Eric J. Moreels
Jul 23, 2002, 10:51 am
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAM001_COV.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAM001_COVt.jpg" align=left alt="X-Men Icons: Chamber #1 preview"></a>Spinning off from the pages of Uncanny X-Men, the enigmatic mutant known as Chamber is set to star in his own X-Men Icons limited series which begins next month.
Here's how Marvel originally solicited the series' debut issue:
X-MEN ICONS: CHAMBER #1
Cover by Chris Bachalo
Brian K. Vaughan (w)/Lee Ferguson (p)/Norm Rapmund (i)
A new 4-issue series straight from the pages of Uncanny X-Men! Will the new X-Man solve the mystery of a hate crime - or become the next victim? Featuring covers by Generation X penciler Chris Bachalo!
32 pgs. with ads/FC/Marvel PG $2.99
X-Fan recently caught up with writer Brian K. Vaughan, artist Lee Ferguson, colorist Jose Villarrubia, and editor Mike Raicht to find out more about the mini, as well as more about what makes Chamber tick.
X-FAN: How did the project first come about?
RAICHT: When Joe Quesada became Editor-in-Chief he gave us assistants the opportunity to develop our own projects. Chamber has always been one of my favorite characters, so I thought, since he was getting some time in Uncanny X-Men that he would be a perfect place to start. Of those Generation X characters I always thought that Chamber, Husk and Synch had the most potential and I wanted to help bring at least one of them to the forefront.
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAM002_COV.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAM002_COVt.jpg" align=right alt="X-Men Icons: Chamber #2 preview"></a>X-FAN: Of all the characters that could receive an X-Men Icons series, why a relatively new character like Chamber?
RAICHT: I think Chamber is one of the new breed of X-characters that I relate to best. He was created when I was younger and I looked at him as part of my new X-Men. The X-Men were already around for years before I got a chance to read them, but when Generation X came out I was in on the ground floor.
VAUGHAN: Though he's always had a ton of potential, I think Chamber is still missing something (and not just the lower half of his face!). This mini-series will attempt to fill that void by giving Chamber a new sense of purpose, while also maintaining the attributes that make him such a unique character.
FERGUSON: For a relatively new one, there's actually a lot of depth to the character. Anyone who read all those old issues of Generation X knows he's cool... he's a character that deserves a lot more attention than he was able to get in Uncanny. It's hard for every character to shine in a team book, especially when that team has guys like Wolverine and co.
X-FAN: What's the appeal of the character to you all?
VAUGHAN: Beyond having one of the coolest visuals of anyone in comics, Chamber is just a great character. At his smoldering core, he's a social outcast like Peter Parker and a hero like Spider-Man... but Jono has to be both at the SAME TIME.
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAM003_COV.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAM003_COVt.jpg" align=right alt="X-Men Icons: Chamber #3 preview"></a>RAICHT: I think he's the ultimate outsider. Not only is he a mutant, but he's a horribly disfigured mutant. I think he has overcome the most to be the hero he has become. Plus, he's smug while he's doing it which is kind of cool.
FERGUSON: He's an outcast, even on a team of freaks like the X-Men. Some of the mutants are such pretty-boys that it's a little hard to feel any pity for them, y'know? I mean ... Jean Grey? Wolvie? Iceman? C'mon! You'd love to be any of them. But not Jono. I'm a huge Spider-Man fan, and Jono shares a lot of those same characteristics that make Spidey so popular. He's cool in an uncool way. And he's a blast to draw.
VILLARRUBIA: Chamber looks really cool and his look is totally unique. I thought that his energy area would give me an opportunity to flex my coloring muscles.
X-FAN: What do you see as core to Chamber's character?
RAICHT: His integrity. He questions things that some of the other X-Men may take for granted because nothing has been handed to him. But behind his smug demeanor is someone who wants to change the world. Even though he might think it's a miserable place, he believes it's his responsibility to make it better.
VAUGHAN: See above!
FERGUSON: Despite the fact that he's an outcast among outcasts, he's a good guy. He's got what would be a great bad guy origin, but he's not a villain. Maybe he's a little gloomy, but he hasn't become embittered. The guy blew his own mouth and chest open with his weird mutant power ... to just continue to persevere and to fight the good fight after that happened says a lot about the character.
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAMBER001002_400.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAMBER001002_400t.jpg" align=right alt="X-Men Icons: Chamber #1 Page 2 preview"></a>VILLARRUBIA: That he cannot hide the fact that he is a mutant, nor can he have a "normal" life, since he can't be truly intimate with other people.
X-FAN: What's the premise of the mini?
