Eric J. Moreels
Feb 14, 2003, 10:03 am
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/agentx07.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/agentx07t.jpg" align=left alt="Agent X #7"></a>by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean, X-Fan Correspondent
Welcome to the third edition of On The Boards, a weekly column wherein X-Fan wrap-ups all the tidbits, teasers, and snippets of information posted by the many creators that grace the X-Fan forums. This week we feature Chris Claremont, Chuck Austen, J. Torres, Gail Simone, Jim Calafiore, and Jim Krueger.
<center><hr width=50%></center>
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0303/Xtreme_Xmen_22.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0303/Xtreme_Xmen_22t.jpg" align=right alt="X-Treme X-Men #22 preview"></a>Veteran X-Men writer Chris Claremont recently addressed the topic of inter-title events in his Cordially Chris (http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=25) forum, saying, "Bluntly, and to the best of my understanding of current über-editorial policy these days, we don't acknowledge what's going on outside the X-Canon because we're not supposed to."
"Now, I may be wrong, and if so I'm sure some editor or other will correct me, but the foundation of these books is to focus on mutants. I don't see *any* of the other titles in the X-Canon acknowledging events outside this particular sphere, nor for that matter do I see any of those outside books acknowledging what's happening among the X-titles. For example, let's say in the 'real' world, a terrorist annihilates an entire nation, some 16 million people. Do you think the United States would take anyone's word that the perpetrator has been dealt with? That we wouldn't take any and all steps necessary to guarantee such an atrocity would not re-occur?"
"Forgive me, but it is disingenuous to even pretend that any of the geopolitical realities that are part and parcel of our lives can be applied to the world that the Marvel heroes live in. For one thing, much as various world leaders might wish differently, we all live on the same planet. Our actions intersect and have global consequences."
"Ideally, recent events in Avengers should merit a mention elsewhere; you'd like to think that folks would take notice when world capitals suddenly vanish. Or, for that matter, you'd like to think that the Avengers and/or the FF might have some response to the Beast's revelations about {humanity being} extinct in a matter of generations. On the other hand, how many other titles acknowledged the arrival of Galactus in 1967, when Stan himself was still writing a fair amount of them? I didn't see any Avengers responding to the Baxter Building."
"Reality in our comics has always been somewhat fungible. Jim Shooter's mandate was that X-books focus (substantially) on mutant characters and mutant issues. You weren't supposed to stray far off those reservations. I don't see substantial difference now."
"We relate along the parameters and guidelines that are laid out for us. For myself, I try to approach the Canon as if we all inhabit the same world, so that the events of one title might have repercussions elsewhere. That certainly seems to be the case, for example and at long last, with Psylocke's death and Archangel. I look forward to seeing how Chuck plays it out."
"For myself, I have a focus and direction for this team that I like, that is appropriate to the characters and the Canon as a whole and that is fully consistent with the guidelines and philosophy we have to work under. If you want to think I'm just following someone else's lead, fine."
"As I said in my discussion with Eric {J. Moreels, X-Fan Editor-in-Chief} (see 'CLAREMONT'S 'X-TREME' PLANS' (http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15567)), the one constant I've encountered in X-Treme is that nothing can be considered certain until it's in print. Until that point, it's all subject to change."
Claremont went on to further explain X-Treme X-Men's new direction, posting, "Some other points I offer for consideration; firstly (and with a definite grain of :) ), who's to say that Xavier's decision to 'open' the Institute to non-mutants isn't something of a response to the concerns being raised in X-Treme {regarding} all these issues? More importantly, though - and here's where the real world analogue might be considered more appropriate - we have a geo-political unit capable of projecting entity (up to and including weapons of mass destruction) on a global stage, acting in response to a putatively benevolent but also messianic vision that stems from the foundation principal 'teacher' knows best."
