280: what's your exit plan?
Hullo.
Forever Since Last Issue
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And the artist previously known as Immortal X-men is back.
It's a weird one, this. At its heart this is Immortal X-men #19, and is basically material I was planning to be released in January, alongside rotPoX 1. When Marvel's publication plans meant they wanted it in March, it needs to serve a different purpose. We join rotPoX in motion, and then leave nagging questions to explain two months into the event. The material was remixed for this purpose a little (and it's a 30 page issue - a hypothetical Immortal 19 wouldn't have been, probably). A little distance between Xavier and the reader is useful, and I tried to write into that. What's he up to? How did he get here? And here we say why. Or at least, some of it.
Despite all the above, I'm quite fond of the issue. All the characters get fun stuff. Luca Maresca gets to do some wonderful period scenes, and reprises some of Lucas' scenes with a remix. It flips over a lot of Immortal X-men cards , and sets things in motion for the climax. That three issues of this mini basically happen between rotPoX 4 and 5 is something else, right? But I'll talk about that down the line, as that's yet more mysteries I don't want to reveal.
Here's the first couple of pages of the issue...
…and there's some more from later in the issue in the preview.
Next week – Rise of the Powers of X #3, where everyone sits down, talks it out, and comes to a reasonable compromise, meaning the rest of the event is just everyone eating scones.
A whole bunch of me talking was released in the last couple of weeks, even if all of it wasn't actually done then. Let's give its own section.
Off Panel had me on to talk about my heading away from Marvel and the start of The Power Fantasy. I reference this in the podcast, but I was really enjoying Bendis' recent Off Panel where he manages to be precise, intelligent and generous. I was glad a voice like him is prominent in the industry... and then when I go on a podcast, it's basically brain spaghetti, fired at great velocity. We have our own modes. Anyway! If you want to know where my messy brain is right now, this is probably the best place to look.
Over on Tiktok, Sir Superhero did a quick chat to me at Emerald City, shortly after the Power Fantasy was announced. If you want a three minute burst of me, go here.
Matt Rosenberg and chums had me on a while back to record an Ideas Don't Bleed podcast about what I was up to, which includes a whole bunch of The Power Fantasy talk without me actually saying it was the Power Fantasy, as we had no idea when it would be released. I have no idea what I said, but Matt and the Boizz are great, so I presume they're excellent as usual.
And Talk of the Table had me on a while back to talk about the future of DIE, including all the new Die scenarios). Hear me yabber about RPGs, and consider pre-ordering from here.
- Talking about Off Panel's Dave Harper, over at Sktchd, he wrote about his excitement for The Power Fantasy in his weekly round up. Will it be the new Saga? I did think about titling a book NEW SAGA and seeing if I could get away with it. I'm sure Brian and Fiona wouldn't notice, due to the huge pile of money they're cocooned in at all times.
- The Roman Stars second volume kickstarter is live. This is all complete, so it's essentially a pre-order for printing, and it's great stuff. I raved about the first volume, and you really want this too.
- Cosmpolitan's article about parents profiting from Child Influencers was hugely upsetting, but it led me back to the NYT's earlier article which is actively abyssal. Everything was a mistake.
- Aftermath on the brain drain of games journalists getting into development. This is, as the article talks about, a song that's been sung as long as folks have been writing about games. Rignall's historical perspective is especially useful. Actually putting a more positive spin on it for once, I was recently reminded of my notes to fellow games journalists post I wrote when leaving full time games journalism back in 2010, which touches on some stuff Rignall talks about. I also remember the thing I said to every single writer who joined Future publishing when I was on staff: “what's your exit plan?” I was 23, I think.
I've only a half day in the office today, so need to be quick to make sure this gets out to you. It's been a busy couple of weeks. Obviously, everything with the Power Fantasy was a huge deal. Folks seem genuinely excited, which is heartening. We've been at work pushing forward there – at the moment we're working with Rian Hughes on the cover design. Rian sent over 60 ideas for cover approaches which we're picking apart. THE POWER FANTASY is an unusual title and an unusual book, and we want the whole thing to feel like that.
I also got the lettering back for the OGN with Stephanie, which I eventually found time to finish my round of notes. Stephanie did a bunch of art tweaks, and now it's in the second version of the PDF, which is in good enough state to share with a few people for feedback. I hate the phrase Beta Reader but I suppose that's the stage. I feel it's pretty solid. There's a couple of captioning changes I may make, but I'm really happy with it. Stephanie's done wonders.
But the big thing this week – and the reason why it took me a full week to do the notes on the OGN – was that I wrapped up all my remaining scripting work for Marvel. I've got rewrites and PDFs and lettering stuff, obviously, but that's polish and editing rather than creation. As such, the process of unloading all that stuff is in progress. Finishing off with the Wedding Special with Mystique and Destiny was a nice way to go. The intensity of everything in Uncanny X-men 700 cuts to this after school party. I think it's one of the campest things I've ever written, in the best way, but still think it hits the heart of it. It's nice to leave them like that.
Now, I'm mainly doing the last bit of new-script for the non-comics project (which I should hand in on Friday) and then the future awakes.
Speak soon.
Kieron Gillen
London
20.3.2024