VAUGHAN: When progressive Empire State University decides to make its campus more "genetically diverse" by creating the nation's first affirmative action program for mutants, a mysterious explosion soon kills several of these new students.
In order to find the person (or persons) responsible, the X-Men enroll their youngest member, 18-year-old Jono Starsmore, as an openly homo superior freshman at ESU.
Away from the relative comfort and safety of Xavier's school, Chamber is once again the ultimate outcast. And in order to find the missing killer, our reluctant hero will first have to find what's missing in himself.
FERGUSON: It's not just some fluff put out there to take your money. It's a gut-wrenching story that will really help define who Jono is and where he's going from here ... that's being put out there to take your money! ;)
X-FAN: What would each of you say that you're bringing to the table for this mini?
VAUGHAN: I had fun writing a globetrotting adventure for the Cyclops mini-series, but I think tackling social issues with an action-packed, street-level, character-driven mystery is much more in my wheelhouse. I really like Chamber, and I think I captured his voice... his unique dialect, his brooding self-deprecation, and his dark sense of humor.
FERGUSON: I'm just doing my best to try to stay true to the great story Brian has written and to not let people down when they see those beautiful covers and then open the book. Man, you've got Chris Bachalo on covers, do you know how intimidating that is? The guy CO-CREATED Chamber! His covers are flat-out gorgeous!
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAMBER001004_400.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAMBER001004_400t.jpg" align=right alt="X-Men Icons: Chamber #1 Page 4 preview"></a>VILLARRUBIA: I am doing the coloring in my mixed media, computer painting style. I am trying to make the environments realistic, but give the whole story a fairy-tale quality. Chamber is almost like a supernatural creature, a spirit or a deity. Putting him in college life makes for a very surreal combination.
RAICHT: I love this character. When I first found out we were doing these Icon series', I told everyone that I wanted to edit a Chamber limited series. People kind of looked at me like I was crazy but it's the character I wanted to put into the spotlight. I'm just psyched I could find other people who love the character as much as I do.
X-FAN: What's it like working with each other?
VAUGHAN: It's been amazing. You couldn't ask for two more supportive and easy-going editors than Mike and Mike. Lee Ferguson is an incredibly talented new penciller, and he looks great with Norm Rapmund's inks. Jose Villarrubia? He's the best colorist working today. And having Chris Bachalo, the guy who helped CREATE Chamber, doing kick-ass covers is pretty sweet icing on the cake.
FERGUSON: Aside from being totally intimidated by Chris' cover work, I've had a great time. Since I'm the rookie on the team, I've really tried to pick the brains' of each of the other guys. Not only do I respect each of the other guys' work, but I can also say that I like them all. They're all great guys. Well, I haven't had a chance to talk to Chris, so I can't vouch for him, actually. And since he's giving me anxiety attacks with all of these covers, he's probably really not that great a guy, I'll bet...
I'm kidding, Chris! :D
But I've talked to the rest of 'em and they're great. And they've been really accommodating. They're all willing to listen to me when I have a "stupid new guy" question or when I throw an idea or two out there, and that's really cool ... I wouldn't blame them at all if they just told me to shut up and draw the book, y'know?
VILLARRUBIA: The rest of the team is great! Mike, Brian, Lee and Norm could not possibly be nicer, and {are} terrific to work with. I am honored to be involved in the project. Lee in particular has been wonderful at accommodating my requests, producing artwork that enhances the kinds or renderings that I do.
RAICHT: Everyone on this project has been great. I would love to work with all of them again in the future.
X-FAN: What do you hope the mini will achieve?
RAICHT: I hope it gives people some insight into what makes Chamber tick, but also make them eager to see where he pops up next. I know that he'll be appearing in Uncanny X-Men again and then... he will be playing a major role in the X-Men universe in the years to come, let's put it that way.
FERGUSON: I'd like to see Jono become a real player in the Marvel Universe. To see him around again on a regular basis, either on the X-Men, on another team, or on his own. I know it sounds silly, but I've missed him. I really dug the character back when Scott and Chris were doing Generation X, and it's good to see him being used again. And I think Brian's story really does justice to what the character is about. He gets this guy.
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAMBER001015_400.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAMBER001015_400t.jpg" align=right alt="X-Men Icons: Chamber #1 Page 15 preview"></a>VILLARRUBIA: I hope that not only X-fans will buy it. While it is told in continuity, anyone can read it.
VAUGHAN: I hope it will have a profound, lasting effect on Chamber... on the way he looks at himself, his outlook on the world, and his relationship with the X-Men.
And I hope it will make fans want to read more stories about Chamber! He may not be an icon yet, but I think he will be.
