The next big upcoming story at Marvel, hitting stores on February 4th, is called "Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men:The Black Vortex." During a Next Big Thing press call, writers Brian Michael Bendis and Sam Humphries talk about the upcoming event along with executive editor Mike Marts.
Marvel PR Chris D'Lando opens up the conference and introduces everyone and describes the upcoming event which puts the item The Black Vortex in the hands of heroes in the Marvel Universe. It gives the users cosmic powers and it is currently popping up in THE LEGENDARY STAR-LORD, written by Sam Humphries. Chris asks what made this the right time to tell this story.
Sam Humphries says "It helps everyone loves cosmic stuff right now." It came out of a story they wanted to do. They wanted to bring the X-men and Guardians back together again. They wanted to challenge the characters as well.
Humphries goes on to say that the story "really grew organically." Other creators wanted to be a part of it because they had interesting angles for their characters.
D'Lando asks about the planning that went into this upcoming event. Humphries says that a lot has gone into the Black Vortex. It's the perfect time to talk about it because there's a lot of art coming in. "This is truly a huge undertaking." For this event there's 13 chapters, four co-authors, and over 24 cast members. They want to deliver a great cosmic story. They have the creative team to do this as well.
D'Lando inquires Mike Marts about this shipping and getting this book out because it will be a weekly event throughout the 13 chapters. Marts says it's a lot of coordination. He says Sam's mind works like an editor's mind. He's thinking about where story elements are debuted. His brain works a lot like ours do. There's so many different people working on this so if the coordination doesn't start on the top then it all falls apart.
D'Lando asks about the two different writing styles of Humphries and Bendis.
Bendis says "it's everything working to their strengths. Let everyone do what they know best... you can't start slicing the pie too thin." There's room for everyone to do their thing. When you see the artwork, it's so beautiful. When you see page after page of outstanding artwork. It's all coming together in a lovely way.
Humphries says that they think about the talent they have and what they do best. They play to their strengths. He goes on to say that Gerry Duggan has this awesome moment in the upcoming event that's hilarious. This is the merging of all the things you love.
D'Lando asks if outside of Ed McGuinness' portion, are the issues differing in tone for the artist.
Bendis says that they make their living writing to an artist's strengths. "You write then let them do what they want to do." In the case of Andrea Sorrentino: "It's so exciting and scary, at the same time." All the artists are distinct, but they want to let them do what they have to do on the page.
Humphries adds by saying "this is an artist lover's event."
D'Lando says Ed McGuinness is book-ending the event with his art. He asks about the story.
Humpries jokingly says that he's convinced that McGuinness found the Black Vortex when he was a teenager and that's why he draws so well. This is a great example of how the artists are so integrated into this event. McGuinness wanted to do the designs for the book. "I told him what the deal with the black vortex was and he took them and ran with them." McGuinness gave the characters new costumes and powers. "What he delivers was so exciting and so compelling that I rewrote some of the characters" to spend more time with them. "You wanted to know more about their mindset." McGuinness brought so much to the table that it influenced the book.
Humphries goes onto say that the Alpha issue of Black Vortex all picks up during the Kitty Pryde/Star Lord story line, where Peter's father has been amassing cosmic forces.He says that Jason [Peter's father] sees himself as an empire builder. They get drawn to the Black Vortex and find they have to call the X-Men for help.
When it comes to relationships and the X-Men, Bendis jokingly says that all of comics will eventually be orbiting around the relationship between Star Lord and Kitty Pryde. "We love the X-men going off into space." Bendis finds the idea of them in space fun especially after the Trial of Jean Grey. "I didn't want to do a Trial of Jean Grey sequel." The fallout will be that not everything will be put back in order. Not everyone is making it out and not everyone is going back to their book. Some of these character designs are just too good to let go of. This event will roll right into the upcoming Marvel's Secret Wars event afterwards. Bendis goes on to say that people get really invested in the relationships of the characters and ask a lot of questions about them. As for both the Guardians and the X-Men, Bendis says that they know each other now, and the story delves into some darker areas. There's genuine comradare between the two teams.
Humphries explains that it's been interesting to let these characters go off on their own. Their strength doesn't always come from their team. It's fun to see how the artists group these characters together. There's a Beast and Rocket matchup as well which is a lot of fun.
