Jason Aaron's Blog, page 9

My thoughts on the passing of Mike Pandel

Mike Pandel was a long-time employee of A Comic Shop inOrlando, one of the finest comic book stores I've ever visited. Tragically, Mikepassed away this week, after a traffic accident. 
Regrettably, I didn't know Mike that well. I met him twice,during two different signings I did at A Comic Shop over the last few years. Signingsat A Comic Shop are different than most other store signings I've ever done. It'sbasically just one long party, where you sign and drink and mingle and laugh a lot. And very quickly you realize, there's somethingspecial about this place, and in particular about the relationship the guys atthe store have with their customers. Signing at A Comic Shop is like beinginvited to a big family reunion where you don't know anybody but you still feellike part of the family. A place where everybody truly loves life and most definitelyloves comics.
So I got to see Mike in action on more than one occasion,and it's fairly safe to say that Mike was full of life. I know that's a clichédthing to say about someone, especially after they've died. But with Mike, it's farfrom an empty statement. In all my time, in all my travels, I've met few peoplewho were truly as full of life as Mike Pandel. He was something of a madman, that'sfor sure, but the good kind of madman. The kind you wanted working at a comic bookstore, sharing his passion with every person who walked through the door. As acomic creator, I loved knowing Mike was out there on the front lines, madly lovingcomics and spreading that love every chance he got. With him gone, the rest ofus will definitely need to step it up and follow his example as best we can.
Thanks for all you did, Mike. Rest in peace.

Marvel biz & momofuku

Our latest Marvel creative retreat was this week, where a bunch of us writers come to New York and sit in a room with our editors and publishers, and for three days straight we all talk comics and make fun of each other. While I can't tell you exactly what was talked about, I can say with confidence that this retreat was more jam-packed with awesome ideas than any retreat I've ever been to. I always come home from these things fired up to get back to work. After this one, even more-so.

Among the things I'm working on right now are AVENGERS VS. X-MEN and its tie-ins issues of WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN. I'm happy with the momentum we've all got going on X-MEN right now, so trust me, I'm very conscious about trying to maintain that during the tie-in months. Our story will not suddenly stop and be replaced but a bunch of crossover stuff that has no connection to what I was doing before. It will all flow together, including in some ways you might not be expecting.

As always, thanks for reading.





The other big highlight of the week for me was dinner at David Chang's momofuku ssäm, where thanks to C.B. Cebulski, a bunch of us gorged on a ridiculous spread of duck, steak, fish, pork buns and spicy sausage. Over dinner I told Remender and Hickman why I think Session 9 is awesome and Christopher Nolan not so much. I also extolled the virtues of Exorcist III but I'm not sure I won them over quite like the pork buns did.

David Chang, I think I love you.

BAMA NO. 1!

Hard to write dark, violent comics when I'm this happy. Luckily today is a WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN day.

Roll Tide.

Wolverine, by the way, is totally a Tide fan.

Thoughts on the end of 2011

It's been a busy year for me. For which I am exceedingly grateful. Children, as you may have heard, are very expensive. As are the exotic murder safaris I sometimes go on to relax (we all have our vices, do we not?). As we enter 2012, I find myself in a period of transition. I wrote a little about this yesterday in my final column for CBR. But to to sum it up, three of my current writing gigs will be coming to an end in 2012. PUNISHERMAX and SCALPED are both ending (by my choice, not because they've been cancelled), and I'm wrapping up my run on WOLVERINE after about 50 issues spread across 10 years. So 2012 will be about charging ahead with my two newest series, WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN and THE INCREDIBLE HULK, and eventually taking on a few new challenges as well.

