Emerald City Comicon updated their guest list with a big addition. Gabriel Hardman will join the Seattle event March 30th-April 1st. Hardman is currently working with Rick Remender (also coming to ECCC) on Secret Avengers. Hardman’s previous work includes Hulk, Agents of Atlas, and Betrayal of The Planet of the Apes.
His work as an accomplished motion picture illustrator includes Spider-Man 3, X2: X-Men United, Superman Returns, Tropic Thunder and Inception.
Rick Remender and Mike McKone preview the upcoming Uncanny X-Force story Final Execution on Marvel.com. Editor Nick Lowe said it was not just an arc but a “MEGA” arc. Is this the next Dark Angel Saga?
“We changed one big element of the Dark Angel Saga, and this story grows out of that. So it’s actually kind of a double mega arc, because this is an extension of the Dark Angel Saga in some ways. It’s nine issues and a continuation of what we’ve been doing in some ways,” said Remender.
The story introduces a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants who grow out of the Dark Angel Saga.
“This is the toughest Brotherhood of Evil Mutants ever. When you see who’s in it, you’ll see just what the stakes are for X-Force.”
“The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants has a huge plan that stems from the earlier issues of Uncanny X-Force. Archangel’s fall was really the smaller consequence from killing the child Apocalypse. This is the big consequence.”
“This is going to be the ugliest, most down and dirty thing I’ve ever written.”
“I tried to envision something I thought Mike could really excel at here. Issue #25 introduces a new take on a classic X-Men villain and I can’t wait to see Mike draw them. They’re the Omega Clan, three new characters built from the remains of Omega Red.”
“Any place that manufactures humans into weapons is going to piss off a couple members of X-Force. I always want a personal reason for why these characters take on these missions,” said Remender about White Skies where corporations can shop for villains.
“Final Execution is Wolverine’s spotlight arc. He goes through a crazy thing here. I think the fear with him is that he’s in so many books that his growth can become stagnant. He ends this story in a very different place.”
For the entire chat session here’s the Marvel.com Next Big Thing link.
Secret Avengers #22
Hawkeye takes command and recruits Captain Britain for his covert team. He’s going to need the extra muscle as the Avengers’ version of the Sentinels strike. Rick Remender revolutionized Uncanny X-Force so get ready for a wild ride with the bad boys and girls of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
Batgirl #6
Batgirl and Batman meet for the first time since her recovery. The deadly man manipulating Gretel makes her move. Barbara deals with the emotional wallop by a return from someone in her past.
Thief of Thieves #1
When the writers of The Walking Dead and Morning Glories unite for a book it’s a huge reason to rush to the comic store. Robert Kirkman and Nick Spencer tells the story of the ultimate thief who can steal anything except the life he lost. A master criminal tries to connect with the son and wife he lost while evading the FBI and an even bigger threat.
Kevin Keller #1
Archie Comics didn’t just give the Riverdale Gang a gay sidekick – they made Kevin Keller openly gay young man who wants to serving in the military. This week the groundbreaking character gets his own series and hardcover graphic novel featuring the GLAAD Media Award outstanding comic story about Kevin’s first meeting with Archie and life before Riverdale.
Wolverine and the X-Men #5
Kitty Pryde is pregnant. A billion alien Brood show up and I don’t think it’s for a baby shower! Is this the child that could bring Kitty and Colossus back together or has an alien enemy delivered a curse on my favorite X-woman?
Secret Avengers #21.1 is Rick Remender’s first issue with the covert team. But this story is a team-up between Captain America and Hawkeye.
You could say Remender has created a “Kobayashi Maru” test* for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. *All respect to Star Trek lore and their fans.
The Avengers’ ultimate boy scout and outlaw are on an undercover mission in a nation run by criminals for criminals.
It’s an action filled story of breaking, bonding and a hero pushing to prove himself. Marvel already revealed Hawkeye was going to be the new Secret Avengers leader but this issue shows us how Steve and Clint fought their way to get to this point.
The Shadow Council subplot continues and a new Masters of Evil is revealed.
After seeing what Remender did with Uncanny X-Force, I’m excited to see where he’ll take these covert Avengers and how he’ll develop Hawkeye.
Rick Remender continues revealing the new enemies facing the Secret Avengers. The Descendents are evolved from the most famous (and infamous) robots and androids in the Marvel Universe. In the latest Father Files on Marvel.com he revealed Cyborgs Deathlok and Lady Deathstrike and her Reavers are part of this new race.
“In UNCANNY X-FORCE, we’ve recently seen a band of Deathloks from a future where Deathloks win out and took down the super-humans and acclimated them to the Deathlok program,” explains Remender. “They made everyone easily controlled and removed the chaos factor from life in the Marvel Universe. Those Deathloks were created using the body of another Deathlok from another timeline that was created by Roxxon. That technology was then acclimated by Father and hyper-evolved in The World and then used. We saw that version of Father killed by Deadpool and those Deathloks disappeared.”
