Joss Whedon

Mutant Enemies and Friends: Joss Whedon Takes on the X-Men

Forty years in the making and it’s about time. In one week, the father of the slayer and the children of the atom will be finally united. Joss Whedon and Marvel Comic’s X-men have been like two teens at their first dance, wanting to dance but not quite making it across the room for many years. I, for one, can’t wait till this little shindig is kicked off next week.

The dance started back in 1964. In June of that year, the creator of our beloved Buffy and Angel was born as the third generation in a family of TV writers. The Children of the Atom came to life a few months later in September born from the minds of legendary comic creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Over time, Joss would become an X-fan and Marvel would eventually court the writer. Like many X-fans (myself included), the adventures of “mutants sworn to protect a world that hated and feared them” would come to teach life lessons about those who were different. It would teach lessons about power and strength, grace under fire, how to handle death and life.

For Joss, it helped plant the seeds of our Buffy fandom. Yep, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is partially born from the X-men, one in particular, but that’s for later.

The dance continued as Marvel finally was able to bring the X-Men to life on the screen. When Marvel went looking for a top-notch writer to come in and work on the X-men script, Joss’ name came immediately to mind. Joss turned in a draft, which was ultimately rejected, but by all reports contained his usual twists and turns and of course, snarkiness. And from what I understand, he HAD the danger room.

The X-Men movie progressed and we’ve had two iterations and writing & pre-production on the third is underway. All during this time, the X-Men comics continued to weave the saga. Marvel went after great writers to take the stories in a new direction and successfully snagged Grant Morrison (Invisibles, JLA, The Filth) to write New X-Men.

Sometimes though, even when you’re at your best, it comes time to shake things up and take them to a new level. And that’s what Marvel is doing - a shakeup called the X-Men Reload in May, 2004. At the end of Morrison’s run, the X-universe is devastated by a final, all-out battle with Magneto, the X-Men’s first and most formidable enemy.

The aftermath, leaving some of the X-Men and Magneto dead, forever changed the landscape of of Marvel mutantdom. Professor Xavier, leader of the X-Men leaves the academy to his first student, Cyclops. Several of the X-Men become mutant police. A new school is started and Xavier goes to lead Magneto’s country.

Stepping into the middle of all of this is Joss Whedon. On May 26, 2004, a new title in the X-Universe, written by Joss, will debut - the Astonishing X-Men. What will follow is a 12-step (issue) dance over the next year.

To Me, My X-Men!

Professor Xavier, the founder and leader of the X-Men would gather his students to himself telepathically with the battle-call “To me, my X-Men.” Joss has called his X-team together, and here’s a quick primer on who they are.

Scott Summers / Cyclops - The very first X-Man. Cyclops has the mutant ability to convert sunlight into a concentrated laser beam he emits from his eyes. Unable to control this ability, he must wear a ruby quartz visor at all times. Scott was born to Christopher Summers who was presumed to be killed in a plane crash with his wife when Scott was a child. Scott escaped the plane with his brother Alexander.

Scott reached adolescence to have his mutant powers manifest. Professor Xavier rescued him and recruited him as the first X-Man. Scott’s brother Alex also developed mutant powers (ability to emit plasma blasts) and joined the X-Men later.

During his early years in the Xavier Institute and as an X-Man, the only female student of the school caught his attention, Jean Grey. Scott would fall in love with her only to lose her twice. The first time to an entity known as the Phoenix Force who cocooned Jean and allowed everyone to assume she was dead, and again immediately before the Reload as Jean finally sacrificed herself to save the universe.

Scott has been a leader of the X-Men several times, and recently fell in love with Emma Frost, another of Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men. Together they lead the Xavier Institute for Gifted Children, the setting for Whedon’s tales.

Emma Grace Frost / The White Queen - Born to privilege and power, Emma Frost, second daughter to wealthy businessman Winston Frost, was selected to run the family fortune and rejected it to make her own way. Discovering telepathic abilities during her adolescence, Emma ascended through the structure of society, using her mutant abilities and charm to gain wealth.

She eventually joined the Hellfire Club, a secret society of influence and power, and assist Sebastian Shaw, the Black King, in a bid to take over the world. Emma recruited a group of adolescents, including an attempt to recruit Kitty Pryde, for a group of her own young mutants. The Hellions would serve the Hellfire Club, but in a cataclysmic battle with a double-crossing ally, the Hellions were destroyed and Emma left in a coma.

Assisted by Professor Xavier, Emma eventually recovered and was given a second chance by Professor Xavier to run a school to help young mutants. This group, known as Generation X, would become her moment of redemption. Her association with the X-Men and especially Banshee, Irishman Sean Cassidy, led Emma to decide that the school was her calling. In recent times, Emma developed a secondary mutation that allows her to turn her skin to diamond. After the events preceding the Reload, Emma convinced Scott to rebuild and reopen the school.

