Ask Gail Stuff!

[Slicknickshady]

I hope we get to see the return of Rico and Ziggy! Also that Nature Girl can be redeemed! Excited for the books!

[wlfking]

Congrats on getting to write X-Men Gail! Very Excited for you! Looking forward to the books even if I will miss Krakoa. Had a few things I didn't care for, like the treatment of Hank and Moira, but there was still a lot of good there.

Hey Gail,

Will you be writing Monet at all? I saw a recent tweet about you being fascinated by her

Glad to hear this! Monet is great!

[SavageJudgeDredd]

Looking forward to this! Sounds like an awesome dream gig, cool to hear you're so into it.

One question, how do you handle such an expanded cast of supporting and important characters? Outside of the main team you use, do others pop in significantly?

Also, I hope Gambit and Rogue get a lot of good romance stuff, and I hope Gambit gets to have a key important part after being a background player a lot. (Edit: I see you answered this one already!)

A question that is probably too spoilery, but I wonder why the X-Men break off into these little teams in different areas, instead of strength in numbers? Granted a building with 50 great superheroes would make any problem too easy to solve perhaps. Not that they all get along, but the Xavier crew are like family.

And one bonus question, can I read Secret Six without Villains United, and do you have any top favs of your work you recommend?

[ComixGail]

Congrats on getting to write X-Men Gail! Very Excited for you! Looking forward to the books even if I will miss Krakoa. Had a few things I didn't care for, like the treatment of Hank and Moira, but there was still a lot of good there.



Glad to hear this! Monet is great!

I have to tell you, I totally get people not wanting the Krakoa saga to end. But it always was a finite story, we had nothing to do with that.

HOWEVER, everyone involved things the story was a milestone, a huge achievement and shouldn't just be, you know, retconned away.

I've worked on a LOT of event books and such, I've never had an editor be more conscientious about not messing up the previous creative team's work, the way Tom is. And we have been in communications with the previous writers a lot.

It's about respect.

I have always believed we're just different caretakers of the same garden. My Birds of Prey stories were part of the same story as Chuck Dixon, and the ones who followed me, same thing.

We have good stories to tell and we're trying to do right by the characters, the readers, the retailers, and the legacy. I hope you like what we've come up with!

[ComixGail]

Looking forward to this! Sounds like an awesome dream gig, cool to hear you're so into it.

One question, how do you handle such an expanded cast of supporting and important characters? Outside of the main team you use, do others pop in significantly?

Also, I hope Gambit and Rogue get a lot of good romance stuff, and I hope Gambit gets to have a key important part after being a background player a lot. (Edit: I see you answered this one already!)

A question that is probably too spoilery, but I wonder why the X-Men break off into these little teams in different areas, instead of strength in numbers? Granted a building with 50 great superheroes would make any problem too easy to solve perhaps. Not that they all get along, but the Xavier crew are like family.

And one bonus question, can I read Secret Six without Villains United, and do you have any top favs of your work you recommend?

You should be able to read any Secret Six or VU volume by itself, no worries. I don't like issues to not feel welcoming.

The mutants are fractured. I believe it will make perfect sense in the next few months, and it may not be for the reasons people suspect.

The trifold Stegman image is just the start.

[ComixGail]

Hi Gail,

I apologize if someone already asked this question, but is Bishop and/or Synch going to make an appearance in Uncanny? Thank you for doing this Q&A.

Not immediately but that doesn't mean they won't be seen!

[ComixGail]

I hope we get to see the return of Rico and Ziggy! Also that Nature Girl can be redeemed! Excited for the books!

It's funny but a lot of obscure characters are being talked about right now!

[ComixGail]

Mindful of the stylistic change you made with your artist on BIRDS OF PREY...Which member of the X-MEN is most in need of a hairstyle makeover? :-)

You know, this is actually a really insightful question. One of my characters offers Wolverine a new look, whether or not he goes for it, I can't say yet!

[ComixGail]

Hi Gail!

Were there any older runs you reread/brushed up on ahead of this series? Do you have any particularly favorite eras/books/runs for X-Men?

Thanks for hanging with us!

I really enjoy talking with readers!

