Just an FYI, I’m no longer going to be doing War of Kings updates. Even though Rachel will be in it, her role appears rather limited and it seems like a waste of time covering it.
Space stories just aren’t my thing so I have very little interest in what is going on in WoK besides Rachel.
The site will be covering any news about Rachel’s potential return to earth or anything Rachel related in the earth based X-books.
War of Kings writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (DnA) are once again on the interview circuit, and there were several WoK related interviews this week, along with preview art from War of Kings.
In an interview with IGN, DnA talk about how the X-Jammers will get involved in WoK and reveal that they will be in the Guardians of the Galaxy WoK issues:
IGN Comics: While we’re on the subject of tie-ins, I wanted to ask about the Starjammers’ involvement. Principally this storyline seems to be a dispute between the Shi’ar and the Inhumans. How will Havok’s team be involved, particularly once the Kingbreaker mini-series wraps up?DnA: They’re involved in a major way. Polaris’s family ties to the Inhuman Royal Family will carry them into the fight, and their involvement will play out through the main series and through the Guardians issues.
IGN also has several pages of preview art (pencils only) from War of Kings #1, including a page that includes Rachel in one panel and the cover for War of Kings #2.
DnA were in the X-Position hotseat this week, and the Starjammers and Rachel were mentioned:
1) Will the Starjammers interact with any of the cosmic crew? Getting Ch’od and Rocket in the same room just sounds golden.DnA: The Starjammers and Guardians of the Galaxy will be undertaking a mission together so the chances of some fur flying are high!
2) Any possibility of Rachel Summers staying in space and joining the Guardians? The Phoenix Force has always felt like it belongs more in the cosmic books than the X-books, and it would certainly lend them some valuable power. And let’s face it, the team could use more women.
DnA: We’re going to talk to editor Nick Lowe about that right now!
1) As a huge fan of the Starjammers (particularly Polaris), I, like many other fans of these characters, are excited and grateful to know that after nearly three years, the Shi’ar storyline is finally heading towards its big ending with “X-Men: Kingbreaker” and “War of Kings.” However, it’s unclear to us what kind of role the Starjammers will play in the event. Will they have more of a main role, or will they be supporting characters?
They are definitely front and center and play a significant role in the course of the story.
War of Kings editor Bill Rosemann filled in for Joe Quesada in My Cup o’ Joe on Myspace.
JM: War of Kings is another book on your plate. Whereas I think it’s clear this doesn’t hit the marquee value of a Secret Invasion or World War Hulk, this is a pivot point in the Marvel Universe, right?
BR: Definitely. The very cool thing about this is that our bosses basically said, “Hey, you know these Shi’Ar toys in the Marvel toybox? You wanna play with these?” And we said, “Yeah! Would love to! That’s cool!”
So we took two expanding empires—the Kree and the Shi’Ar—heading toward each other, with the central notion of “What happens when these two huge kingdoms collide?” I would say it is as big as Secret Invasion to the Marvel cosmic junkies—this is our Super Bowl. But War of Kings also has a lot of appeal to fans of the Marvel Universe period. X-fan who like the Shi’Ar? They’re here. Fans of the Inhumans? We have them. You’ll see characters like Blastaar, Darkhawk and others pop up. So there will be some great opportunities for people who haven’t sampled the cosmic books to check this out. We’re treating it as a big tentpole event.
And when Dan and Andy sat down with Joe Quesada and Tom Brevoort and all, we decided that we would only tell this story if it legitimately changed the Marvel Universe. It’s gotta move things forward. And Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning absolutely wanted to do that. They have a very clear vision of where they see the Marvel cosmic universe going, and how it will affect the “mainstream” Marvel heroes. And here we are.
It also included the same War of Kings preview art IGN has.
In addition, War of Kings Saga is now online for free at Marvel Digital and Marvel has updated the War of Kings official site with new graphics.
Today there were several Rachel related comics out today.
Rachel continues to be a character in the back-up story, The Sentinels, in X-Men Noir #2.
