Message from Hickman regarding the X-Books

[JB]

Tycon posted this in another thread (and I believe pk commented on it) but I wanted to bring it to the fore because I think it opens up a timely discussion.




I personally agree with him. For me, I'll pick up the books I love and though I would like to follow the adventures of all the mutants, I tend to stick to what I love and get info from all of you great people on the titles I don't follow.

I appreciate the time and effort being put into the X-Line and though the new status quo and individual titles are not for everyone, IMO the line has been revitalized and it shows through all the great discussions. Something for everyone to enjoy, at least that's the stated goal. And it's my great wish that people get to enjoy what they enjoy.

Thoughts? Presents? Donations?

[KangMiRae]

Lol, he’s trying to tell X-fans to not be obnoxious. That’s all X-fans know how to do :x

An uphill battle.

[Stormultt Divine]

Lol, he’s trying to tell X-fans to not be obnoxious. That’s all X-fans know how to do :x

An uphill battle.

Lmao, right.

I know they getting on his last nerve.

[skyvolt2000]

Lmao, right.

I know they getting on his last nerve.

But he took the job.

Now we have 13-15 X-Men flooding the market. With folks falling into these slots-

1) I want to read all them but my BUDGET won't let me. This is the main complaint I hear. It's too many books at once.
Store owners who screamed over 1-2 unsold copies of Squirrel Girl or Moon Girl now have 5-15 unsold piles of X-Men books. With fans citing budget.

2) Readers are not happy with what they are seeing-13-15 X-Men books is not a green light to showcase 5-6 of the same folks. Who have forever hogged the spotlight while back grounding folks who found better success OUTSIDE X-Men (Sunspot & Storm).
Or seeing new folks pop up (Vita's book) when old favorites are still looking for a home (SYNCH).

3) Readers who question the story-we seen complaint threads here. Folks do not want to read about Nazi X-Men especially after the backlash of "being too political" Ms Marvel that set after a nasty reaction to books with POC, females & Inhumans as the leads.

What he is saying is you don't have to buy every book unless there is a reason (crossover) for it.

Now he did make comic book store owners mad by saying that but it's a reality. Nobody should have to buy books that they are not interested in under the guise of having to do it.

I am sure Marvel didn't like it either. Because how many folks lose their books for those slots like Moon Girl & Squirrel Girl?

If he was going to do this much world building-maybe different formats should have been done.

Couldn't Vita's book be a OGN? What about Leah's?

This is an quantity not quality issue.

[Handsome men don't lose fights]

But Skyvolt, a bunch of extraneous (X-traneous) x-titles alongside a divided fanbase is a glorious return to the 90's!

[JB]

But Skyvolt, a bunch of extraneous (X-traneous) x-titles alongside a divided fanbase is a glorious return to the 90's!

This is true. I can only imagine what CBR would have been like back then when X-Men #1 rocketed the franchise to the sun.

[salarta]

But he took the job.

Now we have 13-15 X-Men flooding the market. With folks falling into these slots-

1) I want to read all them but my BUDGET won't let me. This is the main complaint I hear. It's too many books at once.
Store owners who screamed over 1-2 unsold copies of Squirrel Girl or Moon Girl now have 5-15 unsold piles of X-Men books. With fans citing budget.

2) Readers are not happy with what they are seeing-13-15 X-Men books is not a green light to showcase 5-6 of the same folks. Who have forever hogged the spotlight while back grounding folks who found better success OUTSIDE X-Men (Sunspot & Storm).
Or seeing new folks pop up (Vita's book) when old favorites are still looking for a home (SYNCH).

3) Readers who question the story-we seen complaint threads here. Folks do not want to read about Nazi X-Men especially after the backlash of "being too political" Ms Marvel that set after a nasty reaction to books with POC, females & Inhumans as the leads.

What he is saying is you don't have to buy every book unless there is a reason (crossover) for it.

Now he did make comic book store owners mad by saying that but it's a reality. Nobody should have to buy books that they are not interested in under the guise of having to do it.

I am sure Marvel didn't like it either. Because how many folks lose their books for those slots like Moon Girl & Squirrel Girl?

If he was going to do this much world building-maybe different formats should have been done.

Couldn't Vita's book be a OGN? What about Leah's?

This is an quantity not quality issue.

13-15 simultaneous books is about what X-Men had prior to Marvel cutting them in half around Inhumanity. So the numbers are "back up" to what they were before.

That aside, there's nothing truly new in this. And the fact some essential elements are missing with various characters (whether their lack of presence or key character moments being ignored) kinda undercuts anything that's happening right now. Why read the books of today when pivotal character moments of the past are treated like they never happened?

