Dennis Hopeless. Kev Walker. Survive. December 2012.
The blood stained image is the latest teaser for a new Marvel NOW title.
I admit it- I’m stumped!
By Editor
Survive the Marvel NOW!
Tag: Marvel Now!
Striking Lightning in the Marvel NOW
Daniel Way. Steve Dillon. Lightning. December 2012. A new series in the crosshairs!
The second wave of Marvel NOW! is unleashed! Does this mean a brand new Thunderbolts?
Back in the day the original Thunderbolts series launched with the tagline “Justice, Like Lighting.”
The current T-bolts just became Dark Avengers under Jeff Parker.
In an earlier interview Way told Comics Newsarama he would be writing a team book.
What do you think?
By Editor
Uncanny Avengers Preview: An Attack and Hero’s Funeral?
In the aftermath of Avengers vs. X-Men – the Uncanny Avengers are born. Captain America assembles Thor, Wolverine, Rogue, Scarlet Witch and Havok against the threat of a reborn Red Skull and his S-Men. Rick Remender and John Cassaday launch this first book of the Marvel NOW relaunch in October.
Marvel revealed the first look inside Uncanny Avengers #1. Three inked pages by John Cassaday show an attack in the heart of New York City.
Marvel calls this the Red Skull’s first attack. It sure looks like Avalanche – a former member of Mystique’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The villain was last seen a reformed man running a bar out west.
Captain America and Thor rush into action. Cap hurls himself into battle against the villain while the Odinson is flying survivors out of the danger zone.
Marvel also says this premiere issue will include the funeral of a great hero and threaten Professor Xavier’s dream. I can only imagine what Rick Remender has planned. He is one fearless writer!
It’s so good to see John Cassaday drawing Marvel heroes again!
By Editor
Marvel NOW! Thor/Uncanny Avengers Crossover?
Jason Aaron is taking over Asgard with Thor: God of Thunder #1 this November as part of the Marvel NOW! relaunch. Rick Remender kicks off the relaunch this October with Uncanny Avengers #1. Thor is a member. Aaron and Remender’s friendship and creative rapport could lead to a possible crossover Aaron tells Marvel.com.
“Yeah, Rick’s probably one of the other writers I talk to the most. He and I have enjoyed sharing ideas over in the X-Men corner of the Marvel U. And I would expect that to continue now. Actually just today we were talking about some THOR: GOD OF THUNDER/UNCANNY AVENGERS business that should pay off way down the road. So yeah, Rick’s all right. For a dude who doesn’t like football.”
Matt Fraction on The Mighty Thor and Kieron Gillen on Journey Into Mystery are wrapping their epic runs on those series with the Everything Burns crossover kicking off this week.
By Editor
Gambit Goes Solo
The Cajun X-Man in his own series. Gambit #1 by James Asmus (Captain America & Bucky, Generation Hope)and Clay Mann (X-Men Legacy) debuts this week.
“This story will break Gambit out into the larger Marvel Universe. We are trying to make it as accessible to new fans as well as everyone who loved Gambit in the past,” teases Asmus.
Before he was a hero, Remy LeBeau was a master thief. Remy’s criminal past came back to haunt him – especially his connection to Mister Sinister and the Mutant Massacre.
“He’s one of the greatest thieves in the Marvel Universe,” Asmus continued and confirmed Rogue will play a part in the series.
This Geek’s Opinion: I’m a big fan of James Asmus and Clay Mann’s art. I love Gambit but as part of a team. Remy is currently part of X-Men Legacy, where’s a slow burning attraction building with Frenzy and the smooth talker shares a flirtation with Cecelia Reyes in Astonishing X-Men. Who knows which or if Remy will end up on a team in the Marvel NOW! relaunch. Gambit, Asmus, Mann – I’ll definitely give Remy’s new solo series a shot.
By Editor
Black Panther in the Marvel NOW!
Black Panther will survive and apparently thrive after Avengers vs X-Men!
“Black Panther is hugely important to Marvel NOW!” said Marvel Editor in Chief Axel Alonso,” and you’ll find out where in days to come!”
That’s was Alonso told a fan on this week’s Axel-in-Charge column on Comic Book Resources.
T’Challa recently returned to Wakanda in the pages of Fantastic Four and FF to reclaim his throne. The King gave refuge his fellow Avengers refuge in Wakanda and his nation and marriage is in shambles.
This declaration from Alonso is great news for Black Panther fans and fuels the excitement for a potential solo movie or having him join an Avengers movie.