"Accept if you will the presumption that Charley is indeed everything that we believe him to be and that *all* of Sage's concerns are ultimately unfounded. So what? As recent events with Quentin Quire show, Xavier's ethics are not ipso facto binding on his students, or for that matter on the many, many more mutants who have no connection with the institute at all. What happens to those ethics, to the world as a whole, should Xavier ever be removed from the equation? Can Scott, Jean, Hank and the others carry on to the same extent, with the same moral force and impact? How will the nations of the world respond to the injunctions of a single man, even when the policies that man proposes might indeed result in considerable benefit to the globe?"
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0303/XXM023.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0303/XXM023t.jpg" align=right alt="X-Treme X-Men #23 preview"></a>"For the sake of argument, suppose human children/students are injured or even slain as a consequence of the 'Riot' arc? Suppose, at some later date, in some later incident, such a tragedy occurs. Leaving aside the emotional and moral consequences to Xavier and the other staff, in such a circumstance, what responsibilities do they bear for placing those children in harm's way?"
"My point at this stage of the X-Treme series, with respect to their change in direction, is that is really has nothing significant whatsoever to do with Xavier. They may think him misguided or even a little bit foolish:
Storm to Wolverine: Is he (Xavier) insane?
Wolverine to Storm: Wouldn't be the first time, but that's not the issue.
But the plain fact is, and will always remain, that he is Charley, *their* Charley, and they'll try to accord him the benefit of the doubt. They'll invariably trust him to keep his own house in order."
"What about the rest of the world? If the Institute is, falling back on my frontier analogy, Dodge City, and Xavier their equivalent of Marshal Dillon, what about Tombstone, and Cheyenne and Virginia City and all the other cowtowns and settlements and borders and such?"
"Mutants can by their very nature be descried as sentient weapons of mass destruction. When you consider the terrible acts that can be committed by someone with a gun (whether a six-shooter in the Old West, or a Kalashnikov in Hebron), imagine how much more devastating someone with the power of Cyclops, or Quentin Quire, or even Magneto."
"I feel there's a vacuum here that needs to be filled. A team, derived from the ethics and standards of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters (as opposed to the Xavier Institute, and yes I'm deliberately being very 'old guard' about this) whose primary brief is to keep the world from killing itself off long enough for it to evolve to a more enlightened state of interactive being. In effect, to actively struggle to forestall not only the events of 'Days of Future Past' but the far more significant future that Bishop hails from. And as much for myself as for the readers, just because we've set the Diaries aside for awhile doesn't necessarily mean we're done with them."
<center><hr width=50%></center>
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0303/Uncanny_Xmen_420.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0303/Uncanny_Xmen_420t.jpg" align=right alt="Uncanny X-Men #420 preview"></a>Uncanny X-Men writer Chuck Austen recently spoke on the topic of death in comic books in his Austen Powers (http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=69) forum, in particular Colossus' death and what he sees as being more valuable - having a character in the X-books to please both fans and writers, or having them die a meaningful death.
"Whatever serves the story. But I'm not approaching it from the perspective of a company, but from that of a writer. For a company, having Colossus alive is potentially more valuable, but he was hardly an upper tier character, and no one knew how to use him to good effect, and hasn't for a long time. So his being in a book did little for sale, one way or the other. You don't see Wolverine dying, or Gambit, because those characters have sales value, which the company wants."
"{Colossus' death was not a loss for the X-titles} apparently, but if you'd seen sales dip in any significant way, you can bet money he'd be back. But they didn't, and in fact, sales on those issues went up. This is a business, after all. Crass, but true."
The writer, however, went on to say that he would love to use the Russian mutant if given the chance.
"I've said many times, my choice has always been to have Colossus back, although I agree with {Marvel Editor-in-Chief} Joe {Quesada}'s reasons for leaving him dead. It DOES cheapen stories to constantly bring characters back from the dead. But I love that character and really wanted to use him. Of course, Grant would probably have gotten him, or Chris. I'm still number three, but I try harder! ;) )"
<center><hr width=50%></center>
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0403/X_MEN_Ronin_3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0403/X_MEN_Ronin_3t.jpg" align=right alt="X-Men: Ronin #3 preview"></a>X-Men: Ronin writer J. Torres recently talked more about the upcoming Mangaverse mini-series in his Weapon J (http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=133) forum.