[spirit2011]

13-15 simultaneous books is about what X-Men had prior to Marvel cutting them in half around Inhumanity. So the numbers are "back up" to what they were before.

That aside, there's nothing truly new in this. And the fact some essential elements are missing with various characters (whether their lack of presence or key character moments being ignored) kinda undercuts anything that's happening right now. Why read the books of today when pivotal character moments of the past are treated like they never happened?

ignoring characters continuity can be vry alienating.

I don't think ther was 13-16 books befor the inhumans push. it was less

I think one problem is that someone, either Hickman or someone above him, wants a recognizable/old school name as the flagship artist and they just grabbed Yu to go with it. Coipel is busy drawing penises for Instagram, McNiven can't do two issues in a row, Cassaday is on the same level as Yu currently, Cheung is at DC, Immonen retired, Bachalo is doing Deadpool. They should have picked Larraz, but I'm guessing he's doing the upcoming Moira book or one of the Giant Size issues. Or Dauterman, God help me. Here's hoping they wake up and get one of these two (or Silva/Caselli) later this year.

what?

[MythicalChicken]

Lol, he’s trying to tell X-fans to not be obnoxious. That’s all X-fans know how to do :x

An uphill battle.

I feel you but let's retire that joke. Then let's collectively grow up and learn how so we can rest assured we're better than Star Wars fans (albeit more the progressive version).

They're actually taking the x-books seriously again. They deserve that (and no I don't like all the books and Hickman was a dick to me in person, so I'm not a fan but I am very, very grateful he allowed me to be into x-books again).

The x-men evolved, thank the Dark Lords. Let's evolve with them.

[Electricmastro]

Lol, he’s trying to tell X-fans to not be obnoxious. That’s all X-fans know how to do :x

An uphill battle.

Quite a number of people, whether it be on forums or not, have their own idea of how X-Men should be, who should be spotlighted more, and how interactions should go. To them, I suppose all I can say is that I wish the best in getting Marvel to listen to them, if not, getting a writer/editor job there, because Marvel definitely isn’t obligated to listen to them all them time.

[PrezValentine]

What else can be said, except that he's right
If the X-Books were dedicated to building up to Hickman's plots, people would complain anyway. It's good that there's in an attempt to actually turn the line into something big enough that they can put books on the market for more than one kind of person.
"But what about MY sense of how an organized and cohesive line of books should be?" Well, you can shove it, for starters. The idea is simply that you don't have to read every book, only the ones that resonate with you. What Hickman says he planned for isn't just about telling a specific story with an endgame in mind (which he has, due to the fact that he has contingencies in case things don't go his way), it's about changing what an X-Men book means going forward, so the franchise can keep being relevant. Therefore, the books are published in a way that even the entitled crowd, and their sense of what cohesion and good art are, shouldn't be disturbed.

[JB]

What else can be said, except that he's right
If the X-Books were dedicated to building up to Hickman's plots, people would complain anyway. It's good that there's in an attempt to actually turn the line into something big enough that they can put books on the market for more than one kind of person.
"But what about MY sense of how an organized and cohesive line of books should be?" Well, you can shove it, for starters. The idea is simply that you don't have to read every book, only the ones that resonate with you. What Hickman says he planned for isn't just about telling a specific story with an endgame in mind (which he has, due to the fact that he has contingencies in case things don't go his way), it's about changing what an X-Men book means going forward, so the franchise can keep being relevant. Therefore, the books are published in a way that even the entitled crowd, and their sense of what cohesion and good art are, shouldn't be disturbed.

100% agreed, especially the bold. I'm grateful that the characters most of us grew up with are in the spotlight again in a big way. I'm enjoying the ride immensely.

[Mutant X]

Dawn of X is not having the kind of reception he was expecting.
And he can't blame anyone besides himself. Because fans gave a chance to all the titles, but some of them haven't show quality consistency.
So it's natural people not recommend them to other readers.

[Veitha]

Dawn of X is not having the kind of reception he was expecting.
And he can't blame anyone besides himself. Because fans gave a chance to all the titles, but some of them haven't show quality consistency.
So it's natural people not recommend them to other readers.

Aren't sales good? I think that people who do not like DoX complain a lot louder than people who do, that's why it doesn't look like it's getting the best reception, at least on the boards.

[Nyssane]

Dawn of X is not having the kind of reception he was expecting.
And he can't blame anyone besides himself. Because fans gave a chance to all the titles, but some of them haven't show quality consistency.
So it's natural people not recommend them to other readers.

That's not at all what he was saying. He was literally agreeing with you and saying not all comics are for everyone so if you don't like a certain X-Book (or the amount being published) don't buy 'em all.