By Marc Strom
Jeff Parker and Fred Van Lente, please proceed to the head of the class.
While Parker chronicles the untold tales of the very first group of Professor X's students in X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, Van Lente has taken a closer look at the beginnings of one of the greatest friendships in X-history with WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS between the mysterious and brooding Logan and the sprightly Shadowcat, Kitty Pryde.
Keeping the stories fresh and updating them to a modern context, the writers succeed in both introducing new readers to the X-Men's world and transporting older readers to the tales they loved growing up!
Marvel.com spoke with the scribes to catch up on how our favorite mutants are doing and what fans can expect coming up in each of their series, beginning with WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS writer Fred Van Lente.
Marvel.com: Why, to you, is the bond between Wolverine and Kitty so strong?
Fred Van Lente: I think it grows over time, because they learn to mutually trust each other. However, they definitely do not start out trusting each other, and the story of WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS is the story of how that trust begins to grow.
Marvel.com: Revisiting the X-Men's past, how do you want to flesh out Logan and Kitty's relationship in ways we haven't seen before?
Fred Van Lente: Well, I'm not sure anyone's seen this before, since, as Uncanny X-Men was (and is) a team book, there wasn't as much time devoted to Kitty and Wolvie's relationship as we can give to in ours, where they're the main characters.
Marvel.com: Will we be seeing more of Kitty's crush, Colossus, in the future?
Fred Van Lente: Oh, yes. In fact, #7-8 is a major arc in which Kitty and Wolvie have to rescue Kitty's crush from the big, bad Soviet Super-Soldiers...
Marvel.com: The next issue has the High Evolutionary and Man-Beast in it, neither of whom are your traditional X-villains. What made you think of bringing them into the series?
Fred Van Lente: It seemed like a natural fit to me since mutants are the next step in human evolution, and High Evolutionary does love himself some sweet, sweet evolution. (Hence the name, we can safely assume.) And let me just say no one's drawn the New Men as well as that arc's artist, the fabulous Salvador Espin.
Marvel.com: Will we be seeing more "villain-swapping" in the future, or will you primarily stick to established Wolverine and X-Men villains?
Fred Van Lente: No, I will be trying to stay largely away from the usual X-Men villains, just to send Wolvie and Kitty into unique and different situations than what you could see in the average X-books.
Marvel.com: What else can we expect in the next few months?
Fred Van Lente: Alpha Flight! Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu! The return of Cyclops! And, best of all -- a mutant girl sleepover! Bring your stuffed animals and popcorn! We can all paint our nails and talk about guys.
Mutant guys.
Marvel.com: Switching gears to X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, you've been writing the series for a while now, Jeff—has your perspective on the characters changed at all?
Jeff Parker: Yes, now I see them as even more human than I did when I began. I tend to treat them more as adventurers than superheroes, and we've gone even more that way. And now I feel I know how each one would act in any given situation, even if their adventure were no more than "hey, we're going to eat at a Turkish place tonight."
Marvel.com: Were you always a fan of the original 66-issue X-MEN run?
Jeff Parker: Yes. It was a bit uneven, and the villains weren't the best especially compared to other books Jack and Stan were doing at the time, but I liked the dynamic of the O5. I liked that Professor X was a weird father figure. It had a quirkiness that was appealing, I try to touch that quality with every story.
Marvel.com: Which character has been the most fun to write?
Jeff Parker: Marvel Girl, because she had almost no personality that I had to adhere to and I've been able to work with her as a nearly blank slate.
You thought I was going to say Ice Man, didn't you?
Marvel.com: You've shown that the series allows you to write a wide variety of stories, with last issue's "Continuiteens" saga being the most recent example. What is it about these characters in this point in their history that allows for such a wide canvas?
Jeff Parker: They are right from the period when the Marvel Universe was this volatile, unpredictable place just bursting with cool craziness and energy. And they haven't been through a bunch of soap opera sadness and loss and betrayal yet, they're still fresh faced. All that combines to create an environment full of possibilities.
Marvel.com: What else is coming up in X-MEN: FIRST CLASS?
Jeff Parker: Angel has to make a tough decision in a lost city! The team takes on Lava Men with the help of Machine Man! Medusa is going to crash at the X-Mansion 'til she gets some things worked out! And Ice Man is going to go to Manhattan to see just who is more obnoxious, him or the Human Torch!
WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #3 and X-MEN: FIRST CLASS #12 hit shelves May 28. While you're waiting for that, catch up on X-MEN: FIRST CLASS with Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited.
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