META: Interview with Samy Merchi the new writer for Vision Comics
Tom
This interview was done over IRC few months back when I managed to get
Sammy writing X-Force for Vision Comics. I hope you enjoy reading it
took us 2 hours to get all these questions answered. So jump in to the
wonderful world of Unpredictable X-Force by no other than Sammy 'Mash'
Merchi (who I belive you all know anyway)
Tom
EIC of Vision Comics
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<Tom> 1. So Samy tell us where have you worked on Fan Fiction before?
<Mash> Yeah. I suppose the work that I've gotten the most compliments
on is From Russia With Love, starring Empath and Magik. I wrote The
Twelve for Mutant Comics before they folded, and intend to continue
the series independently until at least #12. Other things I've
written include lots of New Mutants / X-Force stories, such as In The
Shadows of the Future and Operation: Reciprocity.
<Tom> 2. Can you tell us anything about the demise of Mutant Comics?
<Mash> No, it's not my place to say anything especially since I'm not
too knowledgeable on what happened. But I assure that The Twelve will
be continued at least until #12, with or without Mutant Comics.
<Tom> 3. Thank you, back to Vision Comics. What is it exactly that
you are doing there?
<Mash> I'm writing their X-Force title, starting in May '98 according
to current plans.
<Tom> 4. How did you get around to doing the project?
<Mash> Well, I think you're more adequate to answer that question,
since you're the one who recruited me. Why'd you recruit me? ;)
<Tom> Mmmmm. How can I answer that? You're the best there is at what
you do.
<Mash> Ah. Well, thanks for the compliment, but that remains to be
proven. ;)
<Tom> 5. How familiar are you with X-Force and the related
characters?
<Mash> Moderately familiar. I've been following the New Mutants since
the days of Claremont, and all the way thru their transformation into
X-Force, and to the present day.
<Tom> 6. So I see you're a life time X-Force fan?
<Mash> I'd say so. Currently, it's my favorite X-book. Hell, it's --
along with Thunderbolts, Heroes For Hire and Alpha Flight -- my
favorite comic book being published these days. Though it's had its
bad days too.
<Tom> 7. Yeah I heard... Could you tell us about the line-up of the
team you are planning and when does this book break off from
continuity?
<Mash> Okay. The break-off is #58, when Onslaught almost killed
X-Force. Since then, they have had to take some time off, to reflect
on their lives and think about who they want to be, and who they want
to become. They've been off for a month in Brazil, on a vacation of
sorts, and they will be returning in Unpredictable X-Force #1 in May.
<Tom> 8. What about the line-up?
<Mash> Ah. Well, for the first year that is going to be in somewhat
of a state of flux. There will be changes happening in Caliban that
might be what you'd expect, and on the other hand, what you might not
expect. A few familiar faces will be returning, and towards the end
of the year, a few will be leaving. Domino will step out of the
limelight for a while, in particular, but I've got plans to bring back
everyone who I'm going to put on the sidelines, so everyone will be
back.
<Tom> 9. Could you reveal what happens in #1? And what are your
plans for the near future?
<Mash> Well...hm. #1 will have X-Force returning from their vacation
in Brazil, and will reveal what has been happening during their
vacation. Then, the next two issues will see action in Paris, as the
team has to go up against Selene with an old friend who has her own
bone to pick with the External sorceress... After that, X-Force will
run up against G.W. Bridge and SHIELD who are hunting for the Mutant
Liberation Front...
<Tom> 10. That should keep the fans curious. How will your X-Force
be different from / familiar with Marvel's version?
<Mash> Hmmm... Now there's a tough question. Well, my X-Force isn't
going to be getting into trouble and waiting for Cable to bail them
out. They'll get into trouble, kick the enemy's ass, and then kick
Cable's ass for thinking they can't handle themselves. Aside from
that, I'm probably getting them closer to the general public, some of
them may possibly be going to college, or getting jobs.
<Tom> 11. That sounds pretty cool. Are you planning on resolving any
long time danglers?