Rachel does not appear in Secret Invasion: War of Kings. The issue is mainly about the Inhumans and Skrulls, and Vulcan only appears in a few pages at the very end. The Starjammers are not in the issue nor mentioned.
Rachel and the Starjammers are in the War of Kings Saga, a free comic that recaps the major comics that lead into War of Kings. There is no new material in the comic, and it’s funny how Marvel avoids saying Rachel Summers or Grey by calling Rachel only Marvel Girl throughout the whole issue.
If you didn’t get WoK Saga at your local comic store, it likely will be put online for free prior to the start of the event.
Also, Rachel’s “niece”, the Messiah Baby/Child, received a name in Cable #10.
War of Kings writers Andy Lanning and Dan Abnett will be answering questions on X-Position next week. Check the bottom of this page for how to submit questions.
Kingbreaker writer Chris Yost was in the X-Position hotseat this week.
He was asked about whether or not the Shi’ar can still track Rachel through the Deathmark, something Rachel fans have been speculating about for a while now.
Question: 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…Yost: 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.
The article also includes some excellent preview art from X-Men: Kingbreaker #2 which features Rachel in a new X-Jacket.
Here’s a run-down on this week’s news about War of Kings.
My Cup O’ Joe #36 has some preview art from Secret Invasion: War of Kings, along with some hype for the event (although, absolutely no mention of the Starjammers).
Marvel released a trailer for War of Kings, which shows some of the previously revealed covers and preview art. Rachel is shown on the Kingbreaker #2 cover, but that’s it.
Marvel also has an interview with Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (DnA) about the Inhumans and War of Kings, and Vulcan is mentioned (no Starjammers).
Newsarama has an interview with DnA about War of Kings, and the Starjammers and Kingbreaker are mentioned, but not entirely good news:
NRAMA: Since you have the Shi’Ar showing up, are you having to coordinate this with the X-Universe at all?AL: Yes, we’ve been coordinating with the X-Men office, and we’re actually coming out of the X-Men: Kingbreaker mini-series that’s putting the pieces from their side of the story in place. It won’t involved the X-Men directly, but we’ll deal with the cosmic side of the X-Men, including Vulcan and the Shi’Ar and the Starjammers. Obviously, they’re fundamentally tied up with the X-Men side of the universe, so we had to get permission and work closely with them. And previously, they weren’t included because they were tied up with the X-books, so this was great for us. It’s great fun to finally feel out that side of the cosmic universe that we hadn’t dealt with as far as logical galactic players on that sort of scale.
NRAMA: With all of the stories that are setting up War of Kings, from Secret Invasion: Inhumans to X-Men: Kingbreaker to the stories in Nova and Guardians, is War of Kings something that a newcomer to the Marvel cosmic universe can understand with Issue #1? Or should they start with the Secret Invasion: War of Kings one-shot?
AL: Absolutely, they can pick up the Secret Invasion: War of Kings one-shot, because it really does set the scene. Obviously, when writing something like this, you’d like the readers to be engaged enough with the stories we’re telling that they want to pick up every book. But we’re realistic enough to realize that you can’t burden someone with that, because you can actually alienate people. So if they want to pick up the Kingbreaker mini-series, they’ll get an extra piece from that side of things. It’s kind of supplemental reading that helps flesh out and round out the entire story. But it’s not necessary.
Calling Kingbreaker “not necessary” isn’t exactly promising… I can understand DnA wanting to do a self-contained story, but it’s becoming more and more clear that this is really a Cosmic event and the Starjammers are minor, supplementary characters.
CBR has the advanced X-solicitations for March, including X-Men Kingbreaker:
X-MEN: KINGBREAKER #4 (of 4)
Written by CHRISTOPHER YOST
Penciled by DUSTIN WEAVER
Cover by BRANDON PETERSON
The road to the WAR OF KINGS is paved here! The X-Men cosmic event of the year ends with a bang as the X-Men and Starjammers face the collective might of the Shi’Ar Empire. It’s a family affair as Havok fights his brother Vulcan and Lilandra takes on her sister Deathbird. Can the X-Men and Starjammers dethrone the mad Emperor?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
Kingbreaker #4 will be in stores on March 18.