D'Lando asks the two to tease some things about the upcoming event.
When it comes to heroes and villains getting powers, Humphries says that "I think we've seen what happens in the Marvel U when people get too much power too fast." These are heroes that are put in a situation where they may not have a choice. Everyone in these books are fair game.
Bendis starts talking about Hank McCoy and how he's given cosmic knowledge. He'll be altered because of this experience. He'll be changing and it will continue after the event is over.
When asked about the relationship between Kitty and Peter, Bendis said some people are thrilled and others say "does she only date men named 'peter?'" It doesn't alter the story but you have to keep it pure. When you write relatiopnship stuff, you're revealing stuff about yourself. It inspires them to move forward.
Humphries says the response is unlike anything else. It's overwhelming. Yesterday was their first kiss. Kitty and Peter fans were very excited about it and on Twitter there's a whole campaign to keep them together. "We're telling the story of who these characters are and that stays true. It really gives you the steam to push ahead." The fans will be on the edge of their seats during the Black Vortex. There's no guarentee they'll be together at the end of this.
When asked about how the younger X-Men will react compared to their older counterparts, Bendis says that they're very young and very new. Jean Grey, who knows what happens to her when she grows up. Others are on a path, like Beast, looking for the knowledge and power. "Just because this power is offered, it doesn't mean every character will have a horrible price to pay. Some will get a power up. So the X-Men are coming at it young and raw." Jean has learned a lesson from the phoenix and doesn't want to screw up a power she can't control.
When asked about the influence of Jim Starlin's work on Ed McGuinness' designs, Humphries says that Ed knows his history he's a die-hard Marvel zombie. When he started mixing and matching it was an amazing fit. He says you could see the electricity jumping off of those designs.
Bendis comes is and says "it has the energy of Kirby without being a Kirby rip off." It guided both of them to write bigger.
When asked if their will be more romances between the Guardians and the X-Men, Bendis said "they all end up making out." He goes on to say that they're both kind of outsiders. They're trying to make the galaxy better than it is. there's a real connection of spirit there. They are the odd balls, the Guardians. However, no matter what, if you're an X-man, there's a talking raccoon on that ship. That seems to be something that will keep popping up.
The two are asked about the challenges of putting both these teams into a single book. Humphries jokes and says the challenge is trying to write anything but them making out with each other.
Bendis says that space travel is a challenge for the X-Men. Just getting them on a ship or in the same playground can be tough but it's actually a lot of fun.
Humphries says that he has a lot of fun writing the team getting split up and meeting back up. "You divide these characters not by just team name but by their ideologies or how they're feeling in the moment."
Bendis jokingly encourages retailers to order more copies because this is the cosmic version of Civil War.
The two are asked about Andrea Sorrentino and Bendis said "I'm eager to work with artists of this caliber." When Andrea was available it was a no brainer for him. It's an interesting mash up of writing and getting the hell out of the way. Bendis sometimes gave him the idea of what needs to be on the page and let Sorrentino fly with it. "I write into their [the artists] world." With this, I'm still not sure what's going to happen. After this, they've already locked in their next project together. Bendis and Sorrentino have another project at Marvel in the works which has yet to be announced.
The two are asked about the transition for new readers from the films. Humphries says these are people who were aware of the characters and started reading more recently because of the films. It's a really exciting time to be playing with these characters. There is risk involved. They are intellectual properties we're playing very fast and loose with. People have really been responding to that. People were happy after seeing the movie that there was a ton of stuff to read.
Bendis says that what's happened is that a certain amount of that audience, pre-teens and teens, come out of that movie and it takes them a moment but they figure out there's a lot more read. The Guardian readership has really grown. Some of these kids will be lifers and doomed to spend all their money the rest of their lives. With Black Vortex, it's X-men and Guardians which won't happen in the movies. Bendis goes on to say that his daughter is 12 now and her friends love the Guardians books which he gives away to them.
Finally, the writers are asked what soundtrack they should listen to while reading the Black Vortex. Humphries says the 2001 film soundtrack and Bendis says Caninus, a German death metal band with a dog lead singer. Enjoy.
BLACK VORTEX: ALPHA hits shelves on February 4th and will shift through other series on a weekly basis.