Henry “Hank” P McCoy / The Beast - Hank McCoy, the Beast, was another of Xavier’s five original X-Men. Hank gained the name “The Beast” due to his abnormal sized feet and hands, which also gave him significant agility. Hank was also a brilliant student and completed his doctorate after joining Xavier’s school.

Later in his career, Hank discovered that his work was being misused by the Brand corporation and took a gene-altering hormone which accidentally and permanently transformed him into a more ape-like mutant with blue fur. After coming to accept this condition, Hank then went on to join several other super-hero teams, finally returning to the X-Men in time to research the Legacy Virus, which had already claimed the lives of several mutants, including the sister of the X-Man Colossus, Illyana “Majik” Rasputin.

Hank finally discovered the cure to the Legacy Virus, but his cure required that one mutant take the virus and then activate their power to complete the formula. Hank, disgusted with this notion, swore to work endlessly to find another way to cure the virus. While Hank was taking a short break after formulating the anti-virus, Colossus injected himself, turned to organic steel, released the anti-virus and died from the sacrifice.

Hank’s appearance was recently mutated again to a more feline look. He was attacked in the Xavier institute by a crazed student during the upheaval that eventually led to the Reload. He will be serving as a faculty member in Scott and Emma’s new school.

James Howlett, aka Logan / The Wolverine - One of the world’s oldest living mutants, James Howlett was born in Canada in the late 19th century as a weak and sickly child. He was raised in a household of privilege and witnessed the murder of his father by their groundskeeper, Thomas Logan, during a tryst with his mother.

The stress of the moment led his two primary mutant powers to activate. Bone claws jutted from his hands, with which he killed Logan and scarred the groundskeeper’s son, Dog, who had often taunted him and his governess, Rose. Elizabeth Howlett, James’ mother, committed suicide. James’ healing factor, his other mutation, kicked in and “healed over” the deep trauma, leaving him unaware of his past.

Rose immediately left with James, who now renamed himself Logan. Working in the Canadian mining camps, he grew out of his sickly childhood and gained the name “The Wolverine” from his refusal to back down from any fight. At the end of his time at the camp, Dog returned. James and Dog fought viciously and Rose was accidentally impaled on Logan’s claws. He fled into the Canadian Rockies to live for some time in solitude, again forgetting the memories due to his healing factor.

After serving in World Wars I and II, Logan entered a time in Weapon X, a secretive program designed to use mutants for defense. Logan eventually left Weapon X, only to be recaptured and experimented upon. Weapon X cut Logan open and laced his entire skeleton with an invulnerable metal called adamantium. They also stripped Logan of his memories and planted false ones.

Logan escaped in a feral state and was finally found by James Hudson of Canada’s Department H. James worked with Logan to return his sanity and eventually got him to join The Flight, a team of Canadian super-heroes that would eventually become Alpha Flight. On his first assignment to track down the Hulk, Logan was approached by Charles Xavier to assist him in finding the X-Men.

Logan resigned from Alpha Flight and joined the X-Men, primarily due to his attraction to Jean Grey. During his time with the X-Men, Logan’s past in the Japanese samurai came to light as he nearly married and then lost his true love in Japan. He also has been a fatherly figure to several young female members of the X-Men, including Kitty Pryde and Jubilation Lee (Jubilee).

Recently, Logan was sent to investigate the remnants of the Weapon X program and found himself on an asteroid with Jean Grey. The plan was a dupe to destroy them by Magneto, who had been masquerading as a teacher at Xavier’s school. As Magneto launched his plan, he hurled the asteroid into the sun. Jean and Logan were destroyed just as Jean manifested the Phoenix. As the Phoenix, she was able to reincorporate herself and Wolverine.

They returned to Earth to fight alongside the X-Men, only to have Magneto kill Jean with a lethal electromagnetic pulse. Witnessing this blast, Wolverine reverted to his feral state in which he has no problem with dealing death, and decapitated Magneto. After falling out with Xavier over the memory of Magneto, Logan joined Scott and Emma’s academy to become a somewhat-absent teacher.

Logan remains a loose cannon that Joss will have to deal with and of course, he’s the best there is at what he does, bub.

Katherine “Kitty” Pryde / Shadowcat, Ariel, Sprite - The youngest member of the X-Men at the time, Katherine “Kitty” Pryde, joined the X-Men at issue #129 (incidentally Emma Frost’s first appearance). Kitty was only 13 when she joined the X-Men, and for this writer, she was the amazing older woman (I was only 10).

Kitty quickly was introduced to the X-Men’s lifestyle with several battles. She also became involved with the Russian farmboy-poet mutant, Peter Rasputin aka Colussus. After their romance ended, they would remain friends for some time to come. Kitty also made endearing friends in the X-Men Storm, Illyana Rasputing and Doug Ramsey. Doug would become the first death in Kitty’s life, followed by several more.

