X-Men Comics, X-Tremely Condensed
December 22, 2017 6:28 AM Subscribe
X-Men: Grand Design, a new Marvel comic miniseries by Ed Piskor, will condense nearly 300 issues — 40 years' worth — of convoluted X-Men continuity into a single, streamlined, six-issue story. Each book will be entirely written, drawn, inked, colored, and lettered by Piskor.
Ed Piskor's last epic project, Hip-Hop Family Tree, (previously on MeFi ,) told the history of hip-hop in four mega-issues and gave Piskor significant experience conflating a years-long history featuring dozens of characters into a more svelte, fluid narrative. HHFT also introduced a retro stylization to Piskor's pages, using halftone dot coloring with a limited palette and adding a yellowed tint and texture to the white of the page — a visual flavor carried over into Grand Design.
There are several interviews with Piskor (plus preview pages) floating around already , including these on io9-Gizmodo, Entertainment Weekly, and CBR.
The first issue is out now, in both print (ask your local shop) and digital (Marvel digital, Comixology).
The project is ongoing, and Piskor posts regular updates, process shots, etc. on both Instagram and Twitter.
Ed Piskor's last epic project, Hip-Hop Family Tree, (previously on MeFi ,) told the history of hip-hop in four mega-issues and gave Piskor significant experience conflating a years-long history featuring dozens of characters into a more svelte, fluid narrative. HHFT also introduced a retro stylization to Piskor's pages, using halftone dot coloring with a limited palette and adding a yellowed tint and texture to the white of the page — a visual flavor carried over into Grand Design.
There are several interviews with Piskor (plus preview pages) floating around already , including these on io9-Gizmodo, Entertainment Weekly, and CBR.
The first issue is out now, in both print (ask your local shop) and digital (Marvel digital, Comixology).
The project is ongoing, and Piskor posts regular updates, process shots, etc. on both Instagram and Twitter.
So, this is basically X-Men Kai?
And this getting greenlit has nothing to do with Disney re-acquiring the X-Men, nosiree...
posted by NoxAeternum at 6:47 AM on December 22, 2017
And this getting greenlit has nothing to do with Disney re-acquiring the X-Men, nosiree...
posted by NoxAeternum at 6:47 AM on December 22, 2017
I love it when super-cool and remarkably talented people get to do one of their dream projects like this. I'm happy Marvel was enthusiastic about letting him do this, and let him do it the way he wanted.
posted by darksong at 6:52 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by darksong at 6:52 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
I think the best interview with Piskor is the one he did with Jay Edidin on Jay and Miles Xplain the X-Men.
posted by ursus_comiter at 6:54 AM on December 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by ursus_comiter at 6:54 AM on December 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
Piskor's interview with Chris Claremont is wonderful, as Claremont talks in detail about his working methods, and heartbreaking, as you can feel his lingering bitterness, decades later, over certain editorial decisions that were imposed on him.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 6:55 AM on December 22, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by 1970s Antihero at 6:55 AM on December 22, 2017 [5 favorites]
Ed Piskor is amazing and the Hip Hop Family Tree is a wonder to behold. I've pre-ordered the trade paperback of this and I look forward to being able to share it with my comics-lovin' kid.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:07 AM on December 22, 2017
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:07 AM on December 22, 2017
"This week the X-Men are renovating a Victorian Martello Tower outside of Hastings, but can they complete the conversion in five days and on a budget of only £200k?"
posted by Flashman at 7:28 AM on December 22, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by Flashman at 7:28 AM on December 22, 2017 [12 favorites]
So, this is basically X-Men Kai?
no it's basically classic x-men
seriously though, this looks fun. love the art.
posted by entropicamericana at 7:46 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
no it's basically classic x-men
seriously though, this looks fun. love the art.
posted by entropicamericana at 7:46 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
I’m waiting for the collected editions which will be 2 issues plus a classic X-Men issue recoloured and will be treasury sized. Can’t wait!
posted by gnuhavenpier at 7:48 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by gnuhavenpier at 7:48 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
And this getting greenlit has nothing to do with Disney re-acquiring the X-Men, nosiree...
It's been in the works since long before the Fox deal was agreed to. I can imagine them thinking "we might get the X-Men back, so this would be good to have," but then they'd have to tell comparatively minor employees at Marvel about this big top-secret negoitation.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:05 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
It's been in the works since long before the Fox deal was agreed to. I can imagine them thinking "we might get the X-Men back, so this would be good to have," but then they'd have to tell comparatively minor employees at Marvel about this big top-secret negoitation.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:05 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
I can imagine them thinking "we might get the X-Men back, so this would be good to have," but then they'd have to tell comparatively minor employees at Marvel about this big top-secret negoitation.
Not really - Disney seems to have a knack for finding ways to align their creative and marketing staff in mutually beneficial ways (see also: porgs.) This seems like a good prestige project, and if it also solves issues with a major acquisition, well...that's what's called a "win-win".
posted by NoxAeternum at 8:09 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Not really - Disney seems to have a knack for finding ways to align their creative and marketing staff in mutually beneficial ways (see also: porgs.) This seems like a good prestige project, and if it also solves issues with a major acquisition, well...that's what's called a "win-win".
posted by NoxAeternum at 8:09 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
I wouldn't have thought it was possible to condense the X-Men's convoluted history into just six issues, but this post made me head over to Comixology and check out the first issue, and it is very, very good. I'm excited about this series!
