Okay, so when I was doing the announcement of "Madrox" at the Detroit convention and talking about how--if the book had high sales--we'd continue it as a series, I also said we were going to do everything we could to try and snag people's interest. That included the title (said I) as I took a piece of paper and wrote out a logo that looked like this:
MadroX
That is to say, we were going to make the "X" the biggest letterin the logo. "After all, we're not stupid," I said with a grin.
And somehow this has morphed into the silly notion that, within the interior of the book, his name is always going to be spelled as MadroX.
No! Fer cryin' out loud, guys, no. I don't even know 100% for sure that we're doing it in the logo; I was half-kidding. I'd LIKE to do it that way, and I'd discussed it with the editor, but it's not set in stone. And we're CERTAINLY not going to have it appear that way within the body of the book. Just as the logo, if we do it at all.
Okay?
Sheesh, the stuff you have to clear up...
PAD
Posted by Peter David at May 22, 2004 12:55 AM | TrackBack | Other blogs commentingYou sure he's not Madro Ten, part of the super-secret Madro Program? ;-)
Nono, that's MadroX, the UNIX-based successor to the 'closed box' model GUI.
You guys miss the point. His name is Madro X. He's a mutant that has gotten rid of the slave name the white man has foisted on him. (He used to be known as Madro Fitzsimmons Cadwallader III.)
Freed of the obscene slave name that the honky forced on him, Madro X can hold breakfasts for little mutant kids and fill them full of propaganda, he can go to Manhattan intellectual parties in his leathers and collect money for mutant causes, he can stare all surly and intimidate people on the street, and best of all, he can appear in the comic strip "The Boondocks and have that strip's main character, Huey X, greet him as a brother and a fellow insurgent.
Hmmm, for those of us that couldn't make the con--what's the news with Madrox? Your X-Factor was the greatest of ALL mutant comics! You took it straight back to the original idea where you found yourself knowing not just the powers of the characters but the heart that drove them and the passions that made that heart beat...and you did it all in that fun way that made it a MUST HAVE every month on the day of release. I lament that comics passing everytime I pass my comic boxes.
PLEASE say you'll kinda' throw in a couple of the old gang every now and then (Guido, Rahne, Lorna, Val, & Pietro...especially Guido) PAD! Pretty please? I'll stop cussin' and eat more veggies! I already give my word to read it ASAP, but I miss the old gang the way you wrote it...and I want to know what more you would have done.
Mike
See this interview at Newsarama http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13187
and see the "Multiple Postings" and "Announcement from Peter" threads below for more details.
I wouldn't particulary care if Jamie did decide to capitalize the X in the spelling of his name. I work with a woman named "Ivory" who for some reason insists it be spelled with a lowercase "i" and I seem to remember a pop star who changed his name to an unprounceable symbol so a capitalized "X" wouldn't be unprecented or the weirdest thing any of us have ever seen. I do think it would be a stretch and out of character for Jamie to do it though so I'm glad that it's just a marketing idea (that is likely to be quite effective).
And I like the idea that Peter is using that MadroX... um, I mean Madrox will split off duplicates to send off to learn facts and skills and come back to merge with the other bodies to have one super-capable person. I first had the idea myself in Peter's X-Factor run when Jamie looked on enviously as Quicksilver learned to play the piano in a matter of minutes at super-speed by just banging on a piano until he got it down. I thought, "Well why doesn't Jamie just split off 5 duplicates and assign them the task of learning 5 different music instruments while he goes on about his day. Then he could be a one man band". Of course he could also send some dupes out at the same time with the assignments of learning weapons, martial arts, first aid, etc. I figured that they may be able to "download" learned information and skills from each other without merging though since there is a low level telepathic link between bodies (as established in the now classic story by Claremont and Byrne in which Proteus killed one of his duplicates by possessing the duplicate and the surviving body or bodies were hit with some kind of telepathic feedback).
