News Bites for the Week of 9/5/08

It's been rather quite on the Marvel War of Kings & X-Men Kingbreaker front the past few weeks. After the Kingbreaker announcement in August, there's still no definitive word on what series will be a part of Marvel War of Kings or when it will start.

It is possible that this week there was a War of Kings planning session at Marvel with Nova & Guardians of the Galaxy writers Andy Lanning and Dan Abnett.

Dan Abnett reported on his blog that he and Andy are in New York on Wednesday for "a script conflab with Marvel".

So, maybe all the details for War of Kings has yet to be hammered out?


The Quarter Bin posted an interview with Andy Lanning, but few details were given about War of Kings:

Q: You’re going to be tackling another space opera later this year with War of Kings. What can we expect in the battle for the skies?

Andy Lanning: We’re planning a truly epic cosmic tale of warring species: it’s a battle for succession and territory. For the first time since we started writing the cosmic books, we get to link the Kree Empire and the other parts of the Marvel universe we’ve been playing with, with the Shi’Ar Empire from the X-Men titles. We’re also adding the Inhumans to the mix which should result in a unbelievable levels of action and excitement which will have ramifications throughout the Marvel Universe.

Q: Please tell me there’s a chance for a Starjammers/Guardians of the Galaxy team-up.

Andy Lanning: Given the playground we’re working in, that’s distinctly possible!

In this week's MyCup o' Joe (with fill-in C.B. Cebulski), a reader asked a question about Rachel, Alex and Lorna, but received a vague answer:

Posted by Jason on Aug 12, 2008 5:26 AM

3) Will Havok, Marvel Girl and all the other heroes captured by Vulcan be returning to an X-Man series?

JQ: Jason, thanks for the kind words, some good questions here.

3) Sooner than you think! Keep an ear to the ground.

This question was asked a while ago and it seems like this MyCup o' Joe included a bunch of old questions Joe answered before Fan Expo, when Kingbreaker was announced.


If Kingbreaker is on schedule and the first issue comes out in December, it will be solicited in two weeks. So hopefully there will be some sort of big announcement about the artist and possibly the lineup of titles for War of Kings before then.

More on X-Men: Kingbreaker from Chris Yost

Chris Yost has been doing the interview rounds for the upcoming Starjammers mini-series, X-Men: Kingbreaker, and a few more details have been released:

In the Comic Book Resources interview, Yost reveals that Kingbreaker takes place several months after Emperor Vulcan:

“The Shi’ar Empire is aggressively, violently expanding,” Yost told CBR News. “And while Vulcan is leading the charge, it's still his brother Havok that's on his mind.”

“Vulcan is an emotional wreck,” Yost explained. “His twisted life has messed him up pretty bad, and him not killing Havok and the X-Jammers is the question on the Shi'ars minds for sure. Does he enjoy torturing them? At first, maybe. But he wants something more. He just doesn’t know how else to get it.”

At the end of Emperor Vulcan, it was assumed that Rachel and Korvus met up with Lilandra and fled. Yost explains in Kingbreaker that:

“They’ve been on the run, hunted by Imperial Guardsmen and Death Commandos alike. They're intent on finding the rest of their team, and liberating them from Vulcan's grasp,” Yost said. “The group dynamic is rocky to say the least. Lilandra was dethroned, betrayed, and now is working with two people that aren't particularly fond of her. Marvel Girl is mess after choosing Korvus' life over that of a whole species [In “Emperor Vulcan” she chose to save Korvus instead of the Scy’ar Tal]. And Korvus is taking stock of his life. Rachel was the only thing that was keeping him with the X-Men, and now she's putting distance between them. He's can't help but love her, but at the same time, he's been a prisoner most of his life. His heart may not be in this crusade.”

Yost also talked to Wizard, and gave a few added details:

YOST: In the meantime, you've got Marvel Girl, Korvus and Lilandra who ended up free. Vulcan's been hunting them down relentlessly. They're trying to find their friends and free them, but Vulcan's not letting up at all. He's using the Death Commandos, the Imperial Guard, the entire might of the Shi'ar Army to find the Phoenix and kill it.

And it seems like there's a few surprises planned:

Question: Anything you'd like to add?

YOST: The one thing I'd say is that there are a few surprises in store. It's not going to be just another Vulcan vs. Havok thing. We've got some tricks up our sleeves.

X-Men: Kingbreaker Details

Marvel finally updated with more details about X-Men: Kingbreaker, the Emperor Vulcan follow-up that will lead-in to War of Kings, what was announced at the X-Panel yesterday at Fan Expo in Toronto.

