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X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

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X-Men Monday #100 – Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Celebrate X-Men Monday #100 with your favorite X-Creators, eXclusive art and so much more!

Welcome, X-Fans, to the 100th edition of X-Men Monday at AIPT! That’s a lot of Mondays (sorry, Garfield). More specifically, that’s 100 weeks of interviews with X-Men creators, going all the way back to X-Men Monday #1 – Fake mutants, honorary degrees and Baconators, featuring X-Men Senior Editor Jordan D. White and published February 25, 2019 (and featuring preview art from House of X #1 before we knew House of X even existed).

The column’s come a long way since those humble beginnings and featured the following guests (in order of appearance):

Listen to the latest episode of our weekly comics podcast!

Jordan D. White, Matthew Rosenberg, Jonathan Hickman, Seanan McGuire, Dennis Hopeless, Darren Shan, Lonnie Nadler, Leah Williams, Zac Thompson, Tim Seeley, Annalise Bissa, Vita Ayala, Ed Brisson, Kelly Thompson, Kieron Gillen, Todd Nauck, Tom Taylor, Whilce Portacio, Chris Claremont, Alan Davis, Bob McLeod, Neal Adams, Greg Land, Mark Bagley, Tom Grummett, Liam Sharp, Ron Garney, Jim Calafiore, Greg Hildebrandt, Steve Orlando, Donny Cates, Ryan Stegman, Frank Tieri, Clay Mann, Tom King, Gail Simone, Steve Rude, Phil Noto, Mike Henderson, Ashley Witter, Arthur Adams, Mike Mignola, Becky Cloonan, Joe Quinones, Jordan Gibson, Dan Slott, Heather Antos, Gerry Duggan, Benjamin Percy, Bryan Edward Hill, Tini Howard, Howard Mackie, Daniel Kibblesmith, Declan Shalvey, Fabian Nicieza, Larry Hama, Jorge Molina, Phil Jimenez, Chris Burnham, Al Ewing, Jim Zub, Greg Pak, Matteo Lolli, James Tynion IV, Tom Muller, Chip Zdarsky, Zeb Wells, Scott Aukerman, David Nakayama, Jordan Blum, Peter Nguyen, Joshua Cassara, Ray-Anthony Height, Russell Dauterman, Mahmud Asrar, Stefano Caselli, Carmen Carnero, David Baldeon, Matt Taylor, Chris O’Halloran, Tom Reilly, Jay Edidin, Mark Basso, Darcie Little Badger, Patton Oswalt and Si Spurrier.

So yeah, basically half of comics has agreed to appear in X-Men Monday at AIPT and I’m so grateful for that. And by the end of this article, a few new names will be added to that list.

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

The feature images to X-Men Monday 1-99. Time flies when you’re talking to cool creators.

On that note, let’s get this party underway! You’ve probably been wondering, how eXactly does a weekly X-Men interview column celebrate the big 100? First, you need to go GIANT-SIZE (hope you took the day off from work). Second, you go to Jordan D. White and request the presence of the entire X-Office (including the ever-elusive Jonathan Hickman). Third, you tell Jordan that fun and random tangents are encouraged.

The result? Well, see for yourself.

AIPT: Welcome to X-Men Monday #100, everybody! While the X-Men’s current status quo shows no signs of ending anytime soon, I’d like to start by asking what’s one contribution you’ve made to the X-Men mythos in the Krakoa era you’re most proud of?

Gerry Duggan: I am late now.

Si Spurrier: So far? Doctor Nemesis’s new hair. 

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Vita Ayala: Furthering the queer agenda. I get extra punches on my bakery loyalty card for it!

Leah Williams: I like when people cuss at me because they love Northstar, Daken, or Eye-Boy now.

Al Ewing: Bringing some of my favorite lesser-known X-Characters back to bask in the Krakoa love. I have to stop myself writing a Magneto/Peeper scene into every issue. (And sometimes I fail.)

Jordan D. White: Getting Gwenpool in there, obviously. 

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Tini Howard: The Captain Britain Corps now canonically contains a lavender baboon.

