Peter David's new project...

[Steviekick 0]

from newsarama.com

PETER DAVID GETS HIS (MULTIPLE) MEN

 

This weekend's Motor City Con provided one answer for those wondering what Peter David’s future holds. According to the writer, one of his upcoming Marvel projects will star Jamie Madrox, aka, the Multiple Man.

 

In regard to David’s comments that the character was a mutant whith whom he’d had some familiarity, Madrox was a member of X-Factor while David was writing the book, circa 1991-1993.

 

For those not familiar with the character, the name is the power. Madrox can create duplicates of himself when struck, turning him into a functioning one-man army. Having first appeared in Giant-Sized Fantastic Four #4, the character remained in the periphery of the X-Universe for years, and was a research assistant for Dr. Moria McTaggart, Professor X’s colleague in Scotland.

 

The character moved to the X-Factor team when David took over the series, and David’s characterization of Madrox was fairly straightforward (well, as straightforward as a multiple man can be) during his tenure on X-Factor. However, after David’s departure from the series, things weren’t so pretty…or straightforward. The Legacy Virus, death of the “prime” Madrox and survival of a duplicate, the X-Corps, covert ops with Forge, and action on Genosha followed…and saying that the character could do with some streamlining is an understatement.

 

According to David, speaking at a panel at noon on Saturday, the project will be a five-issue miniseries called Madrox, which will also include Strong Guy (Again, from David’s X-Factor tenure), and Rahne Sinclair (Wolfsbane from X-Force, New Mutants (old and new) as supporting characters.

 

David described the feel of the series as being along the lines of a crime noir detective story in the ghettos of Mutant Town.

 

If the five issue mini does well, David plans to lobby for an ongoing Madrox series. The artist on the series will be Pablo Raimond

 

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It seems like it could be interesting, but they'd be insane to do a regular series. I 'm more interested in the fact that Strong Guy is going to be in this!

[converge241 0]

ugh strong guy and rahne a bad part of his otherwise great run on factor back again?

 

the store i used to run will be overloaded with copies (his daughter works in one of the chains stores so they have to pimp out his books haha)

[starvenger 0]

Strong Guy was great. Of course, that was because David was able to play him off of Havok and Quicksilver. But since this is set in Mutant Town, he and Multiple Man will have to play off of... Bishop? I can't see that working...

[Steviekick 0]

I'm wondering what it took David to convince Marvel to do this project.

[Vyce 0]

I'm wondering what it took David to convince Marvel to do this project.

I think he has photos of Quesada & Jemas......performing certain acts together.

 

That said, this does sound like an interesting concept.

[Guest netslob]

great news...i've always liked this charcter, his powers rule, and it' about time they did SOMETHING with him...so much untapped potential.

 

do you think when he was a kid, his parents would say shit like "Jamie, why don't you go to your room and play with yourself?"

[Steviekick 0]

I'm wondering what it took David to convince Marvel to do this project.

I think he has photos of Quesada & Jemas......performing certain acts together.

 

That said, this does sound like an interesting concept.

Jemas is out of his position, but still in the company. A much less prominent position though.

 

Maybe he has the missing scripts for that Kevin Smith project that has been put on indefinite hiatus?

[starvenger 0]

Maybe he has the missing scripts for that Kevin Smith project that has been put on indefinite hiatus?

Maybe it's a "make good" project after the whole Captain Marvel/U Decide thing...

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

do you think when he was a kid, his parents would say shit like "Jamie, why don't you go to your room and play with yourself?"

Hell I wondered if when he had sex did he make some copies of himself and then gangbang the bitch. That would be....interesting to say the least.

[starvenger 0]

More on MadroX from Newsarama...

 

The announcement caught more than a few off guard. Peter David’s new Marvel project would be: MadroX (yes, the x is supposed to be like that), starring an all-but overlooked mutant in Marvel’s mutie pantheon. Newsarama caught up with the writer for some whys and wherefores of the new project.

 

Newsarama: What got this particular ball rolling at Marvel? Was the character and concept something you brought to them in a pitch, or did they come to you and ask what you would be interested in writing?

 

Peter David: The ball actually got rolling when editor Andy Schmidt and I were discussing what I would do once Captain Marvel was wrapped up. Andy, who was a big fan of how I'd written Multiple Man and Strong Guy in X-Factor, was eagerly advocating doing a series that focused on one or the other - or both - of them. We batted around notions before I came up with the whole noir angle of Jamie as a private detective for a variety of reasons that dovetailed with his particular abilities. Plus it gave us the excuse to have Guido in there; what would Spenser be without Hawk?

