Reflecting on how he got started with his Marvel work, Asrar reminisced, “The first time I worked for Marvel was back in 2007. I was to do a Nova annual where I'd be retelling the origin of the character. I was already pressured to be doing my first work for Marvel but I was to reinterpret a story originally drawn by John Buscema - one of my all-time biggest influences. Talk about anxiety! That gig and several others after that, along with years of doing other comic work, I was offered to work on an Ultimate X-Men story."
He may not have been in the industry for long, but Asrar knows that when the stars align, he needed to take the leap, “The timing was just right so I took it on even though I was doing an ongoing book at the time. That work led to more offers by Marvel which I was excited about, however, CB Cebulski knew I had a weak spot for Wolverine so he asked if I'd be interested in doing Wolverine and the X-Men with Jason Latour. The lure worked and I just couldn't resist jumping on board.”
The appeal of entering the hallowed halls of the, now titled, “School for Higher Learning” has enticed creators since its inception with the original X-Men and it has always energized artists to bring their own unique style to the student body, “What I've always enjoyed about the original X-Men was that they were students in a weird school so it's exciting that we'll have the opportunity to tell the story of a new breed of X-Men with a new mentor. Visually we'll have the school remain as a school, which means the children will be in uniform. Even the Bamfs will be in uniform.”
Asrar does, however, promise introducing new visual dynamics to the school and its new student body, “The most distinguishable changes will be in some of the kids who have a changed status in the school hierarchy. Especially Quentin Quire springs to mind, who is now a teacher at the school. He's being put in a most unexpected position which will lead to interesting situations.”
When asked who he is looking most forward to visually tackling, Asrar continues, “Aside from getting to draw some of the original X-Men I'm looking forward to draw Fantomex. He's one I wasn't expecting but I suppose Jason [Latour’s] writing has my interest piqued.”
Once again, Marvel is excited to welcome Mahmud Asrar's kinetic and expressive work exclusively to Wolverine and the X-Men, the Marvel Universe and all Marvel Properties.
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