Jonathan Hickman: I dunno. Trees? I also dropped this gif into the X-Slack one day and people’s lives were changed. When the pandemic is up and get-togethers become a thing again, my people will go forth and ruin children’s birthday parties just like the good lord intended. 

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

AIPT: Well, since you brought it up, Jonathan, what’s the average day like in the X-Slack? Who’s waking everybody up with the first message of the day? Who derails conversations most often? And is it just one big channel or a channel for every series? It’s X-Men Monday #100–dish that hot goss!

Gerry: It’s a good mix of shitposting, interspersed with the most important sentences that I’ll type all week.

Tini: These days we have multiple people from LA to London (which makes meetings a fun challenge) and half of us have bizarre writer schedules, so it’s really the city that never sleeps. Someone’s always posting, planning, or uh. Shitposting. 

It’s a lot of channels. 

Jonathan: Yeah. There are ones I stay out of (no one–NO ONE–wants to hear me talk about music), but I think the Slack and Zoom have been mission-critical in holding the line together over the last year.

Hell, forget comics, there have been days when it’s probably helped a few of us hold it all together. 

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Jordan D. White’s Twitter

Si: There’s a spooky half-hour most mornings when my demonic firstborn–having woken me at sparrowfart–has stopped howling long enough to let me catch up on the overnight banter on the Slack, during which one or two of the nocturnal types on the West Coast might still be around. I can actually imagine a very competitive Pro Sport called Gerrybaiting, in which the player must feed Uncle Duggan a constant stream of ideas and intrigues good enough and relentless enough to keep him out of his bed for as long as possible.

Vita: Gerry is up at ungodly hours, and when my “Do Not Disturb” fails on my phone he wakes me up at 3 a.m.…

Al: I’m trying to come up with a pithy way to say how good the room is. It’s really good. I honestly think some version of this should be standard–just a space where people can chill out, mix ideas up and back-and-forth on the business of the day as it crops up. It honestly doesn’t feel like a workspace, which makes it a very useful space for the work to get done. I don’t have any hot goss, I’m sorry. Everybody’s great.

Annalise Bissa: Yeah, for all the very fair concerns in the world about the division of work from real life, particularly during the pandemic, the X-Slack pinging all hours of the day and night has been great. There’s always someone around to respond to your latest trenchant insight with the right emoji (or complain about the limitations of emoji). The Slack feels like somewhere I ‘get’ to be, rather than ‘have’ to be, which is pretty darn nice.

Jordan: Honestly, it has completely changed how we make the comics. It’s a collaborative space for an entire line of writers and (at least from my point of view) one everyone feels really comfortable and at home in. Ideas fly around in real time and people are pushing each other to better and better ideas. People pop in to brainstorm, to check out new issues we just sent to press, and yeah, to pop into the #tikibar and talk nonsense. As I answer this, we are talking about comics that you have to destroy in order to read them properly. Honestly–it really creates that classic “we’re all in this nuthouse together” Marvel Bullpen feel. Maybe we should be doing an “X-Slack X-Pressions” column.

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Leah: Yeah, I completely agree with everything said here about both the utility and specialness of the X-Slack as a collaborative tool. It’s transformed the way we work, but it’s also become my favorite clubhouse. I love the ungodly Brit-posting hours where only Uncle Gerry and U.K. writers are active in the Slack, I love when Tini wakes up and drinks her coffee and starts sharp-shooting ideas and shitposts at the same time, I’m never not delighted by Jon’s evolving relationship with emojis, and Annalise is low-key the funniest person in the X-Slack. Jon is the most feral, which I say as a compliment in that it’s a class of hilarity all on its own, but Annalise is the wittiest. Overall, it’s a great and dynamic space that I feel very fortunate to be a part of. 

Lauren Amaro: There have been Slack messages that have come in that have made me stand up and take a lap around the room in excitement and there have been memes shared that have made me hit my head on the desk in despair, and I wouldn’t trade being in this room for anything. It truly is the embodiment of “iron sharpens iron” with so many talented writers throwing out ideas and everyone collaborating and chiming in to help make it the strongest version possible, as well as looking for ways to support those concepts in their own books. Also, Annalise and Leah are absolute menaces and I’ve learned the hard way to never open their Slack notifications while on camera. 

