 
We've had a great 2009 talking comics with all of you in 24 columns over 31 weeks! And we were together for 3 of the 7 skip weeks at HeroesCon, San Diego Comic Con, and G-Man's Greensboro Cape Crisis! Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.
Gregg and I are rounding out the first calender year of RE: Comics! with our longest director's commentary yet, this time for X-Babies #3!
me:Maybe it was the turkey induced haze, maybe it was the whirlwind of travel and signings, but we're back in what seems like a flash for the commentary on X-Babies #3!10:27 AM Gregg: It's more because X-Babies #2 was pushed back a week from it's original date, so there' was only a three week gap...factor that in with when we did the #2 "commentary" vs. this one...yeah, a flash indeed.10:28 AM But everyone can hang tight, because issue #4's not out for another few weeks still. It got pushed back for a number of reasons beyond our control. me: Just scheduling at Marvel?10:30 AM Gregg: Mostly, yeah. The holidays make things funky with printers, etc, etc. Maybe some of it is some lead time being eaten up, but overall we didn't expect the date shift. me: Since we talked right before issue #1's release, you've said that issue #3 was going to be the can't miss installment of the series.10:31 AM Gregg: This issue's my favorite of the bunch. The most stuff happens, a lot of set-up gets paid off, and to my biased mind, the last five pages are super-awesome.10:32 AM me: Before we get to those we've got 17 more to get through! Starting with the recap! Kitty!10:33 AM Gregg: Oh yeah, you love Kitty...I can't believe I hadn't thought of that. Yes, Kitty's turn to tell us what's what (with Colossus' help). Credit where credit's due: Jacob's responsible for all the inner-panel/drawing dialogue. I personally like the Alphabot's "Spelling" balloon.10:35 AM And astute readers will notice the page Colossus in working on in the last panel is strikingly similar to the next two pages. That was all part of the plan, gang.
 me: My favorite is the "Da. Very good, Kitten." in the last panel
 Gregg: Oh, I also like "I am a alligator" if only for the improper grammar of it.
10:37 AMÂ me: haha, but Gummy has teeth in that drawing
 Gregg: Well, that's because as of the last page of #2, the X-Babies didn't know that about Gummy just yet.
  Ah HA!
10:38 AMÂ me: no No Prize for me =(
10:39 AMÂ but
when we get into the action, the X-Babies are at an dead end.
Seriously, Royal Roy is blocking the bridge they're trying to cross.
 Gregg:
Well, for what it's worth, to actually EARN a No-Prize, you have to not
only find a mistake, but come up with a creative explanation. So, even
if it WAS a mistake, just pointing it out does not merit a No-Prize, at
least not by "classic" No-Prize rules.
10:40 AMÂ me: Then we'll share that one.
10:41 AMÂ Gregg:
Yes. Royal Roy, looking all the world pretty bad. At least, until he
very much isn't. It wasn't until I started writing this issue that I
came upon the idea of his using money-pun-heavy dialogue, which tickled
me to no end.
  But I always knew he'd be barely an obstacle, inspired by how meek the original Star Comics were...just so...meh.
10:42 AMÂ me: One dose of SNIKT and they're high-tailing it to the further aggravation of Mr. Veech.
10:43 AMÂ Gregg:
Indeed. Plus, in a mere four panels we learn enough about Roy so that
when the bigger reveals unveil themselves later, it's hopefully a cool
thing to see.
 me: Absolutely
10:44 AMÂ Gregg: But Veech has more ammunition. Namely: Top Dog.
 me: Your favorite of the Star Comics characters, if I'm not mistaken? A little best for last?
10:46 AMÂ Gregg:
He was my fave of the four, true. I suppose there's some of that.
Though I actually had a more involved sequence in my head for this next
chunk...but space became a problem. If anything, I wanted to do too
much in this issue and had to find solutions to that.
10:47 AMÂ This sequence in particular was helped by a long phone conversation with Jacob and Chris G.
 me: What was the original concept?
10:50 AMÂ Gregg:
The original concepts, actually. One was to have Top Dog lead them
rather than the GPS and there'd be a page of them chasing him as he
revealed nonsensical clues and kept yammering on. Another idea had him
challenging the X-Babies to different skills (strength, speed, smarts,
etc), so distract and scatter them. But an overall more active,
action-y role. But with everything that was coming up, I didn't have
the space (and that's in an issue where we actually got an extra story
page (this one's got 23 pages of new content counting the original
recap page).
