BISHOP REJOINS X-MEN!

23/06/00

Bishop: The Last X-Man writer Joseph Harris has confirmed, via the X-Fan Message Board, that Bishop will indeed be returning to the ranks of the X-Men.

"We promise you a lot of shocks, and quite a body count, before the Chronowar is over," Harris posted, speaking of the upcoming three-part story arc in Bishop: The Last X-Man #12-14.

"From there, Bishop is returning to the present and rejoining the X-Men," Harris revealed. "Look for his to have a MAJOR role with the team. But the ramifications of both his victory... and his LOSSES... during the Chronowar will be a large part of character and the future (no pun intended) direction of this book."

"The fun is just beginning, folks. Things get serious from here on in."

Harris also quashed more recently-surfaced cancellation rumours, stating in the post that "Bishop`s solo title is continuing with both Georges [Jeanty] and I on board for the long haul."

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BISHOP IS BACK!

20/06/00

According to Your Man @ Marvel, Bishop: The Last X-Man #15 "will open with the time-tossed warrior - at long last - back on our world! But this homecoming will be anything but sweet as he arrives smack in the middle of cosmic chaos! And who else would Bishop face off with but his former flame, the Shi`ar assassin known as Deathbird? After her appearance in the upcoming X-Men 2000 Annual, how will Deathbird greet Bishop - with a kiss to the lips or a punch to the jaw? And how will the Children of the Atom react to the unexpected return of their former ally?
A part of Marvels Maximum Secuity Event, it has jyet to be revealed if this is a permenant return to core continuuity. Writer Joseph Harris, penciller Georges Jeanty, and inker Art Thibert bring the big guy home on October 18!

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FUTURE WOLVERINE PREVIEW?

20/06/00

Confusion has broken out over a pin-up published in the recent X-Men: Millenial Visions oneshot.

The pin-up, by Matt Broome, and titled 'Last Man Standing' (endorsment?) features a future incarnation of Wolverine and references to the sky-faring Kith featured in B: TLXM #'s 4-6. Is this an advance preview of Joseph Harris' upcoming graphic novel? According to the writer, no.

"I don't know anything about Matt Broome's pinup, or the Millenial book." Harris posted on X-Fan's message board.

"The design for Wolverine, in the future, that's going into our Graphic Novel was done by artist Enrique Breccia and based on notes and concepts I had written. It's possible the Bishop editors (who also edited this Visions book) tried to allude to it -- I'm not sure."

"As for whether or not it's Bishop's devestated future Wolverine will be exploring... stay tuned. I think you're getting what you want, but probably not the way you think!"

The Wolverine art as released to Newsarama was recently printed in an upcoming issue of Comics International, will be run in a future issue of Wizard and is available on the front page of Harris' message board.

A second, exclusive piece of preview art that has not yet been seen is set to appear in the X-Men movie books being sold exclusively through Toys 'R Us.

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BISHOP UNLIMITED!

17/05/00

Bishop appears to be set to feature in a special back-up story set to be published in an upcoming issue of X-Men Unlimited.

The feature could serve to draw more attention to ongoing series, which many fans of the core titles continue to overlook.

"More attention is always a good thing," says series scribe Joseph Harris, "Be it from Bishop's potential involvement in the Wolverine graphic novel, or from [the X-Men Unlimited] story."

Without giving too much away, Harris went on to say that the story would be pencilled "by a VERY cool artist."

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BISHOP SKETCHES PUBLISHED!

05/05/00

The original character designs for many of the recurring characters featured in Bishop: The Last X-Man where published recently in X-Men Unlimited #27.

The special bonus section, featuring the art of X-Men regular artist Leinil Francis Yu, featured the original designs for Jinx, Scorch, Link, and Nom, as well as the redesign of Trevor Fitzroy.

The feature also featured a brief summary of each character, told from Bishops point of view, and written by series scribe Joeseph Harris.

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FUTURE WOLVERINE REVEALED!