AIPT: I love hearing all of that. You’ve created such a unique, collaborative community and its impact is apparent every month across the X-Line. Now, on the flip side, did the recent X-Men Election lead to any schisms within the X-Slack?

Gerry: My candidate lost, but at least it’s not my problem. 

Si: Marrow was robbed and I demand an inquiry. 

Jordan: The real disappointment for me was Micromax not even making the list of nominees.

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Tini: We spend so much time figuring out how things are going to get done that once they’re happening we tend to stop arguing and just watch it play out. I think we had more arguments over who should be on the list, how the vote should work, etc., than we did any of the candidates.

Vita: We’ve found a pretty smooth way of communicating in the Quiet Council–er, I mean X-Slack, so it wasn’t too stressful.

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Leah: Yeah, I’d say we didn’t so much argue about the format of the vote so much as discuss often and earnestly. A few days before the vote opened, I also warned my peers that I would be taking a heel-turn on social media regarding Polaris’ inclusion in the vote (which was my decision) just to get more attention for X-Factor while she was still on the team.

Al: Picking a favorite would have involved choosing between Roberto and Sam, and obviously I could never–ROBERTO IT’S ROBERTO WHY DIDN’T YOU VOTE ROBERTO?

Jonathan: Al’s energy is my energy. 

Tini: “A Champagne Robot in every garage.”

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

AIPT: Moving away from the X-Slack to a very important character we haven’t seen in a long while… what’s a day in the life like for Moira MacTaggert in the No-Place? I figured one of you might know…

Jordan: I am just guessing based on nothing at all, but… I think she told herself she was going to lose some weight but she’s actually spent a lot more time binging TV shows and catching up on podcasts. Not sure why I would think that. Also, I think she’s gotten really into R.E.M. and LEGO. 

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Si: Does she have Twitter down there? [shudder]

Vita: Si, you know she has seven sock puppet accounts…

Si: I wonder who she voted for in the X-Men team. Bet she’s a Strong Guy fan.

Al: I think she uses Hitman VR to occasionally simulate going to places again. That’s what I… I mean, that’s what I haven’t done. (There’s a level where you can stay at a hotel. I remember hotels.)

Jonathan: Shit. I totally forgot about Moira. 

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

AIPT: It’s OK, there are a lot of X-Characters. It’s not like everything we know hinges on her very existence. Speaking of all those mutants–the X-Men saga has a rich, lengthy and ultra-complex continuity littered with dangling plot threads. As writers and editors, do you find X-Continuity to be a creative hindrance, a creative blessing or something else entirely?

Gerry: It’s a soap opera, and we take what we want, and ignore what we want to drive by.

Vita: Dangling plot threads are how past, present, and future writers embody *PredatorHandshake.gif*

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Annalise: I think, because we’re inside the house, we have a lot of fun with continuity and how it’s used or discarded–but I get why fans can find that frustrating sometimes since it’s not always clear from the outside what’s intentional and what’s a mistake. Of course, my take is to give us the benefit of the doubt… 

Jonathan: I just think it’s like a puzzle that doesn’t have any edges. You just try and make things fit and keep putting more pieces down. 

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Jordan: Yeah–it’s not a hindrance because we don’t let it be a hindrance. It’s a boon because when we CAN use that incredibly rich history, it is a great tool. But the only place where a story can go on for 60 years and not have huge continuity errors is in actual real life, and even there there are some inconsistencies that pop up once in a while. Come on–”Berenstain”? Who is editing this garbage???

Si: Standard answer. Continuity should be a glorious Easter Egg for those who catch the refs, never a hurdle for those who don’t. 

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

AIPT: Before we get into the Hellfire Gala, I want to ask a question many X-Fans have submitted to X-Men Monday in some form since the Krakoa era began. Has there been any discussion around giving Krakoa a flag or national anthem?

