Tag: Kieron Gillen

The Quiet Council goes quiet in Gillen + Maresca’s ‘X-Men Forever’

The new miniseries will tie into ‘Fall of the House of X’ next year.

As a aprt of the big finale for the current Krakoa era of comics, Marvel has announced X-Men: Forever, a four-issue miniseries by Immortal X-Men writer Kieron Gillen and artist Luca Maresca.

The miniseries will tie into Gillen’s work on Rise of the Powers of X, which was announced last month alongside Fall of the House of X.

“X-Men: Forever is Luca and myself doing a coda to Immortal X-Men, a requiem for the Krakoan age and generally setting fire to all time and space,” Gillen said. “It’s the manipulative hand in the steel glove that is Rise of the Powers of X. By the time it drops, you’ll be wondering what on Earth is going on with certain characters, and X-Men: Forever will give you all the answers.”

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The Krakoan Age will conclude in two new X-Men miniseries

Marvel announces ‘Fall of the House of X’ and ‘Rise of the Powers of X’ at the New York Comic Con.

All good things, as they say. The Krakoan Age, the current era of X-Men comics that began in 2019 when Jonathan Hickman returned to Marvel for House of X and Powers of X, will come to its official end next year in two miniseries announced today at New York Comic Con.

Fall of the House of X by Gerry Duggan and Lucas Werneck, will continue the story of Cyclops and his capture during Fall of X, as he’s put on trial and faces the death penalty. Rise of the Powers of X by Kieron Gillen and R.B. Silva takes place in the future as mutants attempt to stop Omega Sentinel and Nimrod from summoning “their binary god to consume everything in their accession.”

As they’ve done before, Mark Brooks and Richard Isanove supply the teaser image, which showcases Marvel mutants in various costumes from the comic’s history:

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Four ‘Before the Fall’ one-shots precede the next X-Men event

Before Fall of X kicks off this summer, four one-shots will ‘put all the pieces in place’ for the big crossover event.

Marvel has revealed that this year’s Hellfire Gala, an in-book event the X-Men have held since the launch of the Krakoa era, will tie into Fall of X, the upcoming X-Men-themed summer crossover event. But prior to Fall of X, Marvel will release four one-shots that will “tie up long-simmering plotlines, reintroduce major players and put all the pieces in place for the dramatic events of the third annual Hellfire Gala.”

They also plan to hold another fan vote for membership into the X-Men, as they’ve done for the past two years. It kicks off tomorrow.

Each of the one-shots will be written by a current X-title scribe — Kieron Gillen, Al Ewing, Steve Orlando and Si Spurrier — and will feature everything from the return of Apocalypse to a big showdown between Legion and Nimrod.

According to Marvel, Fall of X will answer the question, “Can Krakoa last forever?” which seems to indicate a change is coming to the current X-Men status quo. We know that at one point Jonathan Hickman, the original architect of the Krakoa era, had two more chapters planned in his bigger X-Men storyline, but he backed away from the second part when he realized the creators making Krakoa-focused comics were having such a great time. That suggested Krakoa would go away or change in some way … could that plan be back on?

I guess we’ll find out this summer, but for now, check out the covers and info for the “Before the Fall” books:

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NYCC: ‘Sins of Sinister’ erupts early next year

The X-Men once again enter an alternate reality — this time one shaped by Mr. Sinister’s diabolical experiments.

The mutant denizens of Krakoa are in for a very Sinister 2023.

During their Next Big Thing panel at the New York Comic Con today, Marvel finally revealed Sins of Sinister, an event coming next year that they’ve been teasing for months now.

