Jay Faerber: A Writer's Notes
Info News Fan-Fic Fan Art Board Links Misc.

In the time that I spent at the Generation Next message boards, I dropped a number of hints about upcoming stories. But, due to circumstances beyond my control, those stories will likely never be told. So, in order to give my run a little closure, I thought I'd let the folks who frequented the message board, in on some of my plans.

Blink
I was asked whether or not we'd be bringing back Blink countless times, and on one such occasion, I answered, "Yes and No." Back when Frank Pittarese was editing the book, we worked up the following idea: in battle with the Rising Sons, Paige was going to be gravely injured. Issue #55 would've taken place entirely aboard Adrienne's private jet, as the GenXers whisked a near-death Paige back to Snow Valley. Paige would then be visited by Blink, who would take her on a surreal dream-like journey, which would reveal things about Paige's psyche, as well as foreshadow coming events. By the end of the issue, Paige would come out of her coma, telling her friends she'd seen Blink, leaving everyone to wonder whether it was a dream. Or something else.

The Wendigo
Another plotline that was mentioned at one time or another was that the GenX kids were going to go up against the Wendigo. The kids were going to go on a weekend getaway to Emma's Canadian cabin, where they would encounter the Wendigo. This story would've happened after Monet had gotten involved with the Salem Seven (a secret coven of young witches who
attended the Mass. Academy), and she would've used her blossoming sorcery to try and rid the Wendigo of his horrible curse. Problem is, Monet wouldn't yet be adept at magic, and she'd wind up transferring the spell onto Paige, by mistake. We wouldn't know this at first, of course. But the first time Paige tried husking into a new form -- instant Wendigo!

Adrienne
Many people were surprised that Adrienne became the White Queen, and tried to kill the GenX kids in #s 55-56. These people seemed to feel we were heading in another direction when we introduced Adrienne, and, well, they're right. I'd originally intended Adrienne to be a badder, meaner version of Emma. By incorporating Adrienne into the book, we could still
have our "cold bitch," AND our reformed Emma. The best of both worlds. New editor Jason Liebig disagreed with that perspective, and didn't really see the point of Adrienne. He also disagreed with Tom Corsi being brought in, which is why we didn't see a whole lot of Tom. And, in retrospect, I don't really disagree with Jason on either of these points. I did at the time,
sure, but now, having the benefit of hindsight, I can see that we had an extremely oversized cast, and folks like Adrienne and Tom weren't helping matters.

Iceman
As Jason and I found our groove, and talked about what we wanted to do with the book, I hit upon the idea of introducing Iceman as a supporting character. I think making Emma and Bobby adversarial lovers is perhaps the best thing Scott Lobdell ever came up with, and I wanted desperately to play with that dynamic. Jason didn't disagree, which is why Bobby showed up in #57, in what was supposed to be the first in a series of semi-regular appearances.

The Big Dance
You guys will never know how close we came to having #57 be NOTHING but the Big Dance. I felt sure we'd be forced to have a villain show up, or something, but it was Jason who first suggested just doing an issue that's big, and special, and fun, yet doesn't have anything to do with a villain. My heart skipped a beat when he told me that, and I happily went off and worked up an outline. It involved Emma considering resigning as headmistress (following the events in #55-56), while the kids nervously prepared for their big dance. Bobby would've made an appearance, and would've played a key role in getting Emma to stay at the school. But upon reading my outline, Jason thought it was lacking something. A villain. And not just any villain. Emplate. With all due respect to Scott Lobdell and Chris Bachalo, and everyone else involved in Emplate's creation. I hate him. Hate that character, and had absolutely no interest in writing him. But, we don't always get what we want, and so I wrote Emplate. I think Terry and I pulled it off okay, but in retrospect, it could've been better. And I'm still kicking myself for the big Nocturne gaff. Nocturne was the name of the new female that was helping out Emplate. But due to an oversight on my behalf, she's never actually referred to by name in the issue (ah well - just means I can use the name somewhere else now!). Her energy powers are also colored a yellowish-green, when they should be black, but that's probably my fault, too, for not making a note to the colorist.