Tini: I maintain the Krakoan national anthem is “(Nothing But) Flowers” by the Talking Heads.

Vita: I thought the anthem was the Nina Simone version of “Here Comes The Sun”? I… must have an old copy of the manifesto…

Al: There’s a music thread on the X-Slack, and I suspect we’re going to get deeper into this question there. I think the theme from Think Again! would make a nice anthem. It was a U.K. educational show, mostly about maths, and there was a lot of synth in it.

Annalise: Nothing I’ve discussed with anyone else, but I firmly believe Sufjan Stevens is making mutant music, so I’m going to say “Age of Adz (“this is the Age of Adz, eternal living…”).

Jordan: We actually made a flag on the Slack a while ago, we just never got around to using it anywhere. We should. What do you think, gang–should we give them the image of the flag for the column? 

Jonathan: It needs to be the right colors, but yes. 


Jordan: Well, this was immediately followed by literal HOURS of discussion and disagreement on the colors of the Krakoan flag, and suffice it to say… we will NOT be sharing a flag at this time. 

Leah: I like the flag Zdarsky made.

AIPT: So close! Oh well, maybe the flag can be shared in X-Men Monday #200. OK. The Hellfire Gala. 12 titles, 12 stories–all focused on one epic night. Following X of Swords, this sounds like another very different–and fun–kind of X-Men event. Could you talk about how this event came to be and how fun it’s been to plan?

Gerry: Well, it was a party that was going to happen in the Marauders regardless of how it lined up with the rest of the line, but at our last in-person retreat in Chicago it became clear that it would be good for all of us, except the asshole that writes Cable to put some fancy clothes on our characters and have fun for one night.

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

For the White Queen, it’s a chance to turn countries that don’t recognize Krakoa. Might as well try opening the caviar instead of the whup-ass. It’s an in-world flex, and frankly, a chance to let our artists flex, too. Timing and luck are everything, I think we’re also bottling a little lightning with the Spring Fever I feel in the air now. We’ve all just suffered a difficult year, isolated in so many ways, the thought of a wonderful party you’re invited to attend with your favorite characters should hopefully bring joy. 

Vita: Uncle Gerry is the best, and let us play in his idea sandbox.

Leah: Yeah, from day one of Gerry telling us about the Hellfire Gala we’ve been hype. That was before participating in it became a real possibility.

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Jordan: That’s the long and short of it. At one point, the idea was to not mention it at all ahead of time, just suddenly have all the books take place at it out of nowhere. There was a certain charm to that that I wish we could have done, but the amount of prep we needed to put into this thing in regard to designs and planning would not have been possible if we tried to do it under the radar. Plus, our friends in the marketing department would have punched us. 

Jonathan: The real bummer is that it was going to be our holiday thing every year, and if you wanted to tie-in, it’s what the line would do every December. Party plans got pandemic-d.

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

AIPT: And we now know that artist Pepe Larraz has recovered from drawing X of Swords: Destruction and is returning to illustrate Planet-Size X-Men. Plus, there were those recent reveals of Russell Dauterman’s Hellfire Gala designs. What can you share about the visuals of the Hellfire Gala?

Gerry: We’ve slow-cooked this one for a while, and I think everyone that has chimed in has left some magic on the Hellfire Gala. Russell and Matt are huge parts, and so are our regular artists. There are dozens of designs. It’ll be difficult to pick a favorite. 

Annalise: The character designs are amazing–we asked a lot of artists to really open their ‘avant-garde mutant haute couture’ third eye, and they absolutely delivered. And as we keep working on the interiors for all of the issues relatively simultaneously, it’s really incredible to see the world of the Gala burst to life around us every day we open our emails. Every artist involved is building the party page-by-page, and it just gets better and better. 

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Jordan: Yeah, we got just almost all of the interior artists working on the Gala involved in designing various characters for this thing, and ALL of them brought their A-game. People seemed to really get excited to do this. And I should say–that also goes for the writers! Some of these folks wrote up thoughts on what they thought the characters would wear, put together look books of ideas and designers to be inspired by. Fashion is a world I am not familiar with–some of the stuff they showed me was 10,000 times more crazy than the stuff we ended up with. 

