"Uncanny X-Men" #508

It's a busy time in Marvel's mutant universe. While many of the planet's homo superior population has decided to take advantage of the San Francisco "haven" offered by Cyclops, others are busy on soul-searching journeys ("X-Men: Legacy"), secret missions ("X-Force," "Cable"), and wars in outer space ("War of Kings").Oh, and let us not forget the "Messiah War" that is about to erupt across the entire line.With everything going on, the editors of the X-books have their hands full, so we appreciate them taking a moment to answer all of your emails here at X-POSITION. Joining us today are editors Nick Lowe, John Barber, and Sebastian Girner. They will be tag-teaming your questions as they apply to the books they edit. So without further ado....CBR: Derek eases us into things with a few general queries about life in the X-Universe. Will we get a more stable/permanent X-Men lineup soon? There doesn't seem to be a well-defined core team at the moment.Nick Lowe: Derek! You are living in the past! Shake free of thinking of the X-Men as blue and gold teams. Certain books have set teams ("Astonishing X-Men," "X-Force," the upcoming "New Mutants"), but things have changed. The X-Men aren't strike teams that protect mutants - they're an army led by a general (Cyclops). He has specific groups that he puts together for specific tasks and some are more formal than others.

Art from "Uncanny X-Men" #507, "X-Factor" #39

When can we expect a resolution to the "Messiah CompleX" baby storyline?Nick Lowe: In order to avoid spoilers, I'm just going to say that it's coming! And it'll be a doozy! But that's not the only amazing thing coming up. There are some additions to the X-Men before the end of the year - one mutant who's never been an X-Man and another who has been just about everything to the X-Men.Will we get a reaction from the X-universe to Wanda's apparent return in the pages of the "Mighty Avengers?" Wanda reappearing should be a big deal for the X-Men. It could be a chance to bring back those who died because of her; provide a way for mutants not to go extinct; give the X-Men an opportunity for revenge (if they so desired). Please don't tell me her reappearance will be ignored because she's featured in an Avengers title...Nick Lowe: You'll definitely see some X-Men/Avengers content coming up. Did you notice the X-Men in "Mighty Avengers" #20?Rick is next, and he names two other mutants he would like to "reappear" in the X-books.Any possibility of Sway and/or Petra coming back from the grave? It's a shame new and interesting characters were killed off before they really had a chance...Nick Lowe: They aren't the X-Men characters coming back from the grave this year. But we haven't forgotten them.Marcus Martin is a reader who can keep a secret, so he hopes you'll spill a bit of info on a couple of characters' secrets. It seems that both Cyclops and Emma have dirty little secrets that could destroy the X-Men from within. In your opinion, which secret is the most damaging to the team and its mission to protect the remaining mutants?

Art from "X-Infernus" #3

Nick Lowe: I'm glad you noticed that, Marcus. Scott and Emma certainly do have dirty little secrets. But I'm having a hard time answering your question, mainly because I see it as two questions: 1) Which secret is the most damaging to the team? Probably Emma's, but it's hard to say. 2) Which secret will best fulfill the mission to protect the remaining mutants? If Osborn keeps his word, definitely Emma's.Even though she is retired, is there any chance for Firestar to have a place within the X-Men given her mutant status?Nick Lowe: We do love Firestar over here in the X-office.



How would you classify your "outsider" books of "Deadpool" and "Captain Britain and MI13" within the overall X-Men family and universe?Nick Lowe: "Deadpool" is on the edges. It's not technically an X-Book, but there's no telling where it's going to go. But if you want to see him interact with X-stuff, look no further than the upcoming "Messiah War!""Captain Britain and MI13" isn't an X-book, it's a regular Marvel Heroes book. It's a passion of mine and something that Paul and I wanted to work on together. Like "Runaways" and "Hellcat," it's one of the non-X-books I edit.After many X-POSITIONs of readers clamoring for mutant Cecilia Reyes, fans got their wish in the pages of "NYX." Javier, however, emailed us to say he still wants more.It was great seeing Cecilia Reyes resurface again in "NYX." As a fan of hers, I was happy to see her show up alive and healthy. Will see Cecilia resurface again in one of the core X-books now? Is there any more chance for more "NYX" as well?John Barber:Now that we know Cecilia's back (still?) in the fold - and in communication with Beast, as I hope you noticed in "NYX" - I definitely wouldn't be surprised to see her again!

Cecilia Reyes in "NYX: No Way Home"

