X-Men Monday #158 - The Trials of Magik and Maddie

[Devaishwarya]

A really insightful and engaging interview. I really like Vita's thought processes regarding where these two characters are, where they came from and where they might be going.

On Magik: "I think Magik deserves to be allowed room to grow and change, to not be beholden to her trauma. She is almost synonymous with Limbo, the place where the absolute worst things that happened to her occurred. Is she a bad ass and totally capable? More than! But I think being (literally) linked to the place/thing that destroyed her world/traumatized her the most can stunt possibility, and I want more for and from her character. Time to let her heal! But she knows that she can’t just abandon her post, nor can she hand it over to some bright-eyed (and wildly unprepared) idealist. That isn’t how hell works. She knows she has to find a replacement that can handle the chaos, but also would be willing to play ball in terms of an alliance. She’s incredibly intelligent and was raised by schemers like Belasco, she knows how to read a situation and play the game!"

On Maddie: "The way Resurrection works (to my understanding), too, has allowed her to heal some of the immediate mental wounds from Hellions (or rather, given her scar tissue instead of a sucking wound). We’ve seen this happen with other characters, but with Maddie how I am viewing it is similar to what happened to Lilith at the beginning of Dawn/Xenogenesis #1 (by Octavia Butler) during the long rests. She remembers it all, even the feelings, but her mind has been given time to rest and heal and so she is less reacting and more processing."

Also...Vita scores major points for referencing the incomparable Octavia E. Butler.

[rcaguy]

A really insightful and engaging interview. I really like Vita's thought processes regarding where these two characters are, where they came from and where they might be going.

On Magik: "I think Magik deserves to be allowed room to grow and change, to not be beholden to her trauma. She is almost synonymous with Limbo, the place where the absolute worst things that happened to her occurred. Is she a bad ass and totally capable? More than! But I think being (literally) linked to the place/thing that destroyed her world/traumatized her the most can stunt possibility, and I want more for and from her character. Time to let her heal! But she knows that she can’t just abandon her post, nor can she hand it over to some bright-eyed (and wildly unprepared) idealist. That isn’t how hell works. She knows she has to find a replacement that can handle the chaos, but also would be willing to play ball in terms of an alliance. She’s incredibly intelligent and was raised by schemers like Belasco, she knows how to read a situation and play the game!"

On Maddie: "The way Resurrection works (to my understanding), too, has allowed her to heal some of the immediate mental wounds from Hellions (or rather, given her scar tissue instead of a sucking wound). We’ve seen this happen with other characters, but with Maddie how I am viewing it is similar to what happened to Lilith at the beginning of Dawn/Xenogenesis #1 (by Octavia Butler) during the long rests. She remembers it all, even the feelings, but her mind has been given time to rest and heal and so she is less reacting and more processing."

Also...Vita scores major points for referencing the incomparable Octavia E. Butler.

Do you think any of Vita's critics even know who Octavia E. Butler is/was? Franky, I doubt it.

[sunofdarkchild]

Here's the link to the full interview.

https://aiptcomics.com/2022/05/30/x-...a-new-mutants/

[Kingdom X]

Really enjoyed this interview as well and not just because their response to my question was really kind! I will say a lot of their answers about future plots (like Tran and Tier) were super vague. They’re either just being coy about the future of the book or it’s not clear how long this book will last after the current arc.

[BobbysWorld]

Definitely one of the better interviews I've seen lately, I really enjoyed their takes on Maddie and Illyana and why they've gone the direction they did. I have high hopes for this current arc, and its off to a strong start.

And I liked the shout out to Octavia Butler too, but it doesn't surprise me at all. I can definitely see Butler's influence present in Ayala's work, particularly shades of Wild Seed. (But that might just be my own personal bias, since that's my favorite of Butler's works. I'm not saying that Middle School Me wrote fanfic that was literally just 'what if the X-Men met Anyanwu aka one of the greatest characters in sci-fi literature,' but umm, yeah, I absolutely did in fact do that.)

