Jason Aaron's been a busy guy lately -- not only is he gearing up for "Battle of the Atom," but he also has "The Hellfire Saga" going on in "Wolverine and the X-Men" and a number of other projects in the pipeline. Although Jason's had an understandably busy week so far, he took some time out for some rapid-fire X-Position reader questions.
Additionally, as a special summer treat, Marvel Comics has provided X-Position with an exclusive first look at variant covers and the second half of the "Battle of the Atom" October solicitations, including special covers by Stuart Immonen, Terry Dodson and Ed McGuinness.
Starleafgirl opens with a quick query about Husk's direction following the "Hellfire Saga."
Husk hasn't been acting like herself for a long while now. Will we finally learn the explanation for Paige's bizarre behavior during the current "Hellfire Saga" story arc?
Jason Aaron: There are certainly new developments coming in the strange case of Paige Guthrie. But the "Hellfire Saga" will not be the end of her story.
Askani's Flame has a laundry list of questions about some of his favorite "Wolverine and the X-Men" cast members.
Greetings Mr. Aaron! Thanks for the time and opportunity to pick your brain.
1) Let's start with Mystique. She's helping run a school for evil children in your book, and she's masterminding major heists and robberies in another. Will we be seeing any of these activities outside the academy impact her in your book? How will her working for/with Azael impact the Hellfire Academy and her personally? And will we see the white-robed mystery man appear again in the near future?
Well, first of all, who said Mystique was working for Azazel? Whatever Azazel is up to, we haven't seen that revealed just yet. And as for Mystique's various activities, I'll just say it's all part of her grand plan. Or is that Sabretooth's grand plan? Or both?
2) Kid Gladiator. I was surprised how much I grew to like him and miss him from your book. Will we be seeing him again in the near future, and can we plan on seeing him stay to torment the new class of mutants at the school?
Yes, we certainly will be seeing Kid Gladiator again. Stay tuned for an announcement on that front very soon.
3) Rachel Grey. As far as the staff goes she's pretty powerful and impressive (as evident by her reaching all minds across the planet without the use of Cerebro in the most recent "WatX"). But she pretty much disappeared seemingly around the time Jean Grey arrived at the school and sent across the globe. Will the original 5 continue to impact her role and relationships at the school in your book? Will the continued hound-like use of her powers begin to wear on her?
All good questions, but not ones I could answer without possibly spoiling future stories. I'll just say I love Rachel and have a few big stories I'd still love to tell with her.
4) "Battle of the Atom" -- Days of Future Past is being used heavily this year by Marvel, and with the arrival of Kate Pryde and co. from that timeline, how will this impact Rachel in your book and does she figure prominently as part of this event? (seeing as this is her native time line, her best friend and mother-figure Kate, and that Scott and Jean are major players in the event). Will we see the reactions of the new class of mutants to their possible fates? How closely have you worked with the other writers involved to make the multiple characters used have the same beats throughout the story?
Yes, Rachel certainly will be a big part of "Battle of the Atom," as will loads of other X-Men. And yes, the Brians and I are working quite closely on this so that it all reads as one big story, even as it weaves among our various books and juggles teams of X-Men from three different time lines.
cora reef wants to know more about the intro to the Hellfire Academy and the reintroduction of the Siege Perilous.
Dear Mr. Aaron, your work on the Hellfire Academy in the introductory issue was such a cool introduction to the concept. It felt like you were deliberately drawing parallels to the first issue of "Wolverine and the X-Men" when you introduced the Jean Grey School. Was that intentional?
Yeah, most definitely.
Bringing back the Siege Perilous was a huge surprise for me. Considering how much the artifact has influenced the lives of the Australian X-Men team, will reader get a chance see how seeing it affects them?
Well, we've already seen the Siege affect one character in a big way. Poor Snot. Chances are, we haven't seen the last character go through it.
Ichabod Brain has a question about the more unusual denizens of the Jean Grey School, the Bamfs and Professor Doop.
