AGENT CARTER, HOWLING COMMANDOS and SHIELD

Agent Carter from Agents of SHIELD courtesy Marvel
Agent Carter from Agents of SHIELD courtesy Marvel

Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter and the Howling Commandos (including Jim Morita and Dum Dum Dugan) from Captain America: The Winter Soldier will appear in the Season Two premiere of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

 

As Phil Coulson rebuilds S.H.I.E.L.D. producers will take viewers back to the origins of the super spy organization in Agent Carter. Marvel’s head of television and comic book veteran Jeph Loeb discussed the return of Peggy and importance of a Marvel female lead headlining a television series. Continue reading AGENT CARTER, HOWLING COMMANDOS and SHIELD

NOVA Meets Guardians of the Galaxy

 

Nova #2 courtesy Marvel
Nova #2 courtesy Marvel

Jeph Loeb launched a brand new NOVA series with a new hero soon be under the helmet. Sam Alexander is a small town teen who just learned his father’s delusions of space adventures were no illusion. This week in Nova #2 Sam gets recruited by a talking racoon and a green warrior woman!

Loeb likens Sam to another famous teen hero with great power and responsibility:

“If we’re lucky, we’re taking on the type of stuff Peter Parker did in the earliest Spider-Man stories trying to be a super hero and a normal kid.”

“That story of Sam Alexander being 16 years old and already having given up is something I think people can relate to. But in the Marvel Universe, when we’re at our worst, that’s when the hero comes forward.”

Outer space adventurers like Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy are reborn franchises and the future of Marvel.

“The relationship between Nova and the Guardians of the Galaxy is very important to where we’re going. Brian Bendis and I have talked about it since the beginning. It’s on the first page of the first issue. It’s really cool to see Ed drawing the Guardians.”

“It will be a little bit of a surprise Continue reading NOVA Meets Guardians of the Galaxy

NOVA Ready to Blast Off!

 

Nova #1 courtesy Marvel

  Marvel launches a brand new NOVA series into the Marvel Now with a superstar team but there’s a new kid under the helmet. Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness tell how teenager Sam Alexander became the new Human Rocket. Fans will now see the beginnings of the kid who debuted in Avengers vs. X-Men.

Nova #1 courtesy Marvel

“We’ll be seeing the origin of Nova and how he is learning what it’s like to be a super hero,” Loeb shares. “He’s first got to learn Continue reading NOVA Ready to Blast Off!

Jeph Loeb Launches NOVA

 

Nova #1 courtesy Marvel
Nova #1 courtesy Marvel

   In 2013 NOVA #1 blasts into the Marvel Now with a new hero under the helmet. Jeph Loeb revealed his pans for the new Nova and how all the cosmic heroes are important to the Marvel’s future on Marvel.com.

  “Ed McGuinness and I are huge Nova fans, particularly of the Nova Corps. When we read Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning’s Thanos Imperative, it was amazing and heartbreaking. It was the end of Nova. We rose up for the Nova fans, who know are legion, and came up with an idea that we brought to editor Steve Wacker, who championed our cause, and Sam Alexander was born.”

“We’ve seen where Sam is present day in AvX and Point One. He’s the only Nova that he knows about. We’ve seen the responsibilities of taking on the helmet and being Nova. The legacy of Rich Rider will hang a heavy shadow.”

“We’re going to go back six months to where Sam was an ordinary kid living in a small town in Arizona, never believing there was anything beyond his backyard. Now his backyard is the entire universe.”

Nova #2 courtesy Marvel
Nova #2 courtesy Marvel

  Loeb likens the new NOVA to another teen hero with great power and responsibility:

  “If we’re lucky, we’re taking on the type of stuff Peter Parker did in the earliest Spider-Man stories trying to be a super hero and a normal kid.”

  “That story of Sam Alexander being 16 years old and already having given up is something I think people can relate to. But in the Marvel Universe, when we’re at our worst, that’s when the hero comes forward.”

  Marvel is betting big on their space-faring heroes. Guardians of the Galaxy will be a movie and new series by Brian Michael Bendis and Steve McNiven.

  “The relationship between Nova and the Guardians of the Galaxy is very important to where we’re going. Brian Bendis and I have talked about it since the beginning. It’s on the first page of the first issue. It’s really cool to see Ed drawing the Guardians.”

  “It will be a little bit of a surprise who Sam is up against in this first arc, but it’s very much in the world of Nova, yet a bit next level. By the end of the second issue you’ll know what’s at stake, who the villains are and what will be threatening all of Earth.”

 

Nova, Gamorra, Rocket Raccoon courtesy Marvel
Nova, Gamorra, Rocket Raccoon courtesy Marvel

You could call Richard Rider (the original Nova) Marvel’s eternal teenager until recently. Loeb explains the difference between Rich and Sam:

  “What would you do if you found Iron Man’s armor and Tony Stark wasn’t around to explain how it worked? After Thanos Imperative, there is no Worldmind, there is no Nova Corps and there is no Rich Rider.”

  “We’re telling the story of a 16 year old kid. You can tell a very dark and adult story about that, but that’s not the story we’re telling. From the beginning, Nova was a fun character. Rich Rider loved being Nova. We want to keep to the spirit of that character. You don’t get to be a rocket and not smile about it at some point.”

 NOVA #1 by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness launches this February.

For the entire liveblog here’s the Marvel.com link.

By Editor

NOVA Blasts Off

 

Nova #1 courtesy Marvel

Marvel will launch a new NOVA into the Marvel Now with a superstar team but it will a brand new kid under the helmet. At New York Comic Con the publisher revealed Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness will helm a brand new Nova series. Sam Alexander is the new Human Rocket. Fans will now see the beginnings of the kid who debuted in Avengers vs. X-Men.

