The ‘X-Men’ have nearly 50 years of history behind them at this point and ‘X-Men: Grand Design’ is set to summarize that in a down and dirty 6-issue project. Obviously, this will be covering the highpoints of the history of the X-Men, but it seems that far too much has to be covered to tell us “the first 30 years of X-Men continuity.”
When you wonder who could have a vast enough knowledge of the ‘X-Men’ to even consider putting this together names like Chris Claremont come to mind, but it will actually be Marvel newcomer Ed Piskor who was up to the task. At least, we’ll see if he is when the new mini-series drops this December. However, his breakout ‘Hip-Hop Family Tree’ was a condensed version of the origins of hip-hop, so he at least has experience in telling us a shortened form of major events.
The goal is to take over 8,000 pages of comics that range from the 1963 introduction to Professor X and his quest for peace between humans and mutants up through 1991 when Chris Claremont departed the series. Each of these six-issues will run 40-pages, but the downside is that it will be released over a three-year period. Anyone hoping to catch up through the early 90s of comics in a quick release will have a long wait ahead of them.
We’ll see the comics come out in three separate two-part features which include: “X-Men: Grand Design’, ‘X-Men: Grand Design – Second Genesis,’ and ‘X-Men: Gand Design – X-Tinction.’ The end result will have all six issues collected in an oversized collection with Piskor’s favorite comic included that he had a chance to recolor himself.
As to why Piskor is the perfect creative visionary to put in charge of the project, Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso stated:
“Ed Piskor is a singular talent. And he is unleashing the same passion, craft, and attention to detail that fuels his award-winning Hip-Hop Family Tree on decades’ worth of X-Men stories.”
Piskor is thrilled about the project and not just from being able to work with Marvel. It was, in fact, the mutants which lead him down the path to comics in the first place!
“If it wasn’t for X-Men comics, I may never have thought to ever pick up a pencil and start making them in the first place. In my own way, this is a love letter to writer Chris Claremont and his team of industry-leading artists like John Byrne, Marc Silvestri, Arthur Adams and Jim Lee. This project is the culmination of my own 35 years of obsessing over this material. X-Men: Grand Design is a once-in-a-lifetime dream project for me.”
While there won’t be much in the way of new stories here, it sounds like a great way to condense 30 years of the ‘X-Men’ history. This will be perfect for collectors or those who would love to know more about the mutants’ past without having to drop a lot of money or spend far too much time on Wiki.
Are you excited for ‘X-Men: Grand Design’? Which story arc do you feel needs to be included? Share your thoughts below True Believers!
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