Jonathan: Haha. I do remember the first time I showed you Gareth Pugh stuff. 

Tini: Leah also had this monster Pinterest board that we all contributed to with just oodles of fantastic inspiration. We all use the Slack to share images so easily, its a great way to cultivate Krakoan vibes.

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Leah: Oh, yeah–that shared Pinterest board I made for us to collect Hellfire Gala fashion ref was a lot of fun. It’s titled after an inside joke we’d all been laughing about in the X-Slack that week because this board was made before the Gala was announced. Before that point, we’d been excitedly DM’ing Gerry with links and jpegs or spamming the Hellfire Gala channel in the Slack.

AIPT: Final Hellfire Gala question–and this one’s pretty open-ended. But could each of you tease something about the event? Could be a single word. Could be a phrase. Could be a character name. Just something X-Fans can overanalyze, obsess over and debate between now and June. (Always looking out for you, X-Fans!)

Gerry: It’s a humans versus mutants softball game. 

Si: Hungover and horny.

Mark Basso: Deadpool.

Lauren: That awkward moment where you run into your ex… 😬

Tini: Breakups and makeups.

Leah: Murder and makeouts. (the vibe of every X-Factor issue.)

Vita: Party hair.

Shannon Ballesteros: Baby plans…

Al: Victor demands to see the manager.

Jonathan: Last issue!

Jordan: Fireworks.

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

AIPT: Yep, that’ll do. Especially that bit about Doctor Doom (I assume). This has all been amazing. I’d like to end things on a potentially sentimental note. What does getting to work on the X-Men line mean to you?

Gerry: A large part of my mental energy is spent thinking about X-Men comics, it’s truly a joy to be able to collaborate on their ongoing story. 

Jonathan: I’m honestly just really proud of how dedicated everyone in the group is. Sometimes we hit, sometimes we miss, but everyone puts in the work. I really like watching people figure out who they are creatively, and just getting better at things–you know, flourishing through opportunity–and while I’m happy with what everyone has done, I’m very excited about what’s coming up next. 

Tini: The character part is amazing and fun and never gets old, but the real honor is being in this room. I’ll never forget how much fun I’m having at work, being a part of this room. 

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Mark: It’s getting to play with some of my all-time favorite comic book characters, with a crop of majorly talented writers and artists… so a true honor and a privilege, bub!

Victor LaValle: I haven’t officially begun writing for the X-Men line yet, but I have already found myself incredibly geeked that I will get to take a classic, and beloved, villain who has been on the island all along and get to finally start telling his Krakoa story.

Annalise: Getting to work in comics is a joy, getting to edit comics is a dream and getting to make X-Men comics with wonderful and talented people–it’s just incredibly special. 

Vita: To be a part of not just making X-Books (which is a dream and an honor), but this ROOM is indescribable. The trust and affection, the lack of ego and freely given encouragement… I love my Krakoan family.

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Al: Ditto. Every day I get to work with a whole group of some of the most forward-thinking people in the medium, on some of the most interesting stories and concepts in the mainstream today. It’s great to be able to contribute to that, and I’m grateful for it.

Leah: Absolutely same.

Jordan: Yeah–there are characters I love in these books, but the thing that has made this experience so amazing is the incredibly talented people I get to work with. These folks give their all to this and have been making the line as awesome to work on as it is to read. I am so proud to be a part of it. It’s also okay that Jonathan is here. 

Si: In the lingua franca of the X-Slack: [love emoji] [respect emoji] [idea emoji] [cocktail emoji]. And then probably an unsettling gif.

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

AIPT: The perfect note to end on, Si. Thank you. And no, X-Fans, your eyes weren’t deceiving you. That was author Victor LaValle (The Changeling, Big Machine, Boom! Studios’ Destroyer), stealth announcing that he’ll be writing… something involving a beloved villain. Start speculating and be on the lookout for more details!

Everybody, thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions and be a part of AIPT’s X-Men Monday #100 celebration!

