Jubilee: The Ongoing Series! (I swear I'm not making this up. . . this time!)

[El Chuxter]

Holy crap in a hat! JarJarBinks pointed this article out to me and if I didn't know better, I'd swear I'd written it as a joke!

From http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/pulse...6%26t%3D002346

It seems as if a lot of Marvel's merry mutants are getting their own ongoing series. At the X-Men Reload panel a few new series were revealed: Nightcrawler and Gambit. Now, Marvel Comics has told THE PULSE about a September debuting Jubilee series featuring covers from Casey Jones and written by Robert Kirkman and featuring interiors by Derec Donovan. We caught up with Kirkman for a few quick comments about what's going to set this series apart from the typical mutant title out there.

Kirkman's worked with and created a few teen heroes in his day, but he told us what interested him about working with this particular character. "I don't get to play around with female characters too much and I figure now is as good a time as any," he said. "I've been a fan of Jubilee since the Larry Hama/Marc Silvestri run of Wolverine featured the character. She's just a lot of fun, she's got a cool power, and y'know ... it's an X-book, the opportunity to play around in that universe is something I couldn't pass up."

Although it is an X book, the series isn't set in New York like most of the Marvel X related titles. The series deals with family. "Jubilee has been reunited with her long lost aunt she didn't even no she had," informed Kirkman. "She's moving out to LA to live with her and leaving the craziness of the X-mansion behind. So the series is going to focus on her acclimating to this new environment and getting used to being the only mutant around for the first time since she joined up with the X-Men."

"It's Jubilee in LA, it's a totally new environment for the Marvel U," continued Kirkman. "Aside from Runaways and those old Wonder Man books Marvel has been almost exclusively New York based stories. So there's not a lot of overlap. After the initial story arc ... I'd like to start playing with the continuity more and more as the book goes on."

Kirkman said it wasn't tough at all to get to know this character and become a part of her world. "I was very familiar with the character from the get go," he revealed. "The teenage girl stuff is a bit tricky ... since I never was one of those. I've been doing my research, inviting myself to slumber parties ... joining some cheerleading squads ... stalking at the local mall. I think I've gotten the hang of it."

Then he laughed and told us the best part about writing this series, "The research ... definitely the research."

GREAT GOOGILY MOOGILY! This has the potential to be the greatest Marvel comic of all time, simply because it's the great Marvel character finally getting her due! It only took 'em almost twenty years! (She looks quite spritely for 30-something, I must say.)

Totally! To H-E-double-hockey-sticks with Reload and Astonishing and that garbage. This is the comic event of the year, if not all time!

Possibly the scariest thing is that almost one year ago today (July 1, 2003), I posted on this forum a less credible article about a Jubilee ongoing series scheduled for September. Although the plot synopsis seems to have gone through some revisions, this is like, y'know, a total case of deja vu:

Jubilee has left the X-Men!

From marvel.com

Fan Favorite Jubilee to Star in Ongoing Series!

Jubilee, the winner of millions of X-Men popularity polls, will be leaving the X-Men this fall to star in her own ongoing series. Although the release date is still a few months away, pre-orders have already smashed the old record of most copies printed set by Marvel's X-Men #1 just like a fly under a pair of big green foam Hulk gloves.

The fun begins when Jubilee falls down a rabbit hole in the backyard of the Xavier's Institute, where she finds a gang of very intelligent, but very drunk, bears. Seeing her opportunity to finally live out her dream of being the scourge of the seven seas, she enlists the bears and sets out of the HMPS Barley.

Jubilee: Funky Bad-@A* Pirate #1 ships September 31 and is affordably priced at $0.42.

[Beast]

I'm glad your excited, but Marvel is scaring me with it's glut of solo titles. I'm not a huge Jubilee fan, but she's alright. But I dunno if she can support a solo book, especially without any other X'rs popping up in it. Don't get me wrong, it's possible. I just dunno about how well it will do. There seems to be mixed feelings over at the Comic Book Resources forums also, where I post.