"You'll be glad to know that Storm does play a pretty big part in X-Men: Ronin. And the way Makoto {Nakatsuka} draws her is just so cute and funky - I love it! Oh, and that sneak peak in Wizard - tip of the iceberg in terms of the awesome art in this series. Really. Issue #2. Pages 2-3. Wow. About another month and you'll see what I mean..."
Torres also clarified that some characters previously announced as making cameos in the series have been removed from the story.
"I got the lettered proof of X-Men: Ronin #1 earlier this week and one of the changes made by editorial was to remove mention of Empath and a couple of other characters from the dialogue. I believe it's because they didn't want to confuse people and keep the comic 'new reader friendly' as possible. Sorry :( "
<center><hr width=50%></center>
Former Deadpool/Agent X writer Gail Simone recently clarified a few details about her tenure on the mutant mercenary series in her Simone Says (http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=70) forum.
"I do want to clarify a couple things... First, the problems with issue three were my responsibility. It was an all-new team for that issue and that complicated it, but it was still my fault the issue didn't come out as intended, no one else's."
"And secondly, I don't know if the book would even have still been around if Frank Tieri hadn't injected life into it with his excellent Weapon X four issue arc. It's funny stuff and I hate that I forgot to credit him for it since it helped set the tone for what we ended up doing."
Meanwhile, over at her You'll All Be Sorry (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=38) discussion forum, Simone had nice things to say about the artist collective named UDON and hinted at more collaborations with them.
"UDON has been such fun to work with, I really hate to leave them. But that's not to say we don't have a couple little secrets planned. ;) "
Simone also explained why there was no farewell missive from her in her final issue, #7, as well as confirming the reason for her departure.
"Well, to be fair, Marvel doesn't have letters pages. But since the editor and I didn't part on good terms, it's understandable that there wasn't any sort of goodbye thing. It should all be about the story, anyway."
<center><hr width=50%></center>
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0303/exiles_24.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0303/exiles_24t.jpg" align=right alt="Exiles #24 preview"></a>In his Calafiore's Corner (http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=83) discussion forum, Exiles artist Jim Calafiore has let slip a few tidbits about upcoming story arcs in the dimension-hopping series.
"{I} haven't gotten the script yet on that {two-issue Vampire} arc {which involves Captain America and Baron Blood}, but I am expecting it to be a lot of fun," Calafiore posted.
"You'll be happy to know, that I've been told that we will definitely see Spider-Girl/Woman from the 'Legacy' arc again, but not as a regular cast member. She's going to have her own solo issue at some point this year. And I will in fact be drawing it... at least I'm slated to do it."
<center><hr width=50%></center>
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0403/Paradise_X_10.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0403/Paradise_X_10t.jpg" align=right alt="Paradise X #10 preview"></a>Paradise X co-writer Jim Krueger recently posted an update on the status of the series in his Krueger X (http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=34) discussion forum, saying, "As of this moment, both A and X are cancelled and we've been told to finish the story with #12."
"But, things are going on inside editorial, the TPB's continue to make great money, and where there was a point where any further discussion seemed to be getting nowhere, things have changed. I know {Marvel Comics President} Bill Jemas is reading and taking your letters seriously. It is working. He's mentioned them to us. And {series editor} Mike Marts has talked about how many notes he's getting."
"If #12 is indeed the last issue, though, it's still going to be quite an issue. I'll explain quite a bit more later depending on where this all goes."
"As far as History X goes, probably not for a while. History X was to be a 4 issue limited series that takes place during the day after tomorrow in the current Marvel Universe and sets up a direct link to the 'future' events of {the} Earth X {trilogy}."
Later in the day, Krueger posted a follow-up informing that both A and X were back on the production schedule.
"I can't say how this is going to work out, they be just be two regular-sized issues instead of double-sized. But your words have been heard and recognized. For all those that sent in letters, thank you. Letters of thanks should also now be sent to Jemas and Quesada. Thanks especially to Bill Jemas."
<center><hr width=50%></center>
That's it for the third edition of On The Boards. Remember, you can check in with over two dozen industry professionals such as those quoted above in X-Fan's Creator Discussion forums by clicking here (http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=22).