X-Men: Kingbreaker will be a four issue mini-series that begins in December. No artist has been announced so far. As previously announced, it will be written by Christopher Yost.

Marvel.com has an interview with writer Chris Yost, which describes what the series will be about:

... but right now he's focused on breaking Havok, whose refusal to break is driving Vulcan crazy—well, crazier, as the case may be.

But while Vulcan fills much of his days and nights torturing his big bro as well as Havok's lover, Polaris, and Starjammers teammates Raza and Ch'od, the aforementioned Shi'ar expansion also remains a high priority, one that will drag the Empire and their unstable ruler into War of Kings.

"The Shi'ar are back to their aggressive, conquering ways and Vulcan is at the forefront," reiterates Yost. "For his own reasons, he's determined to make the Shi'ar the preeminent force in the universe.

Yost has these teaser about what's in store for Rachel and the other Starjammers:

"Marvel Girl, Lilandra and Korvus [are] still free," notes Yost. "Now more than ever, their goal remains unchanged. Whereas before it was personal for Havok, now it's personal for all of them. By the time it's all over, they'll either be the tightest, most bonded group of X-Men ever, or they'll be dead."

Of course all this just scratches the surface of what to expect when X-MEN: KINGBREAKER debuts just in time for the holidays, as Yost gives a tantalizing mini-preview of what's to come:

"Death, torture, intergalactic war, revenge, jailbreaks, the hunt for the Phoenix, a team of superpowered alien murderers, brother versus brother, and the lead in to what could be the greatest cosmic event of all time."

More from Chris Yost on Newsarama:

NRAMA: Are Havok, Polaris, and Rachel going to continue to be exiled in space for the time being?

CY: While 'exiled' may not be the right word, they'll be operating in space for the immediate future. They could have gone home after “Rise and Fall.” They probably wish they had, actually.

NRAMA: These books have a uniquely dysfunctional family dynamic; care to discuss? Vulcan seems to dislike Rachel Summers in particular...

CY: I'm a huge fan of the Summers family, and I love that one of them went crazy insane and became a villain. Not like 'hanging out with the Goblin Queen' or 'semi-possessed by Apocalypse' villainy, but wholly sociopathic, full on villainy.

You'll see in Kingbreaker that while Vulcan has some very obvious goals, something else is weighing heavily on his mind... his family. And yes, he doesn't care for Rachel, something that's only going to get worse.

X-Men: Kingbreaker - War of Kings Starjammers Tie-in

During the X-Men Panel at Fan Expo in Toronto Canada today, Marvel announced that the Starjammers’ story will continue in X-Men: Kingbreaker, which will lead-in to the War of Kings Cosmic crossover events.

Kingbreaker will be written by Chris Yost (writer of Emperor Vulcan). This is likely a 4-6 issue mini-series that will likely start in December. (Although, Peter David said during the X-Panel said it would start in November, it was not included in the November Solicitations released by Marvel earlier this week).

No further details were revealed during the panel, but expect interviews and further announcements this weekend.

A fan asked the panel whether Kitty Pryde and the giant space bullet will appear in War of Kings, and the answer was (unfortunately) no. (Too bad, considering how close Rachel and Kitty are, but it's likely Kitty's fate will be handled in one of the core X-books.)

Stay tuned for further War of Kings and Kingbreaker updates this weekend!

Various News Bites from around the Web

All has been quiet on the War of Kings' front since the announcement last month in San Diego, but hopefully there will be some news soon.

IGN talked to Marvel editor Tom Brevoort about Secret Invasion, and how it is connected to War of Kings:

IGN Comics: We get a lot of questions about this, so we thought we'd ask since details are a little scarce at the moment. Is War of Kings a direct follow-up to Secret Invasion or is it only related in that the Skrulls' obsession with Earth further alters the balance of galactic power?

Brevoort: It's a direct follow-up, although the more complete answer is that it's a little from column A and a little from column B. War of Kings springboard directly out of Secret Invasion, and there'll be a Secret Invasion: War of Kings special in January that'll show you just how that happens. But once War of Kings proper starts, it'll be its own thing.

So, it looks like Secret Invasion: War of Kings might kick the event off in January with the first of the War of Kings mini-series starting in February?

Marvel still has not announced the line-up for War of Kings, which is expected to start in December or January. Marvel November solicitations came out today, and included Secret Invasion: Inhumans #4, which serves as a lead-in to War of Kings, but no direct tie-ins.

