• Home » Fraction Talks Emma Frost in the UXM Annual #2

The year 2009 begins a brand new year for Emma Frost. The entire issue of Uncanny X-Men Annual #2 revolves totally on Emma Frost, according to Matt Fraction, current writer of Uncanny X-Men.

Uncanny developments are afoot for Marvel’s mutant franchise flagship of the X-line in 2009 and Matt Fraction is standing tall at the helm. Since the titles 500th issue, the X-Men have set up shop in San Francisco; they’ve added new members to the line-up; and some old threats have seemed to appear from out of thin air. In January, Uncanny fans will get a double dosage of mutant mayhem with the release of the monthly issue, #505, as well as Uncanny X-Men Annual #2. The annual, written by Fraction, with artwork from Mitch Breitweiser and a cover by Yanick Paquette—features a solo story about Emma Frost and her early years in the Hellfire Club as the White Queen.

Newsarama contacted Matt Fraction to talk about what sorts of changes were in store for the X-Men in 2009.

Newsarama: First off, let’s talk about the upcoming Annual–what’s the Uncanny X-Men Annual #2 got in store for the Children of the Atom?

Matt Fraction: Emma, Emma, and more Emma.

Coming very soon, to a major comic book event near you, the divine Ms. Frost finds herself in a very intriguing room, full of very intriguing people, making very intriguing plans. In Uncanny #505 we see how Emma got invited there. And the Annual adds a little bit of backstory to how she ended up there… it interweaves a story of Emma as the young White Queen, back in the glory days of the Hellfire Club as Sebastian Shaw set out to form his Inner Circle, and, in the present, how Emma navigates and negotiates her new status quo. It’s a great slab of Emma Frost at her catty, bitchy, scheming and fabulous chaotic-neutral best. I’ve had a ridiculous amount of fun writing it.

It’s been our plan for a while to start gently threading the X-Men back into the tapestry of the Marvel U. again and these are those first few delicate stitches.

NRAMA: Who are you working with on the Annual? Does the story in the annual act as set-up for upcoming stories in 2009 or is it a standalone story?

MF: Mitch Breitweiser, who I worked with on Iron Fist some and who just put out a brilliant Captain America special, is handling the present day bits. The amazing Daniel Acuña, fresh off the Knaufs’ new Eternals series, handles the flashbacks to Emma’s youth.

And, as a story, it stands alone as a tale about Emma making deals with devils both past and present; it works as a parenthetical that enriches Emma’s history and motivations, casting new light on old relationships and revealing how past dalliances inform her character and — at no added cost to you the reader– the Uncanny Annual foreshadows not just where Uncanny is going, not just where the X-Universe is going, but where the whole freakin’ Marvel Universe is going. You’re welcome.

You can even cut a tin can with it. But you wouldn’t want to.

You can also read more on Fraction’s interview here: Matt Fraction on Uncanny X-Men: Madelyne and More