Of all the fond memories people recall from their days in school, you will never hear somebody happily reminisce about finals. Simply put, tests stink. It's a stressful and painful rite of passage that feels like a matter of life or death. But for the first class of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, that life or death "feeling" may truly be the case.

"X-Men: First Class Finals" #1-4 covers by Roger Cruz; issue #1 on sale now

Over the past few years, writer Jeff Parker has chronicled the adventures of Marvel's unique students in "X-Men: First Class." Like all good things, however, their story is coming to an end. This final adventure of the class will take place in the appropriately-titled, "X-Men: First Class Finals." The scribe joins CBR today to answer your questions about this tale, and also talks about his other books - "Agents of Atlas" and the upcoming new "Exiles" series. X-POSITION fans, begin your quizzing of the writer...now!Novaya Havoc begins the testing of Mr. Parker with the following question:Why didn't you include Sage, Xavier's true first student, in "First Class?" She would have been comedy gold! You could have written the origin of her cybershades! Novaya, we just didn't have the room to do justice to the majesty that is Sage. That will be accomplished best in "Ultimate Sage."

Pages from "X-Men: First Class Finals" #2

Lil Joshy is up next with a handful of queries:Once "X-Men: First Class Finals" wraps up, is that all we will hear from the original X-Men in this incarnation? Or will there be a follow-up, and if so, will you be involved?I believe the plan is that there will be some shorts in the next "First Class" book that follow the individual '05ers after they've struck out on their own. I might write some of that sweet action.I'm excited to see your take on the Exiles and can't wait to have alternate versions of Beast, Scarlet Witch, Forge, Black Panther and Polaris! As for the Blink shown on the solicited cover - is that the same Blink that was in the original "Exiles?" I only ask because she's wearing a very different outfit than the one she used to wore in "Exiles" Vol. 1?Same Blink. She has a mind of her own and can totally change her clothes once in awhile!Any chance of seeing Nocturne and Thunderbird make a return in your "Exiles?"There's a chance, sure.



Will you be writing any of the surviving "New Exiles" characters in your series, like Sabretooth, Mystiq, Rogue, Cat, or Gambit?As we get into the new status quo, we will touch on them down the road.Our pal Caleb Warren wrote in with a few things he was curious about...How does it feel to be approaching the end of "X-Men: First Class?"A little sad, a lot of relief. That's actually one of the hardest books for me to write. Can we have a few hints as to villains for your upcoming run on "Exiles?"

Also by Jeff Parker, "Agents of Atlas" #3 on sale in April

Some have magnetic powers; some are not even human.Do you have any interest in putting an Ultimate Marvel character on your "Exiles" roster? Is this even possible?You know...it's not a bad idea. I think it is possible.How do you go about writing a book with a somewhat cult following such as "Agents of Atlas?" Do you ever think, "Oh no. What if they don't like this?"I can't second-guess the readers; that would lead to crappy stories. I have to write to entertain myself first. As it turns out, lots of people want the same things out of comics that I do.It sounds as though Marcus Martin might be one of those people. How about helping him out by answering the following:Will there ever be a "reuniting" moment between Wolverine and the Agents of Atlas, since Wolverine now has his memories back?Yes, but I don't want to spoil that. Coming up in issue #5! Do any of the Agents of Atlas have history with the former Captain America, Steve Rogers? And will that color their meeting with the new Bucky-Cap in issue #3?They never met Steve, but you'll find that they have crossed paths with "Captain America" in a strange way before.



Are you the new full-time writer on the "Exiles" rebooted series? Or are you just writing the first arc?It's all me as far as I know!Is there any chance that this new team of Exiles may meet up with Spider-Girl, the daughter of Spider-Man, anytime soon? Is there a chance they might visit the Marvel Universe that Tom Defalco created ?

"Agents of Atlas" #4-5

There is a chance, if she's still alive.Don't tease, Jeff! Valeria Kementari wraps up today's X-POSITION with an "Exiles" question."Exiles" was the book that firmly established the concept of indexing realities (Earth 616, 295, etc.) - will this continue during your tenure? Also, the team you are presenting is very interesting but it begs the question: will your run be "connected" to what has happened before? Will we see Blink moping around for Mimic? Or will it be more continuity-free?My run will seem disconnected, but it's not. It will take awhile to find out what's going on exactly. And yet, you will not need to know all the previous continuity the way we're doing it. My big goal is to put the mystery element back into it. That completes another X-citing X-POSITION, but we'll be back next week with writer Paul Cornell, who will answer your questions about "Captain Britain and MI13." Issue #10 arrives in stores this week, so be sure to read it and think up some fun queries. After you compose your thought-provoking masterpiece, send it our way ASAP with "X-Position" in the subject line and we'll pass it along with a "Tally-ho!" See you in seven!