Marvel recently announced a really fun twist on the X-Men comics in Extraordinary X-Men: They’re going up against the Inhumans. Specifically, the Terrigen Mists, which allow the Inhumans to go through what amounts to superpuberty and is pretty much central to their culture, are now not only toxic to mutants, it might trigger a mutant plague that, even if a mutant survives it, sterilizes them.
It’s a great premise. The Inhumans aren’t bad guys here, but it puts two cultures up against one another and there’s not really a simple or easy answer. Jeff Lemire has a killer idea here, and I really can’t wait to see what he does with it. Unfortunately, the comics press has to make this all about Fox and Marvel.
No, really. Here’s Comics Alliance insisting it’s not because Lemire has a great idea, but because it’s about movie rights. Here’s Cinema Blend discussing this as if somehow the movie rights would evaporate if all the X-Men died tomorrow. /Film gets in on the action, albeit more conservatively.
I’ve talked about my skepticism of this narrative before, and, realistically, any comic from the Big Two does not have unallayed creative freedom. I’ve little doubt that Lemire was asked to make the Inhumans part of his pitch. That said, the whole “THEY’RE KILLING THE X-MEN!!!” narrative collapses when you consider Marvel is putting out nine books starring mutants.
Unspoken in this coverage is a belief that, somehow, comic books sell movies, which is just not how it works. Marvel’s most successful property right now isn’t the Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s Star Wars. The movies sell the comics, and Fox is indifferent to what Marvel does with their publishing operations; it won’t have any effect on ticket sales if all the X-Men die.
I can’t wait for Extraordinary X-Men: The concept is exciting and Lemire’s a skilled writer being paired with the wonderful Humberto Ramos on art. And that’s really what the focus should be on, not studio politics that might not even exist.
(via Comics Alliance)