There are always comic books that stand above the rest. Over the last couple of years, one of them has been Gail Simone’s Uncanny X-Men. The iconic comic book creator took Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Jubilee, Gambit, and Rogue and gave them more than a team fighting threats to the world; she created four characters that will one day be among the greats in comics. Those characters are none other than the Outliers.
Last year, I wrote an article about Uncanny X-Men being comic book comfort food. However, there’s been a lot of emotional depth in addition to the fun of these stories. That is partly due to the addition of the new characters: The aforementioned Outliers (Ransom, Calico, Deathdream, Ember, and Jitter).
We recently had the honor of interviewing Gail and she discussed the Outliers, characters she’d like to write for, and much more.
To begin with, I asked Gail about the thought process behind creating the Outliers and she revealed:
"I loved the New Mutants. There was something about them being SO young and SO raw, they felt like they could mess up every mission for a while. It added an element of real stakes. I wanted that feeling, that they had POTENTIAL, but no EXPERIENCE."
She also brings up my favorite part of the dynamic of the Outliers and the veteran X-Men. "I also love how the actual X-Men have to warm to them, have to learn to like them. I think it shows the adults’ character in a really admirable way."
Another new character is a villain named Warden “don’t call me Doctor” Ellis. While Ellis is the worst, Gail made her a relatable and maybe sympathetic character by exploring the villain's imposter syndrome, and this was always part of her plan.
"I believe there ARE people who are pretty close to pure evil. But there are a lot that have a specific kind of hatred, but might be ‘normal’ otherwise. It doesn’t make them less dangerous. It just means they’re more complicated. And I agree, she’s terrible."
She added another statement about Warden Ellis, saying: "Her story is ongoing, but she needs her comeuppance."
Among the many aspects of Uncanny X-Men that truly made it great is the art of David Marquez (who’s also writing and doing the art for The Unchosen). With that in mind, I asked if there were other artists that Gail would like to work with.
"Oh, man, so many. I will never complain. In the past few years, I’ve worked with Colleen Doran, Gene Ha, David Marquez, Luciano Vecchio, David Baldeon, Phil Noto, I mean, just some of the best artists going. I can’t be anything but grateful."
"And I regularly, I mean at least once a week, get an email from some legend asking us to do an X-story together, it’s amazing. You would not believe the names. But there’s always a bunch I am dying to work with when they have time and interest. Denys Cowan, Peach Momoko, Amanda Conner, Bill Sienkiewicz, Mark Brooks, Brett Booth, Danny Earls, there’s a bunch."
One character that fans have longed for Gail Simone to write for is Hawkgirl. I mentioned that I'd like to see her take on the beloved DC hero as well as other characters like Monet St. Croix, Barda, Layla Miller, and Kitty Pryde. Gail adds insight to who's on her list and what's next.
"Monet is coming, she’s been simmering a bit. I love Magik. I would love to see her go up against Mutina (who will be appearing again in 2026). I love the Wasp, I love Medusa. I’ve been asked to write some others, but time would not allow…it may happen sooner than you think."
The comic book legend also said that Storm is on her list, but she had to mention the superb job Murewa Ayodele is doing with Storm, saying, "I’d love to write Storm some, but damn, I mean, who wants to follow Murewa? He’s killing on her title."
And trust us when we say that Murewa Ayodele's Storm is a groundbreaking title for one of the most popular comic book characters ever.
You can find Gail Simone on Instagram, Twitter, Threads, and Bluesky. And Stay tuned to Bam Smack Pow’s social media pages too for more comic book, TV, and movie news, opinions, and rumors as they come out.