<Mash> Hee hee. >;) The first thing, when I got this assignment, was
to get the NM and X-Force danglers files from WWW, and go thru them
and see which ones need resolving. So if you want hints on what's
going to happen, find those files, they should contain a lot of things
I intend to address. One thing you can most definitely count on me
addressing is the Nova Roma debacle. It's waaaaaay overdue.
<Tom> 12. Me being the genius of X-Force continuity I have no clue
what you're on about ;) So what villains are you planning on using in
the first 12 issues?
<Mash> Do you want to know the ones X-Force will fight, or all the
ones that will be involved in behind-the-scenes events? ;)
<Tom> 13. Not to spoil everything I will go for the ones they will
fight.
<Mash> Well, I pretty much gave most of them out already... Selene's
one of them. Then there's SHIELD, and to a certain extent the Mutant
Liberation Front. Hm. Sheesh. Is that all? Damn, I need to toss in
some more fights for the second year...
<Tom> 14. Just dont go over board ;) With the roster being in a state
of flux, is there any chance of old long lost New Mutants coming back,
or are you planning on any completely new members?
<Mash> Let's see... Of the original nine New Mutants (Sam, Dani,
Roberto, Xi'an, Rahne, Amara, Illyana, Doug and Warlock), Sam's over
at X-Men and will stay there for the next few years, at least...
Roberto's not going anywhere, he's one of my favorites. Hmmm... I'd
better not say too much about the rest, to avoid spoiling any
surprises... As for completely new characters, I prefer sticking to
ones that already exist. The Marvel Universe is already crowded
enough.
<Tom> 15. I totally agree with you. Is X-Force still living in the
mansion [which is destroyed after OZT storyline] with the X-Men?
<Mash> They will be. For a while. But don't expect them to be too
happy about having to live in the middle of nowhere since now they
don't have all the neato technology to rely on anymore. And, there
will be friction between the X-Men and X-Force...
<Tom> 16. There is some left over like the Danger Room, but that's
about it. When X-Force does leave do you have any place for them to
go? Maybe their old base they had before they moved into the mansion?
<Mash> Actually, there are plans to utilize Camp Verde, just not as an
X-Force base... <evil grin> But actually, X-Force -is- going to have
to face the question of 'where the hell do we go from here?', a little
bit like they do in the current books, but they don't go on the road.
Not much, anyway.
<Tom> 17. Good. it's nice to know you're not stealing ideas from JFM
;)
<Mash> JFM is doing a good job, and it'd be hard NOT to steal ideas
from him... But the truth of the matter is that I'm going to have
quite a differentish focus on the book from his. He's doing an 'on
the road' travel adventure. I intend to not concentrate so much on
the trip itself, but rather on the characters, and how their
personalities and motivations take them to different places.
<Tom> 18. Yep. Thats' you ;) Can you tell us about any new OR OLD
relationships you are planning on playing with?
<Mash> Ahhh... My favorite part. Where do you want me to start? ;)
<Tom> 19. Let's start with: Who will break up? <evil grin>
<Mash> Let's see... Okay, I'll admit it, and not beat around the
bush. Expect Tabitha to kick Sam's butt royally and dump him, and
storm off angrily. Also, Domino will be taking charge of her own life
again, and not being a hanger-on sidekick to Cable, which some people
might interpret as heralding doom for their relationship... But I'm
not saying anything more on that. Yet.
<Tom> 20. I wouldnt let you anyway. ;) So what old relationships
will be resurfacing?
<Mash> Hmmm... Well... How should I say this so it wouldn't be
blatantly obvious...? Let's say that a former X-Force member will be
returning, and stirring up some old and long-repressed feelings...
<Tom> 21. In moments like this you have no idea how much fun it is
being a editor. So what new relationships will be surfacing?
<Mash> Well, let's see... Expect one bi-sexual relationship between
two characters that haven't been seen since 1991. <I love being
obscure> Another one that might be termed as 'new' is one that's
actually based on a future story... But enough of that, or it'll be
too obvious. Then, of course, there's one that leads into a triangle
with the answer to the previous question...
<Tom> 22. Hey I was never told about that! Samy man we need to talk
later.