28/04/00 - Updated 17/05/00

Marvel X-editor Jason Liebig checked in to give Newsarama an early look at the upcoming Wolverine graphic novel in the works from his office. The project has just been approved this week and is tentatively set for release for later this year, but Liebig’s so excited about the story and the artist he’s lined up to illustrate it, he allowed an advanced sneak peek.

The 62-page graphic novel, written by Joseph (Bishop) Harris, will be fully painted by Argentinean artist Enrique Breccia. Though well known in Europe, South America and other parts of the world, this will be Breccia’s first high-profile American work.

Though not divulging too many details this early, Liebig explained the story stars an older Logan and is set in his future – a future that is already being seen in the pages of an ongoing X-Men title, though when asked if it’s the future Harris is already documenting in his Bishop series, he did not comment.

*It now seems apparent that Bishop will make an appearance in the Wolverine graphic novel, as well as an upcoming issue of X-Men Unlimited.

"More attention is always a good thing," says series scribe Joseph Harris, "Be it from Bishop's potential involvement in the Wolverine graphic novel, or from [the X-Men Unlimited] story."

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POLLINA LENDS A HAND!

06/04/00

Newsarama recently revealed that issue #12 of Bishop: The Last X-Man, coming this July, is set to feature the pulsating pencils of Adam Pollina, back in the X-universe again!

Pollina will pencil a back-up story for the double-sized issue #12 featuring Nom, the silent giant who accompanies Bishop and his party on their march toward war with Trevor Fitzroy.

"The story is titled `They Might Be Giants`, and follows up on some startling revelations learned in issue #10 of the series," explained series scribe Joseph Harris. "Nom had always believed himself to be the last of his people. But the `Legend of Azeroch` calls for a great Giant hero to rise up in their hour of greatest need. Can Nom find Azeroch in time to help Bishop`s crumbling war effort? Or is there more to Nom, himself, than he ever believed...?"

"And while you`re there, make sure you check out the main story," Harris told Newsarama. "The Chronowar kicks off with a serious bang as Bishop`s and Fitzroy`s forces clash at Chronokeep... and Bishop confronts the murderous Chronomancer for the first time since being brought to this future. Someone`s not walking away, folks. Look for plenty of blood in the snow. And more than one significant `departure from the mortal coil` before the fighting is said and done."

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DOULBLE-SIZED BISHOP!

5/4/00

Recently, the Comics Continuum reported that issues #12 and #14 of Bishop: The Last X-Man, will both be giant sized.

The news came from Georges Jeanty, the series penciller, who said, "Everything is leading up to issue #14. Issue #12 is an oversized issue, but that's more because it's sort of an anniversry. #14 will be the big, oversized confrontation between Bishop and [Trevor] Fitzroy. I can go so far as to tell you there will be a resolution, It wont be obscured, and it won't be left up to your imagination. There will be an ending to this whole battle that began in #1."

According to Jeanty, the issues following #14 will see himself and Harris take a couple of issues to deal with the aftermath of the Chronowar, then they will approach "the whole thing with the Twelve and Apocalypse. It will be the next arc after #14."

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BISHOP MAKES HIS MOVE!

Newsarama Article, 11/06/99

Marvel X-fans who caught the recently released advance solicitations for August's titles may have been surprised to learn that the new ongoing Bishop: The Last X-Man series, by writer Joe (Slingers) Harris and penciler Georges Jeanty, will be set in a time and place other than the mainstream, contemporary Marvel Universe. Similar to the otherworldly Mutant X, the series is being given a distinct flavor and setting all its own, and since all we've seen so far is the catalog's description of the series, Newsarama figured we'd check in with Joe Harris for the writer's own take on the latest addition to the X-mythos...

CBI-N : Okay Joe, let's start off with the basics...Can you explain Bishop: The Last X-Man's premise to our readers...