But geez, how many solo series do we need? We have Wolverine, Emma Frost, and Mystique. And now were gonna get Nightcrawler, Rogue, Gambit, Multiple Man, X-23, and Jubilee? Seems like a bit of overkill, if you ask me. But I guess I'll wait and see how it works. It could be good, or it could be crap. We'll see. If they're gonna keep up the solos, I want a Beast solo book, you hear me Marvel!

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

[El Chuxter]

JarJarBinks, to quote Isaac Hayes from I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, you sure know how to p*** in a man's Corn Flakes.

I was hoping to ride the "crazy fanatic" angle for at least a day or so before someone introduced reality, so that I had to state my misgivings about this idea.

Being completely realistic, which I don't normally do when Ms Lee is concerned. . . .

First, she has not exactly been in the spotlight lately. A minor character in recent issues of Uncanny and and even more minor Magma-clone in the ill-fated Evolution series. Were this ten years ago or so, when she starred as the ultimate deus ex machina in the old X-Men cartoon ("Help! Wolverine! Save me!"), in addition to playing a major part in both the Uncanny and Wolverine comics, it'd be a different story. But most folks who followed X-Men then don't do it now, and of those who do, I'm willing to bet I'm in a very small minority when it comes to who my favorite character is.

Second, I'm willing to bet this book will be geared toward kids and teens, like the absolutely rancid Sentinel title last year.

Third, you have a very good point about the solo series. This looks like it will be a glut of sorts. (X-23? Who the hell is he/she/it?) If it comes down to a money issue (which it looks like it will), and someone is getting the core books and has to pick and choose on the solo titles, well, will they pick a popular character like Nightcrawler who still interacts with the X-Men, or a less popular character whose book sounds like it's severing all ties with Graymalkin Lane?

And, yeah, right with you that Beast probably is more deserving. Her first ongoing issue will literally be her third solo story, and the first to come in at more than ten pages.

Fourth, who's this writer? I hope not the dude who wrote the Jubilee story a few months back in X-Men Unlimited. That was one bad story, completely out of character (you think the years spent saving the world would have matured her somewhat from the bratty kid in the mall way back in Uncanny #244). While if it's the same guy, that would be put into some sort of context, I don't think it'd be something I'd want to read.

Speaking of continuity, how many times have they fudged her age now? It may be cool to have the teenaged X-Men, but she was created more or less to replace Kitty, who'd gone off to college and later became a member of Excalibur and a stripper. If Husk is 19 (which is clearly stated in recent issues of Uncanny), Jubilee should be at least 18, and more likely old enough to drink.

All said, unless the book is absolutely phenomenal in all ways, I give it five issues at the most. (I'd have a tougher time saying that if not for the dismal end my favorite Batman character met after only eight issues of the most pathetic "ongoing" solo series ever. RIP, Lonnie's book. Hope to see you in the Batman series again sometime.)

Does that mean I won't get it? Absolutely not! If nothing else, those awesome Casey Jones covers will be worth $2.95. And the character does rule, no matter how you look at it, y'know?

[Beast]

X-23 is the female Clone of Wolverine from X-Men Evolution. She was popular enough, that she turned up as an actual mainstream character in NYX. She's a prostitute with claws, and I don't think she has the same origins as the X-23 from Evo.

The writer is indeed the one who wrote the 'Jubilee crushes on Guy at Mall, and helps him get away from security guard with her powers. When he sees she's a mutant, he wants nothing to do with her' story from X-Men Unlimted #2.

Yeah, Jubilee is around 17-18 right now. That's if my numbers are right. But still, even at 17-18 modern teenagers hang out at malls and stuff. And with the X-Men Universe, noone ever ages. Hell, Beast was 19 in 1963/64. And he was just celebrating his 30th birthday in 1993. And is probably somewhere around 35 now.