By Editor
The Avengers: Jonathan Hickman Reveals Themes
Jonathan Hickman is leaving Marvel’s First Family for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The Marvel NOW! relaunch will see a new Avengers series premiering this December and a New Avengers title in January by Hickman. The visionary creator (Fantastic Four, SHIELD, Manhattan Projects) is revealing his new vision for the team in the aftermath of Avengers vs. X-Men and an 8 year run by Brian Michael Bendis.
Hickman tells Marvel.com how the Avengers came his way.
“I did not actively go after it. There was a retreat where we were trying to figure out what was going to happen after Avengers Vs.X-Men. This is before we really got into writing AvX. One of the things that we talked about was changing creative teams across the board, and that, later on, turned into something that we decided to do. I was one of the ones that popped up and said “Well that’s fine. Whatever we need to do. Whatever we think is going to work, whatever we think is going to be exciting, whatever is going to be new and fresh.” You know, we all need new experiences. So I volunteered to quit FANTASTIC FOUR on the spot. I said, “You know, I’ll go first. Whatever. I’ll quit FANTASTIC FOUR and I’ll go write Squadron Supreme or something, right?” And I don’t think I got the ball rolling or anything like that, but it certainly let everybody know that I was more than happy to jump around and try new things.
Then when it came time to do roster shake ups, I didn’t solicit for any gig. I think they just sort of started talking about it around the office. And we had done the ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES launch, and even though that launch did not go as well as we wanted because of the New 52 kind of swallowing it over at DC, everybody thought I did a pretty good job. And I thought it was pretty solid. It showed that I can do work with what is essentially an Avengers team and I started getting phone calls about it.
But at the same time, I’m pretty sure that [Avengers editor Tom] Brevoort was on vacation when all of this kind of came to a head. So when Brevoort got back from vacation one of the first conversations I had to have was “You know, some of the management types, some of the brass are talking about me doing this and it’s your book, Tom, I’m not interested in doing it if you don’t want me on there.” And Tom said, “I’m the Avengers guy. I’m the one who’s going to have the final say-so.” I replied, “I love working with you and all that kind of stuff, but let me know and if you don’t want me on the book, obviously I’m not interested in doing it if you don’t want to do that but I would love to do anything with you again.” And anyway, it all worked out. We talked about what we wanted the book to be and I was asked to take the job and once I had Tom’s blessing I said yes. And then we got into what the book was going to be. That’s really convoluted, but that’s kind of what happened.”
Fantastic Four’s theme was family. The Avengers themes are bigger and more ominous.
“Yeah, very much so. AVENGERS and NEW AVENGERS are really just two sides of the same book, of the same story. Thematically, they’re aligned too. AVENGERS is about life and NEW AVENGERS is about death. That’s what the two books are. It’s a big book. In the AVENGERS, we tackle the biggest things.”
Hickman confirmed his Avengers will start with 18 members. Jerome Opena (Uncanny X-Force) will be the artist on Avengers. Steve Epting will be the artist on New Avengers.
For his entire interview here’s the Marvel.com link.
By Editor
All New X-Men: Mutant Teenage Dream
Brian Michael Bendis is leaving Earth’s Mightiest Heroes after a phenomenal run to mutate the Children of the Atom this November. All-New X-Men #1 by Bendis and artist Stuart Immomen is part of the Marvel NOW! relaunch. The original five X-Men (including Jean Grey) will be yanked from their past into the present – it’s not the future they dreamed of.
As a lifelong X-Men fan I wanted to share the latest on the big change coming to the franchise. The acclaimed writer tells Marvel.com AvX led to the new series but he’s had his eye on the X-Men franchise.
“Avengers Vs. X-Men led to it. It was an idea that had been floating around the X-Office for a while and I’m still unclear where exactly it percolated. I’m a big fan of these kinds of stories, “Pleasantville” or “Peggy Sue got Married,” where a character faces the truth about themselves and what their life can mean versus what it does mean. They’re very interesting stories and the idea of the original X-Men seeing what the X-Men turned into is absolutely fascinating to me. When I first heard about it I was interested, but it never really stuck the landing or came about. I’d asked about it often, as a fan though, but it never found its home.
When we first did the AvX retreat here at my house, we were sitting outside talking after we finished and I said “I guess I should bail off of Avengers when this is done since I’ve been on it longer than anyone’s ever been on it and eventually I’ll have to leave.” Better to leave now than people going “Ugh, leave.” I wanted to make sure I left on a high note and then slowly the idea of everyone leaving their books began to percolate. I don’t want to put too much importance on it, but it created a domino effect where I was leaving Avengers and someone had to take it, so then they’re leaving their book and someone needs to take that, etc. Everyone has this opportunity to start this new part of their career with a strong take on a new book and with that comes Marvel NOW! It’s very exciting, especially to those of us who’ve locked in big gigs early on.