X-FAN: For more on Chamber, be sure to visit Brian Vaughan's "Vaughanslaught" (http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=29) forum and Lee Ferguson's "Ferg's Floor" (http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=58) forum, right here at X-Fan!
Here's how Marvel originally solicited the series' debut issue:
X-MEN ICONS: CHAMBER #1
Cover by Chris Bachalo
Brian K. Vaughan (w)/Lee Ferguson (p)/Norm Rapmund (i)
A new 4-issue series straight from the pages of Uncanny X-Men! Will the new X-Man solve the mystery of a hate crime - or become the next victim? Featuring covers by Generation X penciler Chris Bachalo!
32 pgs. with ads/FC/Marvel PG $2.99
X-Fan recently caught up with writer Brian K. Vaughan, artist Lee Ferguson, colorist Jose Villarrubia, and editor Mike Raicht to find out more about the mini, as well as more about what makes Chamber tick.
X-FAN: How did the project first come about?
RAICHT: When Joe Quesada became Editor-in-Chief he gave us assistants the opportunity to develop our own projects. Chamber has always been one of my favorite characters, so I thought, since he was getting some time in Uncanny X-Men that he would be a perfect place to start. Of those Generation X characters I always thought that Chamber, Husk and Synch had the most potential and I wanted to help bring at least one of them to the forefront.
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAM002_COV.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAM002_COVt.jpg" align=right alt="X-Men Icons: Chamber #2 preview"></a>X-FAN: Of all the characters that could receive an X-Men Icons series, why a relatively new character like Chamber?
RAICHT: I think Chamber is one of the new breed of X-characters that I relate to best. He was created when I was younger and I looked at him as part of my new X-Men. The X-Men were already around for years before I got a chance to read them, but when Generation X came out I was in on the ground floor.
VAUGHAN: Though he's always had a ton of potential, I think Chamber is still missing something (and not just the lower half of his face!). This mini-series will attempt to fill that void by giving Chamber a new sense of purpose, while also maintaining the attributes that make him such a unique character.
FERGUSON: For a relatively new one, there's actually a lot of depth to the character. Anyone who read all those old issues of Generation X knows he's cool... he's a character that deserves a lot more attention than he was able to get in Uncanny. It's hard for every character to shine in a team book, especially when that team has guys like Wolverine and co.
X-FAN: What's the appeal of the character to you all?
VAUGHAN: Beyond having one of the coolest visuals of anyone in comics, Chamber is just a great character. At his smoldering core, he's a social outcast like Peter Parker and a hero like Spider-Man... but Jono has to be both at the SAME TIME.
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAM003_COV.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAM003_COVt.jpg" align=right alt="X-Men Icons: Chamber #3 preview"></a>RAICHT: I think he's the ultimate outsider. Not only is he a mutant, but he's a horribly disfigured mutant. I think he has overcome the most to be the hero he has become. Plus, he's smug while he's doing it which is kind of cool.
FERGUSON: He's an outcast, even on a team of freaks like the X-Men. Some of the mutants are such pretty-boys that it's a little hard to feel any pity for them, y'know? I mean ... Jean Grey? Wolvie? Iceman? C'mon! You'd love to be any of them. But not Jono. I'm a huge Spider-Man fan, and Jono shares a lot of those same characteristics that make Spidey so popular. He's cool in an uncool way. And he's a blast to draw.
VILLARRUBIA: Chamber looks really cool and his look is totally unique. I thought that his energy area would give me an opportunity to flex my coloring muscles.
X-FAN: What do you see as core to Chamber's character?
RAICHT: His integrity. He questions things that some of the other X-Men may take for granted because nothing has been handed to him. But behind his smug demeanor is someone who wants to change the world. Even though he might think it's a miserable place, he believes it's his responsibility to make it better.
VAUGHAN: See above!
FERGUSON: Despite the fact that he's an outcast among outcasts, he's a good guy. He's got what would be a great bad guy origin, but he's not a villain. Maybe he's a little gloomy, but he hasn't become embittered. The guy blew his own mouth and chest open with his weird mutant power ... to just continue to persevere and to fight the good fight after that happened says a lot about the character.
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAMBER001002_400.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAMBER001002_400t.jpg" align=right alt="X-Men Icons: Chamber #1 Page 2 preview"></a>VILLARRUBIA: That he cannot hide the fact that he is a mutant, nor can he have a "normal" life, since he can't be truly intimate with other people.
X-FAN: What's the premise of the mini?
VAUGHAN: When progressive Empire State University decides to make its campus more "genetically diverse" by creating the nation's first affirmative action program for mutants, a mysterious explosion soon kills several of these new students.
