by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

Chuck Austen has confirmed for Newsarama that he is leaving the X-Men and Marvel. In an exclusive interview with the writer, Austen talked about his Marvel-lous days, the X-Men and more.

Newsarama: Let's get this out straight and ironed out first... Did you decide to leave the X-Men and Marvel voluntarily or did you get the boot? Did you finally realize that enough is enough, or was it a case of "the grass is greener elsewhere"?

Chuck Austen: Obviously, no matter what the facts are, a lot of people are going to form their own opinions. Speculation is the lifeblood of the industry, in more ways than one [laughs]. And there will be room for speculation, since I don't want to get into any real details. Those specifics are between me and Marvel, really.

But the simple answer is: I chose to leave, and it was a tough decision. I didn't "finally realize" anything, I was clear on the situation from very early on, and had discussed it privately many times. I just don't talk about my employment situation publicly, so very few people knew.

NRAMA: You'd mentioned before that you were having some editorial disputes. Did that play a role?

The reality is, what I said in the press release for Marvel is absolutely true. The people of Marvel were great, and I enjoyed working with them, and am grateful, especially to Joe, for giving me such a tremendous break in comics with the first US War Machine, Elektra and eventually the X-Men. It was an enormous risk to give an unknown such breaks, and I appreciate them giving me those breaks. I think it paid off for both of us.

I left because, as I and Joe Q. and others have said in recent interviews, Marvel has changed its internal policies about what is, and is not acceptable in their comics, and I was finding it very difficult to write that way.

Not that I couldn't scale back, and not that Mike Marts and the rest didn't want me to try and felt I couldn't. But I'm not naturally geared that way as a creator, and so it took a lot more work, and that work became less enjoyable. Eternal and US War Machine are my true north, so anything less adult and intense from there is harder for me to write. My favorite show on television is Deadwood [laughs]! So, more re-writes, and heavier notes from editorial are less fun, more time consuming and less cost-effective. It's just a business decision, really. I can write the way I'm inclined elsewhere than Marvel, and Marvel can find writers who write the way they want, so why not do it?

So I asked off the books Marvel had given me. Mike Marts and I discussed my staying, trying to find a way to work it out. Mike even asked if another editor might work better with me, but that's just another example of how great Mike is, willing to remove ego from the equation in an effort try to make things work. I think he's one of the best people I've ever known or worked with, and I doubt I could work more easily with another editor, outside of Tom Palmer or Eddie Berganza. It was just time for me to move on from Marvel. So in the end, I left and they asked me to give them time to find replacements, and I agreed to stay for at least that long. It was a mutual decision to end it the way we did.

NRAMA: When did this happen?

CA: About four months ago, now. But the decision had been building for some time.

NRAMA: How do you feel about this decision?

CA: Great. I miss the characters and the books, and Mike Marts and many of the other people I worked with up there, but it was really best for all of us. I can't say Marvel is wrong for their policies. Well-established super-hero characters like the X-Men, Spider Man and Captain America, really should be "all-ages."

NRAMA: Looking back, you got your first big break when you did US War Machine, the first volume. You're an artist too, but more recently, you’ve found your calling in writing comics instead. Lots and lots of them as the months went by. Two volumes of US War Machine, Elektra, Eden's Trail, Captain America, Exiles, Eternal, Uncanny X-Men, New X-Men, X-Men, Avengers ... as well as Action Comics, JLA , the Catwoman movie adaptation, Flywires, and your creator-owned WorldWatch. How'd you manage all the projects? At one time, you were like working on, what, five titles a month?

CA: Actually, I never worked on more than four titles a month, or one script a week, except when I was scripting Captain America, and that was a special occasion to help Joe. That was the only time I was burning it at both ends, and truly exhausted. It just seemed like more because when I had an opening in my schedule, I would slip in another fill-in script that would not be used for months, and then seven things would be on the stands on the same day. I was, at one point, really far ahead on a lot of my series work, and people at Marvel wanted to work with me on other, open projects, so it just worked out.

Remember, I come from a television background, where the material has to be done or it doesn't go on air, and it can't not air, or the networks go insane. So it gets done. Somehow. I've also learned a pretty healthy work ethic over the years. I get up, shower, work, and write about six hours a day, every weekday, and add an hour or two if things are behind. It seems like a lot of work, in the context you talk about, but it's just an average workload, mostly, that happened to come out in a small timeframe.

NRAMA: In your opinion, what would you label as your finest achievements with Marvel Comics? How have you put your stamp on the comics scene with your Marvel projects?

CA: Oh, I don't know. I think those things are judged over time, by other people. I have my personal favorites, but on some level I liked every script I worked on, or I wouldn't have turned it in.

