Pitch A New X-Book

[zinderel]

Uncanny X-Men
Writer: Jason Aaron and Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Russel Dauterman

Plot: Basically, my dream comic would take elements of X-Men and what makes IT great, and elements of Babylon 5 and what made IT great and tell a balls-to-the-wall operatic space epic with sex, love, death, betrayal, double-crosses, triple-crosses, cursed artifacts, fearful space gods, war, peace, wind, fire, all that kind of thing! It would all lead to a proper epic finale that CHANGES EVERYTHING!!!, and involves the return of Charles Xavier, Lilandra Neremani, Rachel-as-Phoenix-again, and Reed & Sue Richards, as well as the resurgence of the Dire Wraiths as a genuinely dangerous cosmic/magical threat again. I remember those guys being effing terrifying, back in the day.

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First Issue:
On an otherwise unremarkable day of protecting - or just trying to LIVE in - a world that hates and fears them, telepaths around the world are knocked out by a SENSES-SHATTERING psychic cry of pain, fear, loss, rage!
The SUM TOTALITY of an entire world's incoherent and raw emotion so potent that only the strongest minds can resist being swept away by it!
Among those few are Rachel Grey-Summers and Emma Frost, and in that cry, among a myriad of voices and languages, they recognize a voice: the voice of Charles Xavier!
They know this to be impossible - they saw him die, on Earth, and the cry came from the far side of the galaxy. But in their line of work...death is rarely what it seems, especially when it comes to space...

Emma reaches out to Havok, calling in a favor that we didn't know he owed her. She tells him that she wants his help reaching out to the X-men...basically, she wants him to make sure they don't just outright attack her on sight. Havok is repulsed by Emma cold manner and manipulative ways, but he's also secretly a little hopeful that she might not be all the way gone, given what she's offering to give back. Plus, he kind of misses the old gang, because Havok isn't Axis-ed and surly and out-of-character and melty-faced anymore. Emma did him a solid after he got her out at the end of IvX. Fixed his mind parts, and hooked him up with her plastic surgeon, who fixed Alex's face, so he's beautiful again.

Rachel reaches out to her brother, Cable, and asks him for his help and knowledge of the future. They meet up and talk. He can't be sure which events lead to which timelines, but he too heard the cry, and though he was knocked out by it, his wetware recorded it...and he thinks he could locate it's source, given the right context. As they are talking, Emma and Havok walk up. Emma looks confident, Havok looks like he wishes he was ANYWHERE else... Emma is not at all contrite and offers no apologies for her actions in IvX (whatever your opinion of her actions, The Emma we all love (we who love her) wouldn't show a 'weakness' like regret)...but we're left to wonder if she is, perhaps, seeking redemption in the eyes of her peers, or just relief from the boredom and disappointment that has become the world. Or both. Anyway, even if they don't want HER, she tells them, she DOES have something they WILL want...: the body of the man they all love. Father, brother, lover...Scott Summers, cryogenically preserved at the moment of death, thanks to quick thinking on Emma's part and the tech at Muir Island. All she's asking in return is a chance to get away from Earth for a while. Some time to think. Maybe do some good for her people.

At around the same time as Emma and Havok's arrival, but before Rachel and Cable really have a chance to react - in one of those wonderfully contrived but oh-so-effective coincidences - Carol Danvers and Abigail Brand show up, with some news of an unexpected visitor at the Peak (or whatever the current, post-Secret Empire space station base is) who is demanding to see 'the once-and-future Phoenix'. Carol is also here for another reason: it seems she's grown disillusioned and fed up with the Avengers after two Civil Wars and a Secret Empire, and she realized that she hasn't felt like she had a family to turn to since she was with the X-Men as Binary. They see Emma, there's of course a bit of a melee full of boisterous posturing and scene chewing, maybe a sweet feat or two to add to the lists, and it all ends on an unsteady truce once the REASON for Emma's return is revealed and they agree to put aside their differences in order to find out if what they heard could possibly be true. Carol tells them that she had Abigail Brand keep tabs on Deathbird after their last meeting, and who should have shown up at the Peak the day before the cry hit Earth...? You guessed it.

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So this crazy squad of wild cards, 'heroes', 'villains' and several shades of Grey (and Summers) take to the stars to discover the truth, and uncover obscure, long-forgotten corners of the Marvel cosmos, encounter old and new threats and allies, discover shocking secrets that affect the whole Marvel Universe, but not in a way that demands a stupid multi-title crossover. More like...the entire run leads to a major mini/maxi series, self contained but with some acknowledgement from affected corners of the MU, but not a full derailment of other stories, though, because...screw that...

Oh, and their 'base of operations' on this mission is the Starjammer. Sikorski revives Cyclops, who wasn't actually dead, just MOSTLY dead. The Starjammers get a good laugh about how ridiculous Earth is, that it can't even handle a simple allergic reaction to Terrigen dust without it becoming another apocalypse. From there, the merry space pirates become the main support cast. Scott, Alex and their dad (and the kids!) get some real family bonding time. EVERYONE gets away from the drama of Earth for a while, which they ALL need. Emma and Scott can reconcile, or not, as long as Emma isn't written as pining away like a moon-eyed simpleton...Maybe Havok and Deathbird get into a...erm...well, a mutually angry...pairing? Because...come on...!! Isn't that Alex's type, anyway? Oh, and Cable, the grizzled old veteran, find that he's enjoying himself, having a family around him and a GOOD war to fight for the the first time in a long time.

Plus, in this team, you have a pretty full squad with members filling different roles - with some overlapping support and power - as needed. Scott, Alex, Rachel and Carol are all blasters, Scott, Emma, Abigail and Cable are ALL tactical powerhouses, Rachel, Emma and Cable are all telepaths and/or telekinetics to some extent, Carol and Emma can easily and happily fill the brick role, Abigail and Deathbird are both gloriously dirty-fighting scrappers (and Deathbird is an off-tank in her own right), Abigail and Cable are both tech and weapons, Cable is also a teleporter...

With Hickman as writer/plotter, I have every confidence that the story would hit all the right notes of awe and gravity that are a must in terms of high concept sci-fi, and could lead us on a wonderful trip into obscure areas of Marvel lore and continuity and drag up some things that are welcome returns...and some things perhaps better left in their shadows... With Jason Aaron (Another continuity and lore buff, I believe) as co-writer, he'd help balance out some of Hickman's perceived weaknesses (characterization, dour tone), ensuring that the characters would have their unique, recognizeable voices and a lighter tone than Hickman's Avengers run (which, for the record, I treat like a Bible. I LOVED that run, myself, but I know others had issues with it). Throw in Russell Dauterman on art - that guy is blowing me AWAY on Mighty Thor - and give the series time to settle in without involving it in any events or crossovers (though meeting the Guardians of the Galaxy, or encountering the Royals on THEIR quest, or other cosmic touchstones is fine, of course, if done sparingly). It's an X-Men book, but one that places CORE characters squarely in the heart of the greater Marvel Universe, and brings together all kinds of threads from stories past; ties to space, magic, the multiverse...all that stuff that made the Claremont years so much FUN.