Inside Avenger Black Widow’s Ledger

The Avengers courtesy Marvel.com

  Joss Whedon and Scarlett Johannson made the Black Widow just work beautifully in The Avengers. Natasha Romanoff is deadly, gorgeous and damaged. She is haunted by the red in her ledger. At New York Comic Con Marvel revealed the Widow’s past will be explore in The Widow’s Ledger storyline.

 

Avengers Assemble #12 courtesy Marvel

  Avengers Assemble writer Kelly Sue DeConnick and artist Pete Woods kick off the new arc jumping from the film.

  “Oh, it was absolutely inspired by the ‘Marvel’s The Avengers’ movie,” confirms DeConnick. “As soon as the Widow said the line, ‘I have a lot of red in my ledger,’ I was like, “Holy crap. I want to see that movie!’”

  “This is a story about debts, among other things, and there’s a coolness, an almost clinical remove to the way in which Black Widow keeps score,” says DeConnick. “Now, add Jessica Drew and Clint Barton to that mix and it all gets messy. Suddenly the Widow’s well out of her comfort zone. 

  “I love how preternaturally cool Natasha is; not cool like rock star cool, cool like temper-less, controlled. In that way she’s the opposite of the character I’ve been writing most of late; Carol Danvers is quick-tempered, explosive. Natasha is patient, chill, calculating.”

  Go inside The Widow’s Ledger starting with Avengers Assemble #12.

By Editor 

Nightwing Takes On Lady Shiva

 

Nightwing #13 courtesy DC Comics

  Lady Shiva makes her DC Comics The New 52 debut going up against Dick Grayson this week. Legendary creator Tom DeFalco unleashes the assassin on Gotham City during this two-part story in Nightwing #13 and #14.

  DeFalco told The Bat Signal on Comic Book Resources how he got to be the writer to bring back the martial arts master.

  “You know, I’m not really sure. I think we had a big discussion — the people I was talking with were Brian Cunningham and Katie Kubert, and the three of us sat around and tossed out all sorts of possibilities and discussed different characters, what would be interesting, which character should we use, this or that. I remembered Brian said at one point, “You know, the character I always loved was Lady Shiva.” And then Katie talked of a different character with a ponytailed weapon. She described it to me and I said, “Wow, that is a really cool weapon!” [Laughs] So Brian made the call to give Shiva that other character’s weapon to make her more a visual threat. Then, I guess Brian discussed it with Mike Marts and the other Bat people and we decided to go with Lady Shiva.”

  Lady Shiva was part of Dick’s past. The femme fatale appeared briefly in last month’s origin story in Nightwing #0 and “this Lady Shiva is very different, but has the same traits in this completely new version of the character.”

 Artist Andres Guinaldo will join DeFalco on the story.

By Editor

All-New X-Men #1 Preview! New Mutants?

All-New X-Men #1 courtesy Marvel

  Brian Michael Bendis will bring the original five X-Men into the Marvel Now. How will the teen Scott, Jean, Hank, Warren and Bobby react to seeing how Xavier’s dream turned nightmare?

  The original five may be the focus on the All-New X-Men book but this preview art by Stuart Immonen stars the modern day X-Men formerly known as the Phoenix Five.

  Cyclops, Emma Frost and Magneto may no longer be under the influence of the Phoenix Force but they still looked ominous as the confront the mystery woman. Bendis has confirmed this is not Rachel Summers.

  The other preview piece shows Cyke and Magik  in a war zone protecting a young man in glasses we’ve seen in an earlier #1 cover.

All-New X-Men #1 courtesy Marvel

 Are these new mutants?

 Captain America and Wolverine are trying to heal the wounds of AvX with the creation of Uncanny Avengers but maybe Cyke, Emma and Magneto are not willing to give in the the new world order of the Marvel Now?

All-New X-Men #1 arrives November 7th.

By Editor

The Return of Jean Grey by Bendis

All New X-Men #1 courtesy Marvel

Will a blast from the past rekindle Xavier’s dream in the Marvel Now? The five original X-Men will be brought into the here and now in All-New X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen. The original teens arrive to see their mentor killed by Cyclops. Their future is a nightmare. Imagine how the young Jean Grey will react when she learns the truth of how her life turned out?

The return of Jean has been teased for years but the idea of the original pre-Phoenix Jean was a surprise. Bendis talked with Marvel.com about how he sees this Jean Grey of the past.