Axel, Tom and everyone were at my house and told me if I was interested I should go to X-Men. I said I’d go if no one is doing the “Days of Future Now” [idea, as it was called back then]. At the time it was only me and Jeph Loeb who were interested in it and Loeb already had other commitments. Before AvX I was already [going to be] the writer of X-Men and it was interesting to write these characters in such dire straits. I knew that no matter how crazy it got during AvX that I’d be handling the fallout, which is always the best part.”
Chris Claremont took us into a horrific future controlled by Sentinels in the classic storyline Days of Future Past. Bendis is calling his new book Day of Future Now. For the original five mutants the current state of the world is a nightmare.
“There’s a line in my script, I think Bobby says it: “We used to remember ‘Days of Future Past’ being this mutant apocalypse, and on some level, other than the Jean Grey School, this is worse than what we thought it was going to be,” says Bendis.
Fans were anticipating the return of Jean Grey but maybe not in this form. What does the arrival of the teens mean to the X-Men status quo?
“Yes, all five of them coming here create a new status quo. Even the simplest one, being Bobby discovering that he grows up to be rather normal, is a shock. It alters you. Jean coming back now is unlike Jean coming back before. This isn’t a reincarnated Jean, this isn’t a clone; this is Jean. She is coming here wide-eyed, but you also have to remember she’s coming into a world where she’s died. [It wasn’t] a great death, and I don’t want to spoil anything for AvX but she’s witnessed some things about her friends and loved ones that will make her feel wonderful, but also shock her to her very core and change all of her relationships. I’m thrilled and one of the biggest gets of bringing back the original five is that we get Jean. We’re not getting a version of Jean, we’re getting the real thing. She’s going to witness what has happened to the X-Men and what she’ll do to try and change that, especially at a time when maybe her powers aren’t at their fullest yet.”
The cast of All-New X-Men will include more than the original five students but it’s a secret for now.
“Yes. Fans of any team but particularly X-Men begin to do detective work to figure out who’s going to be on the team. I’d like to save some surprise for the fans, but know that not everyone is walking out of AvX in one piece. Those who do walk away in one piece will be part of this book. This book isn’t just going to focus on the experiences of the original five but how they change everything in the X-Men universe. There will be a lot of interaction with those who are around to interact with. I’ve already written quite a few issues and Stuart is on his third issue right now and it’s beautiful to look at.”
One of my favorite elements of the Bendis Avengers era was how he brought back great characters like Luke Cage and Spider-Woman. Most of the X-Men are in one or more of the current X-titles but is there a character from the past about to make a comeback?
“Yes, but like Avengers, I’m not going to step in front of it and announce it. I’m just going to let it happen and see if anyone agrees with me. With Spider-Woman and Luke Cage, I just slipped them in there and people liked it. I’m going to need to prove it with my writing beforehand. For example, I’m not going to announce “Maggot is now cool!” and expect people to love him. It has to happen in the writing and most of the time it discovers itself in the writing. I didn’t realize Spider-Man and Luke Cage would be funny together until I started writing them together. The same thing is starting to happen with the X-characters and I’m just going to let it come naturally.”
In regards to accessibility, I’m hoping that this idea, though completely immersed in continuity porn, at its core is five new X-Men coming in and seeing the X-Men through wide eyes. There’s going to be a nice mix of continuity and accessibility. If you know the continuity it’ll all be there but if you’re coming in fresh with the five new X-Men, what fresher eyes could there possibly be? Hopefully, at least, it’s quite a balancing act since it’s literally a cast of hundreds of established characters that have web sites dedicated to them and hardcore fan-bases who have very specific ideas of what the character should or should not do and we’re going to touch on a lot of it.”
I have to admit I was excited about but fearful of this idea. Bendis did plenty of damage of mutantkind with his Avengers run with Scarlet Witch declaring “No More Mutants.” The writer took inspiration from Charles Xavier in a message to X-fans nervous about the future.
“As X-Men fans you should always remember that the X-Men are about acceptance and tolerance. I know that this idea is scary, but embrace Professor X’s ideas and be a bit more accepting and tolerant of the idea—and stop yelling at me. [Laughs] I think for fans young and old the best part is reading an issue and not knowing what’s going to happen after that. Just to have your fans sit back and enjoy the ride is fantastic.
For more of the Bendis interview by Brett White here’s the Marvel.com link.
By Editor
Opinion: Every time a new writer is coming on board X-Men I have excitement and trepidation but I keep telling myself to remember how much Bendis made me love Avengers again and how he brought back Luke Cage and Jessica Drew to glory.