In order to find the person (or persons) responsible, the X-Men enroll their youngest member, 18-year-old Jono Starsmore, as an openly homo superior freshman at ESU.
Away from the relative comfort and safety of Xavier's school, Chamber is once again the ultimate outcast. And in order to find the missing killer, our reluctant hero will first have to find what's missing in himself.
FERGUSON: It's not just some fluff put out there to take your money. It's a gut-wrenching story that will really help define who Jono is and where he's going from here ... that's being put out there to take your money! ;)
X-FAN: What would each of you say that you're bringing to the table for this mini?
VAUGHAN: I had fun writing a globetrotting adventure for the Cyclops mini-series, but I think tackling social issues with an action-packed, street-level, character-driven mystery is much more in my wheelhouse. I really like Chamber, and I think I captured his voice... his unique dialect, his brooding self-deprecation, and his dark sense of humor.
FERGUSON: I'm just doing my best to try to stay true to the great story Brian has written and to not let people down when they see those beautiful covers and then open the book. Man, you've got Chris Bachalo on covers, do you know how intimidating that is? The guy CO-CREATED Chamber! His covers are flat-out gorgeous!
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAMBER001004_400.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAMBER001004_400t.jpg" align=right alt="X-Men Icons: Chamber #1 Page 4 preview"></a>VILLARRUBIA: I am doing the coloring in my mixed media, computer painting style. I am trying to make the environments realistic, but give the whole story a fairy-tale quality. Chamber is almost like a supernatural creature, a spirit or a deity. Putting him in college life makes for a very surreal combination.
RAICHT: I love this character. When I first found out we were doing these Icon series', I told everyone that I wanted to edit a Chamber limited series. People kind of looked at me like I was crazy but it's the character I wanted to put into the spotlight. I'm just psyched I could find other people who love the character as much as I do.
X-FAN: What's it like working with each other?
VAUGHAN: It's been amazing. You couldn't ask for two more supportive and easy-going editors than Mike and Mike. Lee Ferguson is an incredibly talented new penciller, and he looks great with Norm Rapmund's inks. Jose Villarrubia? He's the best colorist working today. And having Chris Bachalo, the guy who helped CREATE Chamber, doing kick-ass covers is pretty sweet icing on the cake.
FERGUSON: Aside from being totally intimidated by Chris' cover work, I've had a great time. Since I'm the rookie on the team, I've really tried to pick the brains' of each of the other guys. Not only do I respect each of the other guys' work, but I can also say that I like them all. They're all great guys. Well, I haven't had a chance to talk to Chris, so I can't vouch for him, actually. And since he's giving me anxiety attacks with all of these covers, he's probably really not that great a guy, I'll bet...
I'm kidding, Chris! :D
But I've talked to the rest of 'em and they're great. And they've been really accommodating. They're all willing to listen to me when I have a "stupid new guy" question or when I throw an idea or two out there, and that's really cool ... I wouldn't blame them at all if they just told me to shut up and draw the book, y'know?
VILLARRUBIA: The rest of the team is great! Mike, Brian, Lee and Norm could not possibly be nicer, and {are} terrific to work with. I am honored to be involved in the project. Lee in particular has been wonderful at accommodating my requests, producing artwork that enhances the kinds or renderings that I do.
RAICHT: Everyone on this project has been great. I would love to work with all of them again in the future.
X-FAN: What do you hope the mini will achieve?
RAICHT: I hope it gives people some insight into what makes Chamber tick, but also make them eager to see where he pops up next. I know that he'll be appearing in Uncanny X-Men again and then... he will be playing a major role in the X-Men universe in the years to come, let's put it that way.
FERGUSON: I'd like to see Jono become a real player in the Marvel Universe. To see him around again on a regular basis, either on the X-Men, on another team, or on his own. I know it sounds silly, but I've missed him. I really dug the character back when Scott and Chris were doing Generation X, and it's good to see him being used again. And I think Brian's story really does justice to what the character is about. He gets this guy.
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAMBER001015_400.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/previews/CHAMBER001015_400t.jpg" align=right alt="X-Men Icons: Chamber #1 Page 15 preview"></a>VILLARRUBIA: I hope that not only X-fans will buy it. While it is told in continuity, anyone can read it.
VAUGHAN: I hope it will have a profound, lasting effect on Chamber... on the way he looks at himself, his outlook on the world, and his relationship with the X-Men.
And I hope it will make fans want to read more stories about Chamber! He may not be an icon yet, but I think he will be.
X-FAN: For more on Chamber, be sure to visit Brian Vaughan's "Vaughanslaught" (http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=29) forum and Lee Ferguson's "Ferg's Floor" (http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=58) forum, right here at X-Fan!