JH: "Bishop is going back to the future, so to speak. But it's not a future we've seen before - and certainly not the one he left when he came to OUR time and joined the X-Men. The world isn't just a ravaged place ala Days Of Future Past - it's been reborn, sort of. This is humanity - and mutant-kind - crawling out of deluge. It's a feudal place, a dark and dangerous place, a world where mutants hide in the shadows and an evil, power-hungry villain whom we've seen before though never really considered as a major threat could travel to and assume a position of power. It's a future that was ripe for the picking. One that Bishop is summoned to save - and one that he may or may not be responsible for!
In this world, mutants live like bandits, stealing to survive and fighting to live - there's no time to organize, to pull together - there's no cause to struggle for, save survival. And 'The Dream' is the stuff of legend and old wives tales.
Bishop's going to face a threat he shares some responsibility for, be broken down through some heavy drama, then built back up as a stronger hero - and a better man, than before. Bishop's 'thing', it would seem, is to travel to place in time that needs him. Our premise is consistent with his legacy - at least, that's what we're going to make the readers believe. He's 'The Last X-Man', dragging the future from the ashes, so to speak. Imagine a world that went to hell, now struggling to be re-born. Bishop's the only hope."

CBI-N: More than a couple of readers might react to that description with "oh no, not another alternate reality/future!" How would you respond to that?

JH: "Well, it's not an alternate reality. You'll see no dark, twisted versions of familiar characters, no weird amalgams or anything like that. This isn't a 'What If?' book.
And...IF anyone out there still thinks it might be, I can't see that as a bad thing - at least, not off the bat. Mutant X is a big seller...I think it's about to be the fourth best-selling X-book after the two core titles and Wolverine. I think fans dig that the Mutant X world is treated as being 'valid', while throwing lots of twists and surprises at them.
But I digress...this is the future. The future just isn't what is USED to be."

CBI-N: Okay, if it's THE future, can you tell us about the events that lead to the contemporary MU to this future? Hey, ain't Earth X THE future ?

JH: "Well...it's still the old philosophy. The X-Men are headed toward dystopia. No matter what, it seems. I don't have a problem with that. They're fighting a tough fight. Racism, prejudice, hatred - they don't go away. Ever. We don't, as a society and a people, grow beyond stuff like that as a whole. At least, it hasn't happened yet - not by a long shot - so there's no reason to think that the world the X-Men struggle in isn't going down the toilet. That's what makes them what they are. That they keep the fight alive, despite how dark things look. Now we've got a world that's given Magneto the nation of Genosha. The stakes have been upped between mankind and mutantkind. The seeds are there. Bishop's future is the result of that. Something bad happened. Now, life goes on. Sort of. Somehow.
And remember - all futures are potential until we get there. At least, that's how we can justify different interpretations!"

CBI-N: The Marvel solicitation copy for issue #1 reads in part, and we quote , "Alone and confused, Bishop must stop the man that has brought him here before the madman claims the entire world as his own."
Anything you can tell us about this mysterious guy?

JH: "You've seen him before. Seen him a lot, really. You might call him Bishop's 'white whale'. But neither he nor the readers would suspect him of the ambition and evil he's going to display in our book. We have some drama in store for this conflict, let me tell you..."

CBI-N: Can you tell us how far in the future this series is set, and how recognizable will it be to Marvel's faithful? Will we be seeing familiar characters and/or their descendants and familiar MU concepts and elements?

JH: "As for how far, that's not clear just yet. At least one hundred years, I'd say - but it hasn't become a factor in the storyline yet, to be honest with you. You'll be seeing familiar characters by way of transport into this new world. We're bringing in basically a lot of what we associate as being 'Bishop-related'. He's got a mythology that's making the jump with him. Like we're bringing Bishop's sister, Shard, into this time as well - in fact, she's sort of the catalyst for the whole thing.
As far as MU characters, concepts, and elements... yes, eventually. The thing I'm most enjoying about this book right now is that it's all new - a fantastic world with new mutant and non-mutant characters not bogged down with current continuity - but it always seems to have a toe in the X-Men mythos. This series reeks of X-Men, the struggle, and the dream. I don't want to give away any surprises, cause we've got some coming right off the bat in issue #1."

CBI-N: On that note, a couple final questions. Why set the series in this "other" reality as opposed to the mainstream MU, and why Bishop out of all the stable of X-characters without their own solo titles?

