one with Marvel's most passionate fans (although Tom Brevoort would probably argue that point)...nothing personal meant at all, but you're not really...well, into that fanboy groove. Any concerns about relating to the fans and their issues?

AA: Hey, when I took over Spider-Man, there was a petition to get me fired! Before I’d even done anything. So I figure I’m going to take a pounding from the folks that hate that I hired Straczynski for Spider-Man or whatever. But that’s good – it motivates me. I want to approach my role in the X-Men Universe the way I do any other assignment.

NRAMA: Fair enough. In a nutshell, where's the X-Men universe right now? What, for lack of a better term, defines it?

AA: Right now, the thing that defines the X-Men Universe is the fact that being a mutant is, again, to be part of a very rare population. And to be vulnerable because of that.

NRAMA: What boundaries are yet to be pushed with the characters and world, or what boundaries could stand a return and another push?

AA: That isn’t the type of question I could – or should – attempt to answer now. Right now, it’s better for me to read, and talk, and listen to other people. Which is exactly what I’m doing.

NRAMA: Any immediate plans that you can mention, then?

AA: Too soon to comment. The core books are in good hands, and the plans for the immediate future are solid. Beyond that, it’s a matter of looking at the whole publishing plan, the future. And it’s been an interesting week, I’ll tell you that. I’ve had some interesting conversations with some interesting people.

NRAMA: Speaking of talking, who'll be helping you on the titles?

AA: Editors Nick Lowe and Andy Schmidt, and Assistant Editors Sean Ryan and Daniel Ketchum. Michael O’Connor will continue to assist me on the Wolverine titles. They’re all aces. Except Nick, who's a Queen or a Jack, I forget.

NRAMA: Finally, every editor has "their" creators that they've worked with over the years and occasionally bring to books they're working on. Anyone in your rolodex that you'd like to see take a swing at an X-story?

AA: No doubt, there are plenty of folks “in my Rolodex” that I am – or will be -- speaking with. And some who aren’t.

NRAMA: Chances of getting Garth Ennis to visit the X-mansion?

AA: That would be like scaling Everest.

[ejulp]

wish we would have gotten a bit more info out of him...but i'm really excited about this move.
while x-men and uncanny are way beyond solid reads (adjective-less, being my favorite x-title since Morrison's run), there really hasn't been a lot of shake up and excitement in the x-world, with all the attention on spider-man and the avengers...which is good since they were neglected for so long. still, with the x-men being the underdogs again (against the avengers sales wise), i'd like to see axel steal them back some thunder. i mean, whens the last time we had x-men news that blew us away ....2000-2001?(for some maybe it was "Astonishing") (not a dis to bru carey bachalo tan...i'm really happy with those books). even the events are Avengers based (House of M felt more New Avengers than X-men, as well as Civil War...once again i DID enjoy those reads, i just want pure X, lol).

[J.L.]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

NRAMA: Chances of getting Garth Ennis to visit the X-mansion?

AA: That would be like scaling Everest.

I don't even know what I would think if I ever sw that. It would be awsome, but since he doesn't like the X-Men I can only think that bad things would happen to them.

If he was on a Wolverine Max Series that would deffinatly be cool. To bad he hates Wolverine.

J.

[HeX111]

eh, no real info here... good to see he isn't coming in and just trying to push things in any direction right off the bat... and definately nice that he's going to just leave the creators working on the books that are already working on them... we've got 3 AWESOME creative teams working on the 3 X-Men titles, and some damn good creators working on the ancillary titles too... so I'd just sit back and wait and take all the praise and focus on the other books until time comes for any sort of changes...

[dalunt]

Originally Posted by ejulp

wish we would have gotten a bit more info out of him...but i'm really excited about this move.
while x-men and uncanny are way beyond solid reads (adjective-less, being my favorite x-title since Morrison's run), there really hasn't been a lot of shake up and excitement in the x-world, with all the attention on spider-man and the avengers...which is good since they were neglected for so long. still, with the x-men being the underdogs again (against the avengers sales wise), i'd like to see axel steal them back some thunder. i mean, whens the last time we had x-men news that blew us away ....2000-2001?(for some maybe it was "Astonishing") (not a dis to bru carey bachalo tan...i'm really happy with those books). even the events are Avengers based (House of M felt more New Avengers than X-men, as well as Civil War...once again i DID enjoy those reads, i just want pure X, lol).

I mostly agree with you, but as good as the X-titles are right now (ESPECIALLY regular X-men), I don't really mind that.