As you may have heard, one of those new challenges will be this:

new 8tracks mix: soundtrack for SCALPED Vol. 8

My stuff coming in January 2012

INCREDIBLE HULK #4
JASON AARON (W) • WHILCE PORTACIO (A)
COVER BY LEINIL FRANCIS YU
VENOM VARIANT COVER BY TBA
• The fight everyone's been waiting for: HULK VS. BANNER!
• Banner unleashes an army of Hulked-out monsters!
32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$3 .99


WOLVERINE #300
JASON AARON (W) • ADAM KUBERT (A/C)
VARIANT COVER BY JIM CHEUNG
WRAPAROUND VARIANT COVER BY GEOF DARROW
BLANK VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLE
• EXTRA-SIZED 300th ISSUE EVENT!
• An all-new, soon-to-be-classic Wolverine story starts here!
• Wolverine travels to Tokyo to confront his most dangerous enemy yet.
• And a new Silver Samurai rises to take his place…along with Wolverine's daughter!
56 PGS./Parental Advisory …$4.99
 


WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN #4
JASON AARON (W) • NICK BRADSHAW (A/C)
• Two new students join the school. Who could it be?
• The future comes back to haunt the school.
• And who is PREGNANT?!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99  




PUNISHERMAX #21
JASON AARON (W)
STEVE DILLON (A)
COVER BY DAVE JOHNSON
• The final brutal confrontation between the Punisher and the Kingpin!
• Only one of these men is going to walk away alive.
• Final chapter of the HOMELESS arc.
32 PGS./Explicit Content …$3.99

ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN & WOLVERINE TPB
Written by JASON AARON
Penciled by ADAM KUBERT
COVER BY ADAM KUBERT
They're going to kill each other — if the apocalypse doesn't do them in first! Spider-Man and Wolverine — fellow Avengers, but not each other's biggest fans — are lost in time…and running out of time. Millions of years in the past, they're about to be blasted by the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs. Their only path to safety is an uncontrollable trip through history that will take them to the end of the world — and beyond. But if they're going to figure out who's been pulling their strings and get back to their own era, they'll have to learn to work together. In other words, they're probably going to die. Collecting ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN & WOLVERINE #1-6 and material from ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN & WOLVERINE #1 DIRECTOR'S CUT.
168 PGS./Rated T+ …$19.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-4080-1

WOLVERINE: WOLVERINE VS. THE X-MEN TPB
Written by JASON AARON
Penciled by JEFTE PALO & DANIEL ACUNA
COVER BY JAE LEE
In his long and bloody life, Wolverine has lost control before. But the situation has never been more dire. Hell itself has inhabited Logan's body, laughing with delight at every innocent life it takes — and he is powerless to stop it. Running out of options, Cyclops is faced with an impossible choice. The X-Men's leader wants to believe his old friend possesses the strength of will to break free. But as Wolverine spirals out of control, Cyclops may be forced to resort to deadly force to put an end to Logan's murderous rampage. Can even a last-ditch psychic intervention by those closest to him help Wolverine come to his senses before his teammates have no recourse but to kill him? Collecting WOLVERINE (2010) #5.1 and #6-9.
120 PGS./Parental Advisory …$15.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-4787-9 

It sure is.

My New York Comic Con schedule

This year for the first time at NYCC I'll be set up in Artists Alley. Look for me at table 014 right alongside Jason Latour. When I'm not there, here's where you're likely to find me:

Friday, October 14th
11:00-12:00 – Signing at the DC Booth (#1254)
3:45-4:45 – Vertigo Visions panel, Room #1A22
5:00-6:00 – Signing at the Marvel Booth (#654) (With Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie)

Saturday, October 15th
12:00-1:00 – Signing at the Marvel Booth (#654)
5:00-6:00 – Cup o' Joe Panel, Room #1A10

Sunday, October 16th
11:00-12:00 – Signing at the Marvel Booth (#654)
1:30-2:30 – Incredible Hulk Panel, Room #1A06
3:30-4:30 – X-Men Regenesis panel, Room #1A10

UPDATE: I should also be there for Preview night on Thursday, likely at my table (O14) the whole time. 

Karate Nuns

Sometimes the world is just perfect.

Welcome to the Jean Grey School For Higher Learning