Interview: Chris Claremont on ‘X-Men Forever’, part 1
This is the first part of a very long interview with Chris Claremont that started on the topic of X-Men Forever and branched into a number of other areas. We start the interview today to tie in with today’s release of X-Men Forever Alpha, and we’ll be running more as we get closer to the release of X-Men Forever #1 next month.
ComicMix: X-Men Forever Alpha is a reprint of the first three issues plus an eight page bridge to the
new series, correct? What do we need to know going in?
Chris Claremont: Essentially
nothing. Those were the issues going in, to establish all the fundamental
parameters: the X-Men are a team of heroes that are based at Xavier school for
gifted youngsters at Salem center, outside of New York City.
CM: So you’re
starting up right from where you left the book in 1991.
CC: Yes.
CM: Is this House Of C, then, as compared to House of M?
CC: No, it’s the
Marvel Universe, there’s no real change to it, other than the fact that in a
very practical sense that the subsequent sixteen, seventeen years of material
following my departure doesn’t exist.
CM: So this is a
new forked off continuity.
CC: Yes. We’re
essentially picking up where I left off and the only acknowledgment we are
making to the passage of time is that if a label needs to be placed on #1, #2,
and #3, they occurred in the opening months, weeks, whatever of 2009.
CM: Then
everything that happens since in mainline Marvel continuity has not happened
and is not going to happen?
CC: Everything
that relates to the X-Men specifically has not happened. The origins of
characters that were established after I left are not necessarily the origins
that we will encounter here. For example, the reality in this book is that
Sabretooth and Wolverine are father and son. Betsy Braddock has not been
transferred into a cloned dead Asian body.
CM: Do you find
it strange that people are looking at this series and referring back to your
original run as the time when X-Men continuity wasn’t convoluted?
CC: It’s intriguing, it’s challenging. Hopefully it’ll be fun.
CM: After all, when you left you had so many different balls in the air, and now you compare it to current X-Men continuity and we look at your day as, “Oh, gosh, it was all so simple then, there were only two alternate futures we had to worry about.”
CC: And also the foundation of the work was derived from me and Louise Simonson and Larry Hama doing Wolverine. That was it. What we’ve had since then is a score of books and far more writers contributing material, incorporating their stories into the Canon, rejected by the Canon, revised – – you know, the passage of time since then has not been perhaps as smooth as it had been up to then. So we’re kind of going back to a simpler time in the firmament, but on the other hand, once for their we can go tearing off into all sorts of fascinating possibilities… none of which necessarily incorporates the future history as we know it. A lot of the things that are happening in X-Men Forever have to do with the X-Men’s fundamental perception of the world around them, which is about to change on a significant level. That can’t help but have repercussions with the rest of the marble universe; the only thing we have to bear in mind is that were going to see those repercussions from a single focus perspective, that of the X-Men – – or that of the eight or nine characters on whom this series is focused. Were not going to be cutting back and forth to, “this is the Avengers’ view of things”, “this is the Fantastic Four’s view of things”, “this is Spidey’s view of things”. We only see them through the X-Men’s eyes.
CM: When last you left the X-Men, we had the blue team and the gold team and their roster of about a dozen mutants.
CC: And a very crowded school.
CM: Which leads some to believe that you’ll be clearing off some cast members.
CC: No, the way it works here is that the blue and gold teams were a proposal on Charlie’s desk at the time of X-Men #1 through #3. The initial expectation was that post #4 they would be incorporated and that was how the future progresses. However, things are going to happen in four and five and six and seven – – well, I say four and five and six and seven. Things are going to happen in the first arc of Forever that knock those plans into a cocked hat. The other thing to know is that the first five issues take place in a single night. And that night is going to change the X-Men’s world completely. And with each change their they will get all other farther and farther away from the history as it evolved because this is a totally different future, totally different mindset, and a totally different world. My vision is not the vision of the fifteen guys who followed me.