Marvel will have an X-Panel at Fan Expo Canada in Toronto on Friday evening, and Cup o' CB panel on Saturday afternoon, so an announcement could be coming then.


On a completely different tangent, Rachel was mentioned in last week's Comic Urban Legends. Brian Cronin blogs about the uncanny number of eerie coincidences in John Byrne's projects and his propensity for foretelling tragic future events. Rachel's flashback to her future in Uncanny X-Men 189, showing the destruction of the World Trade Center (which looks horribly similar to 9/11) was referenced. (Although, not written by Byrne, DoFP was co-created by him).

MyCup o' ... Bill Rosemann

Marvel Comic Editor Bill Rosemann was filling in for Joe Quesada at MyCup o' Joe this week, so naturally there were some questions about War of Kings:

JM: Okay, so War of Kings is probably your next big über-thing. What's the nutshell on that?

BR: You have Vulcan expanding the Shi'Ar Empire at a frightening pace. You have the Inhumans…well, I can't yet say what they're up to until Secret Invasion: Inhumans hits…but they're up to something big! Those two trains are locked on a collision course and we're lining up an amazing collection of creators to document the fireworks. That's right, Abnett & Lanning get to play with all the toys now!

JM: We seem to keep coming back to War of Kings. Now whereas I don't think this is gonna be a Secret Invasion- or World War Hulk-level deal, it will be pretty far-reaching for you guys, right?

BR: What's so fun about seeing War of Kings come together is the way Abnett and Lanning are stepping back, spotting all these different threads, and weaving them all together into one big ol' knot. They understand how all the characters and situations from the X-Men and Heroes and cosmic corners of the Marvel U all relate to one another and why now is the time to let their story unfold. So, yeah, this event won't have as many chapters as some of our other blockbusters, but we're guessing that all sorts of readers will be interested in and enjoy the craziness being cooked up.

Rachel Superhero Squad Figure Coming Soon!

At the San Diego Comic Con, Hasbro announced that a Marvel Girl figure will be part of an upcoming wave of Superhero Squad. These are the mini figures made for little kids. The figure features Rachel in her green Marvel Girl costume. Rachel will be paired with Cyclops. No word yet on when the figure will be released.

You can view the figure and Hasbro's Superhero Squad display here and here.

Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning & Bill Rosemann Talk War of Kings

All of the major comic news sites have interviews with writers Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (AKA DnA, who write Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy, along with the Annihilation series), and Marvel editor Bill Rosemann. Here are the Starjammers related highlights:

From IGN:

IGN Comics: Can you break down the basic structure of the story? What titles will it encompass and when can fans expect to see it in stores?

Rosemann: Seeds are being planted now and throughout 2008 in titles such as Secret Invasion: Inhumans, then the opening shots will be fired in early '09. And never fear, as the armies march closer to the battlefield, Marvel will be releasing the official list of War of Kings titles.

DnA: Battlelines are being drawn up right now, all will be revealed as we move from the end of '08 into '09.

From Newsarama:

While Marvel's previous "cosmic" events -- Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest -- have mostly been relegated to cosmic characters that don't touch the rest of the Marvel universe, this event will involve much of what is going on now throughout the 616, particularly in Secret Invasion. For example, Marvel editor Nick Lowe said at Marvel's Secret Invasion panel that Chris Yost will be writing something with Vulcan that will lead up to the event and will include Havok, Polaris and Marvel Girl.

NRAMA: It looks like the Shi-Ar will also play into this. You haven't worked with them before as part of your cosmic stories, have you? What's that going to be like to get your hands on those characters?

AL: No. When we were doing the Annihilation stuff, [Ed] Brubaker was doing the Rise and Fall of the Shi'Ar Empire stuff. So at that stage, the Shi'Ar were kind of off the table for us, because they obviously had their own involved storyline that Ed was working on with the X-Men books. Obviously, now, things have lined up quite nicely so that we are able to involve them in the War of Kings story. It's yet another great cosmic classic that we're getting to work with. Basically, we've done the Kree, we've had Skrulls, so it's been a nice progression to work our way up to the Shi'Ar.

DA: The nice thing for us is that sometimes the characters out of the X-office do remain sort of separated because they have a continuity all their own. And the Shi'Ar are so important, cosmically speaking, I'm glad we get to use them now, because otherwise there would have to be an increasing question in Marvel readers' minds that we've had these Annihilation events, so why haven't we seen the Shi'Ar in them? You'd think it would be affecting them in some sort of way. So it will be great to show there's that we're sort of linking up different parts of the Marvel Universe, and it's really exciting.