Edited to add: Marvel.com has added the War of King information:
WAR OF KINGS # 1
The Story: In the aftermath of the Secret Invasion, Black Bolt has led the Inhumans on a shockingly savage path to restore their strength and security. But that path has brought them into direct confrontation with the Shi’Ar Empire – and their mad ruler Vulcan! Who will get in the first strike? Who will fall on the bloody battlefield? Who will rule? The Imperial Guard, the Starjammers, the Inhuman Royal Family and more of your favorite sci-fi characters are locked on a collision course…and it all starts here! Join the acclaimed team
of Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (NOVA) and Paul Pelletier (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY) for a pivotal turning point in Marvel’s
cosmic history!
Rated T+ …$3.99In Stores: Mar 4, 2009
Also, Marvel’s Hotline also has an audio interview with Chris Yost about Kingbreaker.
Marvel’s War of Kings is just around the corner, and the editors writers and artist have been making the interview rounds to give some hints about the story. Unfortunately, so far no specific news about Rachel’s role has yet been revealed.
SciFi.com has an exclusive look at War of Kings cover, including one that features Rachel and the rest of the Starjammers. Marvel’s March solicitations should be out next week, so there should be high quality versions available then.
Editor Bill Rosemann has this to say to SciFi about Marvel War of Kings, “In Secret Invasion, The Skrulls thought they could get away with kidnapping and replacing the Inhumans’ king. They thought wrong. Black Bolt, one of Marvel’s most powerful heroes, is back on his throne. Woe to those who have wronged his family. Enter War of Kings, as Black Bolt and the Inhumans look to secure their rightful place in the stars–only to find that the mighty Shi’Ar empire has different plans.”
It also lists that artists Paul Pelletier, Bong Dazo, Brad Walker, Wellinton Alves and Andrea DiVito will be involved and the first issue of War of Kings will be out in March. A free comic, War of Kings saga, will be out in January to catch-up new readers unfamiliar with the stories and characters.
Marvel has an interview with Paul Pelletier, who will be drawing the Secret Invasion: War of Kings one-shot and the War of Kings limited series. Nothing specifically Rachel or Starjammers related, but it does have some preview art from SI: WoK.
Last week, Marvel interviewed War of Kings writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning.
On a side note, it’s really starting to annoy me how marginalized the Starjammers seem in War of Kings. It’s very clear that The Inhumans are the stars of the heroes side, followed by the Guardians and Nova, with the Starjammers off to the side. I understand that there’s over 30 main characters in WoK, but why bring back the Inhumans
Sigh….
It’s such a shame that Rachel is being wasted in this, when she could be in the Cable/X-Force cross-over Messiah War instead.
Comics Continuum has posted a 8 page preview of X-Men Kingbreaker #1.
Rachel is featured on the 8th page (the previously released page with Rachel, only now with words).
Many people wondered what was up with the color of Rachel’s Phoenix firebird in the X-Men Kingbreaker #1 Preview art that was released last week.
Colorist Nathan Fairbairn posted on CBR that it was an error and he’s fixed it so that it’s the proper blue color.
Here is the original:
Here is the corrected Rachel Grey as the Phoenix (Blue):
The same thing happened with Emperor Vulcan. Rachel’s Phoenix glowy- eye thing was orange in the preview art, and was changed to blue by the time the first issue came out.
Also, Chris Yost discussed X-Men Kingbreaker in a brief Q&A on Marvel.com.
Marvel has released a five page preview of X-Men: Kingbreaker #1 from Dustin Weaver, which is quite impressive. Rachel is featured on the third page in full Phoenix firebird attacking a Shi’ar ship.
http://www.marvel.com/news/comicstories.6097.FIRST_LOOK~colon~_X-Men~colon~_Kingbreaker_%231
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