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Amph Dark Reign...The Next Marvel Event ***Spoilers***

Discussion in 'Archive: SF&F: Books and Comics' started by Jedi_Master_Conor, Sep 9, 2008.

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  1. Jedi_Master_Conor

    Jedi_Master_Conor Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 24, 2005
    Marvel Announces 'Dark Reign' at Diamond Retailer Summit

    Brian Bendis was the special, surprise guest during Marvel Comics' presentation at Diamond Comics Distributors' retailer summit in Las Vegas Nevada Monday evening. After thanking retailers for the success of this summer's Secret Invasion, Bendis announced the Marvel event that follows that storyline will be called Dark Reign, which will focus on the "after effects" of Secret Invasion, and will include several Marvel Universe titles that will feature "Dark Reign" trade dress.

    More specifically Bendis went on to say the post-Invasion Marvel Universe will feature a complete change in his Avengers family of titles, including Bendis leaving Mighty Avengers with issue #20 and the launch of a new title Dark Avengers, with art by Mike Deodato.

    The fan-favorite but sometimes controversial creator told the retailer audience that if they thought Internet readers have been mad at him before that they should watch out for the post-Invasion fallout as he expects "loads of ****" to head his way.

    His Spider-Woman series with artist Alex Maleev is also still in the works, and the creators duo plan a long run on the title.

    Bendis went on to apologize for the lateness of his ICON series Powers, and spoke briefly about the deal for a TV show adaptation that he would help write and that should be officially announced soon.

    Among the other Marvel projects announced...

    Ultimate Avengers by Mark Millar, scheduled for an early Marvel 2009 debut. Fans that have been around for a few years may recall that very early on in the development of the Ultimate Universe, the title that would become The Ultimates was originally referred to as "Ultimate Avengers".

    The Amazing Spider-Man #600 creative team was not announced, but promo art shown to retailers apparently featured an image of the "classic" Mary Jane with Peter Parker and a caption asking what "really" happened at Spider-Man's wedding.

    Marvel Noir is an upcoming new line that explains those four b&w teaser images the publisher has released over the last few months. The line will apparently launch with a title featuring the X-Men, with Spider-Man and then other characters/properties to follow.

    This was only a brief recap of the projects announced to retailers Monday evening. Expect much more detail here at Newsarama Tuesday.




    Well I think this pretty much tells us how the direction/outcome of Secret Invasion will be.[/color]
     
  2. Mastadge

    Mastadge Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jun 4, 1999
    Thank goodness Bendis is off Mighty Avengers.

    But Dark Avengers? :rolleyes:
     
  3. Raven

    Raven Administrator Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 5, 1998
    Dark Avengers = Skrull heroes?
     
  4. Soontir-Fel

    Soontir-Fel Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 18, 2001
    Great. So like X-Men, Avengers is going to become a never ending series of events now?

    What if I just want to read about Iron Man and crew beating up Ultron for 3 issues? What than?

    I miss you, Kurt Busiek.
     
  5. chiss_man

    chiss_man Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 1, 2002
    "Dark Avengers"? Really, Bendis? Really? I'm just imagining a team of emo Avengers. "WE MAKE BOTH OUR ENEMIES AND OURSELVES BLEED"
     
  6. Raven

    Raven Administrator Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 5, 1998
    Actually, if Marvel's doing what I think that they're doing, I approve of the direction. Basically, as things have stood since the early 1960s, there's no problem in comics so large that it can't be solved in three issues. Galactus was handled in three issues in his first appearance. Galactus, Ultron, Thanos, Kang, you name it, the heroes have beaten them in less time than it takes to actually make the trudge down to the comics shop.

    Now, every day the heroes deal with relatively pedestrian threats. So and so who's building a parallel earth and has created a giant robot to guard it that escapes. Whomever that has stolen the specs for the Iron Man armor and intends to build an army to take over the world. That guy who's learned the spell of terrible evil that might just let something truly terrible out of the basement. Not to mention the guys who like wearing brightly colored spandex to rob banks.

    What Marvel looks like they're doing is separating the low level threats from the high level threats. The guys who might knock over a few buildings or nuke a city? The Avengers will deal with them, sure. But any one of them can deal with them on their off days. And what? Galactus is attacking again? The Fantastic Four can deal with him without the Avengers or anyone else in the world even noticing these days.