<Mash> Hey. If you can't surprise your editor, what good are you??
;)
<Tom> <mumbles> You're lucky I'm not Bob Harras, you would be gone in
a minute... ;)
<Mash> Nah, Bob knows a good thing when he sees it. Evidenced by
JFM/Pollina. ;)
<Tom> 23. He has his flashes of brilliancy every now and then... ;)
<Mash> He does indeed. Any other information you might want to
squeeze out of me? ;)
<Tom> Nah I'm almost finshed
<Mash> One thing I'll make clear is this: Unpredictable X-Force is
going to rock. Seriously. And I'm going to completely pull the rug
from under some characters, fulfill the reason-of-existence for some
characters, look into peoples' powers at greater depth, explore the
pasts of characters, bring in all kinds of plot threads that NO ONE is
going to believe I'm bringing back. So read it. And let me know what
you think.
<Tom> Yeah well, that kinda answers my last question: "What do you
think of the project?" <g>
<Tom> Okay Samy, I've molested you for almost two hours now -- last
few questions to finish off the interview:
<Mash> Okay, go ahead.
<Tom> Where will be the readers able to find Unpredictable X-Force ?
<Mash> Well, it will go out to ACFF and Untold-l, is what I know. It
will also be archived at my homepage at
'http://www.utu.fi/~samerc/fanfic/index.html'. Undoubtedly
Unpredictable X-Force will also be archived elsewhere, so why don't
you fill the readers in, Tom? ;)
<Tom> What you said, plus on Vision Comics' own sub-site on Shifting
Sands at 'http://shifting-sands.la.ca.us/~darqstar/vision/splash.htm',
courtesy of Darqstar.
<Mash> Nifty. So, does that wrap it up?
<Tom> One more:
<Mash> Okay. ;)
<Tom> At the time of working on Unpredictable X-Force, will you be
doing any other fan-fiction projects?
<Mash> <laughs> Christmas! I'll be working on about a dozen other
stories... The Twelve, of course... Ride of the Valkyries
will...hmm...that story, now that I remember to say, will actually be
in continuity for Unpredictable X-Force. It takes place prior to
X-Force #27, and explains why Danielle ended up on Earth from Asgard,
and how she hooked up with Roberto's Mutant Liberation Front... Then
there's From Russia With Love, which I'm hoping to finish sometime
this millennia...
<Tom> Hehe. May I just point out that most of these stories will be
archived at the Vision Comics sub-site on Shifting Sands as part of
the Alerted Vision universe.
<Mash> Feel free. My stories should cover all the world. (I'm so
humble) ;)
<Tom> I agree !
<Tom> With this we end our interview which lasted almost two hours. I
can see how Samy is exhausted. I'd better let him go now or I'll lose
my best writer.
<Mash> One more thing. ;) Expect the unexpected. Expect
the...Unpredictable.
<Tom> Catchy line. You watch too much X-Files. <g>
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This is it guys. Expect "Unpredictable X-Force" #1 online 3rd week of
May. Then again it might be unexpected, or unpredictable.
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UNPREDICTABLE X-FORCE #1
BRAND NEW SERIES BY VISION COMICS AND SAMY 'MASH' MERCHI.
HITTING THE NET IN MAY
"Just say the word, boss, and I'll nuke anything in sight."
-Tab in UXF #1
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kingbob
On Mon, 20 Apr 1998 15:49:49 +1200, Tom <vis...@ihug.co.nz> wrote:
><Tom> 2. Can you tell us anything about the demise of Mutant Comics?
><Mash> No, it's not my place to say anything especially since I'm not
>too knowledgeable on what happened. But I assure that The Twelve will
>be continued at least until #12, with or without Mutant Comics.
Just so you know, MUTANT COMICS got to be too much of a pain
in the @$$. I was the only person keeping it going... so I said F**K
it! Besides that, I was getting more interested in concentrating on
original work and getting something published in comics form, which I
am extremely close to doing.
Kingbob
Who needs reality when you can have cyber reality
P.S. I also sometimes sign with the name ASYLUM