“The Reavers in their origins were never made very clear,” he says. “They hated mutants but we never really found out why. In terms of what their motives were and why they hated mutants so much, there were obviously a few things hinted at, but we’re going to show why they were built and by whom. In Uncanny X-Force 5.1 we saw Deathstrike talk about the coming revolution. At this point, her body has been rebuilt and destroyed so many times she’s more machine than anything else. Her consciousness has remained intact and with Father’s help, she has become even more evolved and we’ll see exactly what she’s capable up in upcoming issues. She is Father’s right-hand woman. If you were going to make an analogy to old X-Men comics, she’d be Wolverine to Father’s Cyclops, back when those guys were still working together.”
“We saw her working with the Reavers when the X-Men lived in Australia. We saw them come back as a force with Donald Pierce and kick the [expletive] out of them. The Reavers hate mutants, they just hate them. When you mix in Cole and Reese, some of the Hellfire guys who were turned into cyborgs after being cut into pieces by Wolverine, their motives are a little more clean and clear. I looked to make this something that fits in with their history. Deathstrike had worked with the Reavers at this point in time; things have changed and she has higher goals now. She still has a real hatred for Wolverine, but her bigger goal here is to serve Father and the plot they’re working on is to see the Descendants rise. The rise of the Descendants might go further than people expect it to, I’ll say that.”
For more of Remender’s notes click here.
Kelly Hu played Lady Deathstrike in X2: X-Men United. Chris Claremont and Marc Silvestri were on board the Uncanny X-Men when The Reavers infamously crucified Logan in the Outback – a haunting cover.
The Descendants are rising up to threaten the surface world in Secret Avengers #22. A mysterious enemy known as “The Father” created these new races evolved from the most famous robots and androids in the Marvel Universe. All this week new writer Rick Remender is revealing the new foes with his research and commentary on Marvel.com. The latest Father File reveals the Sentinaughts, descendants of mutant hunting Sentinels.
“The Sentinaught Society is sentient Sentinels who have a natural hate for mutants and still have some of their original tendencies from their mindless ancestors,” says Rick Remender of these Descendants. “Such as their inherent need to crush, kill, and destroy the mutant race. [But] they’re individuals. So any Sentinaught that you’d meet would have its own personality and background. The Core has been hidden for so many years, and these things have been living there for many, many years. So these things all have their own back-stories and likes and dislikes.”
Earlier Remender revealed The Core is a hidden city deep within the Earth where the Sentinaughts, The Machine People and UltraVisions are waiting to strike.
For more of Remender’s notes and quotes visit Marvel.com.
Rick Remender is pulling from Marvel history to create new races for the start of his Secret Avengers run. The Descendants are evolved versions of Marvel’s most famous androids and robots. The writer is revealing the new ‘races’ created by a mysterious enemy in The Father Files on Marvel.com.
Remender takes Doctor Doom’s infamous Doombots to a new level of evil. Here are his notes and commentary on the Doomborgs.
“The Descendants that are derived from previous species, such as the Doomborgs being descendants of the Doombots, are all failed in someway. They’re all incomplete in some fashion. All of the Descendants that are built off of previously existing robots in the Marvel Universe are somewhat flawed. We will reveal what those flaws are as they progress. There are perfect Descendants but they were introduced to the general population and haven’t been heard from or seen since. They’re among us procreating. Whereas I guess these would be the red-headed stepchildren of those more perfect descendants.”
Remender definitely knows how to reinvent exciting characters and worlds from history. Just read the Uncanny X-Force Dark Angel Saga to see what he did in the Age of Apocalypse. Secret Avengers #22 is Remender’s first issue with Hawkeye as team leader. For more of Remender’s notes and quotes here’s the Marvel.com link.
When Rick Remender takes over Secret Avengers #22 he’ll put the covert heroes up against The Descendants, evolved from the Marvel’s most famous androids and robots by the mysterious Father. Remender has been digging into Marvel history to create this new threat.
The writer is sharing extensive research notes and commentary about these new races challenging the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes on Marvel .com. Next up is the Machine People.
“Imagined, designed, built and activated for the United States Army, X-51 exceeded its programming and came to act as a kind-of surrogate child to its creator, Dr. Abel Stack. The robot escaped what it deemed captivity after Stack’s death and inaugurated its first self-motivated step towards the facsimile of humanity: it took on a human face and name.”
“Neurotic,” says Remender of Machine Man’s Descendants, the Machine People, whom he further calls “the Woody Allen of robot species.”
“There are so many of them,” he notes. “The set piece for the SECRET AVENGERS story is a city called The Core. The Core is a moon that is in the center of the Earth’s iron core. It’s where all of the robots have been living for many, many years. It’s where the Descendants have been thriving and procreating away from humanity. The Machine People are a large portion of the general population of the core. They are all highly intelligent and a bit nuts.”
For more of Remender’s notes and quotes click here. Earlier this week he unveiled the Ultravisions.