Spinning off from the pages of Uncanny X-Men, the enigmatic mutant known as Chamber is set to star in his own X-Men Icons limited series which begins next month.
Here's how Marvel originally solicited the series' debut issue:
X-MEN ICONS: CHAMBER #1
Cover by Chris Bachalo
Brian K. Vaughan (w)/Lee Ferguson (p)/Norm Rapmund (i)
A new 4-issue series straight from the pages of Uncanny X-Men! Will the new X-Man solve the mystery of a hate crime - or become the next victim? Featuring covers by Generation X penciler Chris Bachalo!
32 pgs. with ads/FC/Marvel PG $2.99
X-Fan recently caught up with writer Brian K. Vaughan, artist Lee Ferguson, colorist Jose Villarrubia, and editor Mike Raicht to find out more about the mini, as well as more about what makes Chamber tick.
X-FAN: How did the project first come about?
RAICHT: When Joe Quesada became Editor-in-Chief he gave us assistants the opportunity to develop our own projects. Chamber has always been one of my favorite characters, so I thought, since he was getting some time in Uncanny X-Men that he would be a perfect place to start. Of those Generation X characters I always thought that Chamber, Husk and Synch had the most potential and I wanted to help bring at least one of them to the forefront.
X-FAN: Of all the characters that could receive an X-Men Icons series, why a relatively new character like Chamber?
RAICHT: I think Chamber is one of the new breed of X-characters that I relate to best. He was created when I was younger and I looked at him as part of my new X-Men. The X-Men were already around for years before I got a chance to read them, but when Generation X came out I was in on the ground floor.
VAUGHAN: Though he's always had a ton of potential, I think Chamber is still missing something (and not just the lower half of his face!). This mini-series will attempt to fill that void by giving Chamber a new sense of purpose, while also maintaining the attributes that make him such a unique character.
FERGUSON: For a relatively new one, there's actually a lot of depth to the character. Anyone who read all those old issues of Generation X knows he's cool... he's a character that deserves a lot more attention than he was able to get in Uncanny. It's hard for every character to shine in a team book, especially when that team has guys like Wolverine and co.
X-FAN: What's the appeal of the character to you all?
VAUGHAN: Beyond having one of the coolest visuals of anyone in comics, Chamber is just a great character. At his smoldering core, he's a social outcast like Peter Parker and a hero like Spider-Man... but Jono has to be both at the SAME TIME.
RAICHT: I think he's the ultimate outsider. Not only is he a mutant, but he's a horribly disfigured mutant. I think he has overcome the most to be the hero he has become. Plus, he's smug while he's doing it which is kind of cool.
FERGUSON: He's an outcast, even on a team of freaks like the X-Men. Some of the mutants are such pretty-boys that it's a little hard to feel any pity for them, y'know? I mean ... Jean Grey? Wolvie? Iceman? C'mon! You'd love to be any of them. But not Jono. I'm a huge Spider-Man fan, and Jono shares a lot of those same characteristics that make Spidey so popular. He's cool in an uncool way. And he's a blast to draw.
VILLARRUBIA: Chamber looks really cool and his look is totally unique. I thought that his energy area would give me an opportunity to flex my coloring muscles.
X-FAN: What do you see as core to Chamber's character?
RAICHT: His integrity. He questions things that some of the other X-Men may take for granted because nothing has been handed to him. But behind his smug demeanor is someone who wants to change the world. Even though he might think it's a miserable place, he believes it's his responsibility to make it better.
VAUGHAN: See above!
FERGUSON: Despite the fact that he's an outcast among outcasts, he's a good guy. He's got what would be a great bad guy origin, but he's not a villain. Maybe he's a little gloomy, but he hasn't become embittered. The guy blew his own mouth and chest open with his weird mutant power ... to just continue to persevere and to fight the good fight after that happened says a lot about the character
VILLARRUBIA: That he cannot hide the fact that he is a mutant, nor can he have a "normal" life, since he can't be truly intimate with other people.