But wait–there’s more! (This is GIANT-SIZED, remember?)

I want to take a second to talk about Jordan. Despite being one of the busiest editors in comics, with tremendous responsibility overseeing what’s arguably comics’ most popular franchise, JDW still takes the time to help me put this column together each and every week. I figured I’m not alone in appreciating Jordan as a collaborator, so in honor of 100 X-Men Mondays (and a special assist from Vita Ayala–thank you, Vita!), here’s a whole lotta love for our friend Jordan!

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Vita Ayala: He gets as excited about the work as a fan would, and you know you’ve really got something when he goes “WHOA!!!!” He never withholds his enthusiasm! And if you gave him a bucket of LEGO, he could build you a to-scale Krakoa…

Annalise Bissa: Jordan is a very kind person (rare!), a great boss (rarer!) and actually, truly, completely understands the logic of comic book time travel (the rarest of all)!

Jake Thomas: The Man, The Myth, The Mustache. Though Jordan joined Marvel a scant three years before me, lo these many many moons ago, I have always leaned on his vast comics knowledge and incredible imagination to help me through a number of pernicious periodical problems. He’s undeniably one of the best in the biz, a wit, a sage, a madman on the ukelele, and it’s an honor to know him.

Al Ewing: Jordan’s a great editor and a great guy to work with all-around–energetic, enthusiastic, and excited by the possibilities of what we’re all doing. I’m not sure the X-Office would be what it is without him in the big chair.

Benjamin Percy: Jordan is a good and decent person right down to the marrow. He’s always trying to do the very best he can for his family, friends, and colleagues. That friendliness and generosity is infectious and sets the tone and makes everyone in the X-Group feel like we’re in this together. Combine this with his passion for and knowledge of comics, and it’s hard to imagine a more perfect editor.

Tini Howard: He puts up with SO much from us, and he keeps us on track in so many ways. Also, he’s fun and musically gifted, and hilarious, and he has a great big heart, and he has terrible movie opinions that he’s never afraid to put out on the line for the sake of team-building activities. (Like roasting his movie opinions. LOVE YOU JORDAN. MEAN IT.)

Fabian Nicieza: I like working with Jordan because he’s honest, friendly, and fun with a very extra bonus of being very insightful about story structure and character. All of that makes up for his unrequited love of Star Wars.

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Jordan D. White’s Twitter

Jordan Blum: Not only is Jordan responsible for shepherding my favorite characters into a Krakoan renaissance but he also made a lifelong dream come true when he tapped us to write a M.O.D.O.K. book. Every single pitch, suggestion, and edit was spot on and only elevated our comic to be something way better than it had any right being. Insanely grateful that I had the opportunity to call him my boss.

Gerry Duggan: 2021 is the 10-year anniversary of Jordan and I beginning to work together, and what a great decade for Jordan it was. We started cooking Deadpool with our collaborators in 2011, and now we’re planning more comics on Krakoa. Many of readers’ favorite moments along the way have come from Jordan and other talented editors I’ve been fortunate enough to write for. So, congrats on all my success, buddy.

You’re gonna like this guy. He’s all right. He’s a good fella. He’s one of us.

Si Spurrier: He’s just… offensively nice, isn’t he? It feels like a trap but it’s not. He really IS just a big ukelele-playing kid with a mustache stolen from a dead cavalry officer, who has opinions on adorable things and terrible taste in movies. It’s pure coincidence he ALSO happens to be an exceptional editor and consummate wrangler of creative humans. (That latter being at least as important as the former.) He’s a really, really good guy. It makes me sick.

(A peek behind the curtain: whenever there are big scary Marvel VIPs involved in the Zoom calls, and we’re all being on our best behavior, Jordan’s eyebrows are often the only way we know whether things are going well or not. They’re like litmus paper for publishing. Very useful.)

