"X-Men: Kingbreaker" #1 on sale now

Scott and Alex Summers - or Cyclops and Havok, as they are known -- are two of the most well-known and well-respected heroes of the Marvel mutant community. For years, there had been rumors of a third Summers brother, but it always seemed more of a tease than fact. That is, until the publication of "X-Men: Deadly Genesis." This 2006 book introduced readers - and the Summers brothers - to their long-lost sibling Gabriel -- codename Vulcan. With two fine, upstanding brothers like Scott and Alex, the odds were good that Gabriel should be a swell guy. The apple couldn't fall that far from the tree, right? Wrong.As it turns out, Gabriel had been abandoned by his father (who believed he was dead), sold into slavery by an alien race, and then trained and left for dead by Scott and Alex's mentor, Charles Xavier. Those are the kinds of life-altering events that can really mess with a person's head, as it clearly did with Gabriel. Since "coming back to life," Vulcan has killed his father, taken over the Shi'ar Empire, and imprisoned his brother Alex along with Alex's girlfriend and Starjammer pals. That brings us to "X-Men: Kingbreaker," the latest miniseries that details Vulcan's ascent to power - or descent into madness, depending on your perspective. The book is illustrated by Dustin Weaver and written by Christopher Yost, who joins us for today's X-POSITION to answer all of the questions sent in by you, our rockin' readers. Several of you sent in queries about "X-Force," which of course Yost co-writes with Craig Kyle, and he was happy to answer those as well. Andre4000 leads off our question processional with a few inquiries that help lay the foundation for "Kingbreaker."1) At the beginning of the issue, we see all these aliens talking about Annihilation Wave. I haven't been reading "Annihilation" - can you give me the Cliff Notes version of how this relates to "Kingbreaker?"Hey, Andre4000! Prepare for spoilerz!"Annihilation" was the first of the new cosmic events, where the old Fantastic Four villain Annihilus went ape-$@#% insane and crossed over into our positive universe with a trillion bug monster and tore #$!@% up. Zillions of sentient life forms died, and the universe was rocked to the core, especially by the death of Wendell Vaughan, a.k.a. Quasar.

"X-Men: Kingbreaker" #2 on sale in January

The universe rallied at the last second, led by Nova, Starlord, Ronan and a bunch of other cool people, and then Nova jammed his hand down Annihilus' throat and tore him a new one in what was arguably the greatest moment ever outside an "X-23"/"New X-Men"/"X-Force" comic.What does this have to do with "Kingbreaker?" Amidst this universal nightmare, the Shi'ar were the lone super-power to go untouched. And they didn't lift a finger to help. Bird people are $%(@^s.



2) And why aren't more alien races stepping up to prevent Vulcan from conquering planets? It seems that if they teamed up, they'd stand a chance. Or did I just spill what this alien assembly is planning?The Shi'ar taking over a few planets is like saying water is wet. That's just how things are. But they're crossing now into new territory, which caught the eye of the newly reformed galactic council. And remember, after the last few cosmic events, the universe is in shambles. It'd be like Cloak and Dagger seeing Galactus coming and deciding to team up with Power Pack to fight him -- after all of them had been beat up. Even if the Ovoids and Z'Nox teamed up, this is the full might of the Shi'ar Empire. 3) Why do you think Vulcan is keeping Havok and the others alive? Isn't that the mistake every bad guy makes? Will he start monologuing soon?Vulcan, a.k.a. Gabriel Summers, has issues. Big ones. He's going down a bad road. Soon, we will reveal his hidden base inside the core of a volcano, and he will be getting a cat that he pets during meetings with his evil associates. Why hasn't he killed Alex? He wants something from Alex more than he wants to kill him - he wants his brother to say, "Gabriel, you're right."4) In your opinion, what is Vulcan ultimately after? He can conquer galaxies, but does he have the people and support to run them all? Taking over a country is one thing, but taking over a planet?

EXCLUSIVE: Pages from "X-Men: Kingbreaker" #2

I think Vulcan doesn't know what he wants. He was hurt, and now wants to hurt back. He knows he wants to go back to Earth a conqueror, the universe at his feet, and show Xavier what he's done. And then kill him.I'm pretty sure he won't be any happier afterwards. What do I think he wants? There was a "What If?" Vulcan story a while back which pretty much spelled out my opinion. I think he wanted to be an X-Man. To have Xavier be his father, to be with his brothers - to have everything that D'ken took away from him.He got it, more or less, and then got royally screwed. Now hate and revenge is all he's got. He's going to conquer a universe as a big %!%@ %!% to Xavier.Next up, Jean-Paul Medina wants to know where to set his expectations for "Kingbreaker." Could you give him a hint?In all fairness, the "Kingbreaker" limited series appears to be a band-aid for those who wish to see more of our lost characters until the main event of "War of Kings." Will "Kingbreaker" have a definite conclusion? Or is it merely meant as a lead-in to "War of Kings?"Jean-Paul Medina, I won't lie to you. Ever. Will "Kingbreaker" have a definite conclusion? Maybe. It is meant to be a lead-in to "War of Kings," so the stories of several characters in "Kingbreaker" continues. But where the X-Jammers are at from issue #1 to issue #4 changes quite a bit. So does their roster. So do a few things, actually. Big things. Things happen. But given the spoilersz! that Vulcan is in "War of Kings," expect the story to continue.

