Marvel Comics Exec Editor Has One “Abiding Commandment” For X-Men Writers: “Make The Readers Cry”
In offering a peek behind the melodramatic mutant curtain, Marvel Comics Executive Editor Tom Brevoort has revealed that more than action, suspense, or even introducing new characters, his vision for the X-Men centers on making sure their stories tug at readers’ heartstrings.
Brevoort, who in addition to overseeing Marvel’s general comic book operations also serves as the director editor for the X-Men line, spoke to his vision for the publisher’s mutant-related storytelling while answering fan questions for the latest edition of AIPT Comics’ weekly X-Men Monday interview series.
Asked by a fan whether the upcoming Age of Revelation event, which kicks off this October and will explore an alternate future for Earth-616 wherein Doug Ramsey lives up to his current role as the Heir of Apocalypse and ushers in a hellish new mutant utopia, will “have ramifications on [the X-Men’s] characters beyond the event’s conclusion”, Brevoort assured them that not only would some characters walk away from the experience with a new status quo, the resulting stories would also be treated by the utmost of sincerity by their respective writers:
“At least in certain instances, yes. And very definitively, there are at least two present-day X-Men who end up in this world and experience these events firsthand, and they’ll take back those experiences with them to the present. And again, that will help to vector things toward or away from the events that we will have experienced here. People will be carrying these experiences with them.
“In other cases, it’ll portend. You may see characters that are together here, and that’s either a thing that maybe will happen in the course of the next few years of storytelling, or maybe that’s a horror that must be avoided in the next few years. And again, knowing X-Men fans, the answer will be both because there’ll be some who are all up for it, and there’ll be others who think that’s the worst thing ever. But everything that happens here, we’re treating like it’s genuine. “
To this end, Brevoort then offered a further assurance as to the X-office’s intent to treat each post-Age of Revelation plot line as authentically possible by detailing how these plans lined up with his overarching creative philosophy for Marvel’s Merry Band of Mutants:
“I think I’ve talked about this with you in the past — maybe not. But my standing directive to the X-Men writers, the thing that I say over and over again, more and more than anything else, like my one abiding commandment, is to make the readers cry.
“I want there to be enough emotional truth in these stories that the characters resonate and feel real, and their situations provoke a strong emotional response from the audience. That’s what I want in every issue of every book. I want to reduce all of the X-Fans to tears every single time. We don’t necessarily always get there, and not every story is cut from the same cloth, but that’s the point that I keep hammering on more than any other, and Age of Revelation is no different.”
From there pressed as to what he “hope[d] Age of Revelation accomplishes for the franchise as a whole — whether that’s tightening continuity, refreshing character arcs, or setting up the next era of mutant storytelling”, Brevoort declared, “I want it to be big, bold, and exciting.”
“I want it to be moving. I want people to love it and not know what’s going to happen. Because certainly, we’ve entered a world in which nobody should be considered safe, because I don’t have to keep them around for comics next month, necessarily. And so, all bets are off. I want readers to find the books fun and intriguing.
“And given the number of titles, it helps to unify the X-world and the Marvel Universe a little bit. It brings those two a little closer together by involving a larger set of characters. As you said, we’ll see Spider-Man, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four. We’ll see what happens to this other iconography of the MU in this and then coming out of it.”
Set to overtake the Marvel Universe until January 2026, the X-Men’s next big happening kicks off with the Age of Revelation Overture Vol. 1 #1 one-shot, on sale October 1st.