I honestly thought that UXM was gonna smoke X cause of Bru, but man oh man is Carey's blowing UXM out of the water in my opinion.

[RichJohnston]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

NRAMA: Chances of getting Garth Ennis to visit the X-mansion?

AA: That would be like scaling Everest.

Then it's going to happen. You do it because it's there.

[Ace]

The best news is absolutely that he's not going to rock the boat right now. Things are going great, why rock it?

The most frustrating news is that he sees the metaphor as the most interesting aspect of the X-Men.

I've said it before, but it's still something no one thinks about much. Past God Loves, Man Kills and to some extent Days of Future Past(which took it as far as it could go), all of the best X-Men stories (The Thomas/Adams stuff with the Living Pharoah, Hellfire Club/Dark Phoenix Saga, Brood Saga, Kulan Gath story, The Demon Bear story in New Mutants, Inferno and the Crosstime Caper over in Excalibur, the Asgardian Wars stuff that Art Adams did, the first 12 issues of Mutant X, Sinister ordering the death of the Morlocks), have all been out-there, larger than life, superhero stories where the metaphor is secondary to everything else. It's in the background, sure, but the story isn't about human/mutant relations. The most interesting stuff in Morrison's run, in my mind, moved past a lot of the human/mutant stuff and made it moot, by having a ton of mutants running around, which is apparently why they undid most of it in House of M.

I've been reading X-Men comics for 13 years, and the metaphor stuff bores me to tears. It's dreadful and often feels like slogging through mud. Everytime a Sentinel or the Friends of Humanity or the Church of Humanity shows up I want to put the comic down.

Now X-Men in Space, I love. X-Men fighting the Hellfire Club and Wolverine running around like a little priss, I love. X-Men fighting a new breed of beings who are trying to kill Sabertooth... Well ok, I don't necessarily love that, because it reminds me of the Neo and of Austen's Werewolves stuff, and of the Externals, but Carey's REALLY making it work by getting the characters spot on, which is one of the real keys to getting the X-Men right.

It doesn't mean that you can't do interesting things with the metaphor, but I'd rather see it in a more positive light than the racial angst and hate groups and public backlash we've gotten so many times before. I always wondered why everyone (except for Longshot) on the X-Men were always mutants. Why didn't Beast invite Wonder Man to join, or Ms. Marvel, or any number of non-mutant heroes, maybe even some without powers. If they're really pushing unity, wouldn't it be better to have a team with half mutants and half non mutants than all mutants?

I'm glad he's keeping the course right now, but I'm still a bit wary. If it means a really long Mike Carey run, though, then that's one way to keep me happy. So here's to that.

[Bird Flu Man]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

AA: Too soon to comment. The core books are in good hands, and the plans for the immediate future are solid. Beyond that, it’s a matter of looking at the whole publishing plan, the future. And it’s been an interesting week, I’ll tell you that. I’ve had some interesting conversations with some interesting people.

His job sounds so interesting.

[Scarlet Mage]

Originally Posted by dalunt

I mostly agree with you, but as good as the X-titles are right now (ESPECIALLY regular X-men), I don't really mind that.

I honestly thought that UXM was gonna smoke X cause of Bru, but man oh man is Carey's blowing UXM out of the water in my opinion.

If by blowing UXM out of the water you mean believing it's a mystery simply because you don't explain anything, recycling the tired third race enemy, and adding to the team characters that have been proven to not work on an X-team (Cable, Mystique (tho' he inherited her), and Sabre Tooth) then yeah, he's done that. XM is a confusing, ugly mess that I can't stand to see the cover of, let alone read. I'll be back when a better creative team takes over and by better I'd settle for the creative team from Archie comics.

[Bloodmage]

Originally Posted by J.L.

I don't even know what I would think if I ever sw that. It would be awsome, but since he doesn't like the X-Men I can only think that bad things would happen to them.

If he was on a Wolverine Max Series that would deffinatly be cool. To bad he hates Wolverine.

J.

See, if Ennis really does hate Wolverine, then a MAX Wolverine would be even better, because it would be 90% Wolvie getting the piss kicked out of him. I loved his Punisher issues with Wolverine getting shot in the nads, steamrolled, getting shot in the face so he'd shut up, etc.

I imagine a Garth Ennis Wolverine MAX book would probably be a 48 page one-shot, showing Wolvie shagging some redheads, talking about how he's the best there is at what he does ad nauseum and then proceeding to take the beating of his life for 20 or so pages until popping claws and tearing through the enemy ranks in spectacularly violent fashion. And then drinking beer, shagging some more, and possibly ending on him talking about being the best again, to provide satire about how predictable and cyclical Wolverine stories tend to be.