    I think that what Marvel's intent is going to be is to change the way that their event books world, and how threat management works in the Marvel universe. The truly big nasty threats that might eat the world, and the divisions among heroes that change the numbers on peoples speed dials? Those are what will appear in big events. Luke Cage tracking down Dr. Doom to get back the money that Doom owes him (Don't worry, he has it in his sock drawer), those will appear in the regular monthly books along with the other ?OMG you ruined my weekend!? level villains.

    You'll still get Mole Man and Mutant XXX on a weekly basis. But the universe as a whole will be structured around events that actually have an effect on the universe for a year or three. The plots of the Avengers books will be focused around those events. And books like Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, etc, will continue to cheerfully ignore the big events except in how they sometimes change the structure of the world in which the heroes live. For example, Spider-Man having to worry about the Superhuman Registration peoples, but otherwise going on with life as normal as Spider-Man.

    Just a theory. :)
     
  7. KissMeImARebel

    KissMeImARebel Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 25, 2003
    The Amazing Spider-Man #600 creative team was not announced, but promo art shown to retailers apparently featured an image of the "classic" Mary Jane with Peter Parker and a caption asking what "really" happened at Spider-Man's wedding.

    Brilliant. Continue to remind readers about that horrible retcon by dragging out the mystery for an entire year.

    EDIT

    Actually it's not even really a mystery: we all know it was the result of Mephisto kriffing around, which was itself a silly contrivance. They should do something better for #600.
     
  8. Darth-Lando

    Darth-Lando Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2002
    I agree with most of what Raven said. It's just that a lot of people, myself included are feeling that the events are coming way to quickly. Since 2004 we've had Avengers Disassembled, House of M, Civil War, World War Hulk, and Secret Invasion. Hardly any time get to pass between events these days. Let's break it down: We have an event every summer that lasts 5-8 months. Add on a month or two of prologue titles and another 3 months of aftermath titles and you've used up an entire years worth of stories. Big events can be highly enjoyable but they loose their magic when they are constantly rolling out. I think if Marvel slowed down their events, maybe one every two or three years, they would have a lot more impact. Give the heroes time to react to the changes in their lives.
     
  9. Raven

    Raven Administrator Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 5, 1998
    The thing is, I don't think that Marvel is looking at events as Events right now. They're not Crisis like DC has, that are supposed to change everything. The closest thing I can think of, it's like issues 48-50 of Fantastic Four. Galactus and the Silver Surfer introduced. Earth almsot destroyed. Who noticed?

    I'm not sure I'm explaining my position well. But basically, you could have Magneto invade New York in New X-Men and no one else even notice. Galactus and Thanos could do standup comedy together in Central Park in the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers would be nowhere to be seen. The goal at the moment is that if there's going to be a major plotline in one of the core books, it should affect the entire prime Marvel Universe. Further, we should get fleshed out subplots about what the various characters involved think and do.

    With that kind of mindset, the major events basically define each year. If Galactus' first appearance had happened today, it'd be a Major Event. It's not a matter of major events happening too often. It's that they've been taken out of the normal books, and put into special event books. So, either cut out big fights with the Fate of the World on the line, or put in more event books. Or go back to the way things were.

    I like the direction that they have, if it's what I suspect.
     
  10. KissMeImARebel

    KissMeImARebel Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 25, 2003
    ^^^ I get that logic, but at the same time, what works as a great plotline for one book doesn't always work well for another. And big team-ups or crossovers tend to get (IMHO) very bland because the plot has to be reduced to a simple common denominator that all the characters share. Marvel is going to have to come up with an overall plotline that is interesting as a whole, while still telling smaller stories that are interesting and relevent to each character, and I really don't have faith that they can effectively pull it off.

    I'd rather be left with folks poking at Spider-Man for not calling the FF when he could have used their help, than having Spidey and the FF and most of the Marvel U forced into a long confusing and contrived arc just so things "make more sense".
     
  11. Darth-Lando

    Darth-Lando Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2002
    You're right, if Galactus had happened today it would be a big crossover event. The Ultimate Galactus story spanned 15 issues and involved the Ultimates, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four. But they left the story to the core book. They didn't drag the individual titles along for the ride. It leads to a few continuity hiccups but I think it's better that the event books have as few tie ins as possible. Do we really need to see how Ant-Man or Ghost Rider reacted to World War Hulk? I don't think so.
     
  12. Jedi_Master_Conor

    Jedi_Master_Conor Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    May 24, 2005
    We'll be getting big news on this over the next few days...
     