AL: It's almost like the Shi'Ar Empire has been sitting there like they've had very noisy neighbors. This is them starting to bang on the walls and yelling to shut up. [laughs]


NRAMA: An advantage of the timing of doing a story with the Shi'Ar Empire is it now has a character like Vulcan, who has been explored quite a bit lately and has ties to the Summers characters in other parts of the Marvel Universe. Can you talk about Vulcan's role in this at all?

AL: Not too much. Not beyond the point that everyone will know going into this book that Vulcan is taking the Shi'Ar into an overly expansive time at the moment. They're kind of expanding their empire. So that, more than anything, at some point, is going to make him butt heads with some of his cosmic neighbors. And that -- and seeing what their reaction to that state of mind is -- leads to what's going to happen in the War of Kings event.

NRAMA: We've see the Starjammers in the teasers as well. So are they going to be playing a part in this?

DA: All the people you've seen in the teasers will play a part, greater or lesser, in this story. We're drawing together strands from different parts of continuity, and it would be remiss of us not to make sure that anybody who would be affected doesn't get touched upon. So we get to connect up characters that wouldn't otherwise have met, necessarily. And I think that's great. It has that sense of cosmic scope where everyone really is in the same universe. And also, if we've done this correctly, all of those characters will have some role to play in the greater story as well.

From CBR:

When the “War of Kings” finally does erupt, it won’t be a simple Good vs. Evil type of conflict. “This isn't a traditional heroes versus villains story, but it is going to have a true epic scale with clearly defined sides,” DnA remarked.”

“Each side of this battle thinks they are right " which makes it awfully deadly for those caught in the crossfire!” Rosemann added.

The titles and tie-ins which will make up “War of Kings” have yet to be revealed, but readers can expect a prologue and a core mini-series which will be written by DnA.

Marvel War of Kings - Secret Invasion Tie-In

At San Diego Comic Con, Marvel has announced War of Kings - which the "Who Will Rule" teasers were alluding to.

Here is CBR's report from the SDCC Secret Invasion Panel:

Regarding the cosmic characters and the "who will rule" teasers -- it's called War of Kings, a Secret Invasion tie-in. It begins in August with Joe Pokaski's Secret Invasion: Inhumans. Vulcan will play a big role, as does Havok, Polaris, Marvel Girl and more. A slide then appeared depicting Black Bolt. "That guy is going to be pretty pissed off," Pokaski said.

Is War of Kings next summer's huge event? Will there be more cosmic stuff? Lowe: "It won't be a summer event, but a winter/spring event."

McCann: "It involves a great deal of cosmic characters and threads. All of that comes crashing together."

From Newsarama:

(Nick) Lowe talked about Vulcan's role in "War of Kings," saying "We've got something coming up at the end of this year with Vulcan that Chris Yost has a very big hand in," saying you'll also see Havok, Polaris and Marvel Girl.

Polask discussed Black Bolt's role in "War of Kings," saying that "we're going to see a different side of the Inhumans," and that Black Bolt will be "pretty pissed off."

IGN has a small report about War of Kings and will have an interview with Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning and editor Bill Rosemann tomorrow morning.

Marvel now has an interview with Dan, Andy and Bill:

At the heart of War of Kings will be Vulcan, the current emperor of the Shi'ar and the spark set to potentially ignite universal chaos. Introduced by Brubaker as the third Summers brother, sibling to the X-Men's Cyclops and Havok, when last we left Vulcan he had solidified claim to his thrown in the X-MEN: EMPEROR VULCAN limited series written by Chris Yost and seemed set to pursue bigger and bloodier conquests.

"Vulcan's a complicated guy with a seriously screwed up personal history," notes Abnett. "[He's] not the most stable of leaders and [now the Shi'ar] are aggressively expanding their empire. This will put them at loggerheads with the universe around them and will certainly color their response to any potential [obstacles] that might come their way."

Those obstacles will include Havok and his team of Starjammers, including fellow X-Men alumni Polaris and Marvel Girl, though both editor and writing team declined comment on how the middle Summers brother would pose a threat from within the prison he found himself confided to following EMPEROR VULCAN.

More updates to follow.

Comic Con X-Panel - No News about the Starjammers Yet

Unfortunately today at the San Diego Comic Con's X-Men Panel and the Marvel Mondo Panel there wasn't any announcement about the "Who Will Rule" teaser that will reveal what's next for Rachel and the Starjammers. Several questions were asked about it, but the only news is that the announcement will be made on Saturday afternoon at the Secret Invasion panel.

So, it looks like "Who Will Rule" will be spinning directly out of Secret Invasion.