Garth, please write this, I'd love to see it on my bookshelf. Get Darick Robertson to draw it, or perhaps Leandro Fernandez....

[dantebk]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

NRAMA: Chances of getting Garth Ennis to visit the X-mansion?

AA: That would be like scaling Everest.

In terms of difficulty or level of accomplishment?

I, for one, do not think Ennis would be a good fit for the X-Men. He's a very talented writer, but that doesn't mean he can or should or would want to write every property or genre. I still look back in horror on his Spider-Man story for Tangled Web. Let him do his thing, and get the superhero fanboy writers on X-Men titles.

The only writer I'd be really jazzed to see take up an X-Men title would be Neil Gaiman. I think he proved in 1602 he could do some really interesting stuff with them.

[immortus]

Garth Ennis should do a revival of X-Statix. Or Liefeld's X-Force. Both would provide him the opportunity to take the piss.

[Fabledgoat]

[AA:Right now, the core titles are in good hands, and I say that as someone who lent his support to the many of the moves that put certain creators -- Brubaker, Carey, Billy Tan, etc. -- on key titles. As for Whedon and Cassaday – I was ecstatic when we landed them for Astonishing. I love what they’re doing, and what they’re planning for coming months.]

[NRAMA: Specifically, what books will you be editing? ]

[AA: Luckily, I have good long-term relationships with most of the guys working on the X-Men titles -- Cass, Craig [Kyle] and Christ [Yost], Billy Tan (X-23), Mike [Carey], etc.]

Funny how all through this entire article Axel mentions almost everyone working on the X-Books, but no-where does he mention Chris Bachello who's actually the only reason I'm picking up the X-Books right now. His Covers AND his artwork are simply amazing. Looks like a bit of an insult to not list the core teams in their entirety, let alone leave one person out not once, but twice in the same interview.

[Fabledgoat]

Originally Posted by Newsarama

AA:Right now, the core titles are in good hands, and I say that as someone who lent his support to the many of the moves that put certain creators -- Brubaker, Carey, Billy Tan, etc. -- on key titles. As for Whedon and Cassaday – I was ecstatic when we landed them for Astonishing. I love what they’re doing, and what they’re planning for coming months.

NRAMA: Specifically, what books will you be editing?

AA: Luckily, I have good long-term relationships with most of the guys working on the X-Men titles -- Cass, Craig [Kyle] and Christ [Yost], Billy Tan (X-23), Mike [Carey], etc.

Funny how all through this entire article Axel mentions almost everyone working on the X-Books, but no-where does he mention Chris Bachello who's actually the only reason I'm picking up the X-Books right now. His Covers AND his artwork are simply amazing. Looks like a bit of an insult to not list the core teams in their entirety, let alone leave one person out not once, but twice in the same interview. And using "etc" just doesn't cut it.

[Greg McElhatton]

Originally Posted by Fabledgoat

Funny how all through this entire article Axel mentions almost everyone working on the X-Books, but no-where does he mention Chris Bachello who's actually the only reason I'm picking up the X-Books right now. His Covers AND his artwork are simply amazing. Looks like a bit of an insult to not list the core teams in their entirety, let alone leave one person out not once, but twice in the same interview.

If you want to talk about showing respect to a creator, always make sure you're spelling his name right! (Chris Bachalo.)

If Axel Alonso doesn't have a former working relationship with Bachalo, I think it would've been pretty bad for him to have pretended he did, personally.

[samnoir]

Neil Gaiman doing an X-Men special project does sound intriguing!

I'm enjoying Brubaker on Uncanny, and Whedon and Cassady are really hitting their stride on Astonishing. I wonder who they have on tap to follow them?

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[monkeycrisis]

I'm just sad to see Gladiator getting punked by Vulcan there.

Gladiator rules

[Fabledgoat]

yah, I end up spelling it a different way each day of the week.