Welcome to the third edition of On The Boards, a weekly column wherein X-Fan wrap-ups all the tidbits, teasers, and snippets of information posted by the many creators that grace the X-Fan forums. This week we feature Chris Claremont, Chuck Austen, J. Torres, Gail Simone, Jim Calafiore, and Jim Krueger.
<center><hr width=50%></center>
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0303/Xtreme_Xmen_22.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0303/Xtreme_Xmen_22t.jpg" align=right alt="X-Treme X-Men #22 preview"></a>Veteran X-Men writer Chris Claremont recently addressed the topic of inter-title events in his Cordially Chris (http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=25) forum, saying, "Bluntly, and to the best of my understanding of current über-editorial policy these days, we don't acknowledge what's going on outside the X-Canon because we're not supposed to."
"Now, I may be wrong, and if so I'm sure some editor or other will correct me, but the foundation of these books is to focus on mutants. I don't see *any* of the other titles in the X-Canon acknowledging events outside this particular sphere, nor for that matter do I see any of those outside books acknowledging what's happening among the X-titles. For example, let's say in the 'real' world, a terrorist annihilates an entire nation, some 16 million people. Do you think the United States would take anyone's word that the perpetrator has been dealt with? That we wouldn't take any and all steps necessary to guarantee such an atrocity would not re-occur?"
"Forgive me, but it is disingenuous to even pretend that any of the geopolitical realities that are part and parcel of our lives can be applied to the world that the Marvel heroes live in. For one thing, much as various world leaders might wish differently, we all live on the same planet. Our actions intersect and have global consequences."
"Ideally, recent events in Avengers should merit a mention elsewhere; you'd like to think that folks would take notice when world capitals suddenly vanish. Or, for that matter, you'd like to think that the Avengers and/or the FF might have some response to the Beast's revelations about {humanity being} extinct in a matter of generations. On the other hand, how many other titles acknowledged the arrival of Galactus in 1967, when Stan himself was still writing a fair amount of them? I didn't see any Avengers responding to the Baxter Building."
"Reality in our comics has always been somewhat fungible. Jim Shooter's mandate was that X-books focus (substantially) on mutant characters and mutant issues. You weren't supposed to stray far off those reservations. I don't see substantial difference now."
"We relate along the parameters and guidelines that are laid out for us. For myself, I try to approach the Canon as if we all inhabit the same world, so that the events of one title might have repercussions elsewhere. That certainly seems to be the case, for example and at long last, with Psylocke's death and Archangel. I look forward to seeing how Chuck plays it out."
"For myself, I have a focus and direction for this team that I like, that is appropriate to the characters and the Canon as a whole and that is fully consistent with the guidelines and philosophy we have to work under. If you want to think I'm just following someone else's lead, fine."
"As I said in my discussion with Eric {J. Moreels, X-Fan Editor-in-Chief} (see 'CLAREMONT'S 'X-TREME' PLANS' (http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15567)), the one constant I've encountered in X-Treme is that nothing can be considered certain until it's in print. Until that point, it's all subject to change."
Claremont went on to further explain X-Treme X-Men's new direction, posting, "Some other points I offer for consideration; firstly (and with a definite grain of :) ), who's to say that Xavier's decision to 'open' the Institute to non-mutants isn't something of a response to the concerns being raised in X-Treme {regarding} all these issues? More importantly, though - and here's where the real world analogue might be considered more appropriate - we have a geo-political unit capable of projecting entity (up to and including weapons of mass destruction) on a global stage, acting in response to a putatively benevolent but also messianic vision that stems from the foundation principal 'teacher' knows best."
"Accept if you will the presumption that Charley is indeed everything that we believe him to be and that *all* of Sage's concerns are ultimately unfounded. So what? As recent events with Quentin Quire show, Xavier's ethics are not ipso facto binding on his students, or for that matter on the many, many more mutants who have no connection with the institute at all. What happens to those ethics, to the world as a whole, should Xavier ever be removed from the equation? Can Scott, Jean, Hank and the others carry on to the same extent, with the same moral force and impact? How will the nations of the world respond to the injunctions of a single man, even when the policies that man proposes might indeed result in considerable benefit to the globe?"
