INTERVIEW: X-Men #23 Post Game with Victor Gischler

While much attention has been paid to the X-Men books in the recent Regenesis relaunch, the one X-Men title that’s been moving along under the radar is adjective-less X-Men. Victor Gischler along with various artists have been consistently telling some great X-Men stories, beginning with the Vampire story that led to Jubilee becoming a vampire, as well as some great stories after that. With the X-Men relaunch during Regenesis, X-Men is on Team Cyclops and tells the stories of the “Security Team,” made up of Storm, Psylocke, Colossus , Warpath and Jubilee.

X-Men #23 hit stands today and wraps up the first story arc as the team works with War Machine to bring down a Sentinel threat. But in addition to the end of this storyline, some key developments happened that make this issue a big deal. So we sat down with writer Victor Gischler to get his breakdown on the issue and what it’s events mean for the future of the title

SPOILER WARNING
If you haven’t read X-Men #23 yet – be warned, we discuss specific plot points of the book!

iFanboy: X-Men #23 wraps up the first story arc post Schism & Regenesis with this new Security team on Utopia responding to the threat of Sentinels in Symkaria. Will this team continue to respond to threats outside of Utopia like this one or will they remain close to home?

Victor Gischler: They’re on the spot wherever they’re needed. We’re playing on a big stage here. If the Security Team needs to go halfway around the world (or to a completely different world) to rapidly respond to some crisis then that’s they’re task. That doesn’t mean they’re blind to trouble on their own doorstep, but you never can tell where they might pop up.

iF: This issue features some pretty classic X-Men Vs. Sentinel fighting, did the action turn out as you intended? Seems like we got to see each character take a Sentinel down in their own unique way…how was it scripting such a big fight like this one?

VG: The action is mostly just what I was hoping for. A few times [editor] Nick Lowe came in with some spot-on suggestions to up the ante a bit. His contributions always took it to the next level. What’s really great about a huge fight like this is that the budget for a page is the same whether characters are exploding Sentinels in a hurricane or sitting around sipping coffee and playing Jenga. I mean, when it’s time for a big fight, it’s nice to really be able to go for it. And Will Conrad did a bang up job making these huge Sentinel smackdowns as visually stunning as possible. Great work.

iF: With a team of heavy hitters like Storm and Colossus in the field, Psylocke appears to have emerged as a leader through some decisive action on the ground. How do you see Psylocke’s role on the team?

VG: You know, that actually evolved very naturally. Early in the arc, team leader Storm basically says “you guys go that way, and we’ll go this way.” And I saw Psylocke and her team and my gut reaction was to naturally give her some second-in-command stripes. I think if Storm went down, Psylocke could step in and see the job through. Yes, she is the official telepath of the team, but she brings some element of leadership too.

iF: It was very cool to see Domino involved in this arc, will she be sticking around the book and joining for future missions?

VG: Oh, we’ll have plenty more Domino. Count on it. I’ve always liked her.

iF: During the skirmish with the Sentinels, Jubilee disappears after being approached by a mysterious figure joined with 3 others…is that Raizo Kodo and The Forgiven?

VG: Right. Raizo is becoming a key character in the world of vampires. It was just a matter of time before s\he and the Forgiven crossed paths with Jubilee.

iF: What is Jubilee’s frame of mind as she’s approached by Raizo? It’s clearly been a challenge for her to adapt to her new status as a vampire.

VG: Jubilee has been living an “in between” life for a while. She’s still an X-MAN … but she’s a vamp too. She’s been taking transfusions of Wolverine blood to fend off going total rabid with bloodlust, but this isn’t a long term solution for Jubilee. What we see here is the first steps on a new path for Jubilee. She needs to figure some things out, but she needs a little help, somebody with vamp experience to guide her. Wolverine has always been a huge mentor in her life, but for this she needs somebody with a very particular skill set and life experiences.

iF: How and/or why has Raizo taken an interest in Jubilee? Aside from the Vampire connection, what ties could she have to the recent events of Fear Itself and Fear Itself’s aftermath?

VG: Well, sticking specifically with the Raizo question, he and The Forgiven are different kinds of vampires. I encourage folks to pickup the three-issue mini HULK vs DRACULA to find out a bit more about Raizo and the Forgiven and how they fit into the vampire world. But these are some vamps constantly on the lookout for special people to join their ranks. It’s only right Raizo would take an interest in Jubilee.

iF: The issue ends with Storm reporting back to Cyclops that they couldn’t find Jubilee and they were going back out to look for her. With no clues, where will Storm and team start?

VG: That’s the killer question isn’t it? Do they “round up the usual suspects” and question vamps? Look into a crystal ball? The next few issues are going to be pretty extrta-special-neato. (All the cool people say “extra-special-neat” right?)

iF: Given that your run on X-Men started with the transformation of Jubilee into a vampire, and now we see her getting approached by Raizo, will we see the Vampires of the Marvel U. returning to future plots of X-Men?

VG: You’ll see more of them. How soon and how often is up to the bosses with the big hats. But the door is wide open and there’s lots of potential. Yes, brace yourselves. BRACE. YOUR. SELVES.