Joss Whedon

Thursday Marvel Comics held their latest press conference, this month to promote the start of the upcoming second year of Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men, beginning with February’s #13. In attendance were the usual Marvel suspects, along with Joss Whedon himself, who joined the call a few minutes after it began.

Below are highlights from the 50-minute long call, along with a preview of Astonishing X-Men #13...

# The conference began with editor Mike Marts thanking readers and retailers for being patient during the title’s hiatus and making an announcement considering the title’s schedule.

Issue #13 will be in stores on February 22nd, Marts clarified, noting that this new run will be 12 issues, and be bi-monthly for issues #13 through 17 (February - August), and then monthly thereafter.

# Asked about the creative team dynamic, Marts said that he’s found it refreshing in that all the team are professional and on-time with their work, noting that Cassaday has hit all his deadlines to date.

# Marvel Marketing Manager Jim McCann said that issue #13 will have a sketch variant cover, which retailers will be able to order 5 copies per Diamond account. Along with that, McCann noted, if retailers orders on Astonishing #13 exceed their order for Astonishing #1 (the Wolverine claws cover), they will receive a greater discount.

# Astonishing will be mostly its own run, Marts said when asked if it will interact with Civil War and other events. Although, the editor noted that Whedon will reflect the current (post House of M) status quo of the Marvel Universe, and will refer to Civil War.

# As for the decision to make the series bi-monthly for its first few issues, Marts said that the decision was made in order to get the series going again sooner, rather than later. Marts also said that the decision to begin again with issue #13 was made by Whedon and Cassaday, who want to see the entire work as a 24-issue run.

# Marts said that the creative and editorial team have their process down to a "science," noting that Whedon’s scripts are "flawless" when they come in, and again referred to the professionalism of the team in regards to the work.

# Asked if a Starjammers/Firefly crossover would be a possibility, Marts, while admitting the idea was a good one, said the decision would be Whedon’s to make.

# Asked what Marvel has learned about the success of Astonishing, and if it’s something that can be applied to other X-titles, Marvel’s John Dokes said that really, they were banking on Whedon’s name to sell the book, as well as Cassaday’s art. Dokes said that Marvel is expecting the series to win awards during the coming awards season.

Marts agreed, adding that while Marvel was planning on marketing the series on Whedon’s name, word-of-mouth played a key role in the marketing of the series.

Continuing, Marts said that if Astonishing has taught Marvel anything, it’s that they shouldn’t be afraid to focus on the characters and tell more concise stories that don’t have to be epic, globe-trotting and galaxy-spanning, and just focus on the characters themselves.

# Marts confirmed that Astonishing won’t be Whedon’s only Marvel work in the coming year, saying that he will likely have a second Marvel Universe project of some kind in 2006, though he declined to say what the project would be, or give any details on length or format...

# The Astonishing upcoming run will be broken into segments like the first one, with, as Marts said, issues #13-18 forming one arc, and #19-#24 a second arc.

[Whedon then joined the call...]

# Asked about how John Cassaday and colorist Laura Martin’s participation have affected his work, Whedon joked, saying that they’re dragging him down, but then, more seriously, praised both for acting in a similar fashion to an entire production team on a film. The writer noted that his working relationship with Cassaday was one of the best three or four in his life, adding that neither of them could’ve guessed how much the two of them would end up in each other’s heads.

# “Stay off the Internet, stay off the Internet," Whedon said was the second most important thing he learned about comics, claiming that Geoff Johns gave him the sage advice early on. As for the first, Whedon said that the character interaction is more important than the set dressing and plot elements.

"People want the X-Men, and all that other stuff is gravy."

# Whedon said that the next arc of Astonishing is more “internal”, saying it’s a six-issue examination of who the people are, what makes them tick, and how you can take them apart.

"And God, I’m having fun", he said.

# Asked if he’s planning on creating any new mutants, Whedon said that hasn’t been his focus in writing X-Men. "I’m someone who can just focus on one side of the Rubik’s Cube," Whedon said.