 

I developed a pitch for the series, including some rather nifty tweaks having to do with his abilities, and Marvel went for it almost immediately. And - since according to Andy, they were green lighting almost nothing at the time, that was quite a vote of confidence.

 

NRAMA: When you look at Madrox, what story potential do you see?

 

PD: He's practically the "Hamlet" of Marvel. All of us have to make choices in our life. Every so often we reach a crossroads and we say, "Okay, this direction instead of that direction." Not Jamie. He's someone who's capable of living as many lives as he wants, experiencing whatever he wants, going in whatever direction he wants. As a result, because he can do practically everything, it makes it hard for him to do anything. Or, at the very least, to place any value of one thing over the other because he never has to make that qualitative decision. He never has to figure out what's more important to him. As a result, he's becoming increasingly disconnected from life. He's all alone in a crowd, especially since he's his own crowd. So he becomes a detective as an endeavor to remain in touch with the world, with trying to help people and--perhaps most important--to experience their lives.

 

NRAMA: That said, where are you picking him up at, story-wise? He…uh, had a rough patch a while back…

 

PD: I'm offering the reader encapsulations of some aspects of Jamie's life...enough so newcomers will know what his basic deal is, his origin, how his powers work, etc.

 

But I'm not about to start dragging in the Legacy Virus and hang the series on the hook of five tons of previous continuity. I'm not going to violate the continuity; I just don't want readers to drown in several decades’ worth of character exposition. I make a passing mention of his previous gig, but mostly I'm focusing on the new set-up.

 

As for his "edge," we have an in-story reason for that. See, Jamie has been sending out dupes for months now to learn about all manner of things in the world. Then the dupes return, merge with him, and he acquires all that they've experienced. The problem is that the merge tends to make Jamie a little squirrelly until his brain can process it all. That trauma alone is enough to keep him on edge. And it's going to start having unexpected consequences as he creates further duplicates. Although, don't worry...he's not going to go insane. That'd be kind of a predictable way to go.

 

NRAMA: So let’s go into the larger picture around him. Jaime is now an investigator in Mutant Town. What kind of cases does he take?

 

PD: He'll take whatever gets thrown his way. And the nice thing about having a lead with multiple capabilities is that it makes multiple storylines possible. In this particular series, two things clamor for Jamie's attention.

 

The first is an assassination attempt on one of his dupes, which sends the original Jamie to Chicago - which ties with New York as a great noir city, to track down who was behind it...and, naturally, gets him involved with a beautiful but dangerous woman. Meanwhile, back in Mutant Town, a dupe that Jamie left behind to mind the store gets involved with a case where a mutant woman is convinced her mutant husband is cheating on her, even though she's with him 24/7.

 

NRAMA: With all of that going on, how are Strong Guy and Rahne involved?

 

PD: Rahne is there because I wanted the classic sardonic female assistant working in his office. Val Cooper was unavailable, but I was told I could use Rahne provided I was acutely aware that she was still in play over in New Mutants - or whatever they're calling the next book. So I took the approach that she's helping out Jamie part time in her spare time to get the office set up. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to use her again. I've always had an affection for the character, going back to the fact that--back in my staff days at Marvel--I was the one who came up with the name "Wolfsbane" for her.

 

As for Guido, as I said, he's Hawk to Jamie's Spenser. The worldly wise street guy and muscle. Besides, how can you pass up using characters that Wizard Magazine openly trashed? I figure, Wizard talked up Captain Marvel and it didn't translate to big sales. So if I use characters Wizard despises, maybe I'll have the number one title.

 

NRAMA: So with the set up, Jaime is on his own, not as one of Xavier’s operatives? Just a guy trying to make a life?

 

PD: Exactly right. As I noted, he wants to help people, as much to keep his own head together as anything else. Jamie's first instinct at all times is to be alone, and he's actively fighting this instinct because he understands it's destructive...the same way that an alcoholic has to fight his instinct to drink. It's pretty ironic, actually. Americans place a great premium on the notion of standing alone. Jamie understands the folly of this. That one must reach out to others because too much insulation is ultimately counterproductive. As John Donne wrote, in part: "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main...(A)ny man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." Jamie knows he must be involved in mankind if he is to be a productive individual.

 

NRAMA: Speaking of death with Jaime, his early life has some pretty lousy moments in that regard…

 

PD: Jamie Madrox was isolated as a youth by his parents, kept in a suit that controlled his duping power. But his parents died when he was young, and Jamie was alone for months before he was discovered. It was a traumatic experience, and one that he's been fighting to overcome ever since.

 

NRAMA: And you’re setting this up as an ongoing concept/project if there’s a solid enough response?