That's about all I can think of to say, in terms of unanswered questions, or things that didn't quite make sense. As an added treat, here's a complete reproduction of the outline I submitted to Jason shortly before being removed from the book. It details where I'd have taken things, over the course of the next year or so. Keep in mind that even if I hadn't been replaced, there's every chance you wouldn't have seen a lot of this. That's just the nature of comics. This was a first draft outline, and first drafts
RARELY see print. Jason and I would've talked, agreed on some things, disagreed on others, and eventually come up with a version we could both live with. And that's not a process unique to Jason - it's just the way comics work, generally-speaking.

#62 - February 2000
· Monet fights alone against the vampiric headmaster of her new school.
· Synch stars in a back-up story [written by Jason's intern, who came up with the idea] that finds him in a crisis situation with no mutants nearby to synch-up with.

#63 - March 2000
· As she goes over the New Hellions dossier, Emma realizes that Sean has known about the team for months now, ever since Siryn's injury. When Emma questions Sean, he refuses to feed her vendetta, so she reads his mind - without his permission.
· Skin thinks he sees his old gangsta girlfriend, Torres, in Snow Valley!
· The GenXers are attacked by a team of Shi'ar Imperial Guard trainees, as part of a "training exercise."
· Monet returns to the school, just in time to see GenX blast off into space with the Imperial Guard!

#64 - April 2000
· Part two of GenX's adventure in space, as they team up with the Imperial Guard trainees to combat an intergalactic menace.
· Jubilee finally shares her true feelings with Synch, who's dumbfounded as to why he never picked up on how she felt.
· A Massachusetts Academy teacher is viciously attacked on campus.

#65 - May 2000
· GenX's adventure in space concludes, as the team is victorious.
· Sean and Emma discover that three Mass. Academy students were responsible for the teacher's attack, and when the three boys claim that their families' money and influence will buy their way out of any trouble, Emma snaps, and uses her psionic powers to mindwipe the boys, removing any "evil" tendencies.

#66 - June 2000
· GenX returns from space, just in time to witness Sean turning in his resignation! After Emma invaded his mind, and then mindwiped three young boys, he can no longer work with her.
· Sean goes to Xavier, and Xavier agrees to send someone into the school to keep an eye on Emma.
· Monet is finally reunited with her classmates, and has to deal with Synch and Jubilee's new relationship.
· Skin searches Snow Valley for any sign of Torres.
· The New Hellions are joined by a mysterious new member.

#67 - July 2000
· Iceman arrives at the Academy, to fill the void created when Sean resigned.
· A covert ops team sneaks into the top-secret infirmary beneath the Academy, and makes off with the recuperating Emplate.
· Jubilee and Synch double-date with Husk and Tristan.
· The New Hellions mysterious new member is revealed to be Adrienne Frost!

#68 - August 2000
· Against Iceman's better judgment, Emma leads GenX in an attack on the New Hellions -- whose roster has grown to not only include Adrienne, but also Torres and Membrain (the slimy telepath formerly allied with the Dark Beast, circa GenX #50).

#69 - September 2000
· GenX vs. the New Hellions, round two. And to the Hellions' surprise, Torres and Membrain are actually double-agents, working for Emma!

#70 - October 2000
· GenX vs. the New Hellions, final round!
· Unable to use her telepathy against Adrienne, Emma once again asserts control over Iceman's body and uses his powers to attack Adrienne. Iceman begins to wonder if Sean was right - is Emma out of control?

#71 - November 2000
· The GenXers "welcome" Membrain to the team, and let him know that if he steps out of line, they'll break him.
· Skin tries to convince Torres that she'll have a better life if she stays at the Academy.
· Jubilee starts to miss the "old" Synch. She wonders if losing her best friend was worth gaining a boyfriend.
· Emplate meets his "rescuer" - Gayle Edgerton, Chamber's wheelchair-bound, psychotic ex-girlfriend.

And that's that! I want to thank you all for your sticking around while I stumbled my way through my first monthly super hero comic! While I've got two projects in development at Marvel right now, most of my work seems to be coming from DC these days, so I hope you'll check out my 3-issue GREEN LANTERN run, along with the work I'm doing on TITANS, and some other still-secret projects I've got cooking.