He also teased the idea that Emma Frost may be a villain this time around.

# "Obviously, I’m buff like Colossus, and very hairy like Logan," Whedon joked when asked which X-Men he most identifies with. The writer then said that he’d just finished an issue with Scott and Kitty, and did identify with them, in that they both have a quality of constantly being in over their heads, and overcoming the situation despite that.

# Asked if there will be any interactions with characters from the Marvel Universe in this run, Whedon pointed to the large events going on around the X-Men, which complicate things in that regard.

Whedon noted that he wanted to bring the Vision into the "Danger" arc, but couldn’t due to events affecting the character elsewhere in the Marvel Universe.

That said, Whedon noted that he and Cassaday will end their run with a Giant-Sized Annual, which will include as many guest stars as Marvel will allow him to use.

# Whedon was more open to a Buffy/Kitty-X-Men crossover rather than a Starjammers/Firefly crossover (adding he thinks of Firefly as more “grounded” than the Starjammers), though he added that he felt it might be a little bit of hubris to bring in a reality that he created and have it interact with the X-Men.

# "Colossus is tough," Whedon said when asked which characters he finds difficult to write, due to the character internalizing his emotions and feelings. "Someone who doesn’t express all that they’re feeling all of the time always frightens me," Whedon said. "I don’t have an unspoken thought."

# The two arcs that will make up the run were pitched before House of M, Whedon said, noting that’s part of the reason that the run is more internalized, and not dealing with the "outside" Marvel Universe.

# In speaking of his progress, Whedon noted that he is ahead on his scripts, citing a bet he’s made with his wife where, if he’s late, he has to watch an unnamed movie three times in a row.

Whedon noted that he’s outlined through issue #3, and is ready to begin working on the final version of issue #3 as well.

# Asked if there’s anything he’s wanted to do that he can’t do for any reason, Whedon said that two of his favorite ideas were for new characters and sequences, but said that the moments he wanted to see the most made it into the comics. Whedon named the fastball special and the revelation of Colossus as being two of his favorites, as well as the Kitty Pryde/Emma dynamic, along with something coming in issue #14, as well as a "Logan moment" in issue #15, "that’s going to alter the fabric of the known universe," he said. "Not to oversell it, but I think the world is going to turn the other way, and Margot Kidder is going to come out of a ditch."

# Speaking more of Astonishing’s place in the rest of the X-verse, Whedon said that he had to change a few things due to events such as House of M and Deadly Genesis, and will also be downplaying other events as far as Astonishing is concerned, though not contradicting anything that has happened.

"It’s important for me to stay current in the Marvel Universe without being a slave to it," he said.

# As far as Colossus coming back after being cremated, Whedon said that the explanation would be the same as anything that people want to see emotionally, but have to explain scientifically. Whedon cited switching bodies and cremating the other body, noting that it wasn’t the best explanation ever, "But it got me to Kitty opening that door," he said.

# Asked about his history as a fan with the X-Men, Whedon said he started with the early Claremont days, and hit many of the highlights, but drew special attention to Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s run on the series, praising it for its vision, and for being what brought him back to the X-Men, noting that it has given him so much material to draw from.

# "Absolutely," Whedon said when asked about doing comics other than X-Men, self-effacingly joking, "I think the comics reach about as many people as my TV shows did."

Whedon said it all comes down to time, noting that none of it is any different from him. "Telling a story is telling a story," he said. "It’s just a question of time. I have to be realistic with my time. I’m getting back into Buffy comics and to a lesser extent, Serenity comics, but it’s a matter of time."

Whedon also noted that he does have other comic offers on the table that he’s going to consider when his schedule clears.

# The writer said that for him, a key moment in developing the "Danger" story was coming up with Emma saying, "The Danger Room is angry."

That sentence, he said, energized him to start exploring the concept of the Danger Room. Whedon cited his interest in artificial intelligence as helping him to further develop the idea of an A.I. based in a room that was designed to kill anyone inside.