 

PD: We'd originally conceived it as an ongoing, but given the toxic nature of today's market to just about any new endeavor, Andy and I opted to lobby for a limited series instead. It's a win/win situation. If the series takes off and people want to see more, we're in a strong position to advocate that. If it does only moderately and Marvel isn't interested in maintaining it, then it's five issues by design rather than, "Oh well, the numbers aren't there." Plus I have little doubt that once people get a load of Pablo's art, they'll be stumbling over each other to attach him to some new, super-high-profile project and we'll be back to looking for a new artist.

[Steviekick 0]

Maybe he has the missing scripts for that Kevin Smith project that has been put on indefinite hiatus?

Maybe it's a "make good" project after the whole Captain Marvel/U Decide thing...

Hopefully.

 

Marville was propably the worst comic I ever read.

[SuperJerk 0]

Peter David: The ball actually got rolling when editor Andy Schmidt and I were discussing what I would do once Captain Marvel was wrapped up.

 

Is Captain Marvel ending?

 

Huh? Where have I been?

 

I guess it makes sense, since the book doesn't.

[Guest netslob]

do you think when he was a kid, his parents would say shit like "Jamie, why don't you go to your room and play with yourself?"

Hell I wondered if when he had sex did he make some copies of himself and then gangbang the bitch. That would be....interesting to say the least.

what if he literally had sex...with HIMSELF? now THAT'S interesting!!

 

"AAAHHh....oohhh...i LOVE me!!"

 

"Oh, i'm just saying that..."

 

"No i really love me, i'm the best i've ever had!!"

[Steviekick 0]

Peter David: The ball actually got rolling when editor Andy Schmidt and I were discussing what I would do once Captain Marvel was wrapped up.

 

Is Captain Marvel ending?

 

Huh? Where have I been?

 

I guess it makes sense, since the book doesn't.

The series has been cancelled. I think it's ending either June/July.

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

Well it is a few months old. I thought I'd posted about the new X-Factor series that is coming out.

 

http://www.newsarama.com/forums/printthrea...?threadid=41312

 

Posted by MattBrady on 08-22-2005 03:17 PM:

X-PLORING THE X-FACTOR WITH PETER DAVID

 

Perhaps one of the most anticipated Marvel announcements of this summer’s convention season was the return of both X-Factor as an ongoing series as well as the announcement that former X-Factor writer Peter David would be writing it (with Ryan Sook on art).

 

The November-debuting series owes more to David’s Madrox miniseries which concluded earlier this year, and, the positive retailer and fan reaction to, allowed for the launch of the new series. That said, the lineup of the team will run along the lines of Madrox: Jamie Madrox, Rahne Sinclair, Siryn, Monet, Strong Guy, and Rictor.

 

It’s a unique lineup for what promises to be a unique book. We caught up with the writer for a quick chat about the new title.

 

Newsarama: First off, when did it become clear that sales and reception on Madrox were good enough to warrant a continuation of the concepts?

 

Peter David: For me? About thirty seconds after Andy Schmidt told me that we were a "go" for X-Factor. That's really what it comes down to. If Marvel weren't satisfied with the numbers, there would be no X-Factor series.

 

NRAMA: Why X-Factor rather than an ongoing Madrox series?

 

PD: Personally, as far as I was concerned, the Madrox limited series was X-Factor. We just weren't calling it that at the time.

 

NRAMA: So once it was clear that X-Factor was going to be a reality, did you have to pull over to the side of the metaphorical road and work up thoughts on where you’d go if things continued, or had you already figured out where Jamie and company would be headed if Madrox was well received?

 

PD: Initially I did not. But once House of M, and its aftermath, "Decimation," arrived on the scene, I knew some rethinking was going to have to be done. So in concert with Andy, and after extensive consultation with Brian [bendis], I tweaked the direction and several aspects of the group's priorities and mission.

 

NRAMA: X-Factor’s connection to House of M and owing part of its existence to “Decimation” was mentioned at various panels over the summer season – can you clarify that a little?

 

PD: I wouldn't say it "owes part of its existence" to House of M. It's more that House of M introduced some angles to the group's raison d'etre that I personally think improves upon it. Candidly, though, I'm not sure how much I can safely say at this point. If I going into specific detail as to the elements of X-Factor that tie in with “Decimation,” then I risk giving away specifics that Marvel doesn't want revealed yet. There are too many people going to too much work for me to feel comfortable going into detail.

 

NRAMA: Fair enough - speaking of the team then, why does a multiplying man need help in the first place? Is this case where he literally can’t trust himself?