I kind of prefer the idea that all of the "duplicates" are the real Jamie meaning that he splits in two and then does so again and again rather than there being "an original" or "the real one" and every onter other one is a "copy". I know that in his first appearance with the Thing and the "Fallen Angels" stories (the horrible X-character and Devil Dinosaur miniseries with no relation to Peter's current DC series) established that the original was discernible from the duplicates by the first Jamie but since "the real" Madrox was subsequently killed by the Legacy Virus, maybe the "duplicates" are all "equally real" now.
Another highly unused factor of Jamie's powers is that he splits off other duplicates when he is struck by something. I would guess that he somehow uses the kinetic energy to draw mass to build his new bodies from an extra-dimensional universe since the laws of conservation of matter and energy state that matter and energy can neither be created nor destroyed and I don't know if anyone is buying that a slap has enough kinetic energy to be converted into a body worth of matter if it was even possible for kinetic energy to be converted to matter. Regardless, in his first appearance he was taking punches from the Thing and just splitting off more and more duplicates so I'd assume that you'd have to kill him or his duplicates through means such as fire, dismemberment, or poisoning. If impact splits off duplicates, would a bullet's kinetic energy be absorbed and create new bodies without killing the original? What about if he fell off of a buliding and hit the ground? Would this cause a duplicate to split off even if it was his own bodies kinetic energy that caused the impact or does the kinetic energy absorbed by his body from the impact need to come from an outside source other than himself similar to Dazzler whose sound absorption powers don't work on the sound of her own voice. I would think that the falling thing would work to split off bodies without killing him since he can use his own body's kinetic energy to create duplicates by hitting himself. How much or any of his invulnerability to impact will be utilized?
So how about it? Do I get the geeky fanboy of the day award or what? Lets see a show of hands!
....and here I thought this book was going to be a mutant mystery about COOKIES.... :)
KET
"I work with a woman named "Ivory" who for some reason insists it be spelled with a lowercase "i"
That's not so bad, you should see the horrible names that parents have stuck on some of my students. Apparently lots of people lost election year bets 16 years ago, because these names have GOT to be some sort of joke. There are the made up African sounding names, which sound like something Tarzan might say when he steps in a steaming pile of Mandrill feces. There are the ones that use "unique" spelling--yeah, yeah, we know that "fish" can be spelled "ghoti" if you want to...why the hell would you want to? And there are the terrible terrible parents who use the opportunity to make a pun out of their child's name--and then they make sure you get it! "Hi, I'm Mrs. Long. this is my son--Miles" (long pause) “Miles Long. Get it?" and I'm thinking I hope YOU get it one day, when little Miles finally snaps and douses your bed with lighter fluid.
As God is my witness my wife, who unlike me never lies just to get a good laff out of it, swears that she knew an unfortunate woman name Fonda Peters. What circle of hell awaits parents who would do such a thing? At least her husband knows that she must truly love him, as his last name of Dix did not make things better at all. And actually, Mr. Dix had a good reason to hate his folks as well since his name was Richard and probably spent a good part and/or all of his childhood being known as Dick Dix. Maybe they met at a meeting of the People With Unfortunate Names or the annual My Parents Really Suck convention.
Yes, parents do need to think before naming their children. When my wife and I were discussing possible boy names (before we found out our child was going to be a girl), we were strongly considering honoring our shared Celtic heritage by naming him "Quillan Riordan" ("Quillan" - Irish Gaelic, "wolf cub"; Riordan - ancient Irish usage, the King's Poet). Then we considered monograms. My last name begins with "S". That would have given the poor theoretical lad the initials "Q. R. S."
No.
Now, if we have a boy, he's going to be named in my father's honor - Riordan Ivan (my father's first name was Richard, but so far, he's got three grandsons named Richard...).
(Incidentally, was there ever a member of the Legion of Superfluous - er, Super Heroes named "Theoretical Lad"? And if not, why not?)
Why is this thread making me think of L.A. Story?
SanDeE*
Mr. Reed,
Loved the Hooper-Xesque jokes. I get images in my head of both the Dwight Ewell character, and another Kevin Smith character, the Angry Film Director in Jay & Silent Bob.
However, one would think that this treatment would work just as well on Professor X.
