Welcome to another creepy edition of X-Men on Monday at X-Fans, AIPT!
And now for something a little different! After being allowed to press pass to Fan Expo Boston 2025, I began to think about what to do with this column. Can you go up and down the artist’s alleys and talk to the tables of all the creators who touched the X-Men? Certainly – but I did that too. Not only at Fan Expo Boston, but also at Trerificon and New York Comic Con! Are there any creators left to talk about? ! ? And what if I just talked to people who haven’t written X-Men stories because of their ideas about the franchise?
In front of the insanity right after the door opened on Friday. Provided by Chris Hassan
That’s what I pitched to Eisner nominated author (and skilled musician) Philip Kennedy Johnson (the incredible Hulk, Hellhunter, action comics, Batman and Robin, among others) and Eisner and TV writer Porn Pitchett Short (Good Asian, Horizon Project’s Horizon Project’s Best). No one was shocking, and these two incredible talents had the X-Men’s opinion! (Aren’t they all?)
I really enjoy our conversation and honestly based on what these two said to me, I would like to read Take on the Porn Cyclops and Philip’s Extended Exploration of Wolverine. Read to see if you agree!
AIPT: Welcome to X-Men Monday – Fan Expo Boston 2025 Edition! Philip, what was your first X-Men experience?
Philip Kennedy Johnson: Wow. I remember being really excited about the first Jim Lee issue and Joe Madilaya days. I had a “phalanx contract” crossover, and it was just amazingly cool.
AIPT: I loved those foil covers.
Provided by Marvel Comics
Philip: Yeah, it’s very cool, but the story too. I really loved the story. But the anime series have appeared before that, right?
aipt: Yes – and run in parallel.
Philip: At the time, I was devouring the shows like crazy. At the time, if you weren’t an X-Men fan at that age, you were just human shit – sorry for the curse. At the same time, Jim Lee, Joe Mudd, “A Fatal Attraction” – it was my favorite Marvel thing. I stuck to it through “Age of Apocalypse” and loved it all. Soon after that, I became really serious about music. I think I continued to subscribe to Wolverine and Batman, but then I went to college and didn’t read for fun for a while – it was all about studying.
When I returned to comics years later, I found this amazing store.
aipt: Third I comic? (lol) I saw an edition of your stack.
Philip: The first time Steve from Third Eye got me was when I learned that I was a voracious comic and that X-Men readers were the incredible X-Men by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday. He broke the plastic without expecting me to buy it – he just wanted me to see it as a fellow nerd. It was really powerful to see how far the art form has come.
AIPT: What was your first X-Men experience, porn sack?
Pornsak Pichetshote: Ah, my God, perhaps the classic X-Men problem, new materials, especially when I didn’t notice the first 10 issues where new panels were inserted between the pages. That was probably my first experience.
Provided by Marvel Comics
AIPT: X-Men is a unique franchise that covers so many themes. What about the “X-Men” that appeals to you in particular?
Porn: I certainly am a theme of alienation, an outsider, and that means that it is a similarity in racial conflict. They really stand out.
Philip: I think X-Men has always been one of the most important books on shelves. It’s just as important as Superman. Writing Superman is a huge honor and I am not just writing adventures, so I have a weight of responsibility that is important to me. He writes about how best to be human, how best to treat others, how to care for others and show care to others, and having great power to use with ultimate compassion and humility is fine.
Provided by Marvel Comics
The X-Men and X-Books have similar weights. It’s a story about being feared, hated, scapegoated, and a very important message that so many people need to see. As a child, I liked X-Men because it was cool and I identified as someone else as a lonely and confused child without many friends. But there are others who identify that. I’ve met many people who have never read comics, but they still love the X-Men. X-Books is the only cartoon with the weight of responsibility associated with Superman.
AIPT: Who is your favorite X-Men character?
Porn: That is, there’s a soft spot for Cyclops. I know it’s debatable.
AIPT: Not at all. He’s also my favorite, so I think that’s the right answer.
Porn: Many people don’t like cyclops.
AIPT: Those people are wrong. What do you think is fascinating about Scott?
Porn: It’s part of anxiety – good mutants and good heroes have great anxiety. Cyclops has some great things, and literally everything he sees is destroyed. I love it as a concept and as a factory creation that fuels the characters.
Provided by Marvel Comics
AIPT: Your favourite X-Men character, Philip?
Philip: Wolverine. It is his position as the ultimate survivor. He is someone who is not the main type of them, who survives anything and never gives up. He has no flashiest power compared to some – he has no power to change reality. His power allows him to protect himself as a living being. He is just as attractive as a man who has experienced an incredible amount.
I have this head cannon in Wolverine. My mind rebelles against the idea that he is only a few hundred years old. Wolverine feels like this infinite companion to humanity that is always there. And although he is one of the perfect X-Men, the X-Men becomes a relatively short chapter in his life, as he perceives it. He is the ultimate survivor. He is bigger than all of us, has the ability to survive longevity and literally anything physically or psychologically.