  “I think she’s the quintessential X-Man. I think that’s why everyone gravitates to her so much. Her powers are unique; her powers are something she has to work on, something she has to control. Every time her powers build, it sets a new set of problems for her, and at the same time, a new set of goals and challenges that make her a better hero, And we know, as fans, that she has met with tragedy a couple of times, because of the rocky road of the mutants and the X-Men. In this story that I’m telling, we’re going to meet a Jean that is fully aware of everything that has happened to her, more than any of the other X-Men, and now we get to see how that information will inform her choices as a human, and as a mutant, and as a person, and as a girl going forward.

  It’s a very interesting challenge as a writer. I literally cannot stop writing her. It is absolutely fascinating. We know that Jean is a sweetheart, and we also know that Jean has an incredible edge to her. How will that edge manifest itself, knowing everything that she knows about the destiny of her life?”

All-New X-Men #5 courtesy Marvel

This is perhaps the biggest reveal – this Jean is not just pre-Phoenix but this is Jean before her mutant power manifested.

  “I don’t want to spoil too much, but when we meet Jean in this story, she is specifically brought here when she’s not telepathic, so it would make it more palpable for her to understand what’s happening. But the event of bringing her here unlocks her telepathy earlier than it had prior. She gets a shock to the system discovering that Scott Summers killed Professor Charles Xavier, and that she had died. She is witness to everything at once, so it’s not just elements of her life that is shocking her, it’s the accumulation of all of it.

  It’s literally like reading a Wikipedia page as fast as you can. It’s not just the facts of her life, but it is experiencing all of the emotions at once. Love from someone like Wolverine that she cannot reciprocate, to discover the rise and fall and rise and fall of Scott Summers, all of this happens to her in a flash. That I think is going to be the most shocking thing. It’s literally just her seeing Scott Summers standing next to Magneto. Remember, when they were 16, Magneto was Hitler. That’s what we’re gunning for.”

I loved this next question and response because I remember the relationship between Jean and Ororo during the Chris Claremont era. How will young Jean react to the modern-day X-women like Storm who was adult Jean’s closest friend.

  “And that’s not a best friendship that teenage Jean can reciprocate right now. But what you do get is her gravitating very strongly to Kitty Pryde because they are very much of the same cloth. And that’s what I’m saying: Jean Grey is now Jewish because I’m writing her [Laughs]. No, I’m joking. But it’s not just the other females. It’s a smorgasbord of species and mutations. Remember the original five X-Men, they’re all still pretty human looking, but walk into the Wolverine and the X-Men book, and half those kids are alien looking, if not full on alien. So it certainly is an eye opener.”

X-Men #1 courtesy Marvel

Bendis talks about how knowing Jean’s future history is part of the challenge of writing this young Jean in the Marvel Now.

  “She is the one that everyone wants back the most, and what’s great about this situation. She is the most interesting of the group. They’re all interesting, but because she will have the knowledge. Even if she tells them, “here’s what happens to us,” they’re not going to feel it like she feels it. She is just so interesting to write, Most of us that have read a Jean Grey story know that her dark side is a real thing, and seeing her pushed to limits like this will be interesting for people to see. Will she hold it together? Does she want to hold it together?”

  All-New X-Men arrives November 7th. For more of his interview here’s the Marvel.com link.

By Editor

Red Skull Returns or Recast in Captain America Sequel?

Captain America: The First Avenger promo art courtesy Marvel.com

The Red Skull is enemy number one in the Marvel Now revamp. Rick Remender and John Cassaday brought back the Captain America villain in Uncanny Avengers #1. The mad scientific genius has an anti-mutant agenda and a shocking weapon to execute it. The Red Skull’s sickening act inspired this reaction from me.

The Red Skull was a huge presence in the Winter Soldier epic but if the character makes it back on the big screen – it may be with a new actor. Hugo Weaving may not reprise the role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Weaving tells Collider about appearing in the Cap or Avengers sequel.

“I did that for Captain America.  I think the tendency, with those films, would be to probably not bring a villain back.  They might for The Avengers, but I didn’t think I’d be in Captain America 2 or 3.  I don’t think Red Skull will be there.  And it’s not something I would want to do again.  I’m glad I did it.  I did sign up for a number of pictures and I suppose, contractually, I would be obliged to, if they forced me to, but they wouldn’t want to force someone to do it, if they didn’t want to.  I think I’ve done my dash with that sort of film.  It was good to do it and try it out, but to be honest, it’s not the sort of film I seek out and really am excited by.  As an actor, to do all sorts of different films is great.  It stretches you in different ways.  But, I increasingly like to go back to what I used to always do, which is to get involved with projects that I really have a personal affiliation with.”

