Most X-Men fans know the Summers brothers to be Cyclops, Havok and Vulcan, three of the most powerful and cunning mutants in the Marvel Universe. However, a famous sub-plot from the '90s suggested these X-Men had another sibling. While Gabriel Summers' Vulcan was officially introduced as the long-rumored third Summers brother in the '00s, that distinction was originally meant for Adam-X, who was created by Fabian Nicieza and Tony Daniel and debuted in 1993, 13 years before Vulcan's creation.
Adam's introduction was part of a long-form story Nicieza had planned that would reveal him to be the son of the alien Shi'ar Emperor D'Ken and the human Kate Summers. However Nicieza left the X-Men titles in 1995, and the story behind Adam-X's origins has remained untold. But now, that's set to change in February 2021 with the opening arc of the brand new anthology series, X-Men: Legends. That story teams Nicieza with artist Brett Booth for an in-continuity flashback tale that brings Cyclops, Havok and Adam-X together and the truth of their extended family to light.
CBR spoke with Nicieza about the arc, the origins of Adam-X and his connection to the Summers clan, along with a look at some X-Men: Legends #1 variant covers by Leinil Francis Yu and Sunny Gho, Russell Dauterman and Iban Coello.
CBR: In X-Men Legends #1 you're returning to Adam-X and finally telling the story you always envisioned for him: the reveal of his true connection to the Summers' family bloodline. How does it feel to come back to this character and this story?
Fabian Nicieza: It felt ridiculously surreal. Editor Mark Basso called to offer me the chance to write some stories in a new anthology X-Men series, and honestly -- as well-documented with most things X-Men -- I took it with quite a grain of salt. I think through a gajillion interviews and podcasts and convention panels, my feelings on that time period are pretty well known, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
But Mark was open to any story I was interested in telling that I hadn't had a chance to tell back in the day. He asked for a 2-parter and a one-shot self-contained issue. Adam-X is the only pitch I made for the two-parter.
I expected every step of the way that I would pull out, thank them for the offer, but decline to continue with the project. But every step of the way, Mark was encouraging, helpful, challenging, all the things I needed to tell what I had originally planned as an 88-page story (four-issue limited series) into a 40-page story (two 20-page issues). Then they offered 10 more pages for part one, which provided a great chance to add more context and give Brett a chance to "draw bigger."
What made 2021 the right time to tell it?
Uhm, not to sound too sarcastic, but because that's the year they're publishing the book? [Laughs] The non-sarcastic answer is that, for me, personally, had they asked previously, I might have hesitated more (and I hesitated plenty!)
But I'm at an incredibly comfortable place in my life as it regards my writing, so I felt I had more than enough new, different, and interesting things on my schedule that I could "go back" to tell a "past story" without feeling like a writer that people would think that was the only bullet I had in my creative pea-shooter.
A lot of readers will likely discover Adam-X for the first time in X-Men: Legends. Are there some issues from your X-Men and X-Force runs that you recommend readers check out for info on the character and clues about the mystery of his heritage?
I'm embarrassed to recommend them since most of them make me cringe today, but Adam's original stories can be easily summarized. X-Men vol. 2 #23, where Mr. Sinister first made mention of "brothers." X-Force Annual #2, where the character was introduced. X-Force vol. 1 #29-30, X-Men vol. 2 #39, and probably most important and least read of all, Captain Marvel vol. 3 #3.
Hey, wait a minute, combine those with X-Men Legends #1-2 and that sure sounds like a great new hardcover package that Marvel could publish, "The Ballad of Adam-X!" I am reserving space on my bookshelf already.
What inspired Adam's creation back in 1993?
It was a cart before the horse actually. I threw the "brothers" line into Sinister's dialogue mostly for fun and to make him come across like the smart-ass that he was. Editor Bob Harras liked that, since he always liked mysteries he would never let us resolve, so I started to give it some more thought.
I knew we were going to be introducing a slate of new characters in all the Annuals we were publishing that year, so I tied the two ideas together.
What made you want to link Adam-X to both the Shi'ar and the Summers clan?
I thought the presence of another brother had to tie into anything that happened to Christopher and Kate Summers during the time they had been kidnapped by the Shi'ar. I figured out a way to do all of it that would have been respectful to the continuity of the time and especially of Kate Summers. I could have considered a tawdry approach, but I didn't want to do that to a character who had been dismissed on-panel in a way that, as a reader, I had never been happy about. The approach I planned, I thought, was ultimately much sadder and more tragic for Adam, as I hope you'll see in the story.
I became a bit thrown off when the comic book media of the time, like Wizard, dubbed it "the Third Summers brother," and it took on a life of its own. I had always thought of it as simply 'the Third Brother,' because I knew that, technically, if the DNA was coming from Kate, he wasn't really a "Summers." But it didn't matter, it became "The Third Summers Brother" in the minds of everyone. And without the chance to actually tell the story, it was impossible to wrangle that horse back in the barn.
When you were first coming up with your plans for Adam, Gabriel Summers, Vulcan, had not been created. So, has the introduction of that character changed any of your original plans for Adam?
Nope. Not a single thing needed to change, since all of Adam's story takes place before the fourth brother was ever introduced.
The stories in X-Men: Legends are in continuity, but they're also set in the past. So approximately when does your arc take place?
It takes place a few months after Captain Marvel #3, which would be approximately around X-Men vol. 2 #46-50. For continuity detectives, there is a cameo appearance by a character who has a line of dialogue that would help cement the time period.
What was the status quo for the various X-teams at this time?
This is pre-Onslaught, so I assume they weren't too different from when I left the title with issue #45? A mish-mash of a thousand characters all living in Xavier's Mansion and getting in each other's way? Yeah, that's why I took the characters I needed away from the mansion as quickly as I could. [Laughs]
The press release for your story suggested that Cyclops and Havok will have a large role to play in this tale. What's it like bouncing them off of each other and Adam-X?
Fun. I like Scott and Alex playing off each other because it lightens them both up. The big brother/little brother dynamic between them gives them an opportunity to relax them from their normal mode, especially when it's just the two of them together without the responsibility of leading other characters, as it is in this story.
Once Adam gets involved, although he has zero experience being a "little brother," I thought the dynamic slipped nicely into that.
Finally, since this is a tale set in the '90s it feels really fitting that Brett Booth, an artist who did some spectacular work during that era, brings it to life. What's it like working with Brett on this story?
I asked for Brett specifically because I thought he would bring the exact energy to the story that it needed. I was working on the script, imagining how the panels would look if he were drawing it, even before I asked for him and Marvel agreed and he agreed to draw it! So far, I think my editorial acumen proves I am a genius. [Laughs]
I am very glad I was able to tell this story in almost exactly the way I had always planned and I thank C.B. Cebulski, Jordan D. White, Mark Basso, and Lauren Amaro for the opportunity. I hope I give the character the respect I had always wanted for him but had not managed to achieve for reasons, both out of my hands and that I was responsible for myself. I knew who I wanted Adam to be, and I think this story will give readers a chance to see that. It's a "big" story that is also very intimate, sad, tragic and hopeful all at the same time. And it's also got a tremendous amount of crunchy cool fun, as well!
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