Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso developing storylines as envisioned by Skottie Young
Fridays on CBR mean Axel's In Charge.
Welcome to MARVEL A-I-C: AXEL-IN-CHARGE, CBR's regular interview feature with Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso!
An editor with years of experience who's brought out comics to both critical acclaim and best-selling status, Alonso stepped into the chair at the top of Marvel's Editorial department and since then has been working to bring his signature stylings to the entire Marvel U. Anchored by regular question and answer rounds with the denizens of the CBR Message Boards, each week Alonso will shake things up with special guest stars, exclusive art reveals and more!
It's the last AXEL-IN-CHARGE before Christmas, and this week, Alonso shares his take on the new Kris Anka-designed "Spider-Woman" costume that has already attracted a very vocal -- and heavily positive -- response from comics observers. Following the reveal of this year's Free Comic Book Day lineup and the news that Marvel's lead offering would be a "Secret Wars" lead-in, Alonso talks what makes that story the right fit for the annual comic shop celebration, and its accessibility to new and casual fans. Alonso also talks some of the revelations from Marvel's recently released March 2015 solicitations, gives his thoughts on the ongoing fallout of the illegal Sony hack and "The Interview" subsequently being pulled from theaters, and answers your questions, directly from the CBR Community.
Albert Ching: Axel, first off, saw you on CBS News earlier this week talking about the diversity in Marvel's current offerings. Since we're firmly in "look back at the past year" season, do you think that a concerted push for greater diversity is maybe the biggest change in Marvel -- perhaps in comics as a whole -- in this last year?
Axel Alonso: I definitely think that 2014 was a big year for diversity in Marvel Comics. So many new titles featuring female leads, the explosion that was "Ms. Marvel" as the breakout character of the year, the Mexican-American All-New Ghost Rider, the new Thor, the All-New Captain America.
ociety. Is it really a surprise that Kim Jong-un isn't chalking this up to good, old-fashioned parody and letting this roll off his back?
Look, North Korea's response to "The Interview" reminds me a lot of the fatwa that was placed on Salman Rushdie after he wrote "The Satanic Verses": Scary, but not surprising. But hey, silver lining: I'm more interested in seeing the film now than I was before. [Laughs]
Let's get to some fan questions from the CBR Community. macroblaster1999 has a question from one of this week's releases: "In 'All-New Captain America' #2, Misty Knight revealed to FalCap that all of the major superhero teams -- the Avengers, X-Men, Inhumans -- have been infiltrated by Hydra. Can we expect this to later be touched upon in separate books?"
Alonso: Watch the skies. And trust no one.
Two-part question from solletaire: "Are you planning for a cameo or more for Lance Hunter of former British spy organization S.T.R.I.K.E. and 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' fame? Will we see more of the international superhero/spy community introduced in 'Avengers World' and in the latest volume of 'X-Force'?
Alonso: We'll likely see more of them in the new S.H.I.E.L.D. series. And while there are no planned [Lance Hunter] appearances in "X-Force," you'll get a glimpse of some entirely new overseas spy agencies, as well as a few familiar ones, in the last couple issues of the current storyline. Keep your eyes peeled for the severed head of an international super-spy we introduced at the start of the series!
We'll wrap for the week with Sub-Mariner fan Reviresco, who asks, "I know you said things in Hickman's run is preventing Namor from getting an ongoing now, but will we be getting a Namor ongoing or project after Time Runs Out / Secret Wars? He was used in a lot of recent major plots in a way that really needs to be addressed in a book that focuses on him."
Alonso: What you're looking for will be dealt with in the pages of "Avengers" and "New Avengers," Revieresco. But after "Time Runs Out," nobody's going to be getting a book...
Have some questions for Marvel's AXEL-IN-CHARGE? Please visit the AXEL-IN-CHARGE Q&A thread in CBR's Marvel Comics community. It's the dedicated thread that CBR will pull questions for next week's installment of our weekly fan-supported question-and-answer column! Do it to it!