In The Winter Soldier storyline the Red Skull is assassinated at the very beginning but there’s a twist I won’t reveal (Ed Brubaker Cap fans know how awesome it is!) so Weaving could do the job in the studio with just his voice.

Maybe Cap will face the Red Skull’s sinister daughter, Sin, and her man, Crossbones. I hope Weaving returns.

By Editor

 

 

Top 5 Comic Books Picks for 10/17/12

AvX: Consequences #2 courtesy Marvel

AvX: Consequences #2 Cyclops was right about the Phoenix’s return. Yet the former X-Men leader sits in prison. Wolverine shows up for a visit- it ain’t a friendly one. The aftermath of Avengers vs. X-Men continues here.

Batwoman #13 Wonder Woman. Batwoman. Medusa.

Cyberforce #1 Marc Silvestri’s superteam is back as part of Top Cow’s 20th Anniversary. A modern reimagining with creator Silvestri co-writing, art director and cover artist starring Velocity as the lead.

Hawkeye #3 Clint Barton takes Kate Bishop under his wing. This is one of the unique superhero book out there showing you life when an Avenger isn’t on duty.

Marvel Now! Point One It’s a big book with lots of stories that will set the stage and leave clues about the big revamp of the Marvel Universe.

By Editor

Uncanny X-Men Ends Again

Uncanny X-Men #20 courtesy Marvel

  The end of Uncanny X-Men…again. It was shocking when Uncanny X-Men was cancelled and relaunched after the Schism event but the book truly was a very all-new, all-different book.

  Kieron Gillen and Carlos Pacheco unite on this week’s Uncanny X-Men #20 and end the second volume they kicked off. When Uncanny X-Men relaunched Cyclops formed the Extinction Team (Emma Frost, Magneto, Storm, Colossus, Magik, Namor and Pixie.) Ironic that it was called the extinction team.

  This assembling of the most powerful mutants was to show the enemies and the world that the X-Men (and those they protect) were not to messed with. The old tagline of protecting a world that fear and hates them with a stronger emphasis on the fear.

 

Uncanny X-Men #9 interior art of UNIT courtesy Marvel

The series was designed to be a prelude and companion book to the Avengers vs. X-Men event. Gillen did the unthinkable (in my opinion) and revamped Mister Sinister into an even more bizarre and compelling enemy. Gillen gave us what I think is one of the new one villains in a long time. Unit could have been the X-Men’s version of Ultron. This alien android was a combination of C3PO and Hannibal Lecter (Gillen’s description.) I’ve already asked Gillen via Twitter to use Unit against Tony Stark in his upcoming Iron Man run.

  I will remember Gillen’s run for the decontruction of the ultimate mutant power couple. Scott Summers and Emma Frost had a good run. She’s still the best thing that ever happened to him – sorry Jean fans. Utopias are always an illusion. The sexual tension between Emma and Namor, Scott’s growing zealotry, the ghost of Jean were always there and Gillen wove the undoing of Scott and Emma with perfection.

Uncanny X-Men #9 courtesy Marvel.com

 Cyclops is in prison – even though he was right after the Phoenix’s return and Hope’s destiny. Magneto, Magik, Colossus, Namor and Emma Frost are fugitives. Colossus will turn up in Cable and X-Force. I hope Emma Frost and Magneto form their own Avenging X-Men. I’d love to see the isolated Namor become Marvel Universe enemy #1 in a new series by Gillen or clash with Tony Stark in Gillen’s Iron Man run.

  The X-Men as I’ve known them are long gone but that’s why I’ve loved them all these years. The mutants keep mutating but no matter who is writing or drawing I love these characters.

By Editor

Batwoman & Wonder Woman Team Up!

Batwoman #13 courtesy DC Comics

The Batwoman/Wonder Woman crossover continues this week! DC Comics brought together the most iconic woman in comics and the most buzzed about new heroine of the modern age. Wonder Woman guest starred in this Batwoman #12 as Kate Kane chased the urban legend, Bloody Mary.

Batwoman #12 courtesy DC Comics

In this week’s Batwoman #13 Wonder Woman and Kate teams up to fight Medusa!

Batwoman #14 courtesy DC Comics

DC Comics shared a preview of Batwoman #14 in November. The Batwoman/Wonder Woman team up continues but Kate may be in over her head against Medusa.

By Editor