Provided by Marvel Comics
AIPT: What’s your favorite X-Men story?
Porn: I say that this is a completely police answer, but Chris Claremont sees his whole giant novel as one giant novel, so the whole Claremont reads from start to finish and reads it as a novel.
Philip: “Age of the Apocalypse” is powerful. You know, some comic fans of the world are trying to regain the greatness of young people’s stories, but in reality, what they’re trying to capture is how those stories made them feel as young readers and blew their minds away. “Age of Apocalypse” is one of the formative stories for me. The range was very surprising. We framed the legacy of Charles Xavier in this clear way. It was also very exciting to see such different take on the characters. It was a truly amazing reading experience as a child. At the time, I had never seen a comic store and didn’t do it until a few years later. I was able to buy the comic as a target or from a spinner rack at a drugstore, but I still managed to get this incredibly powerful story.
“Fatal Attractions” had moments that had a great weight for me. After Wolverine is pulled out of Adamantium on his way home, the plane falls apart, and Charles is about to keep him from entering the light. Logan says he’s going, and Charles says, “Logan! That’s death!!” “Logan says, Chuck, don’t you think I know that?” I don’t know, it’s a very powerful moment. The story has such a beautifully written beat. I remember it was really powerful.
Provided by Marvel Comics
AIPT: Want to tackle X-Men stories?
Pornsak: It depends on the book, but yes, absolutely.
Phillip: I am extremely honored to write any kind of X-Book. I certainly have a view on Wolverine that I want to convey. I saw the X-Force I wanted to share. But to write an X-Book, I have to think long enough to even take it or not. I would like to make sure those books are always written by people who understand it, and I need to ensure the justice of those books.
When asked to write John Stewart in Green Lantern: Warjournal, I really had to think about whether to take it or not. There are many readers of John who need him to feel that he is not only great, but also seen and understood on the page.
Provided by DC Comics
If you feel you can respect the most respectful readers of the X-Men and help them feel they are seen, you will be honored to write it. But I don’t underestimate it.
AIPT: Finally, what other jobs should I check out X-Fans?
Philip: My Superman’s job is because X-Men stories are equally heavy about what really matters in such a way. I try to write every story with great respect – I always try to write a weight-carrying version. So Superman.
aipt: I loved Hell Hunter.
Philip: At Hellhunters, I loved writing Wolverine. All of the characters on that team are so amazing. It’s one of the Marvel books I enjoyed most.
Provided by Marvel Comics
Also, when I wrote the extreme massacre, I took out my friends of humanity in the way I thought was appropriate. I remember them persuading the bad guys as children. In the current climate, they seem very relevant. I brought them back in a very relevant way. It was a series that I wrote the first and final questions alongside Steve Orlando, Clay Chapman and Alyssa Wong. I’m very proud of that. That is when the Symbiotes universe meets the Manchurian candidate. I hope X-Men fans are grateful.
Provided by Marvel Comics
Pornsak: Now I’m working on the exquisite corpse, James Tinion IV’s book about many serial killers descending into town. They are bankrolled by 13 families running across the United States, with the winners gaining American control for the next five years. But it really follows the people of that town.
And it was out for a while, but the horizon is experimenting.
AIPT: Vita Ayala, J of X-Men fame. Featuring Holtham and Sabir Pirzada.
Pornsak: I want to see a ternalive legitimate work in the X-Men book.
Courtesy of the image comic
However, I want people to check out Horizon experiments featuring potential pilots in the new series. The idea is that I asked a bunch of creators to set the story in a way that gives a protagonist of color set in a very popular genre and if the character’s background was changed, the entire story would have to change. So we have Chinese superspies, Muslim exorcists, evil dead for black nerds, reverse Indiana Jones who steal from museums and bring artifacts back to their culture, and East African werewolves who secretly live in Miami.
aipt: You have it, x-fans – Summer isn’t over yet, so there’s still time to add to those summer reading lists. But on that note, thank you for spending time talking to Philip and Porn Sack and talking to the X-Men!
There’s no exclusive art this week, X-Fans, because these guys aren’t working on X-Books! But in fact, I have something for you from the show floor…
Provided by Chris Hassan
That’s right: X-Fudge! If anyone doesn’t share this with #xspoilers I would be disappointed.
Anyone, just in case you missed it, I also reported on Wolverine’s voice actor Kal Dodd’s Fan Expo Boston Panel. Finally, look at two more interviews from the convention. Artist Simone Di Meo looks back on his upcoming Jeffrove collaborations, the X-Men of Apocalypse, and author Tini Howard, working with Betsy Braddock and Rachel Summers, and her upcoming series Marian Heretic.
Until next time, X-Fans will remain exceptional!