[Grunty]

Do you think any of Vita's critics even know who Octavia E. Butler is/was? Franky, I doubt it.

To be fair, a lot of people, even those who generaly love the genre, might not be aware of a lot of classic science fiction writers, as influental or success as they might have been, regardless of their ethnical backround, unless they are put on a pedestal as one of the greats and retroactively showered with adapations of their work. Assimov, Clark and Heinlein tend to overshadow most in pop cultural awareness and even they might be unknowns to the casual consumer of science fiction works.

How many fans of the cyberpunk genre for example have read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and be aware of Philip K. Dick's other works, instead of having only watched Blade Runner and the works based on it?

Likewise while there is a praised movie based on it and multiple games inspired by it (or at least inspired by said movie), how many science fiction fans know the Strugatsky Brothers and have read Roadside Pinic?

Stanislaw Lem, Ursula K. Le Guinn, the list goes on.

And that is the issue with such a statement. There is a general unawareness of classic and influental writers all over the place, not just among critics of a single comic writer. Likewise how many of Alaya's readers and supporters might know or be aware of Butler's work either?

[Devaishwarya]

Do you think any of Vita's critics even know who Octavia E. Butler is/was? Franky, I doubt it.

True. As with most comic book critics, Vita's critics don't even read the books their critiquing...that's why I don't pay them any mind.

Granted...as Grunty astutely points out...those of us who are aware of classic literary influences are clearly in a class of our own. But still...

[Uncanny X-Man]

Vita has been one of my favourite X-writers ever since they started on New Mutants - long may they reign, I know I'll be reading.

[Rift]

Aww, they didn't pick any of my Hellion questions. And I worked so hard to make them relevant to the book.

[Big Joe]

Banshee looks very angry in that panel. It seems like he's finally got sick of being used as wallpaper for the last 20 years.

[Krakoa]

Really enjoyed this interview as well and not just because their response to my question was really kind! I will say a lot of their answers about future plots (like Tran and Tier) were super vague. They’re either just being coy about the future of the book or it’s not clear how long this book will last after the current arc.

TBH I'm less worried about how long the book will last and more about how long Vita will be on it. We have Danny Lore solicited for a fill-in issue after this arc and we know Charlie Jane Anders is doing 3 issues this Fall.

[Uncanny X-Man]

TBH I'm less worried about how long the book will last and more about how long Vita will be on it. We have Danny Lore solicited for a fill-in issue after this arc and we know Charlie Jane Anders is doing 3 issues this Fall.

Since New Mutants isn't exactly setting any sales charts on fire as is, I'd argue a string of fill-in issues will be the final nail in the coffin. I fully expect the book to be relaunched/retooled after the Summer.

[Devaishwarya]

TBH I'm less worried about how long the book will last and more about how long Vita will be on it. We have Danny Lore solicited for a fill-in issue after this arc and we know Charlie Jane Anders is doing 3 issues this Fall.

...and so their response to the Karma/Tran question seems more apropos. I will be very disappointed if Vita leaves this book sooner than later as their NM has been one of the best character-study books in the X-Line.

[Kingdom X]

TBH I'm less worried about how long the book will last and more about how long Vita will be on it. We have Danny Lore solicited for a fill-in issue after this arc and we know Charlie Jane Anders is doing 3 issues this Fall.

Is Anders doing the Escapade stuff? And 3 issues?!? Yeah that’s a no for me.

[ericng]

Really enjoyed this interview as well and not just because their response to my question was really kind! I will say a lot of their answers about future plots (like Tran and Tier) were super vague. They’re either just being coy about the future of the book or it’s not clear how long this book will last after the current arc.

Frankly, I think the way things have been dragging, Tran and Tier's stories might never be told before the editor decides to change the writer.

Their stories should have been told long ago instead of dragging the Shadow King's stories with irrelevant subplots.