Winning the Genesis award for "Can They Suffer" in X-Men Unlimited was certainly a high point. And having the award presented by Kelly Hu with C.B. Cebulski there was icing on the cake. US War Machine is a perennial favorite of mine, and we legitimately produced it on a weekly schedule, so I'm extremely proud of that. Elektra with Bendis was great fun. The Gambit story in Ultimate X-Men. My Exiles stuff was a blast. Several Uncanny stories will always be my favorites, particularly my first Northstar story, Juggernaut coming onto the team, Sammy. Giant Jan in the Avengers, Captain Britain, who evolved way beyond what I originally intended. I ended up loving that character. The new Invaders. The Eternal, of course. I loved working on that book. I was even really proud of the work on Eden's Trail, in the end, though I know Steve Uy hated it. It's hard to be specific. Let other people decide. They usually do, anyway [laughs].

NRAMA: If you could turn back the clock and change one thing, would you?

CA: Nothing. I'd do nothing different. I rarely have regrets about what I decide to do. It was a blast playing with all the childhood toys. You do your best to entertain, and not everything is as successful as everything else, but you try to make it surprising and fun, which is difficult with fifty years worth of history and story in these characters. I have no regrets. And how can you, anyway, really, in an industry that can reset itself?

NRAMA: Of all the projects at Marvel, you've worked on the X-Men titles the longest. How does it feel like to leave the mutants behind after all these years?

CA: It's tough. And because of the double shipping, there's been a lot of material I've worked on, a lot of characters I've played with. I'll miss them all. Even though you know they're not yours, they're the product of a corporation and many, many diverse hands in the stew -- you grow to love them. They become a part of you, and it's hard to let go.

NRAMA: What's going to be your last issue of X-Men?

CA: #164.

NRAMA: Who'll you miss the most?

CA: That's a tough one. Annie. Sammy. Alex. Warren and Paige. Bobby. Juggernaut, definitely. Perhaps him more than the others. But I wound up really loving Archangel, in the end. Hell, I even miss Stacy. She was fun. I wish I could have kept her. Jubilee. Josh Guthrie. Lorna. Loved Lorna.

NRAMA: What's in store for the x-fans in the remaining issues of your run?

CA: Big stuff. Lots of shocks and surprises, and this time, all the fans will love it. Guaranteed. Either because it catches them off guard, or because I'm leaving [laughs].

NRAMA: What plans did you have for them that the readers would not see in the pages of the monthlies, or sometimes, bi-weekly comics?

CA: So many. Soooo many. I even have a few scripts that Marvel owns that will probably never see print. I had a lot of plans for Warren and Paige, more emerging angels, and Warren becomes reclusive as a world of infirm and cripples make pilgrimages to him for him to attempt to heal them. The return of Azazel. Sinister's death camps. Big things for Havok and Annie and Carter. Some surprises with Polaris. Some twists with the new Xorn. A relationship for Northstar. Josh Guthrie was going to have a lot happen to him. Mindee, one of the cuckoos, had a growing role. There's a few jolts coming with Juggernaut, that would have played out differently if I'd stayed. My head was loaded with X-stuff for years. I loved all the characters, really, and had plans for them all. As I said, this was a tough decision, and I had to remove my personal feelings from it. In the end, it's business.

NRAMA: So, who's taking over the X-Men?

CA: No idea. I don't want to know, and never ask those questions just in case it's someone who's going to make me look bad [laughs]. First I had to follow the brilliant Geoff Johns. Then imagine how hard it was to learn Bendis was taking over the Avengers after me. The man's a genius, and you just can't look good in comparison [laughs].

NRAMA: Looking ahead, what do you have planned? What's next for Chuck Austen? Are you going to make DC your new home as much as Marvel was your former one?

CA: Doubtful. Although never say never. I like having a certain amount of freedom, and I'd like to explore more things outside of mainstream superheroes. I'm working on a baseball comic. Science Fiction. There are some pitches in at DC. A men's adventure thing for Humanoids. We're batting ideas around. I'm keeping an eye on WorldWatch to see if self-publishing can pan out for me. Strips may re-emerge in some form, along with Hardball. I'm looking into the viability of that, and drawing again.

NRAMA: So you’re looking at self-publishing as an alternative? Are you going to do more of such projects, or is this going to be sort of something like a part-time job?

CA: Depends on the sales [laughs]. If the sales stay strong, I'll be doing more of it. If they increase, I may even expand the publishing empire a bit, and add another title or two, if there's money in it. Right now, it breaks even, and I'm doing it for fun and freedom.

NRAMA: Any parting words for the people that you'd worked with at Marvel, specifically EiC Joe Quesada, X-editor Mike Marts, Tom Brevoort, Steve Uy, the artists, etc?

CA: Only that I enjoyed working with all of them. Even when there may have been tension, I was pleased with the results, and still liked them all personally. I'll miss them all. Ralph, Nick Lowe, CB Cebulski, Tom, Mike Marts. Guys who already left, like Brian Smith, and Mike Raicht. I loved those guys. Marvel has a lot of good people, and I wish them nothing but success. The comics industry needs it.

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