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0303/XXM023.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0303/XXM023t.jpg" align=right alt="X-Treme X-Men #23 preview"></a>"For the sake of argument, suppose human children/students are injured or even slain as a consequence of the 'Riot' arc? Suppose, at some later date, in some later incident, such a tragedy occurs. Leaving aside the emotional and moral consequences to Xavier and the other staff, in such a circumstance, what responsibilities do they bear for placing those children in harm's way?"
"My point at this stage of the X-Treme series, with respect to their change in direction, is that is really has nothing significant whatsoever to do with Xavier. They may think him misguided or even a little bit foolish:
Storm to Wolverine: Is he (Xavier) insane?
Wolverine to Storm: Wouldn't be the first time, but that's not the issue.
But the plain fact is, and will always remain, that he is Charley, *their* Charley, and they'll try to accord him the benefit of the doubt. They'll invariably trust him to keep his own house in order."
"What about the rest of the world? If the Institute is, falling back on my frontier analogy, Dodge City, and Xavier their equivalent of Marshal Dillon, what about Tombstone, and Cheyenne and Virginia City and all the other cowtowns and settlements and borders and such?"
"Mutants can by their very nature be descried as sentient weapons of mass destruction. When you consider the terrible acts that can be committed by someone with a gun (whether a six-shooter in the Old West, or a Kalashnikov in Hebron), imagine how much more devastating someone with the power of Cyclops, or Quentin Quire, or even Magneto."
"I feel there's a vacuum here that needs to be filled. A team, derived from the ethics and standards of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters (as opposed to the Xavier Institute, and yes I'm deliberately being very 'old guard' about this) whose primary brief is to keep the world from killing itself off long enough for it to evolve to a more enlightened state of interactive being. In effect, to actively struggle to forestall not only the events of 'Days of Future Past' but the far more significant future that Bishop hails from. And as much for myself as for the readers, just because we've set the Diaries aside for awhile doesn't necessarily mean we're done with them."
<center><hr width=50%></center>
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0303/Uncanny_Xmen_420.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0303/Uncanny_Xmen_420t.jpg" align=right alt="Uncanny X-Men #420 preview"></a>Uncanny X-Men writer Chuck Austen recently spoke on the topic of death in comic books in his Austen Powers (http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=69) forum, in particular Colossus' death and what he sees as being more valuable - having a character in the X-books to please both fans and writers, or having them die a meaningful death.
"Whatever serves the story. But I'm not approaching it from the perspective of a company, but from that of a writer. For a company, having Colossus alive is potentially more valuable, but he was hardly an upper tier character, and no one knew how to use him to good effect, and hasn't for a long time. So his being in a book did little for sale, one way or the other. You don't see Wolverine dying, or Gambit, because those characters have sales value, which the company wants."
"{Colossus' death was not a loss for the X-titles} apparently, but if you'd seen sales dip in any significant way, you can bet money he'd be back. But they didn't, and in fact, sales on those issues went up. This is a business, after all. Crass, but true."
The writer, however, went on to say that he would love to use the Russian mutant if given the chance.
"I've said many times, my choice has always been to have Colossus back, although I agree with {Marvel Editor-in-Chief} Joe {Quesada}'s reasons for leaving him dead. It DOES cheapen stories to constantly bring characters back from the dead. But I love that character and really wanted to use him. Of course, Grant would probably have gotten him, or Chris. I'm still number three, but I try harder! ;) )"
<center><hr width=50%></center>
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0403/X_MEN_Ronin_3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0403/X_MEN_Ronin_3t.jpg" align=right alt="X-Men: Ronin #3 preview"></a>X-Men: Ronin writer J. Torres recently talked more about the upcoming Mangaverse mini-series in his Weapon J (http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=133) forum.