10:51 AMÂ But
the essentials were for Top Dog to be super-skilled, computer-literate,
and for him to lead them in some way on a wild goose chase in order to
set Rogue off, etc, etc.
10:52 AMÂ me:
I like how it ended up just because it didn't require him intimidating
them or attacking them in anyway. He made it out without a scratch, he
trapped them. He was tops at messing with the X-Babies.
10:54 AMÂ Gregg:
Oh, and in the mindless details department: When he's pulling stuff out
of his bag, in my head he says the word "Hockey" the way Tom Hanks says
it in the movie BIG when they're talking about making a digital comics
reading device (how prescient, right?). And the star on the back of the
laptop was another beautiful additional detail by Jacob.
  But Top Dog is tops at everything, man!
10:56 AMÂ Following
Top Dog we get another scene change (Jacob was loving these...literally
a new establishing shot every two pages...poor guy...I put him through
the ringer; though I'd get my comeuppance later in this very issue).
10:57 AMÂ And so, as X-Men have done in the past, the X-Babies go into the sewers...
10:58 AMÂ me: And more dead ends. Big props to Emily Warren for these couple of pages
  The textures on the sewer pipes and in water is fantastic.
10:59 AMÂ Gregg:
Props to the whole team, totally. Though, I have to call you out on
"more dead ends"...it's more locks...get it? More locks. Morlocks.
  Hilarious, right?
  Maybe not.
 me: OH MAN!
11:00 AMÂ I was expecting to see a little Callisto or Leech or someone in the tunnels, but I missed the pun!
11:02 AMÂ Gregg:
I was perhaps too clever for my own good. But that was part of the
plan, to get people internally guessing what might be down
there...especially with the X-Babies talking about alligators and
dragoons and such (I wanted people to think maybe there'd be a Lockheed
down there maybe)...only to find a sewer filled with "more locks".
  Too clever by a nose.
 me: Before the team has to split up, Rogue spots a camera boy and has some "words" for Mr. Veech!
11:05 AMÂ Gregg:
Rogue loses it, and boy oh boy, that was a fun rant to write.
Straight-up hootin' and hollerin', with one of my favorite lines in the
whole series, "Y'all 'r deader meat 'n a ham 'n egg biscuit!"
11:07 AMÂ But considering everything they've been dealing with, can we blame her for gettin' ticked?
 me: Not at all, and can you blame Mr. Veech for getting scared and sending Spiral after them anew?
 Gregg: Especially since they didn't even get to fight the last two "threats"
11:08 AMÂ I'd say he's less scared and more "hey, what's the deal, this is NOT how I want things to go".
  His very well constructed plan has slowly been picked away at and he, like the X-Babies, is getting more and more frustrated.
11:09 AMÂ me:
We get an idea that the general public is none that wiser though, and
while his plans are slipping away, they're still being placated by the
new X-Babies
11:11 AMÂ Gregg: Well, they are pretty adorable.
11:12 AMÂ me: Indeed, why a haircut?
11:14 AMÂ Gregg:
The haircut thing came from a Nick Jr. show I really loved that didn't
last very long, OSWALD, about a very friendly blue octopus. In one
episode, his penguin friend Henry refuses to get haircut. It's not for
fear of pain, per se, but in general kids get freaked out about first
haircuts and all, so I went with that.
11:16 AMÂ The
book version of that episode, titled "Henry's First Haircut", is likely
still out there somewhere via Amazon or whatnot...mentioned only
because I illustrated it. Boom, full circle!
  BOOM!
 Gregg: Wow, look at you facilitating sales on a book neither one of us will make a dime on. Ha ha.
11:18 AMÂ But
I suppose we should get back to X-Babies, where all of Wolverine's
"I'll believe it when I see it" statements pay off when they all see it.
11:19 AMÂ me: The dystopia of Mojoworld!
11:21 AMÂ Gregg:
In a nod to the advantages of collaboration: on this page, had I been
drawing it myself, I in all likelihood would have never envisioned
Mojoworld or that tower the way Jacob drew it...and for that I thank
Jacob, because mine would have likely been much more a "standard"
building with a bunch of junk atop it. Jacob took it to it's creatively
logical level, especially with all the Mojo signage and such.