Here's the thing. I used to have boards, here and at the Bendis boards, and eventually, I felt like it had gotten too cliquish. That's on me, no one else, I should have shut that down. But I got frustrated, even people I agreed with were sometimes mean, sometimes I was too caustic or sarcastic, I didn't like the feeling at all. So I gave up both my boards and went to things like Twitter, where, back then, it didn't feel so cliquish and dogpiles were rarer. Now I think there are a lot of message boards that are pretty nice to newbies and Twitter just seems like non-stop hate from everyone. I don't know the answer but I thought I'd try.

It's a funny thing about older runs. The day I agreed to do Uncanny, I was wondering about the best way to re-acquaint myself with it all, in an airport in Denver. I went to a bookstore next to our terminal, and there was a huge collection of the earliest X-men issues. It just felt like fate. There's a LOT of stuff, many issues I read when they came out since then, but I can't get over how good the Claremont runs are. Amazing.

[ComixGail]

Hey Gail,

Will you be writing Monet at all? I saw a recent tweet about you being fascinated by her

I am saying nothing. NOTHING.

[ComixGail]

Hi Gail,

Info so far sounds like the new Uncanny book is Rogue centric, is this the case or can we expect focus across the whole team?

For example - ‘ For Simone, Gambit’s retreat to the bayou gives Rogue a chance to rest after the complicated events during the Fall of X storyline. But her retreat gets interrupted, not only by some young mutants who need help, but also by a frightening new baddie.“

There's no question that Rogue is the POV character for a lot of the first story. BUT, I swear, I love the whole team and each one is just begging to have their stories told. Gambit, man, I just love him. Wolverine, it just goes on and on. I don't think you'll feel she takes over the book.

[ComixGail]

Hi Gail

Very excited to see you handle this new project. I was a massive Birds of Prey fan back in the day and what I loved most was your ability to bring forward a second stringer, flesh them out and get us readers excited about them.

I dont want any spoilers for what you have planned but I would like to hear your thoughts on a few characters and if you feel they can be reintroduced in a meaningful way...

Longshot
Cecelia Reyes
Thunderbird II (Neil)
Magma
Spiral
Chimeria

Some of these are favorites of mine. The one thing is, I feel like my one story with Longshot, in Domino, I don't feel I got him right. This happened to me one other time, with Cass as Batgirl. It's bugged me all those years, so when I got to write her again, I gave her the MOST powerful juice I could. I would love to redeem myself with Longshot!

[ComixGail]

Hey Gail! Curious about Jubilee, who you're writing in Uncanny and in the FCBD special.

Q1--why Jubilee? What's your read on her as a character?
Q2--more generally, what's your mission statement for Uncanny?

Happy to have you in our merry reading circle! Hope you survive the--*gets yanked off-stage*

You know, everyone has favorites, it's as simple as that. I remember, I had fallen away from the X-Men for a bit, and then they did that huge crossover with DC, and Robin and Jubes had a little Romeo and Juliet thing and I just adored her and have loved her ever since. I love her more now that she's outgrown that Valley Girl thing a bit. I just think she has a fantastic voice and presence.

My mission statement, to be honest, is to tell the best stories I can and make the characters shine as hard as possible with whatever resources I have. That's not sarcasm, that's my goal.

[ComixGail]

Hi Gail, are there any plans to use Mutant villains in any of the books like they did in the Krakoan Age? I loved the fact that the mutants were unified, for the most part.

Yeah, I hear you.

I can't answer this one but there should be some answers pretty soon.

[ComixGail]

!?
He had such a great run. I would love to see some of his ideas again. I especially loved how he explored Xavier.

Xavier has had a good era so I can't REALLY ask if he's in the new era!! I want to ask you if the reveal of his role in wiping Mystique's memories of Kurt will affect Kurt's view on Xavier's dream, especially considering Xavier brought Rogue into the X-Men but she didn't get her powers working right until way, way later.

I kind of hate all the Xavier is revealed to be a jerk plots (let him be a jerk up front) but Rogue is Xavier's best student. I love the potential for drama. <3

I hear you on that last one.

I feel the same about Reed Richards, so much that I wrote one of my favorite short stories about it in the recent MARVEL ZOMBIES, BLACK WHITE AND RED #2.