Welcome, X-Fans, to another uncanny edition of X-Men Monday at AIPT!
Yes, the world fears and hates them. And mutant-hunting Sentinels want to exterminate them. And… well, there’s always something! Can’t the X-Men have a little fun every now and then?
Fortunately, Chronicle Books has released The Uncanny X-Men: Days of Future Fun. Bringing these all-ages adventures of the Elementary X-Men to life is none other than author and cartoonist Jeffrey Brown, who was willing to talk all things X with us. Let’s see what he has to say.
Courtesy of Chronicle Books
AIPT: Welcome to X-Men Monday, Jeffrey! Before we dig into The Uncanny X-Men: Days of Future Fun, I’d love to learn more about your personal history with Marvel’s mutants. I read it was your dream to work with Marvel when you were younger. I’m going to assume you were an X-Fan?
Jeffrey Brown: Very much! I still remember the first time I bought a comic book with my own money. I had $1.50, and the spinner rack at the local grocery store had Uncanny X-Men #193, the special double-sized issue, and it looked so cool — but it was $1.25. Single regular-sized issues were only 65 cents, so instead I thought I’d get two comics, one of which was Uncanny X-Men #192. I read it and was hooked — even though Wolverine only shows up in a couple panels and all he does is stand there in the background. There was just something about Nightcrawler, Rogue, and Colossus that grabbed me, and from then on, I was buying new issues and eventually collecting as many back issues as I could afford. I read lots of comics, but X-Men was my favorite by far.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
AIPT: Do you have an all-time favorite X-Men character and storyline?
Jeffrey: It’s a little cliched, but Wolverine was always my favorite character. My favorite storyline is “The Asgardian Wars.” Besides the X-Men, my other favorite Marvel comic was probably Walt Simonson’s run on Thor, so it was a meeting of favorite characters, and when the New Mutants and X-Men annuals came out with the Arthur Adams art, I was blown away.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
AIPT: So how did the opportunity to write and illustrate The Uncanny X-Men: Days of Future Fun come about? Was this something you pitched to Marvel, or did the House of Ideas come to you with this request?
Jeffrey: Drawing X-Men was basically my childhood dream. Although my comics career started out on the indie/alternative side of the industry, I ended up meeting lots of folks from Marvel along the way, and was fortunate to get to do a couple of stories for the Strange Tales anthologies, including a four-page X-Men tale. After I started making Star Wars books, and with Disney taking over Marvel, my editor at Chronicle Books (Steve Mockus) and I started talking about it as a possibility. My name came up when he was talking to Marvel about future projects, so they asked if I wanted to pitch ideas. They said no to anything X-Men at that point, but I was happy to do Thor and Loki: Midgard Family Mayhem. After that, Chronicle and Marvel were wondering if I wanted to do another book with other characters — and I kept saying I’d really like to do the X-Men. And this time they said yes!
Courtesy of Chronicle Books
AIPT: For readers just learning about The Uncanny X-Men: Days of Future Fun for the first time, what can they expect to find in this 64-page book?
Jeffrey: Lots of fun X-Men jokes! Wolverine and the X-Men as kids getting into trouble and using their powers every chance they get. I tried to make it accessible for more casual fans, but hopefully there are some inside jokes for the more devoted fans as well. I think this might also be the most colorful book I’ve done (since Star Wars has so many gray spaceship interiors, I guess!). Initially, I planned on putting Wolverine in his brown and yellow costume, but Marvel wanted me to put him in the blue and yellow, and I think it worked great.
Courtesy of Chronicle Books
AIPT: There have been a lot of X-Men and X-teams throughout the franchise’s 60+ year history. How did you land on your core cast of X-Men?
Jeffrey: I grew up reading the iconic Chris Claremont run, especially the mid-to-late 1980s issues, so those are the versions and costumes I wanted to use. Not only are those still my favorite X-Men stories, but they’re the take I’m most familiar with, so I feel like I could do more with the material than if I had gone with one of the other incarnations.
AIPT: Based on the pages released so far, we can expect appearances from the New Mutants and Magneto’s Brotherhood. Should X-Fans expect additional mutant cameos?
Jeffrey: For sure! I tried to fit in as many cameos as I could. In coming up with ideas, I tried to include every major character, good and evil, that had been part of the comics. I couldn’t come up with a good joke that I liked enough for everyone, unfortunately, but I’m really happy with how Sebastian Shaw and Toad showed up.
Courtesy of Chronicle Books
AIPT: What’s your creative process like for a book like this, where you have a mix of one-page gags, mini-scenes, and an overarching story? I imagine a lot of the work is dreaming up as many funny scenarios as possible and then selecting the best ones — but maybe I’m wrong!
Jeffrey: I start with a sketchbook that I fill with ideas, and aim for at least twice as many ideas as I’ll need, so around 125-130. From there, the editors and I work on figuring out which ones to include in the book. The bulk of the book we’re usually all on the same page about, and then there are a few we go back and forth on. If there’s one I really like that isn’t on their list, I’ll make arguments of why to include it until they give up and let me draw it! Once we have the list of ideas, I’ll pencil them — and usually a handful of extras just in case an idea doesn’t work as well when it’s fully drawn. The pencils get edited and feedbacked, and then I’ll finish inking and coloring. After that, I’ll start figuring out what order they’ll appear in the book, giving a flow to the tone and which jokes work best on facing pages, or where to put some things that recall an earlier joke. So there’s a continuity to it all, even if there’s not exactly a narrative.
Courtesy of Chronicle Books
AIPT: Your art style is instantly recognizable, no matter what universe you play in. What art materials are you using for a book like The Uncanny X-Men: Days of Future Fun?
Jeffrey: For color work like this, I draw on Strathmore 500 series cold press illustration board. It’s really thick with a bit of texture, so it has a nice way of absorbing the color to give the drawings some warmth. I color with Faber-Castell Pitt brush pens. I’ve been using them for almost 20 years now and like the effects that I can get from them without feeling too slick — there’s still that element of seeing the human hand in things.
Courtesy of Chronicle Books
AIPT: Finally, for X-Fans who are unfamiliar with your past work, are there any works you’d recommend they check out?
Jeffrey: Of course, Thor and Loki: Midgard Family Mayhem was the first Marvel book I did with Chronicle, and fits nicely alongside the new one. There’s also all the Star Wars books, most recently The Mandalorian and Child. And going back to Marvel, I have a middle grade book coming out from Scholastic in August called Hulk Teach — there’s no X-Men in it, unfortunately, but still fun, I think!
AIPT: Fun stuff! Thanks for stopping by X-Men Monday, Jeffrey!
Remember, X-Fans, The Uncanny X-Men: Days of Future Fun is now on sale, so be sure to pick up a copy and learn what types of mutant mayhem these X-Kids get up to!
Courtesy of Chronicle Books
In the next edition of X-Men Monday: Writer Fabian Nicieza returns to X-Men Monday to discuss his upcoming Godzilla vs. X-Men one-shot.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Until next time, X-Fans, stay exceptional!
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