CM: Why did you decide to fork continuity rather than take over the X-Men the way they are now?
CC: I had a vision of where I wanted the book to go. Jim [Lee] and Bob [Harras] and I disagreed vehemently. The vision never came to pass. In going back and starting over again, picking up where I left off, I took the vision that I had and incorporated the world as it evolved since then, and why things are the way they are and what it means. And it’s proved, to me anyway, to be a surprisingly fascinating and vital direction for the characters and the series that is very true to the essence of the extent, but casts the whole concept into a totally different light and differentiates it from what exists in Uncanny and the rest of the line. It’s not the idea that I’m copying their stuff, or showing how I can tell their stories better. This is my vision, these are my stories. And the ideas, I think, our new ideas people haven’t thought of this before. So I thought, far better to go with something new for better or worse and surprise the audience and hopefully intrigue them, especially in a reality when the happy ending is not guaranteed.
CM: Because you don’t have to worry about continuing characters or keeping things the same all around for licensing reasons.
CC: Right. Not my problem. Death is not a marketing inhibition.
I hope this get's covered in subsequent doses of said interview… but how will this be marketed to appeal to X-fans who may have come in POST claremont?
Thank you! I look forward to the rest of the interview.
I always hoped something like this would happen, since I quit the X-books shortly after Chris left. However, after reading the bridge story in X-Men Forever Alpha, it seems to me that not all of the "current" continuity has been erased. For example, since when is Rogue's real name known? I sincerely hope that the horribly confusing aspects of the last 18 years are truly forgotten in this book, and a nice fresh start is made, especially for the sake of those people like myself who haven't followed the book in many years.
Yeah, I'm hoping he leaves 99 percent of the post Claremont years out of this. I quit reading comics after Claremont left the X-men, I dipped back in for AOA but I couldn't read the regular stuff. Other writers just could not handle those characters after Claremont's 17-year run. This series is what I've been waiting for since that happened and I subscribed the second I could. With that said I sincerely hope the Claremont critics aren't able to demonize this book and get it canciled. Has anyone ever gone on X-men.net? That Web site is FULL of anti-Claremont administrators who mock the guy's writing all day and if anybody tries to debate them they get blocked off the site. That's what he and his more mature, creative vision for the X-men is up against. I hope the real fans fight back against that crap.
"I hope the real fans fight back against that crap."I, for one, will be. I stopped visiting that site a long time ago. People there fail to appreciate how much Claremont brought to the X-Men franchise as a whole for a great number of years. Most of their beloved characters would be nothing had it not been for Claremont and Lee.I've recently gotten back into comics (much to my wife's chagrin) and so far the only writer I like, so far, is Matt Fraction. Even his stories, from what I've seen so far, pale in comparison to the kind of stories Claremont could weave.Judging by this first part of the intervew, I think Claremont is very much like you and I, Lightningboltjs. Marvel had two good series, then went off on a tangent, then went nuts with crossovers, and, essentially, diluted the franchise as a whole. I'm looking forward to what Claremont does with this run.
I've met a few people who are exactly the type of people that you've described! Most of them actually never followed the book back when Claremont was writing it, but they bash it anyways because I think they like the attention that negative comments brings them… Or, they bring up the short span that Claremont wrote a few years ago, saying it was terrible, but what do they expect when you give a guy such a mess to work with?! I'm glad to meet people like you who agree that this book is really the old-time fans' best solution!
Thank you. This is a great start. Can't wait to read the rest of the interview.
I think the reason a lot of people do not respect Claremont is that the last few years he did the book (when it appeared to be at its peak of popularity), the stories were bad. In some cases there were awful. His later attempts were even worse. Now, that being said, the main reason for the bad runs near his end were the stupid crossovers and the input by Jim Lee and the horrible editors Marvel had at the time. Im not obsolving Chris either though, he put his name on that shit. Hopefully this time around, given a 2nd chance most do not get, he will oversee a much better product.
