Post by Cory W. on Dec 6, 2021 20:09:35 GMT -5
First, a little background... X-Men Alpha and X-Men Omega launched after the conclusion of Uncanny X-Men and X-Men in the very early days of M2K, replacing them as the flagship titles. XMA was meant to be a sort of classic mainstream team and XMO was meant to be the more rogue paramilitary team. Light and dark, yin and yang, pop and punk, mainstream and counter culture, alpha and omega… You get the picture. Basically, two X-Teams to appeal to two different types of fans.
Funny thing is, XMA went through a series of delays, writer changes, and revamps despite being positioned to be the most important book in the X-Branch. The cast appeared in all sorts of places including other titles, anthologies, minis, and every major crossover, but the title itself only had twelve issues and an annual compared to XMO’s 58 issues, three annuals, and a special guest shot.
This makes up a strange piece of M2K history and kind of a confusing one for new readers or even veterans like myself. So, I thought, why not try and straighten this mess out and create some parity between Alpha and Omega as originally intended? It’s a fun sort of historical dive into M2K continuity, a creative challenge, and a useful maintenance project to boot. Half streamlining the original story of these characters and half “untold tales” to fill in the plot holes and finish incomplete stories.
I’ve taken the original twelve issues and annual, as well as the Team X mini-series, and I’ve structured them in a way that allows for stories to be told in-between them and after them. For example… Jay Corafa launched the title with three issues and set up multiple plots, but when Gwynn took over (and subsequently disappeared) none of those plots were addressed. So, I plotted and am writing four issues between Jay and Gwyna’s issues to address that. Likewise, between Gwyna’s issues and Team X? A whole lot is set up that goes no where, happens off panel, or is addressed elsewhere in passing. So I want to plot and write a few issues to tie them together. Make sense?
What’s fun about this project is that it doesn’t have to be just me filling in the blanks or telling untold tales. Anyone can join in! Dazzler joins the team in Gwyna’s three issues but never explains what happened to her and Longshot or the Mojo World civil war. Flashback time! Siphon and Warlock join the team when X-Force disbands but never show up after. Fill that plot hole with a new story or two! Phoenix goes missing at the end of Team X, but does the team ever look for her before she shows up again? That’s an untold tale! Maybe Beast and Trish Tilby go on a date when they've got some down time but weird shenanigans go down. Guest shot!
The possibilities are endless in this round robin sort of storyline and I’m more than happy to guide, edit, or collaborate with anyone who’s interested. Feel free to reach out or reply here and we’ll see what we can make happen. In the mean time, keep an eye out for the rewrites/reposts of Death of a Dream, as well as the relaunch of X-Men Alpha in this new form. It’s going to be a wild walk down memory lane! Hope to hear from some of you soon.
Funny thing is, XMA went through a series of delays, writer changes, and revamps despite being positioned to be the most important book in the X-Branch. The cast appeared in all sorts of places including other titles, anthologies, minis, and every major crossover, but the title itself only had twelve issues and an annual compared to XMO’s 58 issues, three annuals, and a special guest shot.
This makes up a strange piece of M2K history and kind of a confusing one for new readers or even veterans like myself. So, I thought, why not try and straighten this mess out and create some parity between Alpha and Omega as originally intended? It’s a fun sort of historical dive into M2K continuity, a creative challenge, and a useful maintenance project to boot. Half streamlining the original story of these characters and half “untold tales” to fill in the plot holes and finish incomplete stories.
I’ve taken the original twelve issues and annual, as well as the Team X mini-series, and I’ve structured them in a way that allows for stories to be told in-between them and after them. For example… Jay Corafa launched the title with three issues and set up multiple plots, but when Gwynn took over (and subsequently disappeared) none of those plots were addressed. So, I plotted and am writing four issues between Jay and Gwyna’s issues to address that. Likewise, between Gwyna’s issues and Team X? A whole lot is set up that goes no where, happens off panel, or is addressed elsewhere in passing. So I want to plot and write a few issues to tie them together. Make sense?
What’s fun about this project is that it doesn’t have to be just me filling in the blanks or telling untold tales. Anyone can join in! Dazzler joins the team in Gwyna’s three issues but never explains what happened to her and Longshot or the Mojo World civil war. Flashback time! Siphon and Warlock join the team when X-Force disbands but never show up after. Fill that plot hole with a new story or two! Phoenix goes missing at the end of Team X, but does the team ever look for her before she shows up again? That’s an untold tale! Maybe Beast and Trish Tilby go on a date when they've got some down time but weird shenanigans go down. Guest shot!
The possibilities are endless in this round robin sort of storyline and I’m more than happy to guide, edit, or collaborate with anyone who’s interested. Feel free to reach out or reply here and we’ll see what we can make happen. In the mean time, keep an eye out for the rewrites/reposts of Death of a Dream, as well as the relaunch of X-Men Alpha in this new form. It’s going to be a wild walk down memory lane! Hope to hear from some of you soon.