Kitty eventually left the X-Men to join Excalibur, the British mutant team. She would eventually return to the X-Men after Illyana’s death and fight beside them until Colossus sacrificed himself to cure the Legacy Virus. Kitty decided to leave the superhero lifestyle and attend college in Chicago, also bartending at the Belles of Hell bar.

Kitty was forced to return to the superhero life when her old friend Shan, a former New Mutant, showed up. Kitty finally rejoined her X-Men friends when they faced down an old enemy and was able to recover another of her friends, Rachel Summers, from his grasp. Kitty was asked to rejoin the academy and became the final member of Scott and Emma’s staff. She is also the first character to appear in Joss’s Astonishing X-Men book.

Oh, and Kitty? She’s a big reason we have Buffy! Read on...

Why does this excite me?

Full Circle

For Buffy fans, this is full circle back to the origin point. Joss specifically requested the chance to write Kitty Pryde, which is why she was brought out of retirement and integrated back into the storyline over the last year. You see, Kitty Pryde is one of the primary templates that was used to construct Buffy Summers. Hmm, Summers, that just hit me. Scott Summers - Buffy Summers.

Fully predating Buffy by 9 years, Kitty was a powerful young female teen, which apparently made an impression on Joss. Joss has made note of the importance of having Kitty in his book. So for Buffy fans, we get back to full circle. I can’t wait to see traces of Buffy in Kitty. I’ve already seen traces of Kitty in Buffy.

Dialogue

I’ve said it a few times in these articles, Joss’ dialogue is distilled brilliance. The X-Men are fertile ground for more, especially the Beast and Wolverine. The two are radically different characters and their dialogue results from those characteristics. For the Beast, intelligence and pointed humor pour out regularly. For Wolverine, the nasty yet fatherly dialect. I will be interested to see how Joss uses the word “bub”.

Oh, and by the way, Joss, if you read this (which if you do, first let me say “oh crap, you’re reading this?”), please have Hank say “Oh, my stars and garters” just one time. It’s been a while and personally, I miss it.

And the acid tongues between Kitty and the woman who tried to turn her to evil, Emma. Within two panels of their meeting in Issue #1, the barbs start.

Emma (upon Kitty coming late to the first student assembly): This, children, is Kitty Pryde, who apparently feels the need to make a grand entrance.

Kitty (upon seeing Emma’s attire): I’m sorry. I was busy remembering to put on all my clothes.

This should be fun...

Joss in another Sandbox

For the most part, we’ve only got to see Joss play in his own sandbox - Buffy, Angel, Fray, Vampires, Firefly. It’s his world, his rules. Now we get to see what Joss does with forty years of continuity. And the Marvel universe for the most part is all about continuity. Joss had enough continuity issues between Buffy and Fray!

I also can’t wait to see how Joss applies his normal twists and turns to the story arc he will be doing. What will the dynamic of this team be? How will Scott react to becoming the person that Professor Xavier was to them? What will Wolverine’s reaction to the adult Kitty be? What kind of education will these kids get?

Artwork

The artwork. Besides Whedon, Marvel snagged John Cassady (Planetary, Desperadoes, Union Jack) for the artwork, and everything this reviewer has seen is amazing. There are looks that you get in comic books, and a lot of them tend to be the same within a few specific types. Nothing wrong with that - it’s just the way it is.

Then, there’s the occasional unique look - Bill Sinkiewicz, John Byrne, Humberto Ramos and now John Cassady. Cassady’s characters are sleek with very liquid lines and remind me of a 1930s serial science fiction look.

He also uses a unique mixture of depths to his work. It is at once limited and rich in detail. Backgrounds can be simple while foregrounds are riddled with detail. And Cassady is adding unique touches to the story that match Whedon’s writing. During the first issue, Emma is making a speech to the young mutants in attendance at the school assembly when Sentinels (giant mutant-hunting robots) explode through the roof.

Whedon uses simple apposition of Cassady’s drawn reactions of the three seasoned X-Men and the children. As the children cower, the three X-Men in attendance spring to action. Cyclops is blasting while the Beast starts ripping his tie off. And in the background, Cassady gives us an excellent image of Kitty’s arm phasing through her briefcase. Emma asks the children what they learn even as the holographic Sentinels disappear. Cassady’s artwork has answered it for us. Nice, nice touches and I can’t wait to see more of what we get from this pairing.

One other bit that really excites me? The return of the costumes. After years of going away for the more realistic approach, we are finally getting costumes back. I miss the costumes and am glad to see them back.

Getting the Dance Started

So, there’s your preview, primer and my thoughts before the first issue arrives. With the end of Angel coming one week prior to the release of Issue #1 and Serenity far away, it’s going to be nice to have our dose of Joss in the interim, and I can’t think of a better way to get that dose.

The dance is ready to go. The music is starting. We’ll see how that first step goes in just 7 days. We’ll be here to cover the entire dance over the next year, bub!