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

[Beast]

Kirkman on the series:

This book is aimed at the mass market in a big way. It's there as a gateway book to get young girls to read comics. I'm having a hell of a time working on it. It's fun like early issues of Invincible were. Some of you MAY not like it... but that's okay. I understand. If you liked my story in X-Men: Unlimited... it's more of that. Funny teenage antics.

-Robert

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

[Rocketboy]

Second, I'm willing to bet this book will be geared toward kids and teens, like the absolutely rancid Sentinel title last year.

I'd like to see it handled a bit realistically, like NYX. If it is geared towards teens, it certainly could spell disaster. I always thought Jubilee was handled best in Generation X. She had a real personality that was less child-like.

she was created more or less to replace Kitty, who'd gone off to college and later became a member of Excalibur and a stripper.

Wha! I've been out of the X-scene since that whole Age of Apocalypse nonsense, and picked up Astonishing #1 out of curiosity.

[jjreason]

I can see Chux now, banging away at his computer sending email after email after email to Marvel requesting this title from thousands upon thousands of email accounts he created just for this reason alone, sweating, laughing the maniacal laugh of a madman...... until finally......success!

Dude - you need a hobby.

[Beast]

Kitty didn't become a stripper! She was a bartender, until the X-Men called her in because they needed her again. And so far I'm glad they did, Whedon writes her really well. Which is no big suprise, since he had a crush on her when he was reading comics as a teenager/young adult.

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

[El Chuxter]

Yeah, but "scantilly-clad bartender in a strip joint" takes a lot longer to type than "stripper." And, yes, based on the one issue I've read so far, Whedon did a great job with her.

Yep, if this is like the Unlimited story, it will suck in a big way. We're talking Dreamwave Transformers G1 bad. The guy had no clue what the character's about. Take her out of the mansion, put her in LA. Fine and dandy. Regress her several years, we have slight problems. I have no issue with her being a smart-aleck kid and acting like it. But in that story, there were a few things I found to be really, really wrong:

1) She constantly brags about being buds with Wolverine even though no one believed her. It was just, well, stupid. (Besides, if the other kids have ever seen any news footage, wouldn't the recognizable girl in the trenchcoat stand out like a sore thumb from the dudes in spandex.)

2) She ripped off the arcade. Out of character. Period. Beyond the "scavenging to eat" stage we first met her in years ago, she's way too much of a goody-goody.

3) Attacking a security guard? WTF? I suppose the years (or, given the weird way time works in comics, year or two) of upholding various laws with the X-Men, Wolverine, Generation-X, and X-Corps left no impression whatsoever? Dumb.

Marvel's been trying way too hard with these kiddie books of late. I picked up a few issues of Sentinel only to find that there were no giant robots (title and cover be damned). Just a stupid kid at school for 22 pages. They'll have to learn that Peter Parker having problems with girls and bullies for 2 pages and fighting Rhino for 20 is cool. Kids having school trouble for 22 pages is not, regardless of how old the reader may be.

On the bright side, after this dies a quick death, some writer or editor will put together the X-Team du jour and say, "Hey, whatever happened to the girl with the trenchcoat? Let's bring her back!"

[Beast]

The Solicits are out for September, including for Jubilee:

JUBILEE #1
Written by Robert Kirkman
Penciled by DereC Donovan
Cover by Casey Jones
Join Jubilee, everyone’s favorite wisecracking mutant firecracker, in her new adventures on the left coast! Living in the X-Mansion was a trip, but now she’s found where weirdos really come out — Los Angeles! But it won’t be all fun and games as she contends with an overbearing aunt, a principal who wants her expelled and a mutant gang-leader who just may have the hots for her. Written by Eisner-nominated writer Robert Kirkman (Invincible, The Walking Dead) with art by Derec Donovan (Spider-Man/Doctor Octopus: Out of Reach), Jubilee is an all-ages, new-reader-friendly romp that will get you in touch with your mall mojo!
32 PGS./ALL AGES…$2.99

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks