Good morning! We’ve survived both the Ides of March and Saint Patrick’s Day, and ya girl is officially done with school. It’s strange how March 17th tends to be one of those days that’s repeatedly significant to me for reasons other than the holiday, but it’s neat! Let’s dive in to some comics news.
Comics colorist Kelly Fitzpatrick is struggling lately, with a lot. Her GoFundMe page lists those struggles in detail, but it’s safe to say she could use some help. If you’re able to, please go donate!
In news that’s been reported just about everywhere, Beau DeMayo has been fired from Marvel just ahead of the X-Men ’97 premiere in a couple of days. DeMayo was a huge force behind the writing of the first two seasons of the upcoming show, and the unceremonious parting of ways (as it was phrased a few days later) between the corporation and an out gay Black man was a shock to industry and fans alike. It’s a troubling update, given X-Men’s ongoing themes of marginalization and oppression. DeMayo has not yet made a public comment on the event.
In other suspiciously-timed Marvel moves, they’ve announced a new NFT initiative, apparently refusing to just let NFTs die. There’s not really much to say about the news: They’re still trying to make NFTs happen, and we all know how it’s going to go. The timing bit is that they announced this at a SXSW panel where they threw some more X-Men flash in the pan: The new slate of books under Tom Brevoort.
My reaction is generally pretty ho-hum about this. I like that Gail Simone and Eve Ewing are heading two of the three books, I don’t like most of the costume choices here (I do like Oya’s, the floating Magneto, and Psylocke’s), and From the Ashes is the collective name for my favorite run of Claremont/Smith issues. I wish it weren’t being used as the tagline here, but everyone who reads X-Men long-term is familiar with the cycle by now. This looks like a conservative reset era. I’m hoping the creative teams prove me wrong, but I’m not enthused.
The conservatism does make sense, as do the very 90s costumes (especially on the left side of this image), given that X-Men ’97 premieres this week. Brand Synergy powers, activate!