  Also, how awesome is the little Kitty coming through the wall in panel two of that page?
11:24 AMÂ me:
That is awesome. And now we kind of get into the real meat of the
issue, which is amazing considering how much has already happened.
11:26 AMÂ Gregg:
Now, in terms of some "behind the scenes" business, at this point in
the book, while Jacob was working on it, we learned that because of
Thanksgiving and some loss of lead time, the deadline for this issue
was...tight. Wicked tight. There was a proposal to bring in an inker to
help Jacob out, which we didn't want. Instead, to help Jacob out, I
pitched in and did some layouts. Six pages in the second half of the
book. So from here on out we can play the "Which pages did Gregg lend a
hand in, visually?" game, if you'd like. Or we can keep it a mystery.
11:28 AMÂ me:
If I had to wager right now, I would say the first page with Wally, the
first one with Planet Terry, the first one with Royal Roy, the one with
everyone knocked out, and the page with the X-Babies re-combining.
11:29 AMÂ Gregg:
Meanwhile, semi-funny story about page 11 (where they split into two
teams). In panel 4, Wolverine's giving Rogue a playful punch. Beyond
that being awesome because in my original script it was more an arm on
the shoulder and Jacob correctly switched it, Jacob hates drawing the
back of Wolverine's head. And I can see why; it's awkward. But after
the page was inked and on it's way I asked, "dude, why didn't you just
draw him punching her with his left arm?" at which point Jacob laughed
at the oversight...and blamed it on the tight schedule and him not
thinking clearly. Which is fair.
11:31 AMÂ You're
right about four of your guesses. Wrong about one. And I was wrong...it
was actually eight pages I worked on...so there are four more you've
missed.
 me: Which ones did I get?
 Gregg: (the one you got wrong was the Royal Roy page)
11:33 AMÂ I
helped out on the pages from Wally's page through the second to last
page, minus the Roy Page and the Wolverine Berserker Tantrum page...but
maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves?
11:34 AMÂ And
I say helped out because in several cases Jacob tweaked what I'd
done...moved some stuff around, and sometimes recomposed panels
entirely...to better effect.
 me: Quite. Team A attacks Mr. Veech head on, but he's not alone.
11:35 AMÂ Gregg:
But either way, I got a taste of my own medicine when I had to actually
lay out the complicated pages I'd so callously typed up descriptions
for.
11:36 AMÂ No
he's not...and I wonder how many people knew who the "them" off panel
were that the X-Babies are reacting too when the lay siege to Veech's
tower. Did you know what was coming?
11:37 AMÂ Also, on that same page, top panel, we get our first glimpse at the REAL Star Comics characters.
 me: I had a feeling.
11:38 AMÂ You paced it so well though, delaying the reveal. Excellent job of righting for the issue vs. writing for the collection.
11:39 AMÂ Gregg:
Thanks, man. I appreciate that. This sequence, the cutting back and
forth between "Attack" and "Rescue", I'm very pleased with. I really
wanted things to feel like everything was going on at once...so that
when things converge it makes sense that way.
11:40 AMÂ But
beyond that, there's a LOT being thrown at the readers and the
characters over the next run of pages...new reveals, essentially new
characters and status quos...chock-a-block!
 me: We really get to see Jacob work with the designs that we're part of the original X-Babies press release.
11:41 AMÂ Gregg:
Yes! Designs that I was originally upset were revealed until I read
some comments where it was clear people did not understand what those
designs meant, at which point I thought, okay, maybe readers won't see
the reveal coming after all.
11:42 AMÂ me:
When you guys were down here in October and so many people were asking
Jacob (and you) for X-Babies style [insert X-Man], I was afraid that
people would associate you guys with this book forever and that style
of drawing.
11:43 AMÂ Gregg:
And the designs are awesome and Jacob and I spent way too much time
talking about these four characters and their "new continuities" than
we probably should have considering how much we actually show/use them
in those contexts.
 me:
Whereas I was a big fan of Jacob's from strips like Space Chick and Space
Chicken where I really dug his more proportionate characters, too. So
it's good to see him mixing it up. And his designs were fantastic.