JH: "Well, we need to answer two questions for fans before we even start our story - 1.) Why another X-book? And 2.) Why Bishop?!?
Setting the story in this new place really lets us answer these questions. The last thing any of us wanted to do was have the big guy back on earth, back with the X-Men, AND running around on solo adventures in his own book month after month with nothing of a concept higher than that. That works for some characters - in particular, for the X-Men already starring in their own solo books. But Bishop needs something else. You look at this guy and you know he's a man of purpose - in fact, his purpose is inseparable from his character. He goes somewhere and destiny seems to fulfill itself. So he needed a 'high concept' in which to put that aspect of him on display.
The idea here is to give the readers something very new and different - a new sort of X-book. As well as to make them say, 'of COURSE Bishop.' Not, 'Why him in a solo book?' That's the statement I'm taking into writing this series. This is going to be an important book. The X-Men are fighting for the future. They always have been. Now, Bishop is going to show us how it ended up - as well as where we go from there."

And finally, for Joe Harris fans who might be curious to see him moonlight on his "other" job, the writer, who doubles as in independent filmmaker/writer/director, tell us his award-winning, indie film festival-favorite, short film Rapscallions, has just been released on home video.
The film, which according to its creator follows "one group of Long Island boys out on a particularly disturbing night of 'fag-bashing' at a local Park & Ride", should be available soon at video stores though Such Media and Next Generation Video, Inc.
"The film actually led to me working in comics," explained Harris. "Incidentally Adam Pollina, my friend and creative/business partner brought Mark Powers to a NYC screening I had, and the rest, as they say...is history."

BRAVE NEW BISHOP!

Newsarama Article, 06/08/99

While creators Joe Casey and Steve Rude continue working on a X-Men project that they hope will redefine Marvel's first generation of mutants, Children of the Atom (as featured in last week's Newsarama), the upstart creative team of Joe (Slingers) Harris and Georges Jeanty are readying for the launch of what they hope will someday soon be recognized as the next generation of X-title...their new Bishop ongoing series.
Combining healthy doses of the brand new and the very familiar, Harris and Jeanty hope to make the series friendly and appealing to new readers who maybe aren't long-time X-continuity followers, as well as making it satisfying for mutantdom's infamously loyal followers.
"People who never read the core X-books will be able to read Bishop without the burden of continuity, and yet they should get a sense of what the essence of the X-men is all about," said Harris. "And regular X-readers get something very new and different - as well as, hopefully, a reminder of what the X-men are really all about. We want people to believe in this stuff. In Bishop's struggles, as well as what it really means to be a X-Man."
Putting Bishop in the role of a sort of "warrior-missionary", the new series places him in a brand new time and place that's forgotten what Xavier's original dream and legend are all about. Bishop's role will be to restore the dream...but through example - not by preaching.
"We're taking Bishop out of the core X-Universe," said Jeanty. "He's finally going back to his own timeline...or what he perceives to be his timeline. But he's been in the mainstream Marvel Universe timeline for years, making all sorts of changes in the present which have had repercussions in the future. He's basically Alice traveling down the hole after the white rabbit, not even having an inkling of what's going on or what kind of society he's been thrust into. As I was told, it's a cross between Mad Max meets the Lord of the Rings."
A strange and new sort of medieval/feudal society, Bishop finds himself in a dark age of rediscovery, where mutants live like refugees, struggling to live and stealing to survive. His supporting cast features a mix of new and "established" characters, including a rogue party of thieves, robbing those foolish enough to travel the highways in this dangerous time. "But it's their look that really gets Bishop," revealed Harris. "Upon each of their right eyes, you see, is the letter 'M'!"
"The X-Men are legend in this time, the stuff of memory and old wives' tales," explained Harris. "Bishop is particularly revered - at least, his likeness is. In a twist on Bishop's first appearance in the pages of 'Uncanny' way back in the day when he first encountered the X-Men - legends to him - and did not believe them to be who they said they were, Bishop is believed by these characters to be who he claims to be."
Shard - Bishop's sister and former X.S.E. officer, who once had a torrid love affair with eventual traitor and Bishop nemesis, Trevor Fitzroy. "Shard sets our story in motion as Bishop, having recently returned to earth, leaves the X-Men to go and find her. She's been searching for Fitzroy. Now Bishop's searching for her. And when he finds what she's already found, some nasty stuff happens, and our story really gets going."