I'm just saying Axel could have at least mentioned him somewhere after listing off pretty close to all the main people working on the books. Good creators are hard to come by. Even if I spell his name wrong, I at least give him credit for the good work he's done! :P

[Stormbreaker]

Alonso didn't give us too much to work with, but that's ok. It sounds like he's just getting informed on the whos, whats and wheres, so its no biggie. As for Garth Ennis on an X-Title? No thanks. He does the Punisher well, but he wouldn't fit with an X-Book. As for the best X-Book right now? I'd say X-Men (Carey's characters are SPOT ON, but Bachalo is still either hit or miss. In one issue, he's great and the next he's garbled. No consistensy), followed by Uncanny (Bru's handling characters well, and Tan's doing well on pencils, but I hope they don't use Clayton Henry for ALL the Vulkan-centered issues...speaking of which, Vulcan still hasn't impressed me. He needs to make a statement concerning his "badassness." And, from the looks of it, tooling the Shi'ar Imperial Guard would certainly do that.) and thirded by Astonishing (whose poor pacing and bi-monthly schedule are KILLING IT SLOWLY). I don't read the others (New X-Men and the like), so I don't count those.

Oh, and sorry for all the parentheticals. I just felt them necessary.

[novak]

As long as Axel doesn't rock the boat, I'm happy. But as he said, things are already set for the next 8 months. It's not like he actually has to do anything.

Next summer/fall will be a pivotal time for the X-books. Uncanny and Adjectiveless will be ending their arcs, Astonishing will be ending the Whedon-era. Whedon has said has plans for a massive finish involving all three teams. Brubaker has said he doesn't know how his arc will end.

There's some huge decisions looming - who replaces Whedon and Cassaday, for instance. I can just see Axel bringing in some big name with no understanding of the X-book to shake things up and who wants to do a Morrison-ish re-do of the X-verse.

Emphasing the metaphor also bugs me. It's an important part, but most writers and editors have no idea how to use it, other than rehashing GLMK type stories.

What Whedon, Brubaker and Carey brought back was the essense of what Claremont did - great characters and how events affected them, and making readers care about the characters. The metaphor is lost without that.

[JadeFontaine]

Originally Posted by Scarlet Mage

If by blowing UXM out of the water you mean believing it's a mystery simply because you don't explain anything, recycling the tired third race enemy, and adding to the team characters that have been proven to not work on an X-team (Cable, Mystique (tho' he inherited her), and Sabre Tooth) then yeah, he's done that. XM is a confusing, ugly mess that I can't stand to see the cover of, let alone read. I'll be back when a better creative team takes over and by better I'd settle for the creative team from Archie comics.

Why are you being so aggressive and rude? So someone likes XM above UXM and loves the art? they clearly said it was based on their own opinion yet you've gone completely overboard and rude in your response.

You don't like XMN - fair enough. You don't like the writing or the art - cool - to each their own. However, that is no reason to trash talk about other peoples likes or talents. At least have the guts to say that in your opinion the art is messy and confusing and the writing feels rehashed of old tired ideas. Don't put yourself up on a pedestal as being 'a great authority' on what constitutes good/great artwork/writing - or you will be knocked done in a very unfriendly manner by many here.

[Fabledgoat]

I've got to agree with you Jade.

I didn't even read that post but now that I have it was totally uncalled for. Besides, I prefer the XMN line. The story is sound and interesting, and though some people regard Chris' art as up or down, I actually enjoy it.

As for the characters, I like the addition of Mystique and the controversy it'll bring with rogue, as well as Sabretooth in the mix. My only complaint was with Cable, whom I'm not a fan of. But hey, the story's been sound so far, so I'm willing to see where they're going to go with Cable.

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but if you can't respect someones opinion then you shouldn't be voicing your own opinion.

[red-maverick]

I'm glad that Axel unterstands that the X-men don't need to be tampered with, their perfect now, I personally love Carey's Adjectiveless, it's the greatest stuff X-men has seen in a while, I also like Bru and Whedon, but Carey I love the most, since he also happens to have a lot of my favourite characters, it's totally in continuity and story is just plain awsome.

[Michael P]

Originally Posted by Fabledgoat

Funny how all through this entire article Axel mentions almost everyone working on the X-Books, but no-where does he mention Chris Bachello who's actually the only reason I'm picking up the X-Books right now. His Covers AND his artwork are simply amazing. Looks like a bit of an insult to not list the core teams in their entirety, let alone leave one person out not once, but twice in the same interview. And using "etc" just doesn't cut it.

Hey, how about you let Chris decide if his honor has been impugned before riding in to the rescue, Jim Dandy?

[Liliaeth]

Originally Posted by immortus

Garth Ennis should do a revival of X-Statix. Or Liefeld's X-Force. Both would provide him the opportunity to take the piss.

Garth Ennis should stay a million miles away from any comic I actually like.

He can go mess with Thor as far as I'm concerned*eg*

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