"Yes, students. I am now renaming OUR team, "The Avengers".
"But, isn't that taken, sir?"
"Yes it is, and I'm stealing it! Stealing it back for the MUTANT man---to make up for all the things the HUMAN has stolen from us!
Well, you gotta admit a disgruntled, angry, wealthy WASP conservative ain't something you see every day.
And then, of course, there's the Pythonic dinner party featuring Snivelling Little Rat-Faced Git and his wife Dreary Fat Boring Old Git...
TWL
Why not also use the same letters from Mad Magazine to do the "Mad" in MadroX? Then maybe you can also syphon in customers who buy Mad? Yeah, I like it...
Why not also use the same letters from Mad Magazine to do the "Mad" in MadroX? Then maybe you can also syphon in customers who buy Mad?
And the "O" from Oprah's O magazine!
There was an old College Bowl teammate of mine whose parents saddled him with the name Wynn Dough. My first question on meeting him was "And at what age did you kill your parents?".
Best inadvertant bad choice of name goes to the parents of a girl for whom it probably wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't gone to MIT; Constance Plank.
"Best inadvertant bad choice of name goes to the parents of a girl for whom it probably wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't gone to MIT; Constance Plank."
Of course, one of her biggest problems has always been that she can't be definite about the distance to anywhere...
"Why not also use the same letters from Mad Magazine to do the "Mad" in MadroX? Then maybe you can also syphon in customers who buy Mad?
And the "O" from Oprah's O magazine!"
And the X from Clorox! Fighting crime the bleachy way!
Keep adding letters from different fonts and the logo will look like a ransom note! What're you people trying to do, get Peter David in trouble? Seeing as how people jumped to conclusions with the X in Madrox's name, I'd hate to see what rumors come out of THAT situation, heh heh...
As far as the name game parents do with kids,they should be beaten repeatedly for even thinking some
of the names i heard,in my life.There was once a young woman who named her child ...wait for it
PLACENTA!!!!Yes she named the child that and god help the poor girl.Unfortunately it is rather embarassing as a black man to see the "african"
names people give their kids.Mind you ive seen some pretty bad names from other folks too.One kid Mike Hunt, not Micheal dont call him micheal
Mike hunt.Asian kid Phuc Hu .Not making it up.
Though personally i think its a conspiracy by the
MAN to hold us all back .Oh by the way my mom named us alphabetically..so im allowed to make fun of others:)
Speaking of black parents giving their kids goofy names, has anyone else watching the latest round of American Idol wondered what possessed two supposedly adult parents to name their daughter Fantasia?
Careful there, Michael ... remember, Peter's also got a daughter with a Disney-connected name. ;-)
(Not that I disagree about Fantasia, mind you.)
TWL
In grade school, one of my friend's name was Richard Dick. The fourth. To this day I keep trying to figure what this family has against their sons.
Bad names I've run across- Adonnis, Princess Turnipseed (both men) Chrystal Chandra Lere. Then again, because my granddad is a genology buff, I found out that I had one great-great aunt with 16 names.
I remember once, when I met you Peter, you said that you were planning to cut off one of the Hulk’s arms and replace it with a Veggie-Matic, or some silly thing like that. I am still waiting for this to occur. You also said that you were starting a new series for Star Trek, so I have to assume that if one is true the other must be too.
Anyway, on a more serious note (o.k. not serious, but at least real) my 2 ˝ year old daughter likes to pull my signed copy of “The Hulk – What Savage Beast” off my bookshelf and run around yelling “HULK HULK HULK.” I finally gave up and put it on the top shelf. This has no meaning what so ever, but I thought it was kind of funny.
Well...I have a niece named Caress.
Yes, like the soap.
The funny thing is, my brother was so creative with her name...but I guess it ran out, because all three of his girls have the middle name "Marie"...
You can't go wrong in turning to the sports world to find some amusing names...Milton Bradley (Dodgers), Coco Crisp (Indians), and my all time favorite name: Nascar's Dick Trickle.
