Off Panel interview with Hickman

[spirit2011]

I would imagine if you're a Moira, Lorna, or Goldballs fan you're probably happy with your favorite character getting more screentime as well. The importance and legacy of Cyclops and Kate to the X-Men brand is pretty self explanitory, and Emma is a fan favorite and important to the story as she is of paramount importance to the economic viability of a mutant nation state, so it makes sense for Emma to be front and center.

It''s not like he didn't make his story with Emma in mind.

For me is hard to take critics from writers when they are fans with writers powers

That would be my guess, but I do not feel like he has placed Magneto above other characters at their expense or at odds with the overall narrative. Magneto so far feels perfectly in line with the amount of exposure I would expect of the character based on the story being told and Erik's importance to the brand. Hickman has not overused him nor is he giving Magneto an unfair push in my opinion, so in that regards, I do not feel like he is like most X-Fans.

There is a obvious bias on his writing.

[phoenixzero23]

My favorite part of the interview is when Hickman implied all us X-Fans are entitled shills only looking to promote our personal favorite characters regardless of standing or importance to the story even if it means dragging other characters down.

Cause he's right.

Yes, I agree with that. Sometimes people don't realize the X-men are a team and focusing so much on someone can in fact be very harmful.

Ironically I think he does exactly that with his faves

[Macallan]

It''s not like he didn't make his story with Emma in mind.

For me is hard to take critics from writers when they are fans with writers powers



There is a obvious bias on his writing.

If you wanted to tell a story about creating a new mutant nation, economics would be one of the logistical vectors you would have to tackle, and Emma makes sense in that regards. I suppose Hickman could have written it for Warren, but I don't think Warren is the businessperson that Emma is, especially when you consider the legal front aspect and the black market one.

As for the criticism concern, he's not wrong about his assessment of X-Fans, even if it makes people uncomfortable hearing it. And what's wrong with being a fan of the thing you're writing? You don't think Claremont loved the X-Men as he wrote it? If anything, an artist having an invested interest in their medium is a good thing as far as I'm concerned, unless you're Rian Johnson and you're writing The Last Jedi of course.

Everyone has a bias on everything, it's human nature.

[spirit2011]

If you wanted to tell a story about creating a new mutant nation, economics would be one of the logistical vectors you would have to tackle, and Emma makes sense in that regards. I suppose Hickman could have written it for Warren, but I don't think Warren is the businessperson that Emma is, especially when you consider the legal front aspect and the black market one.

As for the criticism concern, he's not wrong about his assessment of X-Fans, even if it makes people uncomfortable hearing it. And what's wrong with being a fan of the thing you're writing? You don't think Claremont loved the X-Men as he wrote it? If anything, an artist having an invested interest in their medium is a good thing as far as I'm concerned, unless you're Rian Johnson and you're writing The Last Jedi of course.

Everyone has a bias on everything, it's human nature.

Economics aren't really a bussiness person thing, they don't care for it. They care about theirselves.
I don't see this making sense, as much as he wants to take his fave and put her front and center

My problem is that fan writers are now taking their favorites and not caring about the rest. Rian Johnson is one of the directors/writers that did the most interesting work on Star Wars, he went ahead of everyone.

Yes, I agree with that. Sometimes people don't realize the X-men are a team and focusing so much on someone can in fact be very harmful.

Ironically I think he does exactly that with his faves

Maybe he thinks that no one noticed it

[hawkeyefan]

I have never understood what people see in his books. Not saying he isn’t a good writer but I don’t see anything in his work that speaks to me or my tastes.

He has said this before, but we shouldn’t be too hard on it. The main problem was that it had lots of threads that got twisted out of shape or abandoned. There were clear themes developing like the way he was introducing the New Universe characters and themes which had the potential to be fascinating and wide in scope, or the more cosmic elements he way tying into that, which ended up getting almost entirely dropped. That was a shame.

I agree overall with your assessment of his Avengers run...I think it got away from him a bit, but I also think that there was a lot of editorial mandate and Marvel-wide plans that mixed things up.

I just wanted to point out that the New Universe stuff that you thought was interesting was based primarily on Warren Ellis’s take on the concepts in newuniversal. So perhaps you may see the appeal of Ellis, after all, as Hickman did.

[jwatson]

That interview gave me life. Hickman's speaking voice is magical. I wanted him to hold me the entire time.
The narrative & fandom are broken: Swoon.
The readership is more than the voices online: Chills.
Interpretation of story vs reading comprehension: Shook.
His love for Carey and Gillen: Same.

Same here. I really don't even feel there is anything else for me to say to others who put their own personal comprehension on the story in order for them to even begin to interpret it. It's a pointless endeavor, just enjoy what you enjoy.

