Comic Book Day: Mutants, Ninjas and the Uncanny Sam Humphries

X marks the spot for the Sacrifice scribe.

Sam Humphries may just be the nicest guy in comics. He’s also the most Horatio Algier-esque. After his self-published Our Love is Real sold out its initial run in 9 hours (!), Image picked up the title for wider release. Now, he’s got books at Marvel, Dark Horse, BOOM! Studios and, of course, in his hot little self-publishing hands. And, surprisingly, he is still modest, humble and not afraid to pull his narrative punches. Oh, and did we mention we also love him because he used to co-host the MELTCAST (the official podcast of our home base, Meltdown Comics)? Now, the self-made man is gearing up for his highest profile assignment yet, Marvel NOW’s Uncanny X-Force, coming in January and featuring dynamite art from Ron Garney. How does Humphries deal with tackling the House That Remender Thrilled? With ninjas, hot sauce and a fierce love for all things Aztec (and sweet, sweet preview pages in our full interview).

Nerdist News: Tell us a bit about your take on Uncanny X-Force. Judging from the covers it looks like we can expect some shake-ups to the lineup.

Sam Humphries: MUTANT NINJA NOIR. In a world where Wolverine is running a goddamn prep school, and even Sunfire is a goddamn Avenger, there’s gotta be a place for the outsiders, the scoundrels, the truly uncanny — and not the posers who kick it with Captain America on the weekends! Psylocke and the crew will be pulling back the curtain on the darkest corners of the Marvel Universe — confronting things that even the X-Men fear and hate. There’s a lot of books with “Uncanny” in the title, but this book is gonna be dark, sexy, weird, bloody, and sticky — the most “Uncanny” of them all.

NN: Were you given any sort of creative mandate given that it’s a Marvel NOW! title or do they allow you more creative freedom since it’s a reboot of sorts?

SH: The only Marvel NOW! mandate is that these are new books. It’s a new day for all the titles. So take advantage of the opportunity — show us something new, go a little crazy, break the mold a little bit. And don’t blow it.

NN: The art that we’ve seen so far is gorgeous. Talk to us about Ron Garney’s interiors and how you two worked together to guide the book’s visual tone.

SH: Ron Garney is the true killer of Uncanny X-Force. Not only is he a goddamn master of dynamic storytelling and fist-blistering action, he won’t flinch at drawing anything. It’s amazing to work with an artist knowing I can throw anything at them and they’ll nail it. The temptation to take advantage of an artist without fear is…overwhelming.

Uncanny X-Force comes out on January 16th, 2013, but feed your mutant need with our full interview with Sam Humphries on Nerdist.com!

Forward to a Buddy Invite a Buddy