EXCLUSIVE: Pages from "X-Men: Kingbreaker" #2

That being said, if you're a fan of Havok, Polaris and Marvel Girl, there's a lot of big things happening here that will affect the characters for a long time to come. Honest.Also, will certain things be clarified in this series, such as Korvus' mysterious sword and Rachel's attachment to this unique (if not inferior) form of the Phoenix Force? Or Rachel's Deathmark on her back? Whatever the answers, you should be congratulated on the job you've done so far...I cannot comment on this "Phoenix" stuff you talk of. I assume Rachel's Deathmark is still in place, and that's how the Shi'ar are chasing them across space. The Death Commandos have been hounding them since the end of "Emperor Vulcan." The X-Jammers are on the run, they keep moving. Does hiding out by a power source like the M'Kraan crystal mess with the Deathmark signal? Maybe.You heard it hear first - no lies from Chris Yost ever. I guess he's staying out of politics and sticking to comics. Yay!Chickrockguitar had a few wonderments about "X-Force." I wonder what you think...1) Some fans have been wondering, if Elixir is now part of "X-Force," any chance of him showing up on a cover or three?When he earns it, by God. I've seen him on an upcoming cover, actually. Elixir's got a big deal moment in issue #10 coming, and then $#!^ gets 'real' for him in the Leper Queen arc. And then worse. And then crazy. And then... well, I can't say. Real, worse, crazy and then something awesome that's been in the works in my mind, untold to anyone, for a long time. Well, Craig knows.

EXCLUSIVE: Art from "X-Force" #10

2) Will we see Mike Choi and Sonia Oback on board for another "X-Force" arc in the future (apart from the "Messiah War" One-Shot)? We love Crain's work, but we love Mike and Sonia too!I hope so! Because they rule. But wait until you see Crain's stuff in #12 and #13. It's insane-o.3) Any chance of Hellion showing up for a cameo in "X-Force" anytime soon? After all, when we last saw him, he wanted to know where Laura was...MaybeeeeeYES. Julian and Laura will be in a room together soon. Classroom? Bedroom? Morgue-room? Hard to say...Robert Cummins wrote in with a question about the new status quo in the Marvel Universe and how it affects our favorite clone.With S.H.I.E.L.D. broken up as of "Secret Invasion," will there still be agents pursuing X-23?ZOMFG. As if S.H.I.E.L.D.'s cold case unit Division C opening X-23's file wasn't bad enough...now it's Division C of HAMMER. This $#!^ is about to get real. This spring, X-23 goes from hunter to hunted - again. Nothing will ever be the same. In a world where female clones are turned into mutant assassins...

EXCLUSIVE: Art from "X-Force" #10

Caleb Warren pays X-POSITION his weekly visit with the following list of inquiries:1) By any chance, is Elias Bard a mutant with the ability to disintegrate any organic substance he touches?No! But someone like that may be showing up...2) So now that Lady Deathstrike is back in "Uncanny X-Men," what will Logan and Laura's reactions be?They will both have a good laugh about it. And then go kill her.3) Can we expect any additions to the main "X-Force" cast any time soon?We went from four to eight, plus supporting triplet telepaths, in seven issues. That's plenty.4) It seems that Warren's secret will be revealed in "Uncanny X-Men." Will this effect his ability to stay with the team?I hope not, because we has planz. Or is it haz plans?

EXCLUSIVE: Art from "X-Force" #10

5) Will Hepzibah ever join the team?Who? She still doesn't know about the team. But she might find out. What do you think her reaction would be? I also have assumed that she stayed a hippie.We'll close out today's chit-chat with a pair of queries from Taimur that we're curious about as well.1) With Wolverine's son Daken starting to interact more with the rest of the Marvel U, how long until he and X-23 meet up? Can we expect some sibling rivalry?I assume when Marvel is all done with Daken - when he's outlived his usefulness - that will be the day he meets X-23. His last day.2) I can't wait for the upcoming "Hulk vs. Wolverine" animated film which you've written; especially since it features my favorite Merc with a Mouth - Deadpool! Can we anticipate Wade's usual craziness that fans expect, and do you think you'll be writing Deadpool again either for animation or comics?Craig Kyle and I wrote that mini-masterpiece together, and we laugh every time we see it - because of Deadpool, and the violence. That's who we are. Will we be writing Deadpool again? We're doing it right now. Craig called me just last night with a pretty spectacular Deadpool gag... Everyone else may be taking a holiday next week, but X-POSITION will be open for business. Writer Jason Aaron will be joining us, and he's anxiously awaiting your questions about "Wolverine: Manifest Destiny" and his newly announced ongoing series, "Wolverine: Weapon X." It all sounds like a snikty-snikt good time, doesn't it?So send in those questions as soon as you can. Put "X-Position" in the subject line, and we'll make sure there's no lump of coal in your stocking. Ah, X-POSITION - where else are you going to get exclusive access to all your favorite X-creators? You can ask Santa, but we think he'll defer to us.