Leah Williams: I love working with Jordan because he’s a great editor who cares about the work we do, cares about the well-being of creators, and is passionate about these characters! I remember when we first started working together I was terrified of giving a note about changing some costuming–TERRIFIED–because I thought I would get fired for speaking up about something like that. I agonized over it for like a day and then finally mustered up the courage to say, like, “hey i think her yiddies are gonna fall right out of that evening gown while fighting because there’s no front” and then braced myself for the worst–but Jordan was just like “LOL, you’re right” and then we fixed it. Unrealistic boob physics are disruptive to my suspension of disbelief as a reader so this was important to me, and I felt accepted and heard. Thanks, Jordan!

Jordan’s a necessary component in the equation of what makes the X-Slack such a magical place to hang out.

Jonathan Hickman: I’m proud of the work we’ve done, especially during the pandemic when it would have been very easy for everything to fly apart or the line become unmoored, and Jordan himself is, honestly, one of the kindest people I’ve worked with in the industry (which as I get older is pretty much the only kind of people I want to work with), but I think the thing I have enjoyed most about working with him is his openness to trying new things or different approaches to how we can tell stories and make comics. It’s a great trait to have.

Chip Zdarsky: I‘m not even working on an X-Book, why are you sending me this?

Thank you, Jordan! (and sorry, Chip.) Now, we can finally share this week’s eXclusive preview images–courtesy of, you guessed it, Jordan!

Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t eXtend thanks to two other professionals who help make this column possible. Thank you to Anthony Blackwood at Marvel and AIPT Content and Media Manager David Brooke, who’s been creating X-Men Monday’s astonishing imagery since #1.

While we’re talking about art, I want to remind readers of AIPT’s X-Men Monday #100 auction, featuring our friend, the talented Todd Nauck’s “Soul Sword Storm” piece from X-Men Monday #59. All proceeds from the auction will go toward the Hero Initiative and benefit comic creators in need. As of this writing, the top bid is over $700, which is just awesome. The auction ends today (3.29.21) at noon, so there’s still time to snag this one-of-a-kind artwork! Click here to go directly to the auction.

And because there’s no such thing as doing too much good for those in need, I’m happy to announce AIPT is launching an additional X-Men Monday #100 auction, featuring X-Force artist and Marvel Stormbreaker Josh Cassara! Similar to Todd, Josh created an original piece for his appearance in X-Men Monday #61 (featuring Maggott and Jean Grey), which was auctioned off with proceeds going to the Hero Initiative.

When planning X-Men Monday #100, I reached out to Josh to see if he’d be interested in contributing another original piece we could auction off for a good cause. Josh, being the all-around awesome dude he is, agreed to join the party and I’m overjoyed to reveal the fruits of his labor: Emma Frost, clearly celebrating X-Men Monday #100!

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Josh Cassara

OK, so, based on Emma’s Russell Dauterman-designed attire, it’s more likely she’s celebrating her Hellfire Gala–but I can pretend, right? Seriously, though, it’s a spectacular, cover-worthy illustration that could be yours! More details on this auction to come, so make sure you’re following AIPT and Josh on Twitter for the latest updates.

A reminder–there are two more chances to be a winner before March ends. If you’re already following AIPT on Twitter, be sure to like and retweet the X-Men Monday #100 tweet on 3.29 or 3.30 to automatically be entered to win either a batch of six digital codes to recent X-Men comics or the X-Men Monday #100 GIANT-SIZE Giveaway–a random assortment of X-Men and Marvel comics and trade paperbacks (only U.S. residents are eligible for this prize). The two winners will be announced via Twitter on Wednesday (3.31.21).

Finally (I promise, this is really the end of the article), I’d like to thank all the passionate X-Fans around the world who’ve spent 100 weeks reading this column. This series is a true labor of love and I hope it’s brought you as much joy as readers as it’s brought me–especially over the course of this past year. Fortunately, our work here’s far from over. There are X-Series and X-Creators new and old that deserve the X-Men Monday treatment–so keep dreaming up those questions, X-Fans!

The road to X-Men Monday #200 begins here.

But for today, happy X-Men Monday #100, everybody! Let’s party and stay eXceptional.

X-Men Monday #100 - Giant-Size Anniversary Spectacular

Courtesy of Marvel Comics

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