11:44 AMÂ Gregg:
Ha ha, I was just telling Jacob yesterday that with the end of issue
#3, he might suddenly get besieged by people wanting ADORABLE versions
of everyone. So yeah, Jacob's got mad versatility.
  For better or worse.
11:46 AMÂ Gregg:
On the Wally page, the reference to "Gorg" is a reference to the old
Wally the Wizard series, where Wally had a time-travelling demon
friend/deu ex machina named Gorg.
11:49 AMÂ me:
The X-Babies are ready to go full-time into their doppelgangers, and
then we get another delayed reveal of what the cute impostors are
really made of.
11:51 AMÂ Gregg:
Another delayed reveal, yeah, though there's a hint of it when Adorable
Cyclops (and for ease of reference, we tend use Adorables/Adorable as
the distinction) gets hit and lets out a "squeek" at the bottom of page
14.
  Before than we get Terry up against some hawk-like aliens based on a background alien from PLANET TERRY #8.
  Look it up if you're super-bored.
11:53 AMÂ But
yes, the Adorables are not so easily beaten as they're more cartoon
than anything else...which was a big part of the original Spider-Ham
mini-series Jacob and I pitched. I liked the idea too much to let it go
to waste, so here it is. Granted, it means that Spider-Ham idea's never
gonna happen, but it wasn't likely to happen anyway, so we move on!
11:55 AMÂ me: Royal Roy is my favorite "story in progress."
11:58 AMÂ Gregg:
Royal Roy is certainly the biggest departure from the original concept.
As we were working up the designs it struck me that they were all very
white and mostly red haired (even Top Dog)...and since Royal Roy was
the blankest slate he was the one that got the biggest revamp. The more
we thought about it the cooler his new status quo got. On the lip side,
after the fact I thought it might be cool to make Planet Terry into
Planet Teri and make him a girl in "real life"...but (a) it was after
the fact and maybe going too far in a Veechian direction trying to
placate all sides, etc.
11:59 AMÂ But Delroy Al-Kashir's a pretty intense dude. Especially compared to the rest of 'em.
12:01 PMÂ me: Absolutely.
12:02 PMÂ I don't want to spoil anything, but there was an original Top Dog design that was almost War Machine-like.
12:03 PMÂ Did that hit the cutting room floor?
 Gregg: There was.
  And no. No it didn't.
 me: That's that then.
 Gregg: Heh heh.
12:04 PMÂ me:
Then Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and their new band of liberated heroes
join the throes of battle, where the rest of the X-Babies aren't doing
so hot.
12:06 PMÂ And
here's where the last five pages start. Despite my involvement in it, I
really like page 19, where we open on the defeated X-Babies and the
"Attack?" caption. The tension mounts until yeah, the rescue team shows
up, all kinds of liberated characters in tow...some of which might seem
even a bit familiar.
12:09 PMÂ In
their big entrance, if you look carefully, you'll see pastiches of
Cookie Monster, The Little Rascals, Br'er Rabbit, Speedy
Gonzalez...Pee-Wee Herman (in the big shoe at the top of the
page)...the dragon was originally intended as a Barney-esque riff (like
the cool thing Barney was "based on"), and a Mini-Marvels Hawkeye drawn
by none other than Chris Giarrusso himself.
12:11 PMÂ me: Chris had mentioned of Facebook that Hawkeye had a cameo and I went back to look for it.
12:12 PMÂ Gregg:
Meanwhile, in the original script, Wolverine goes off just by virtue of
his teammates getting beat/not winning. Jacob made the very valid point
that something else should happen to REALLY set him off into his
berserker tantrum. We went back and forth a bit and finally landed on
the three panels of dialogue which leads us into another of the coolest
pages in the book...maybe the coolest page, actually.
12:13 PMÂ me: I think that's the one that will really stick with people. That or the last page of this issue.
12:14 PMÂ We talked in our commentary for issue #2 that Wolverine hadn't really used his claws on anyone despite taking some big swings.
12:15 PMÂ Gregg:
That panel is almost exactly as I imagined it when I wrote it up in the
script (though I didn't imagine gutters between the background grid
panels). Jacob NAILED it in every conceivable way. It was also his idea
to have the Wolverine panels be colored in solid red. A perfect call.