posted by painquale at 8:09 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by painquale at 8:09 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'll check this out. HHFT was maybe the last regular feature of Boing Boing that I really liked, and his earlier Wizzywig was pretty great as well.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:14 AM on December 22, 2017
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:14 AM on December 22, 2017
This is good for those of us who found trying to get into the comics from loving the movies really daunting.
posted by fiercecupcake at 8:32 AM on December 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by fiercecupcake at 8:32 AM on December 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
Also, 1970s Antihero, thanks for that link to Piskor's interview with Claremont. I've criticized Claremont before, on the blue and elsewhere, but he comes off really well here, and I can empathize with his frustration at being jerked around by Marvel, especially given how much they owe him for his contributions to their most popular franchise. (I also had no idea how quickly Igor Kordey works.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:37 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:37 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
One of the perennial problems Western superhero comics has is that you really can't go to the start of the story like you can with other media, including manga. This is compounded by the (insane) business model, which punishes short series and things designed to appeal to an audience that doesn't pre-order at comic shops.
posted by Merus at 8:39 AM on December 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Merus at 8:39 AM on December 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
If you only buy one X-men (or perhaps any) comic this year, today, this decade, or ever... this 6-issue series is the one to get.
Digital version is probably beautiful but the singles are printed on some amazing non-glossy paper that feels great in the hand and is colored from edge to edge (full bleed) to appear aged so that the occasional pure white accent blasts off the page with an unreal glow.
Each issue is 45 pages or so. I think there will be 6 issues in all, collected in 3 oversize trades (like Hip-Hop Family Tree).
This is the first time Marvel has let a cartoonist do a book. Ed Piskor is writing, penciling, inking, lettering, and coloring, everything normally done by the team of artists on a book. If this is a commercial success (I have no doubt it will be an artistic success), it could open the way for more cartoonists doing limited series event Marvel books. I'd love to see Craig Thompson, Dustin Harbin, Nate Powell, Chester Brown, or cartoonists do a few Marvel graphic novels.
But, being realistic, the Marvel machine will screw this up eventually, sooner rather than later, one way or another, and ruin it for everyone.
posted by sirshannon at 9:22 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Digital version is probably beautiful but the singles are printed on some amazing non-glossy paper that feels great in the hand and is colored from edge to edge (full bleed) to appear aged so that the occasional pure white accent blasts off the page with an unreal glow.
Each issue is 45 pages or so. I think there will be 6 issues in all, collected in 3 oversize trades (like Hip-Hop Family Tree).
This is the first time Marvel has let a cartoonist do a book. Ed Piskor is writing, penciling, inking, lettering, and coloring, everything normally done by the team of artists on a book. If this is a commercial success (I have no doubt it will be an artistic success), it could open the way for more cartoonists doing limited series event Marvel books. I'd love to see Craig Thompson, Dustin Harbin, Nate Powell, Chester Brown, or cartoonists do a few Marvel graphic novels.
But, being realistic, the Marvel machine will screw this up eventually, sooner rather than later, one way or another, and ruin it for everyone.
posted by sirshannon at 9:22 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Fantagraphics sits right across the street from my favorite sandwich place. Been meaning to pick up the whole set of volumes of HHFT after reading through the first one, think I'll head over there in a couple for lunch.
posted by P.o.B. at 10:07 AM on December 22, 2017
posted by P.o.B. at 10:07 AM on December 22, 2017
This is the first time Marvel has let a cartoonist do a book.
Maybe in terms of doing an entire miniseries, but the recent Strange Tales anthology had a number of different indie cartoonists, such as Kate Beaton, contributing short stories; DC did something similar with Bizarro Comics and Bizarro World. Marvel has also hired indie cartoonists such as Ryan North, Christopher Hastings, and Kate Leth to write some of their books.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:29 AM on December 22, 2017
Maybe in terms of doing an entire miniseries, but the recent Strange Tales anthology had a number of different indie cartoonists, such as Kate Beaton, contributing short stories; DC did something similar with Bizarro Comics and Bizarro World. Marvel has also hired indie cartoonists such as Ryan North, Christopher Hastings, and Kate Leth to write some of their books.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:29 AM on December 22, 2017
I don't know Piskor but he's a friend of friends and it's nice to see a Pittsburgher do well in the arts without leaving first.
posted by octothorpe at 10:40 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by octothorpe at 10:40 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm excited to read this, but anyone who hasn't already read "Hip Hop Family Tree" needs to. It's a great piece of comic art. Love emanates from every page.
posted by Ipsifendus at 10:54 AM on December 22, 2017
posted by Ipsifendus at 10:54 AM on December 22, 2017
This is the first time Marvel has let a cartoonist do a book.
Maybe in terms of doing an entire miniseries, ...
Yeah, that's what I was saying. A few cartoonists doing shorts in an anthology isn't the same as a start-to-finish 300-page series. Nor is a cartoonist like Leth or North writing a book the same as letting them write, pencil, ink, color, and letter a book. I'm a huge Kate Leth fan and a big Squirrel Girl fan, I'm not putting them down in any way, I'm just saying it's not the same at all.
posted by sirshannon at 1:34 PM on December 29, 2017
Maybe in terms of doing an entire miniseries, ...
Yeah, that's what I was saying. A few cartoonists doing shorts in an anthology isn't the same as a start-to-finish 300-page series. Nor is a cartoonist like Leth or North writing a book the same as letting them write, pencil, ink, color, and letter a book. I'm a huge Kate Leth fan and a big Squirrel Girl fan, I'm not putting them down in any way, I'm just saying it's not the same at all.
posted by sirshannon at 1:34 PM on December 29, 2017
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posted by joelhunt at 6:47 AM on December 22, 2017 [2 favorites]