Regarding the choices made to bring the ‘New X-Men’ squad to the forefront, Emma’s decisions there will be explored eventually – there were reasons she did what she did, and yes – it was extreme. For Craig and I, we came onto the book with a huge cast, and we went through to find the most exciting characters – in terms of personalities and powers/look, but also to see what kind of dramatic tension could be created by the massive changes to come.
BH: After the events of issues #25 through #30, it is quite apparent that no one is safe behind the walls of the Xavier Institute. The wake of the Decimation Event and Rev. Stryker’s attack has left some awful surprising casualties, including Wallflower and Icarus, and a feeling that no matter how substantial no character is safe. New X-men has featured quite a large ensemble cast from the beginning; were characters created to be expendable?
CY: The entire point of Decimation was to recreate that feeling of hate and fear when it comes to mutant kind. Stryker wants to wipe out all mutants – that suddenly is a lot more possible. If Nimrod kills six mutants, that’s a much larger percentage of the species than before M-Day. Everything matters now. Mutant kind is heading to extinction, one by one. No one is safe, and yes – that’s a terrible lesson for these kids to have learned.
Every choice made was a difficult one; Icarus was a Guthrie, a mutant institution. Wallflower was a bright light in the New X-Men’s world. It’s a horrible, horrible thing that happened. But now we start to see what these surviving kids are made of in the most awful circumstances. Can they rise above the death and destruction? This is explored more in the upcoming issue 32.
BH: Rockslide and Mercury; both of these characters exemplify the diversity and difficulties of being a mutant, yet they remain lighthearted, appearing as positive role models. Mercury’s complexities were explored briefly in the Hellions limited series, and although the team is busy fending off Nimrod and religious zealots, are there plans to bring these two characters to the forefront?
CY: That’s the great thing about Mercury – to us, she represents Xavier’s dream. We’ve seen how her parents reacted to her mutation. She can’t hide it, much like Nightcrawler. But she’s making the best of it. Rockslide, on the other hand, is not someone I’d necessarily call a positive role model. But he’s a whole lot of fun. We hope both of them survive their upcoming battle with Nimrod.
BH: The members of the X-Men that the students seem to interact with the most (Emma Frost, Cyclops and Beast) primarily appear in Astonishing X-Men. Given the recent schemes of Emma Frost and her involvement with the new Hellfire Club, is it problematic plotting New X-Men and having it coincide with the happenings in Astonishing?
CY: Emma’s behavior throughout our run has EVERYTHING to do with Astonishing. Astonishing is fairly compact in its timeline, so it hasn’t been that bad. Apocalypse landing a Sphinx on the Mansion, however, that was a doozy. We rely on editors Nick Lowe and Sean Ryan to guide us through some of the big picture events. But one of the things we love about the X-Men universe is the inter-title continuity. It’s great to see Mercury and X-23 fighting Aurora in ‘X-Men.’ To see Hellion show up and hit on a Cuckoo in ‘Warsong.’ To deal with Storm’s wedding in our title, to have Ms. Marvel come to the school to deliver that horrible news. It’s a great playground. In 32, we get to see Multiple Man and Wolfsbane. It’s a shrinking world, but that just makes it more fun.
BH: So far X-23 has broken out of her shell and seems to be coming into her own as a real team player. Given her origin and similarities, is it difficult to keep her from becoming the Wolverine of the team, or is that your plan for her?
CY: X-23 has a pretty distinct personality from Wolverine, but she definitely will have her moments to shine. She’s very quiet and unassuming. For the first seven issues of our run, she kind of hovered in the background. And then, when Stryker’s Purifiers entered the Mansion, the kids saw what she was capable of. Issue 31 will show yet another side of her, in the battle against Nimrod. But the plan for her in this book was to always be part of the team. X-23 has had a horrible life, and doesn’t know how to relate to people on a human level. Wolverine brought her to the Mansion because she needs to be there. And the New X-Men need her.
BH: Are there any plans to bring in a rival group of mutants from outside the school in the old New Mutants verses the Hellions tradition?
CY: That would be fun, now wouldn’t it?
BH: Thanks, Chris!