The story will start in Sins of Sinister #1, a one-shot by Kieron Gillen, Lucas Wernock and more, before taking over three of the X-books for three issues. Immortal X-Men, X-Men Red and Legion of X will all take a siesta, replaced by Immortal X-Men, Storm and the Brotherhood of Mutants, and Nightcrawlers. They’ll be set in an alternate reality that … well, here’s the description of the project from Marvel, which is a bit confusing, in true Sinister fashion:

IMMORTAL X-MEN, X-MEN RED, and LEGION OF X will be washed away, transformed into three limited series: IMMORAL X-MEN, STORM & THE BROTHERHOOD OF MUTANTS, and NIGHTCRAWLERS! Series writers Kieron Gillen, Al Ewing, and Si Spurrier will pen their respective new titles, joined by artists Paco Medina, Patch Zircher, and Alessandro Vitti. Tackling three separate time periods, each superstar artist will draw an issue of all three titles as consecutive issues propel the Marvel Universe further and further into a dark future, dramatically escalating the stakes with each startling time jump. 10 Years… 100 Years… 1000 Years… The Powers of Essex will seek to stretch beyond the limits of time and space! All three writers will continue their current story plans after the X-Universe shattering finale one-shot, SINS OF SINISTER: DOMINION #1!

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Slugfest | A round-up of Comic-Con news

Check out news and announcements about Godzilla, Joker, Sonic the Hedgehog, ShadowHawk, A.X.E.: Judgment Day, Star Trek and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you from comics creators, publishers and more. Today’s edition includes some San Diego news we didn’t get to this past weekend, plus a few other items to note. Hit the links for more information.

Let’s start with a huge blast of Gotham City news that DC revealed last week in San Diego, as they revealed several new Batman-related projects by the likes of Narcisse, Ram V., Tini Howard, Matthew Rosenberg and more. Most of these announcements came right before the release of the DC solicitations for October, when many of them will kick off.

So, the rundown …

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Starfox slides into your DMs — and ‘Judgment Day’ — in October

A.X.E.: Starfox puts the spotlight on Thanos’ creepy brother.

Starfox, the former Avenger with the creepy powers who is also Thanos’ brother, will get a one-shot this fall as part of Marvel’s big AXE: Judgement Day event.

Kieron Gillen, writer of both the Eternals series and Judgement Day, will write the one-shot, with Daniele Di Nicuolo on art.

“A new Eternals-related special has been announced, with me working with the kinetic powerhouse that is Daniele Di Nicuolo,” Gillen said in his newsletter. “While it’s part of Judgment Day, this is effectively the fourth of my deep dive Eternals specials.”

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Quick Hits | 2021 comic sales topped $2 billion

Last year was the best year ever for comic sales, according to a new report. Plus: News on Oni/Lion Forge, Substack, Zestworld, Henry Barajas, Kieron Gillen and more.

Comics sales | Milton Griepp of ICV2.com and John Jackson Miller of Comichron.com have released their annual assessment of the comics and graphic novel market for last year, noting that sales grew 62% in 2021 over the prior year in the U.S. and Canada to approximately $2.075 billion. They were also up 70% when compared to pre-pandemic 2019.

“Publishers made more selling comics content than in any year in the history of the business, even when adjusted for inflation,” Miller said of the 2021 estimates. “The biggest year in the modern era, 1993, saw sales of around $1.6 billion in 2021 dollars — and the pricier product mix puts 2021 ahead of what the colossal circulations of the early 1950s brought in, also adjusted for inflation.”

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Quick Hits | AWA, GlobalComix partner on ‘Lesser Evils’

Plus: news on United Workers of Seven Seas, censorship attempts in Michigan, FurnaceCon and more.

Brooklyn’s local BKReader spotlights Lesser Evils, a new comic series from AWA Studios that is set in the NY borough. The comic debuted digitally earlier this week on GlobalComix, as part of a “Global First” localization partnership between the online comics platform and AWA. GlobalComix plans to release it in multiple languages, including English, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian and Hindi.

“It’s not just going digital first, it’s going Global First,” said Christopher Carter, founder and CEO of GlobalComix, in a press release. “We believe that when companies go digital first, they are no longer constrained to the same up-front investment costs of physical market validation, distribution, supply chain, required for localization and global audiences.”

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Have a nice summer, X-Men

Marvel announces an ‘X-Men: Hellfire Gala’ one-shot and a prelude issue for the upcoming Judgment Day crossover — keeping the X-Men plenty busy this summer.