 

PD: Why did Doc Savage need the fabulous five? Why does Superman need the Justice League? Why did Holmes need Watson - indeed to such a degree that he declares he would be "lost without my Boswell." Why do fools fall in love? Who put the ram in the ramma lamma ding dong? And who *unh* who wrote the book of love? These and many other questions are simply imponderables best left to philosophers, intellectuals and scoundrels.

 

NRAMA: Ho-kay. So – they’re all working for XXX Investigations now, or do they officially call themselves X-Factor?

 

PD: The latter.

 

NRAMA: The characters you picked to work with - some are familiar; some are relatively new to you and the team. Can you take each and - figuratively - pick them up and look them over and explain briefly what they add, and why you, creatively wanted them to be a part of the team?

 

PD: Basically, I went for characters who I thought would provide interesting contrasts for one another. The core of drama is conflict, so you want to have characters whose differences will provide that conflict. For instance, you've got Rahne who has this scrappy animal mentality, and still carries a bucketload of self doubt with her. She serves as a great foil to Monet, who is polished, high-faluting, and thinks that she's better than anyone - although that, in turn, covers her own insecurities.

 

The two of them become interested in Rictor...except Rictor is interested in Siryn. Rictor is dark, brooding, and feeling he's lost control of his life. Siryn, as a recovering alcoholic, is all about control, and works to impart this to Rictor, plus we're tinkering with Siryn's power slightly in a way that I think is really cool. Except the question becomes, does Siryn teach Rictor self-control...or will he erode hers? As for Jamie, unexpected developments with his ability threaten to make his power more unpredictable than ever, while Guido has to display vast inner strength that he might not possess, even though you just assume to look at him that he's the strongest guy around.

 

NRAMA: Was there anyone you wanted to get your hands on, but couldn?t?

 

PD: Osama bin Laden.

 

NRAMA: Probably would’ve changed the book a little… moving along then – in a universe with numerous mutant teams, what makes this one “X-Factor,” rather than say, “the X-Men investigating mysteries?”

 

PD: Because I'M WRITING THEM, BUCKO! You got A FREAKIN' PROBLEM WITH THAT? HUH? HUH? DO YA? HEY! I'M WALKIN' HERE!

 

NRAMA: Uh, no...sir?

 

PD: I mean, seriously. Go back and read my run on the previous X-Factor. Was there any question that they were different from the plethora of mutant groups back then?

 

In this case, they will be different again...but in a different way.

 

NRAMA: That said, with this following Madrox, will it will be a touch more…noir-ish than the miniseries? How would you describe the tone of the series?

 

PD: It will have that same noir tone, but less--how best to put it--less self-consciously noir.

 

NRAMA: So where do things start in the first arc? What lights the fuse?

 

PD: An attempted suicide.

 

NRAMA: From there then…what kinds of stories will we be seeing in the coming months? What threats/investigations is X-Factor suited for better than any other?

 

PD: It's going to be an interesting contrast. First of all, they'll be dealing with a lot of "ground level" threats. The intrusion of mutant-related problems into normal, every day life. For me, that keeps the series more "grounded" rather than just trying to deal with the latest mega-threat. But that doesn't mean the mega-threat does not exist. That will be coming courtesy of their polar opposite, Singularity Investigations. Whereas X-Factor is down and dirty and scrappy, SI is the security agency to the rich and powerful. Their paths will cross as of issue #2, each trying to protect their respective clients and SI totally prepared to steamroll over X-Factor. But we will learn that not only is there more to SI than meets the eye, there's also more to X-Factor. Put before us is a fascinating notion: That X-Factor is destined to undo the results of the Decimation. Or maybe not. And SI may have to work against X-Factor...or in concert with them.

 

There's a fundamental theme to X-Factor that arises from the Madrox series: Namely that no one is ever what they appear to be. That there are always layers, always more things to discover. And the unexpected is always there to thwart expectations. Just when Jamie thinks he's got a bead on his new status, it changes. Just when readers think they have a bead on our team or the team's opponents, they will discover that, no, here's this aspect that they didn't know about or hadn't considered.

 

The issue that everyone remembers from my previous X-Factor run was #87. Why? Because it was 22 pages of upending people's perceptions - I can't tell you how many people read that and said to me, "NOW I totally 'get' Quicksilver!" - My goal with the new series is to do that to some degree with every single issue. That at least once, maybe twice each

issues, readers will hit a point in the story where they say, "Whoa. Okay. I have to reconsider what I've seen up until this point." Every issue will feature some aspect of the unexpected, the unanticipated, the element that throws things for a loop: In short, the X-Factor.

[Carnival 0]

Jamie Madrox?