Nova #1 courtesy Marvel

“We’ll be seeing the origin of Nova and how he is learning what it’s like to be a super hero,” Loeb shares. “He’s first got to learn about the responsibility of being hero. The responsibility that comes with the helmet.”

Nova #1 courtesy Marvel

Nova is one of Marvel’s space-faring heroes but this series will be down to Earth for now.

  “We want to see Nova in an environment that we can relate to—our own planet—but there’s something cosmic about being out there,” the writer explains. “It’ll be where the adventure takes him.”

Nova #1 courtesy Marvel

New to Nova? Richard Ryder became a member of the Nova Corps – an intergalactic police force that originated on the planet Xandar. No word on what will happen to Richard Ryder, the Dick Clark of Marvel. Ryder was created in 1966 but remained a teenager for several decades including his stint in the New Warriors in 1990’s. Ryder is trapped in an alternate universe.

Nova is a concept like The Defenders. Every few years Marvel tries to revive it. I don’t get it but Marvel is doubling down on its cosmic characters. With a Guardians of the Galaxy movie in development and a new series by Brian Michael Bendis – hopes are high for this new version of Nova who may join the Guardians on the big screen.

By Editor

Wolverine Team on Return of Sabretooth!

Wolverine #311 courtesy Marvel.com

  No head? No problem! The meanest mutant of all is back! Jeph Loeb, Simone Bianchi and Editor Jeanine Schafer are the team behind Sabretooth Returns kicking off in Wolverine #310. The Loeb & Bianchi pick up where they left off in Evolution when Logan beheaded Victor Creed. The trio answered questions on today’s Marvel.com Next Big Thing event.

“We always said Wolverine: Evolution was only half the story. We thought it be great if Sabretooth would be off the table for a while, though none of us thought it would be for five years. Axel Alonso and Jeanine Schaefer really stood on the wall and kept him out until we were ready to come back,” Loeb revealed.

Wolverine #310 courtesy Marvel

“This isn’t a story where we pick the needle up off the record and then drop it back down on the same song. Between Evolution and now, some really talented people have worked on Wolverine. In particular, Daniel Way advanced a lot of the story lines we put together and we wanted to acknowledge what had happened. A lot of this revolves around Romulus, and when we last saw him, he had been sent to the Darkforce Dimension by Cloak. When our story opens, something has happened to bring Cloak to the top of the Empire State Building. Romulus, Sabretooth, Cloak and Dagger are all tied together,” Loeb said.

 

Wolverine #310 courtesy Marvel

  Evolution was the first arc but as Loeb revealed it’s a major theme of his upcoming arc.

  “This story is very much about the nature of being a villain. No villain wakes up in the morning and sees himself that way. They have a point of view and it happens to be the antithesis of the hero. How do you embrace that side of Sabretooth? He has an opportunity, being reborn. What has his death taught him?”

 

Wolverine #312 courtesy Marvel

  “There is a brand new character who I hope will join Wolverine’s rich cast of characters. I’m excited to add to that. One of the things I like about working with Simone is his extraordinary ability to design looks that will stand the test of time.” 

 Creed recently turned up as a “mentor” to Kade Kilgore of the new Hellfire Club in Jason Aaron’s Wolverine and the X-Men.

  “I love Wolverine & The X-Men and what Jason Aaron is doing, but there are times when you want Wolverine to feel more like a singular character. This really is more of a story of Wolverine, Sabretooth, the nature of their relationship and the lies they’ve been told through the years,” Loeb said about guest stars from the Jean Grey School.

“Romulus said some stuff in Evolution that was really bold and outrageous. He’s the villain. If you saw Empire Strikes Back in the theaters, you didn’t automatically believe that Darth Vader was telling the truth about being Luke’s father.”

“I can only tell you that the way Sabretooth returns is through a way that was planted in the first story and comes from a well-known place to do with one of our characters,” Loeb revealed about the new character.

For more quotes and variant covers here’s the Marvel.com link. The 4-part arc kicks off July 4, 2012.

By Editor 

 

Sabretooth Reborn

 

Wolverine #310 courtesy Marvel.com

Sabretooth is back! At the Marvel Cup of Joe panel at C2E2 it was announced Jeph Loeb and Simone Bianchi will reunite for Sabretooth Reborn picking up where they left off in Evolution. The team take over Logan’s solo title with Wolverine #310 this July. Cloak & Dagger will be part of the arc.

 

Wolverine #311 courtesy Marvel

Logan beheaded his archrival with the muramasai blade, which negates their healing factor. Sabretooth turned up in Jason Aaron’s final Wolverine arc and in Wolverine and the X-Men, where Victor Creed is working for the new Hellfire Club.

  To see the entire panel transcription here’s the Marvel.com link. By Editor

Cable’s First Shot in AVX

Avengers: X-Sanction #1 alternate cover preview courtesy Marvel.com

  Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness bring Cable back with full impact in Avengers: X-Sanction #1. This time Nathan is not a father figure, freedom fighter or platoon leader. Cable is an effecient super soldier on a focused mission.    

  Nathan and Steve Rogers are two determined soldiers with brilliant tactical minds. The fight is big and physical but you get a sense of the strategy behind every move.

  I think you can get a sense of the battle strategies Captain America and Cyclops will execute in Avengers Versus X-Men. Cap may even learn something from Cable that could give him an advantage to beat Cyke – knowing when to make sacrifices.

  We learn how Cable survived “death” in Second Coming, see a blast from Nathan’s past who sets him on his new mission and learn why he must destroy the Avengers in 24 hours.

  The script is tight. The art is big, brash and bursting off the pages. The issue is one big giant teaser for the upcoming AVX but this first shot in the war in a fun yarn on its own.