Wow, I can't believe it, but just hearing about this got me back into comics again. Well, X-Men Forever. I didn't completely hate the convoluted new stuff after Claremont left, and thought everything was going well, even into AOA and the Onslaught stuff, though not without their frequent misses in between. But I still remember with crystal clarity the day I walked into my comic shop and canceled all my books because they all turned into corporate monsters designed to make money rather than tell good stories. I'm ready for the revamp! 'Nuff said.
I liked some of the post-Claremont developments to a POINT (stopped caring after "Eve of Destruction"), I am pretty much ready for the X-Men I was raised on again, not the sicophantic whims of ascended fanboys that have either sat on the story or gimmicked it to hell and back without having the balls to change direction. I think some characters Marvel have made unrecognisible may finally find their voice again…or for the first time here. Now, more than ever, the X-Men are characters in need of an author
I think the true beauty of this book is that's an X-men book in which the charcters can develop, change and even die. That alone gives Claremont the kind of freedom of storytelling that no other X-men writer has right now and should make this an interesting book. I was a Claremont acolyte and couldn't believe the mess that was made of the X-books when he was kicked off them. But despite that, I'm honest enough to say that in recent years his work hasn't been as good as he 70s/80s stuff. Come on gang, it just hasn't. I am fascinated to see what a writer as talented as Chris can do with a group of x-men he can impose lasting change upon though. I just hope he takes his time with the charcters and doesn't go for sweeping changes too early, killing off key charcters just for the fact that he CAN. What I hope for is, simply, a continuation of the X-Men team we know and love by an author who anyone could tell had genuine affection for the charcters. On a story level, I also hope to see a continuation of the failing of Wolverine's healing factor (hinted at in later Claremont Uncanny stories) and Storm return to be a well-rounded, human character again. Chris has an opportunity here and I think a lot of people want t see it work. Plus, Paul Smith is coming on art for a few issues when Grummet takes a break. I mean….that's just genius, right?
I'm confused by Claremont's comment that Braddock is NOT in the body of a cloned Asian. Obviously, in X-Men #1-3 (1991), a.k.a. X-Men Forever Alpha, she IS. So someone care to explain that to me?
Psylocke's change in appearance, as written by CC, was due to the super-science/magical plastic surgery of the Body Shoppe courtesy of Spiral.
Finally, a worthwhile discussion on comics, specifically, x-men. Here's my two-cents. While I miss Claremont's heyday, uncanny x-men was on a downhill slide since the Dark Phoenix Saga. the stories got outright convoluted after uncanny #200, although I'm not privy to how much of this was due to infighting between Claremont and others. By issue #250, it got outright strange. Remember that whole longshot "don't step on my nose, I have to find the rest of myself stuff?"That said, I always felt the post Claremont era failed to live up to billing and was hype-driven (some of which was pretty good). I liked them bringing back Banshee and transforming Emma Frost into an uneasy ally. But on the whole, I really didn't like the way the handed certain characters, especially Cyclops (made totally ineffective and laughable by Jim Lee) and I hated the they wiped their nosed with prior continuity (changing Beasts strength level without explanation for one), this gave me a negative impression of Jim Lee and company ever after. Still, there was some good stuff, the most pleasing of which was the inclusion of a lot of characters I had spent years waiting to resurface.Also note that I hated it when claremont returned for a few short months, what a mess!!All that said, I'm to see where he goes with this title and see if he can't put right some of the wrongs of the last 17 to 18 years. Although, Wolverine/Jean Grey thing is already on my nerves, Prof X made the observation in issue one that they had a much deeper connection that Jean/Scott did (never mind the way they brought here back was ridiculous and I had to suspend that issue every time I read x-men).Anyway, the wolverine/jean thing was always presented as more of a gut level attraction, and it seems that Claremont is taking his cue from Jim Lee on this issue, still, I'm open to see where this title goes and hope for some great stories that harken back to the glory days………….