Although they left their school in Westchester behind for the sunny shores of Krakoa, the gifted youngsters who make up the X-Men are really going to be longing for a summer break this year. In addition to a starring role in Marvel’s upcoming crossover event “A.X.E. Judgment Day” — with the A.X.E. standing for Avengers, X-Men and Eternals — they’ll also be hosting another Hellfire Gala in June.

Unlike last year’s gala, this year’s won’t run through the full line of X-Men comics. Instead, it’ll be a standalone special by Gerry Duggan, Russell Dauterman, Matteo Lolli, C.F. Villa and Kris Anka that Marvel promises will be “loaded with high-stakes drama, shocking character developments, and of course, showstopping Super Hero fashion.” Also: a new team of X-Men, including the winner of the latest fan vote.

“Last summer your host Emma Frost invited you to celebrate Krakoa with some fireworks. This year, it’s about celebrating mutantdom’s friendship with humanity,” Duggan said. “Once again, we have a murderer’s row of talent crafting a one-shot with revelations that will chart the biggest stories in the Marvel Universe. All that, and meet a new team of X-Men.” 

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Judgment Day, Hellfire Gala + Bloodline headline Marvel’s ‘Free Comic Book Day: Avengers/X-Men’

Kieron Gillen, Dustin Weaver, Danny Lore, Gerry Duggan and more contribute to the title, which arrives for free on May 7.

Marvel has released more details on their third Free Comic Book Day title for 2022, Avengers/X-Men, which will feature three stories.

As announced earlier today, the first one will preview the Judgment Day event, in a prelude story by writer Kieron Gillen and artist Dustin Weaver (who drew the preview artwork accompanying the announcement.) The event will feature the Avengers trying to avert a war between the Eternals and the X-Men.

The second story, by Gerry Duggan and artist Matteo Lolli, will serve as the lead-in to this year’s Hellfire Gala. a storyline that’ll take place this summer. Last year’s gala brought a new team of X-Men, the mutant takeover of Mars and the death of the Scarlet Witch — so who knows what will happen this year. Quicksilver, watch your back …

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Marvel officially announces the event series ‘Judgment Day’

Kieron Gillen and Valerio Schiti will bring together the X-Men, Avengers and Eternals for a symphony of destruction.

Marvel will bring together the X-Men, the Eternals and the Avengers for Judgment Day, a crossover series coming this summer from Kieron Gillen and Valerio Schiti.

The story will revolve around conflict between the Eternals and the X-Men, as the latter target Krakoa and the Avengers try to play peacekeeper. With Gillen already writing Eternals and Immortal X-Men on deck, it makes sense that he’d bring them together — and write his first event series for Marvel.

“There’s a classic metaphor to describe the Marvel Universe – a toybox, which creators take toys out of, play with and put back. I get it, but it’s never quite how I’ve seen it – I think ‘play’ in another way. I think of a music shop, with all these instruments with their different qualities suggesting different songs, different stories,” Gillen said. “For all the Marvel instruments I’ve played, I’ve never written an event. Writing an event is something different. It’s not like playing an instrument. It’s having all the instruments in the Marvel music shop. That’s not like writing a song. That’s like writing a symphony.”

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Rest in peace, Ryan ‘Bode’ Bodenheim

The artist of ‘Black Panther,’ ‘Secret,’ ‘A Red Mass for Mars,’ ‘Bloodshot’ and more passed away Dec. 20 at the age of 44.

Artist Ryan Bodenheim, who sometimes went by the nickname Bode, passed away Dec. 20 at the age of 44. A cause of death has not been released.

Over the course of his career, Bondeheim worked on projects at Marvel and Valiant, on titles like Black Panther, Bloodshot and Ninjak. But fans might best know him from his work with Jonathan Hickman; together they co-created several Image series, including The Dying and the Dead, Secret and A Red Mass for Mars.

“Ryan made the work better,” Hickman wrote in his newsletter. “It’s why I loved working with him. I think that’s the highest compliment you can pay a creative partner, and over the past decade it was such a joy to watch him also grow as an artist.”

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