The Flaming Lips Meet ‘X-Men’ in Retro Marvel Comic
The Flaming Lips will visit the Marvel universe in the August issue of X-Men ’92, a retro comic set in the Nineties continuity. “Being in an X-Men comic where they (the X-Men themselves) actually run security at one of our shows … I should have written a song about that,” singer Wayne Coyne told Billboard.
“As an X-Men fan since 1977, this is a dream come true,” said bassist Doni Blair. “Five-year-old me would do a Kool-Aid spit take on this news.”
X-Men ’92 writer Chris Sims told Billboard that the rock-meets-comic concept began as a tribute to the bizarre cameos that populated comics decades ago. His co-writer, Chad Bowers, called the Flaming Lips and Toadies “two of [his] favorite bands.”
“Each had a profound impact on my musical tastes growing up – Rubberneck for the Toadies, and The Soft Bulletin and really everything behind it for the Lips,” he said. “Getting to reference not just the bands, but the music and what those songs meant to us is pretty surreal, and unlike anything either of us imagined we’d be doing on X-Men ’92. Now if we can just convince Marvel to let us keep [the Flaming Lips’] Steve Drozd on the team when this arc’s over…”
The publication also premiered the flashy cover of Issue Number Six, which shows Coyne, Steven Drozd and Michael Ivins performing on-stage as Wolverine crushes some Sentinel enemies. The August issue will also feature comic renditions of Texas rock veterans Toadies, best known for their 1994 debut LP, Rubberneck, and its off-kilter breakout single, “Possum Kingdom.”
Last month, as a tribute to their late hero David Bowie, the Lips recorded a reliably trippy cover of his legendary 1969 track “Space Oddity,” which they performed live on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.