The main story features the artwork of the amazing @SalvadorLarroca, who is not only one of the best artists working in comics, but is one of the greatest X-Men artists of all time. Every single page that comes in for this book blows my mind.

The colors are by my frequent collaborator and brilliant colorist @rachellecheri. She really captures something so amazing and vibrant about the world we are trying to portray. It's muted at the right times, explosively bright at others, and just gorgeous.

But we also have a 21 page Wolverine story in this issue handled by the legendary @mccreaman and the soon to be legendary @SpicerColor. They are one of the best art teams I've ever gotten to work with, and anyone who glances at this story will know why I say that.

And then we have a 9 page story about one of my favorite X-Men, Blindfold. It's drawn by someone I've been lucky enough to work with before and hope to work with again, @JUANAN_RAMiREZ. Juanan is so good and I'm excited every time a book comics out and more people discover that.

The issue is expertly lettered by lettering legend @JoeCaramagna, and edited by comics true dynamic duo- @cracksh0t & @chrisrobinson. I couldn't ask for a better team. Regardless of what you think of me I'm pretty confident the book is worth checking out because of all them.

I do want to say a couple things about the issue. Nothing I'd consider a spoiler exactly, but there are some sensitive topics in the book that will be upsetting for some readers that I wanted to talk about. If you wish to go in knowing nothing, stop reading here.

UNCANNY X-MEN is my favorite comic of all time. Writing this book, getting the chance to add to the legacy of everyone who has worked on them before, is such an honor that its hard for me to think about it without being overwhelmed.

I wanted to tell a story that felt both universal and deeply personal to readers and to myself. There is a bigger story at play throughout the series that is going to deal with a lot of things brought up in this issue, and things aren't going to be exactly what they seem.

With that said, UNCANNY X-MEN #11 deals with depression, self harm, mental illness, and trauma. I don't want to go into it much more for risk of spoiling it, but I want to acknowledge it will be very hard for some people to read. It was very hard to write.

This is probably not the ideal forum but I am someone who has dealt with a lot depression and self harm in my past, both for myself and people I care about. I was in a much darker place when I was younger and one of the things that helped me pull through that was the X-Men.

Watching them process grief, loss, pain, & death was amazingly powerful for me in feeling less isolated at a point in my life I really needed that. The title of this arc, "This Is Forever..." is something someone said to me once in talking about suicide and it has never left me.

The X-Men have been a constant in my life. They are as important to helping shape who I am as almost any other thing in the world. And I have always loved them for their ability to address real world issue and things that affect people. That is why they matter to me.

In keeping with that, they are characters who suffer terrible loss, incredible isolation, and very real trauma. I think it's so important that if we are going to portray those things, we do it with the weight and responsibility of acknowledging the real world consequences.

I wanted to talk about depression and grief in this book. I wanted to see my heroes have to face down the stigma of mental illness. I wanted to show people that they are not alone in dealing with pain, and loss, and a feeling of helplessness.

I know for some this book will hurt in ways that I did not intend. And I am deeply sorry for that. But I also hope for far more it will bring issues to light that can not be kept in the dark.

A lot of what we talk about in the book is hard for people to talk about. Hell it's hard for me to talk about right now. But for so many people, including a younger version of myself, it's so important to see real pain, real grief, real sadness, and see the consequences.

Today is my birthday. I feel pretty confident in saying I wouldn't be here today to celebrate in some part if it weren't for the X-MEN and the things they were willing to address. I am hoping that down the road, someone can say the same thing about the story we're telling today.

And if you think I did a bad job, or screwed up, I'm sorry. I'm trying to do something personal and very important to me, and I'm hoping others. Talking about big, important things has inherent risks and I will always strive to do better in telling these kinds of stories.

But I urge you to go out and do better than me. Talk about these issues in ways you need to hear people talk about them. Be the voice you need to hear in the world. I look forward to reading that X-MEN story.

Anyway, in honor of our story and as a birthday gift to myself I donated a chunk of my paycheck for this issue to various Suicide Prevention and Outreach organizations that are important to me. I urge you to do the same if you have the means. Here are the ones I gave to-

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline are available 24 hours a day for people who need to talk.



They aim to help people in crisis and change the conversation around suicide.



If you need to speak with someone- 800-273-8255



If you'd like to donate- https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/donate/

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline also runs the Veterans Crisis Line. Suicide among Veterans in this country is an epidemic and a topic that far to few are willing to discuss or acknowledge. If you are a Veteran in need of help, please reach out.



https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/

.@TrevorProject help LGBTQ youth across America who may be struggling to find mutual support.



If you need to speak to someone call 1-866-488-7386 or visit http://www.thetrevorproject.org for other options.



To donate- https://give.thetrevorproject.org/give/63307/#!/donation/checkout …

Sometimes making a phone call seems too difficult or isn't an option. @CrisisTextLine is a 24/7 confidential text support line for people in crisis.



If you need help (in the U.S.): text HOME to 741741 anytime.



To donate: https://www.crisistextline.org/donate

.@TransLifeline offers people in crisis peer support from a dedicated team of transgender volunteers and staff operators, each extensively trained and deeply compassionate.



If you need to talk in the US: 877-565-8860



In Canada: 877-330-6366



To donate: https://www.translifeline.org/donate

Anyway, those are the organizations I donated to today. If you need to speak to someone, they are there for you. If you have a few bucks laying around, they could use your support.

You can follow @AshcanPress.

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