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Comics Creators On X-Men interviewed by Tom DeFalco
01/05/2006 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
pub: Titan Books. 252 page illustrated softcover. Price: £14.99 (UK), $17.95 (US). ISBN: 1-84576-173-1. Buy Comics Creators On X-Men in the USA - or Buy Comics Creators On X-Men in the UK  check out websites: www.titanbooks.com
When I saw this book in the advance Titan catalogue, there was an automatic gleam in my eye even if I had dropped out of serious comicbook reading over a decade ago now. The title alone, 'Comics Creators On X-Men' should at least give some inkling what this interview book is about. If you can remember a pair of 'X-Men Companion' books that were released nearly twenty years ago then this book is of the same order with new interviews with Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Neal Adams, Dave Cockrum, Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Alan Davis, Louise Simonson, Marc Silvestri, Bob Harras Scott Lobdell, Chris Bachalo, Grant Morrison and Mark Millar. Writers, artists and editors. Between them, they cover the eras of the X-Men from 1963 through to nearly the present day. It is also mostly no-holds barred as some of the internal company problems are brought to light, not to mention rivalries, even if these interviews were conducted by current Marvel editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco rather than an external source. In some places, I got the feeling when the interviewees passed DeFalco the buck on some decision that was made they were testing to see if it would end up in the final copy. Although there is no way of looking at the draft proofs, the undercurrent is still there. Certainly, it would make an interesting idea for a book to concentrating on the changes, warts and all, at Marvel over the decades.
There's a lot of insights from these interviews. The one that I was most pleased with is that in a similar way that Siegel and Shuster got a pension plan from DC for creating Superman, that artist Dave Cockrum is now getting a pension plan for his creation of the significant new X-Men he designed in 1976 for Marvel.
The pattern of these interviews covers each person's history, influences, their interest in the X-Men prior to getting involved in the book with lots regarding their takes on the characters and the people they worked with. If you're a fan of the X-Men then you're going to love this book. It also probably explains my extended late night reading of late as well.
Apart from the interviews, there are a lot of side-cars filling in specific info about characters, teams and other creators covering gaps that newer readers might find helpful if they weren't up to speed on the subject. It's the only place where I found one mistake the misidentification of Uncanny X-Men # 104 as the introduction of the Imperial Guard when the cover art clearly shows # 107. Hah!
There is also many pages showing covers, character designs, pages and even script pages showing how different writers. Considering the copyright notices associated with the book, you'll have to get your own copy to have a look but the highlight for me was seeing Cockrum's design sketches for drawing Nightcrawler and Phoenix. Don't wait for a second edition.
GF Willmetts
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