Professor X and Madro X discover that the effete intellectual environment of the Northeast doesn't appeal to their manly natures. So they move out to a small town in Arizona to establish a new home for mutant youth. They settle on an abandoned dude ranch, which they rebuild, and raise a new generation of manly men and manly women. Who are all trained as drovers on a cattle drive.
Coming this fall from Marvel: Brand X.
Obligatory "bad name story": Cashier's name (according to name tag) at recently-visited fast food establishment:
JAUNDICE
Back on topic: I think a big X in the logo makes sense not just because it identifies this as a "mutant book," but because it provides some indication of what his power is--MULTIPLICATION.
I loved when Milton Bradley and Coco Crisp were both with the Indians - it made going to a Sox-Indians game that much more entertaining.
I knew a kid with the last name Duckworth.
Don insisted his first name was a family name that predated Walt Disney by several generations. Hoewver, the family should have stopped doing it.
And then there was this girl I once knew named Anabel Levy.
Well, no matter how it's spelled PAD, I'll still buy the mini when it comes out. :)
Y'know, it's funny. When I list the New X-Men characters I created I almost never remember to add Jamie Madrox, mostly because I created him in an issue of Giant-Size Fantastic Four and not the X-Men proper. Also, Chris Claremont dislogued the back half of that story over my plot when I got hung up in deadline problems, I think, so things get complicated.
Still, you'd be much happier with a potential logo for the book, Peter, if editor Roy Thomas had allowed me to use my original name for the character. I was going to call him XERROX, THE MULTIPLE MAN, until Roy went berserk. There was screaming about lawsuits and suchlike, even though I spelled the name with two Rs. Roy didn't think it would placate the Xerox company, so Madrox it became.
Just think, you'd have been able to use a logo with two Xs -- XerroX, bit now, no.
So blame it all on Roy.
I look forward to the book.
After reading this bit in the Newsarama interview:
"The ball actually got rolling when editor Andy Schmidt and I were discussing what I would do once Captain Marvel was wrapped up. Andy, who was a big fan of how I'd written Multiple Man and Strong Guy in X-Factor, was eagerly advocating doing a series that focused on one or the other - or both - of them."
...well, if I ever get a chance to meet Andy Schmidt, I'm gonna have to buy him a drink. The guy has excellent taste!
And, Mr. Wein, please tell me you were joking... ;-)
"Back on topic: I think a big X in the logo makes sense not just because it identifies this as a "mutant book," but because it provides some indication of what his power is--MULTIPLICATION."
Darn you Michael, I was so ready to bring this up. But actually, it wasn't 'cause I thought of it myself. Excited about the new Madrox series, I had gone back and skimmed through PAD's X-Factor run and found a bit I'd forgotten about, but now I remember absolutely loving the gag at the time.
In X-Factor #82, Madrox -- dressed in a uniform that includes a skullcap with an "X" logo on it -- encounters the Toad, who demands, "Who are you?"
And he replies, "I'm the Mupltiple Man? Can't you tell? I have a multiplication sign on my forehead."
Heheh! Like I say, I loved that bit. This is the same issue in which two dupes, one wearing a Ren shirt and one with a Stimpy shirt, merge into a single Jamie whose shirt sports an image of both characters -- much to the shock and awe of Alex and Val.
Aaah, X-Factor ... the only post-Claremont mutant title worth buying. Until MadroX, of course!
-- Jason
P.S. Wow, there's a post from Len Wein right above mine!?!?! Holy crap, that's cool!
Hey PAD, if you're wanting an ego boost on the series, it gets discussed at 411 mania.
http://www.411mania.com/comics/columns/article.php?columns_id=2517
>And, Mr. Wein, please tell me you were joking... ;-)
Sadly, no, though I did remember after posting that I'd intended the original name to be Zerrox the Multiple Man, with a Z, not an X.
Other, nope, you've just learned another great Secret Behind the Comics.
And again Len Wein proves that he's one of the coolest people in the world. (Shut up, I'm allowed to go all fanboy for three people, and one of them is Len Wein.) Zerrox would have been a great name if for no other reason than the inevitable crossover with Zzzax.