  13. Darth-Lando

    Darth-Lando Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2002
    Secret Invasion Spoilers:

    So Norman Osborn is in charge of Shield. And the 50 State Initiative. And the Avengers. This has been hinted at for a few months now and SI #8 was our confirmation. We also got our first glimpse of the "Illuminaughty": Osborn, Namor, Emma Frost, Doom, The Hood, and Loki. I'm most curious about Emma's involvement as she's been in good standing with the X-Men for years now (with only the occasional psychic breakdown). Namor I understand since he pretty much gave up on Tony and the rest of the Illuminati after Atlantis was destroyed.. The rest of the villians are a given. Looks to be a very dark time for the Marvel heroes. At least until the next crossover happens that CHANGES EVERYTHING!!!1!
     
  14. Raven

    Raven Administrator Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Oct 5, 1998
    It's not too out of keeping with the X-Men lately, so far as I can see. I'm not reading any X-books these days, but when they do appear in other things (like Civil War) they generally seem to be about making sure mutants come out OK. Not malicious about it, but also not taking sides.
     
  15. Jedi_Master_Conor

    Jedi_Master_Conor Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    May 24, 2005
    S.H.I.E.L.D. was completely disbanded I thought and everything falling under the Thunderbolts?
     
  16. Darth-Lando

    Darth-Lando Jedi Grand Master star 6

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    Aug 12, 2002
    It looks like it's mainly a renaming. SHIELD became pretty closely affiliated with Tony Stark during his tenure as Director so a name change was probably in order. I'm guessing the infrastructure is staying in place but it's all falling under the Thunderbolts banner. Something I just thought of though, isn't SHIELD an international organization? How does the US president have the authority to disband it or name a new director?
     
  17. JoinTheSchwarz

    JoinTheSchwarz Former Head Admin star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Nov 21, 2002
    Against all predictions, I loved Dark Avengers #1.
     
  18. Darth-Lando

    Darth-Lando Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2002
    It's too early to tell for me. This first issue was just a "gather the troops" issue and until we can see where this is heading I'll be eying it cautiously. It is very Thunderbolts-esque though, which is a good thing. For those of you not in the know, the Dark Avengers lineup is as follows:

    Iron Patriot - Norman Osborn
    Ares
    The Sentry
    "Captain Marvel" - Marvel Boy
    "Ms. Marvel" - Moonstone
    "Hawkeye" - Bullseye
    "Wolverine" - Dakken
    "Spider-Man" - Mac Gargan AKA Venom AKA Scorpion
     
  19. Jedi_Master_Conor

    Jedi_Master_Conor Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    May 24, 2005
    I haven't been able to get my hands on a copy of Dark Avengers #1... I've been getting other Dark Reign tie-ins like New Avengers, Invincible Iron Man, & Punisher. So far so good. I can't wait for New Avengers #50
     
  20. Raven

    Raven Administrator Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Oct 5, 1998
    Dark Avengers #1 was pretty decent, but it was also purely a group set-up issue. There's nothing in it that can't be skipped if you've got a handle on the group. Iron Patriot (Norman Osborn, wearing Iron Man armor painted like Captain America), Ares (the team doesn't make that much difference to him), The Sentry (Osborn has a hold on him), Spider-Man (Mac Gargan, Venom/the Scorpion), Wolverine (Daken), Hawkeye (Bullseye), Captain Marvel (Noh-Varr), Ms. Marvel (Moonstone).
     
  21. NJOfan215

    NJOfan215 Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 17, 2003
    I've liked dark avengers, but i really liked secret warriors. The conspiracy angle that bendis is putting in his books is pretty cool.
     
  22. RogueSquadronWingnut

    RogueSquadronWingnut Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 7, 2002
    Really liking what they are doing with Hydra
     
  23. Jedi_Master_Conor

    Jedi_Master_Conor Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    May 24, 2005
    So how are people liking Dark Reign so far? I'm really interested to see what happens on the Asgardian front with Thor being banished from Asgard.
     
  24. JoinTheSchwarz

    JoinTheSchwarz Former Head Admin star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 21, 2002
    I'm loving it. It's mean and dark, but darkly fun instead of grim and gritty. Cant wait to get my hands on Utopia and The List.
     
  25. Spiderfan

    Spiderfan Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 9, 2004
    I am happy that its finally crossing over into Spider-Man. I mean your greatest enemy is not only the most powerful man in the world, but has stolen your public identity for his own purposes. It would be a huge mistake not to have that boil over into its own story. I will be incredibly upset if Spider-Man isn't involved when Osbourn is eventually taken down. Who better to stop Norman.
     
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