"You'll be glad to know that Storm does play a pretty big part in X-Men: Ronin. And the way Makoto {Nakatsuka} draws her is just so cute and funky - I love it! Oh, and that sneak peak in Wizard - tip of the iceberg in terms of the awesome art in this series. Really. Issue #2. Pages 2-3. Wow. About another month and you'll see what I mean..."
Torres also clarified that some characters previously announced as making cameos in the series have been removed from the story.
"I got the lettered proof of X-Men: Ronin #1 earlier this week and one of the changes made by editorial was to remove mention of Empath and a couple of other characters from the dialogue. I believe it's because they didn't want to confuse people and keep the comic 'new reader friendly' as possible. Sorry :( "
<center><hr width=50%></center>
Former Deadpool/Agent X writer Gail Simone recently clarified a few details about her tenure on the mutant mercenary series in her Simone Says (http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=70) forum.
"I do want to clarify a couple things... First, the problems with issue three were my responsibility. It was an all-new team for that issue and that complicated it, but it was still my fault the issue didn't come out as intended, no one else's."
"And secondly, I don't know if the book would even have still been around if Frank Tieri hadn't injected life into it with his excellent Weapon X four issue arc. It's funny stuff and I hate that I forgot to credit him for it since it helped set the tone for what we ended up doing."
Meanwhile, over at her You'll All Be Sorry (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=38) discussion forum, Simone had nice things to say about the artist collective named UDON and hinted at more collaborations with them.
"UDON has been such fun to work with, I really hate to leave them. But that's not to say we don't have a couple little secrets planned. ;) "
Simone also explained why there was no farewell missive from her in her final issue, #7, as well as confirming the reason for her departure.
"Well, to be fair, Marvel doesn't have letters pages. But since the editor and I didn't part on good terms, it's understandable that there wasn't any sort of goodbye thing. It should all be about the story, anyway."
<center><hr width=50%></center>
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0303/exiles_24.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0303/exiles_24t.jpg" align=right alt="Exiles #24 preview"></a>In his Calafiore's Corner (http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=83) discussion forum, Exiles artist Jim Calafiore has let slip a few tidbits about upcoming story arcs in the dimension-hopping series.
"{I} haven't gotten the script yet on that {two-issue Vampire} arc {which involves Captain America and Baron Blood}, but I am expecting it to be a lot of fun," Calafiore posted.
"You'll be happy to know, that I've been told that we will definitely see Spider-Girl/Woman from the 'Legacy' arc again, but not as a regular cast member. She's going to have her own solo issue at some point this year. And I will in fact be drawing it... at least I'm slated to do it."
<center><hr width=50%></center>
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0403/Paradise_X_10.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/0403/Paradise_X_10t.jpg" align=right alt="Paradise X #10 preview"></a>Paradise X co-writer Jim Krueger recently posted an update on the status of the series in his Krueger X (http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=34) discussion forum, saying, "As of this moment, both A and X are cancelled and we've been told to finish the story with #12."
"But, things are going on inside editorial, the TPB's continue to make great money, and where there was a point where any further discussion seemed to be getting nowhere, things have changed. I know {Marvel Comics President} Bill Jemas is reading and taking your letters seriously. It is working. He's mentioned them to us. And {series editor} Mike Marts has talked about how many notes he's getting."
"If #12 is indeed the last issue, though, it's still going to be quite an issue. I'll explain quite a bit more later depending on where this all goes."
"As far as History X goes, probably not for a while. History X was to be a 4 issue limited series that takes place during the day after tomorrow in the current Marvel Universe and sets up a direct link to the 'future' events of {the} Earth X {trilogy}."
Later in the day, Krueger posted a follow-up informing that both A and X were back on the production schedule.
"I can't say how this is going to work out, they be just be two regular-sized issues instead of double-sized. But your words have been heard and recognized. For all those that sent in letters, thank you. Letters of thanks should also now be sent to Jemas and Quesada. Thanks especially to Bill Jemas."
<center><hr width=50%></center>
That's it for the third edition of On The Boards. Remember, you can check in with over two dozen industry professionals such as those quoted above in X-Fan's Creator Discussion forums by clicking here (http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=22).