  Yeah,
I don't remember what my response was to that specifically, but I know
in my head I was thinking, oh boy...wait 'til you see this page...
12:16 PMÂ me: It's been a long time since we saw a berserker rage in any comic at that
12:18 PMÂ Gregg:
Brian Smith, co-writer of "Stuff of Legend" and artist of the "Loud
Boy" books, and I have talked about that quite a bit, how Wolverine was
always fighting the monster inside and how that THREAT of the berserker
rage was something to build tension with and create anticipation and a
sense of danger. These days he seems far more comfortable going to town
on folks.
  Though I did like the "Enemy of the State" story...though in that case he clearly wasn't in control, etc, etc.
12:19 PMÂ me: Exactly.
  But they can't keep them down, building to that amazing final page!
12:20 PMÂ Yep, the last page...the BIG reveal...
12:21 PMÂ Though,
in the last panel of page 22, some more trivia: check out Alf, Pee Wee,
and Mr. Magoo flanking that group scene (behind the word balloon was a
take on Invader Zim, should anyone be curious.
12:23 PMÂ me: I would have loved to see Zim!
12:24 PMÂ Gregg: I'll send you a copy of that panel, unlettered.
 me: Thanks!
12:25 PMÂ In
my mental listing of everyone on the last page, I knew everybody except
for the dude with the bandana, whose had turned into a gun or was a
gun. But I did have his action figure.
12:26 PMÂ Gregg: That's Random. He appeared in X-Factor back when Joe Quesada was on the book with Peter David writing.
12:27 PMÂ For color purposes, we actually have lists of who everyone is. There are 47 X-characters on this page alone.
  You even recognized Dr. Ceclia Reyes in the back?
 me: Did you pick them?
12:28 PMÂ (she's behind Longshot, right?)
12:29 PMÂ Gregg:
Not specifically, no. I'd have to check the script, but I think I just
said " a whole mess of adorables from the well-known to the obscure or
ridiculous" or something to that effect. Jacob and I definitely talked
about characters and who'd be fun/funny to throw in there.
  (yeah)
12:30 PMÂ His interpretations of Juggernaut and Jubilee I think are my faves on this page.
 me: I like Emma and Beak a lot
 Gregg: But they're all so great. Even his decision to have Dazzler in her original costume...or Gambit with the shape cards.
12:31 PMÂ The expression on Emma's face is golden. Maggot giggling with his maggots. Ice Man's flat-ish head.
12:32 PMÂ It's super-fun/funny/cute while at the same time, in context of the story, way creepy and intense.
 me: Madrox playing paper, rock, scissors with himself.
12:35 PMÂ Gregg:
I'm not gonna lie to you, I was hoping that this issue...and the
berserker page and this last page, would be the game-changers...get
people talking about this li'l mini-series as something more than what
people have expected/written it off as. That still hasn't yet
happened...but even so, I'm really pleased with this issue. And when
you factor in that Jacob, in a week and a half or so, pencilled and
inked the last half of the book...with everything that happens in the
last half of the book...that dude deserves a double-raise or something.
  Because not for nothing, the next issue picks up from here and just. keeps. going!
12:37 PMÂ me: That's what I like to hear!
  And I think this one will keep people on the edge of their seats for a hot minute.
 Gregg: Well, it keeps going for 22 pages.
12:38 PMÂ I hope you're right.
12:40 PMÂ But
everyone's gonna have to wait until January 27th for the
pulse-pounding, thrilling conclusion in the mighty Marvel manner! (no
one hypes books up like that anymore, do they?)
X-Babies #4
On Sale January 27th!
Gregg Schigiel is a cartoonist, illustrator, and writer. He's worked as a penciller and editor for Marvel Comics and an illustrator and cartoonist at Nickelodeon in addition to creating his own characters and books. He's currently writing X-Babies for Marvel with artist Jacob Chabot and writing and drawing Pix: Teenage American Fairy and Safari Junior High, appearing in the back of the G-Man: Cape Crisis mini series from Image. Check out his website at Hatter Entertainment.com.
Stephen Mayer makes his mama proud holding down the fort while she's in surgery and making sure there's a price tag on every statue before the sale.