[hawkeyefan]

The idea that a writer of fiction should somehow not focus on the elements of the story that he enjoys, or that speak to him or inspire him, is bizarre.

This isn't journalism, where objectivity is to be valued....it's fiction.

I want my writers to write the characters that they find interesting. Why would you not want that? I don't get it.

I would say there's no need to damage other characters, but I don't think that's something Hickman aims to do....his comments about being additive rather than destructive make that pretty obvious. So if that's not a concern.....why shouldn't Emma and Magneto have a prominent place in his story?

[spirit2011]

The idea that a writer of fiction should somehow not focus on the elements of the story that he enjoys, or that speak to him or inspire him, is bizarre.

This isn't journalism, where objectivity is to be valued....it's fiction.

I want my writers to write the characters that they find interesting. Why would you not want that? I don't get it.

I would say there's no need to damage other characters, but I don't think that's something Hickman aims to do....his comments about being additive rather than destructive make that pretty obvious. So if that's not a concern.....why shouldn't Emma and Magneto have a prominent place in his story?

First don't criticize on the fans for having favorites and wanting them to have a spotlight, then do the same thing

[SiegePerilous02]

First don't criticize on the fans for having favorites and wanting them to have a spotlight, then do the same thing

Fans aren't the ones writing the book though. The writer should be allowed to tell the story they want to tell, and not use characters just because it is expected of them. That often leads to mediocrity or outright badness.

Fans just have the right to vote with their wallet. If it doesn't feature characters they want or the direction doesn't appeal to them, don't buy it and let it sink or swim without your input. A book not using the character you want or using them the way you want isn't an objective criticism, which seems to be the point Hickman is trying to make.

[hawkeyefan]

First don't criticize on the fans for having favorites and wanting them to have a spotlight, then do the same thing

Well there's a difference there, isn't there? The writer is the one making the story.....so his choice of characters to tell the story matters quite a lot.

Where as.....I like Colossus a lot. He doesn't really have a prominent place in this story so far. He could have been part of the team that assaulted The Forge, but he wasn't. No big deal.

I don't think he's criticizing anyone for wanting a character to have a place of prominence in a story, but having the expectation that they will. There's a difference.

[spirit2011]

Fans aren't the ones writing the book though. The writer should be allowed to tell the story they want to tell, and not use characters just because it is expected of them. That often leads to mediocrity or outright badness.

Fans just have the right to vote with their wallet. If it doesn't feature characters they want or the direction doesn't appeal to them, don't buy it and let it sink or swim without your input. A book not using the character you want or using them the way you want isn't an objective criticism, which seems to be the point Hickman is trying to make.

If he wants to use his favorites without people criticizing he is not being realist

[Fokken]

Well there's a difference there, isn't there? The writer is the one making the story.....so his choice of characters to tell the story matters quite a lot.

Where as.....I like Colossus a lot. He doesn't really have a prominent place in this story so far. He could have been part of the team that assaulted The Forge, but he wasn't. No big deal.

I don't think he's criticizing anyone for wanting a character to have a place of prominence in a story, but having the expectation that they will. There's a difference.

100% this.
Well said.

[spirit2011]

Well there's a difference there, isn't there? The writer is the one making the story.....so his choice of characters to tell the story matters quite a lot.

Where as.....I like Colossus a lot. He doesn't really have a prominent place in this story so far. He could have been part of the team that assaulted The Forge, but he wasn't. No big deal.

I don't think he's criticizing anyone for wanting a character to have a place of prominence in a story, but having the expectation that they will. There's a difference.

he is the writer, sure. He has the power that fans doesn't have, so why talk down the fans? because obviously he is giving his favorites a lot

Fans not having expectation? where is this utopia?

[jwatson]

Fans aren't the ones writing the book though. The writer should be allowed to tell the story they want to tell, and not use characters just because it is expected of them. That often leads to mediocrity or outright badness.

Fans just have the right to vote with their wallet. If it doesn't feature characters they want or the direction doesn't appeal to them, don't buy it and let it sink or swim without your input. A book not using the character you want or using them the way you want isn't an objective criticism, which seems to be the point Hickman is trying to make.

I disagree with the first part even though i can see the point. I personally will not buy a book that doesn't have any diversity in it. It's not reflective of the world outside my window and IMO if a writer can only come up with faves that look like them their is an inherent problem with their skill. For me that's my one requirement that i force on any writer. It may be unfair to them in their opinion but it is what it is. But simply not buying isn't a great option in that case you also need to make it known why you aren't.

[CGAR]

If you think he's talking down to fans. That's just your interpretation of it. I mean if you're an individual that finds yourself getting defensive over his comments you should probably self-reflect. He was being honest and direct. I respect that. We don't need to be babied. Just give it to us real.