Welcome, X-Fans, to another uncanny edition of X-Men Monday at AIPT!
In comics, you’re constantly introduced to new characters. Some become instant icons, while others are forgotten as soon as you finish reading their first appearance. Then, you have characters like Negasonic Teenage Warhead — introduced and then killed off instantly in one of the most beloved X-Men runs of all time (I’m of course talking about Grant Morrison’s New X-Men).
Courtesy of Image Comics
But long before mutant resurrection was just part of life on Krakoa, Ellie managed to not only return to the land of the living, but make it onto the big screen in not one but two Deadpool films, and even has a Marvel Legends action figure. Yep, life’s pretty good for this 22-year-old character, who’s also currently starring in Marvel’s Voices: Negasonic Teenage Warhead on Marvel Unlimited.
Sounds like an excellent opportunity for writer Andrew Wheeler to stop by X-Men Monday and dig into all things Ellie and more.
AIPT: Welcome to X-Men Monday, Andrew!
Andrew: Thank you, it’s a pleasure to be here!
AIPT: Let’s go back to the very beginning — what was your first X-Men eXperience?
Andrew: I fell in love with the X-Men when I was going to garage sales with my mum as a kid. She was looking for old furniture to retouch and I was digging up raggedy UK reprints of Marvel comics. Psylocke fighting for her life against Sabretooth after the “Mutant Massacre” was the moment I knew I needed to learn everything about these characters.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
AIPT: And just so X-Fans get to know your taste in all things X a little better, who’s your all-time favorite X-character and what’s your all-time favorite X-story?
Andrew: Nightcrawler is my Batman and Colossus is my Superman. Those are my boys; my complicated, conflicted, beautiful outcasts who choose to be heroes in a world that gives them no reason to be.
Story-wise, I always go back to Australia. Eight X-Men bouncing around the world, troubleshooting chaos, with every relationship defined and explored and Marc Silvestri drawing the heck out of every page? Perfection.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
AIPT: How did the opportunity to write Marvel’s Voices: Negasonic Teenage Warhead come about?
Andrew: I was lucky enough to write a story for last year’s Marvel’s Voices: Pride anthology featuring Hercules and Noh-Varr, my favorite bear/twunk couple. My editor, Sarah Brunstad, asked if I had an idea for a Negasonic story, so I seized on the opportunity to tap into my own teenage warhead years and tell a story about angst and isolation on a cosmic scale!
AIPT: This story arc has given you a chance to delve into Ellie’s personality, her feelings about what happened on Genosha, and so much more. As a writer, what do you find most appealing about Negasonic Teenage Warhead as a character?
Andrew: She’s angry, and she has a right and a reason to be angry — but her anger doesn’t always serve her well. I find that very relatable! This story was also a great chance to reconcile different aspects of her character — and to give her a girlfriend, of course!
AIPT: You’ve managed to pack your story with some of the most iconic women in the Marvel Universe. Emma Frost, Jean Grey, Susan Storm, Wanda Maximoff — which of these guest stars were you most excited to write?
Andrew: Emma. I love Emma Frost and I knew she had to play a part in my Negasonic story — she’s the character with the strongest emotional connection to Ellie, and their shared history is fundamental to both of their identities. Taking Ellie and Emma back to Genosha allowed me to really engage with both characters.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
There’s another guest star in part five that was also a thrill to write! Negasonic is wrestling with the fear of her reality-altering potential and the attention it might bring. When you’re in that position there’s one woman you really want to talk to.
AIPT: What can you share about collaborating with penciller and inker Carola Borelli and colorist Brittany Peer in the scrolling Infinity Comics format?
Andrew: The scrolling format presents very different opportunities and restrictions than the standard comics page, so I was really excited to see what Carola and Brittany — and penciler Eleanora Carlini, who joins us on the second half of the story —would do with my script. These are wonderful artists who instantly clicked with the vibe of the story and I’m so impressed with the results!
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
AIPT: What can you tease about the final chapter of Marvel’s Voices: Negasonic Teenage Warhead?
Andrew: It either all ends in a kiss or it ends with the destruction of all reality, and I’m truly grateful that Marvel trusted me to destroy all of reality!
AIPT: You’re the former Editor-in-Chief of Comics Alliance. In your opinion, how did writing about comics prepare you for writing comics?
Andrew: One of the reasons I wrote about comics for so long was to challenge an industry that wasn’t making room for queer people like me and a lot of other marginalized people. The industry has changed so much since then, and I’m grateful that I now get the chance to put my talent where my mouth is and tell the types of stories I always wanted to tell!
AIPT: If X-Fans really dig Marvel’s Voices: Negasonic Teenage Warhead, what Andrew Wheeler work should they check out next?
Andrew: My glamorous globetrotting heist adventure series Cat Fight launches in May from IDW with art by the incredible Ilias Kyriazis, and right now you can pick up collected editions of my sexy occult noir Image series Sins of the Black Flamingo, with Travis Moore and Tamra Bonvillain, and my teen sports rom com series Love And War from Dark Horse, with Guillermo Saavedra and Killian Ng!
Courtesy of IDW Publishing
AIPT: Finally, if given the opportunity — and without spoiling specifics, of course — got any future ideas for X-stories up your sleeve?
Andrew: I’m British by birth and Canadian by choice, so I would jump at the chance to tell a story featuring Excalibur or Alpha Flight! I could write Emma Frost for 100 issues without breaking a sweat, probably guest-starring Ellie, and I may be the only writer whose ultimate dream Marvel project is a Shatterstar book!
AIPT: Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that last one. If there’s one thing I’ve learned doing this column, it’s that even the most obscure X-character has at least 100 hardcore fans. But on that note, thanks for taking the time to swing by X-Men Monday, Andrew!
Before we wrap, here’s an eXclusive look at Derrick Chew’s variant cover for X-Men #22.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Well, X-Fans, as you no doubt noticed, we’ve reached the end of X-Men Monday #199. That means the next time we meet, we’ll be celebrating 200 editions! (Hm, I better get to work, huh?) Let’s see what the Uncanny X-Men were up to when they reached 200 adventures.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
We definitely won’t be putting Magneto on trial (you know, because he’s dead), but we can guarantee a celebration worthy of your continued support — the X-Office answering your Fall of X questions (and more)! If you haven’t yet, be sure to submit a question.
We’re off next week and then back April 24 with X-Men Monday #200. In case you missed it, here’s how we celebrated X-Men Monday #100.
Until next time, X-Fans, stay exceptional!
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