Jinx - A young woman orphaned at an early age and raised on the streets in this dark future, she learned to use her power of 'displacement' to her advantage, stealing to survive. "She moves like a blur, strafing between the blinks of an attacker's eyes - sort of like how Keanu Reeves was able to move once he mastered his power in The Matrix. At a young age, Jinx' mother told her of the legend of the X-Men, of a 'dream' that those born different like she and her daughter would be able to live unpersecuted for what they are. It's a dream she herself holds very dear. She's a fierce fighter, and a fatal beauty. She'll be Bishop's greatest ally in his quest to save this future he finds himself thrust into."

Scorch - a fire elemental who transforms his body into living fire. "He can give it form and shape, and may be able to control flame that is not his making, from a distance. His power is only matched in intensity by his angst and resolve. A former lover of Jinx, he is skeptical of the stranger, Bishop - not believing him to be who he claims to be. The tension between the two is immediate. And a showdown in the near future seems inevitable."

Nom - a silent giant who came to stand with these mutants some time ago. "He doesn't speak, but his stature and his heart sing volumes. He's thought to be the last of his people, though he longs to find others like him. A devoted friend to Scorch, he is a valuable member of this rag-tag team in their fight for survival in this strange, new world."

Link - a young telepath who might be older than her young appearance would suggest. "Link suffers from headaches after extended use of her powers, however her abilities, as well as her natural intuition, are invaluable in the protection and seclusion of the refugee camp in which they all live."

The Witness - the man who was once known as "Le Beau", he's responsible for this 'team's' coming together. "Assembling them from the dark corners of this world's society of outcasts, The Witness taught them the art of the art of thievery. He has instructed them as best he could in the use of their powers and held on to the 'dream' that one day, the 'X' would rise again in this world. Just who The Witness is isn't exactly clear. Is it Gambit? And if so, how did he come to survive and live in this time? He's a mysterious man, but then...that's who Le Beau has always been."

The Chronomancer - Bishop's new/old arch villains... "When Bishop first came to our time, it wasn't to reverse the Age of Apocalypse. And it wasn't to stop Onslaught. Though Bishop went on to do some of the greatest and most heroic deeds in the X-Men's history, there is one piece of unfinished business he has neglected to pick up. The man known as Trevor Fitzroy escaped to the past, only to be pursued by Bishop. The both of them trapped in our time, Bishop went on to join his heroes, The X-Men, while Fitzroy was all but left to snivel in the shadows and follow his own dark ambitions. A lot of blood was spilled over the years...and yet, Bishop did nothing to bring him in. This will come back to haunt 'The Last X-Man'."

"Fitzroy has been growing more powerful. Focused and determined, he's no longer content to hide in the shadows and run from those stronger than him. A time-traveler by power, he went looking for a place in the future that was ripe for the picking, free of opposition. He found one... and he 'picked' it. By letting Fitzroy live and go unchecked all these years, Bishop may have actually doomed the future as 'The Chronomancer', as he's now called, rules this land with a ruthless, iron fist. He grows more powerful by the day, sucking the lifeforce from those his fearsome army of 'Chronotroopers' collect from nearby towns, and honing his own dark plans for the future. He's emerged as a force to be reckoned with. And as Bishop picks up the old chase, we can't help but wonder if it's not, in fact, too late to stop him."
"A whole world stretches between Bishop and his march to a looming battle at 'Chronokeep'. We'll encounter lots of new, and somewhat familiar places and characters along the way, including a race of savage monsters known as 'The Kith', the descendants of the lowest mutant outcasts, The Morlocks, and a new incarnation of a secret society whispered about in this world and known only as, 'Clan Hellfire.'"