And as for more "NYX" - that's definitely something we'd all like to do. We're actually sending the final issue of "NYX: No Way Home" to the printer as I type this, so doing more "NYX" is something we've been talking about today. It's probably no secret that the sales on the book didn't set the world on fire, but I have to say that "NYX" fans are among the most dedicated I've seen.Without naming any names, I actually got a phone call from a reader telling me how much seeing Bobby Soul deal with what happened in his life helped the reader deal with what happened in his. That kind of support means a lot to me, to "NYX" assistant editor Michael Horwitz, and to writer Marjorie Liu and artist Kalman Andrasofszky.I know Marjorie is especially eager to get back to "NYX" (well, so's Michael), so I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing those kids pretty soon...if they survive issue #6, I mean.And on the topic of characters fans really, really want, here's Philipe Rocha with this week's Dazzler question:Dazzler (along with Longshot) seems to have been simply forgotten over the years by writers. Now Longshot is with X-Factor and Alison is back with the X-Men, but no one's bothered to explain what happened to them since they left the team in the 80's. Were they ever married? What happened to Alison's baby? How did Longshot get brainwashed back in "Exiles," but now has his memories back in "X-Factor?" Will these answers be coming anytime soon?Nick Lowe: First thing's first Philipe, you've missed a lot of issues that explained much of this. Let's start back in the 80's. Dazzler was pregnant and she and Longshot went back to the Mojoverse. While there, they were married (or whatever equivalent the Mojoverse had). The details of what happened to Dazzler's baby were never given, but it was probably a miscarriage. As for Longshot's memory, it was wiped by Mojo during an arc of "Exiles." In "X-Factor," he's in the process of piecing his memory back together. Wow, that's exhausting, right?

Art from "X-Men: Legacy"

It sure is, so we'll allow Andre4000 toss you a few softballs while you catch your breath.Thank you for putting Jeff Parker on "Exiles!" Can you tell us anything about his upcoming run? Will it be closer in tone to Judd Winick's run? Will there be a more permanent team?Nick Lowe: "Exiles" isn't in the X-office actually. I asked Mark Paniccia (editor on that book) and he told me it was going to be awesome, that Jeff has some great plans to get back to basics, and to get the heck out of his office because I was blocking his light.Is there any chance we can see more of the world where Layla Miller (of "X-Factor") is stuck? I would buy that book - it's fantastic!John Barber: Mmmmmaybe. If you're nice to Peter David. Truth is, time will tell. If you've read issue #39, you know this is a book that holds a lot of surprises. I can't say if this will answer your specific question, but issue #40 does not let up on what Peter and Valentine Delandro started in #39. Is there a possibility that any of the "New Warriors" characters might end up in X-books now that their title is ending? And if so, can you hint at which ones?Nick Lowe: There aren't any solid plans right now, but I've heard some inklings from our writers.And while we're at it, there are still a lot of New X-Men floating around (Mercury, Hellion, etc.). Can you tell us if we'll be seeing any of them soon and which books we should be keeping an eye out for?John Barber: Hellion appears in "X-Force" #13. He might not ever appear anywhere again...

"Young X-Men" concludes with issue #12

Uh oh. That might make Caleb Warren sad, and speaking of depressing subjects...Is "Young X-Men" being canceled? If so, will there be somewhere else where we can see the characters?Nick Lowe: "Young X-Men" is ending with #12. The previous answer deals with this question!The economy is on most people's minds nowadays, so it's natural that readers such as Blair Campbell have concerns.I haven't heard anyone from Marvel comment on "Astonishing X-Men: Ghost Boxes," and I'm hoping you will do so now. What happened with this comic? Issues #1-2 were both solicited as 48 pages for $3.99, but when they were released they were only 32 pages. "32 pages" usually means 22 story pages, but in this case each issue was just 16 pages of story for $3.99; the rest of the issue was padded with scripts and ads. I was very disappointed by the lack of content. Can you please be more honest in the solicitation copy? Nick Lowe: As editors, we don't set price points on books and have little to no input as such.Marc Ravens sent in a request for our latest X-POSITION newbie, Editor Sebastian Girner. Welcome Sebastian! I'm really looking forward to the Lucas Bishop book that was just solicited. Can we hope to see Shard, Fitzroy, and/or the witness?Sebastian Girner: The "Times and Life of Lucas Bishop" (in stores this week!) takes a close look at Bishop's past and the twisted road he traveled to become the mutant you've seen in the pages of "Messiah CompleX" and "Cable." The three characters you've mentioned all played an important role in Lucas's life at one time or another, so I think it's safe to assume they'll be popping up throughout the series.

Art from "Captain Britain and MI13," "X-Force"

It looks like you're building up Romulus to be one of the X-Men's "big baddies." Will we ever see what his true appearance is? Has Romulus ever been involved in any other X-Men member's past? And does he have any interest in any of the current X-Men?John Barber: In order: We certainly are. I certainly hope so. That's not for certain. Certainly...That certainly should answer Marc's question. Zach now finishes things up for us with an email about the (dis)appearance of a new X-team member.I am really enjoying the dark comedic relief that Vanisher provides in "X-Force." Is he going to stick around as part of the regular cast, or is he temporary? He has been fairly underutilized in the X-world, and in the few short issues that he's been involved with the X-Force, he seems to have really found his niche...John Barber: Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost are big supporters of Vanisher. So, if he survives "Messiah War," we'll see more of him. He's effectively on the team, albeit unwillingly. There might be some missions he doesn't take part in, but that's true of anybody in X-Force. So short answer: he's part of the cast...unless he dies. Next week, we have the always entertaining (and somewhat irrepressible) Jeff Parker, who will discuss "X-Men: First Class Finals." Issue #1 is in stores this week, so read it, write up some good head-scratchers, and send them our way with "X-Position" in the subject line. And if we have time, Jeff may even answer a few questions on those other books he writes out on the fringe of the mutant world - "Exiles" and "Agents of Atlas." So send those emails soon, and don't forget to check back here at CBR this weekend for all the X-news coming out of the New York Comic-Con!