Wolverine using the Bamfs as bloodhounds was a pretty inspired idea in this week's issue. How much more utility do they have?
They're really good at disposing of whiskey.
It's cool to see Doop get in on the action of searching for the kids. He always seems to know something everyone else doesn't. How much would you say he knows about the future X-Men coming to the present in "Battle of the Atom?"
Maybe a lot, but it's hard to tell since I can't understand what the hell's he's saying.
Dave is up next with continuity and character questions.
1) Iceman and Kitty seem to be getting along pretty well, despite what's happening over in "Astonishing X-Men." Where does the Hellfire Saga fall in relation to what Marjorie Liu's doing over in that book?
I'm not sure about the exact timeline. I only know that Marjorie is awesome, and I love what she's been doing in "Astonishing."
2) Quentin Quire is rapidly becoming my favorite character. How does someone like that find the drive to go from wanting to be the next Magneto to stepping up and trying to be a hero?
That's been the real arc for Quentin in my entire run so far. And it's one that's still developing. As for where he winds up by the end of it, only time will tell.
And here's this week's behind the X question: If you could gift a bottle of any liquor to Wolverine's personal bar, what would it be?
I imagine that bar's already well-stocked. But judging by all the Bamf activity lately, something tells me he could use more whiskey.
Now, check out the second half of the "Battle of the Atom" solicitations below!
ALL-NEW X-MEN #17
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (W) • STUART IMMONEN (A)
Cover by ED MCGUINNESS
Variant Cover by STUART IMMONEN
LEGO VARIANT BY Leonel Castellani
X-MEN: BATTLE OF THE ATOM, PART 6!
• Magik and Young Beast have a special mission!
• The X-Men and Future X-Men have Jean Grey and Cyclops and are going to send them back in time with the rest of the Original X-Men.
• But who is opposing them and why?
32 PGS./Rated T ...$3.99
X-MEN #6
BRIAN WOOD (W) • DAVID LOPEZ (A)
Cover by ED MCGUINNESS
Variant Cover by TERRY DODSON
X-MEN: BATTLE OF THE ATOM, PART 7!
• CHAOS AT THE JEAN GREY SCHOOL as the X-Men and Future X-Men are attacked!
• Rachel Grey is the only X-Man qualified to defeat the mystery opponents!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99
UNCANNY X-MEN #13
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (W) • CHRISTOPHER BACHALO (A)
Cover by ED MCGUINNESS
Variant Cover by CHRIS BACHALO
X-MEN: BATTLE OF THE ATOM, PART 8!
• Wolverine, who just lost his healing factor, takes a mortal hit!
• And a surprise ending that changes everything in the X-Men Event of 2013!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99
WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN #37
JASON AARON (W) • GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI (A)
Cover by ED MCGUINNESS
Variant Cover by KRIS ANKA
X-MEN: BATTLE OF THE ATOM, PART 9!
• All of the X-Men (present & future) and their adversaries are reeling from the events of Part 8!
• With the adversaries' Plan A squashed, they turn to their far more sinister Plan B on the grounds of the X-Men's first adventure!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99
X-MEN: BATTLE OF THE ATOM #2 (of 2)
JASON AARON (W) • ESAD RIBIC (A)
Cover by ED MCGUINNESS
Variant Cover by ESAD RIBIC
X-MEN: BATTLE OF THE ATOM, PART 10!
• The biggest battle in X-Men history will melt your face off.
• All of the X-Men find their footing in the world much changed.
• The X-Men event of 2013 concludes and sets up the major X-Men stories for 2014!
40 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99
Thanks to the ever-awesome Jason Aaron for taking on this week's questions!
Next week, Brian Wood rejoins X-Position to discuss his already fan-favorite and critically acclaimed run on "X-Men," not to mention the next step in his plans for "Ultimate Comics X-Men." Got an X-related question for Brian? Why not send it over in an e-mail with the subject line "X-Position" or if 140 character questions are more your speed, try Twitter. Either way, make sure those questions are in by Friday! Do it to it!