Captain America #1 variant by Ryan Meinerding
UPDATE: Have we gotten our first glimpse at re-imagined villain, Arnim Zola through Rick Remender’s Twitter account? We may have, as after the call today, Remender updated his avatar to show a very Zola-esque face:
On today’s star-spangled Next Big Thing Press Call, we’re talking to writer Rick Remender, artist John Romita Jr., and editor Tom Brevoort about the upcoming run on Captain America.
Dire news at the start, Remender confirmed that he has relapsed and is drinking coffee again.
“It’s a large step away from the espionage/spy stuff Ed [Brubaker] has been doing,” said Remender of the series’ tone. Though the book will remain true to the core of Steve Rogers’ character, the writer has envisioned something of an EC Horror vibe, alluding to the far-out science fiction adventure comics of the 50s and 60. Throughout the call, Remender and Romita cited influences from Jack Kirby to Bernie Wrightson. Romita stressed that he and the rest of the artistic team, Klaus Jansen and Dean White, were pushing themselves to do things they’ve never done before.
Remender expressed excitement in pushing Cap into new worlds where his title and the stars on stripes he wears mean nothing to the foes and allies he encounters. That means the man behind the mask, and what he stands for, has even more importance than the emblem on his shield.
Together, Remender and Romita are creating a new civilization out there in Dimension Z. There’s an H.G. Welles flavor to the brief pitch, a race of people called the “Frocks” (don’t quote me on the spelling) and the neighboring “mutates”. Romita expressed concern that he might’ve gone overboard establishing these creatures and their cultures, but Remender likened his zeal to that of George R. R. Martin’s in developing the rich mythos for A Song of Ice and Fire.
The big weird comes courtesy of a redesigned and somewhat re-imagined Arnim Zola and his terrifying lab, replete with genetic mutations that would’ve caused Hitler to blanche. Remender suggested that the classic villain, typically portrayed in a comedic or at least unthreatening light, was long due for a makeover. Romita promised a more disturbing appearance with a holographic visage in place of his old boob tube mug. While we’ll also see plenty of new and returning villains throughout the series, including Zola’s statuesque daughter, it’s Zola himself who serves as the chief antagonist.
“Zola doesn’t come out of this with anyone thinking he’s a joke ever again.” said Remender. “He’s a high level mad man.”
Another villain to watch out for, a Kirby creation called Dough Boy. There’s, of course, a thematic connection to Steve’s service in WWII, but the name also describes the character’s appearance. “He was Jabba the Hutt before Jabba the Hutt.”
But beyond all the strange, there’s the core of Steve Rogers. While Remender doesn’t have any plans to further saturate the stands with more tales from WWII, his through line is a series of flashbacks to the 30s. Romita expressed true admiration for the men and women who came up during the Depression era, including his father, artist John Romita Sr.
“I have a morgue of photographs that my father handed over to me when he was done using them. There are also movies that are in black and white. When I see photographs in color from that era, I don’t want to see it almost. I want to see it in black and white,” explained Romita when asked about reference material and research. “Visually, I have no problem getting it. I see the visual online. That’s easy to do, but the emotional part of it…no way that we can feel it unless you go through it or you can have someone explain it to you.”
Remender has been reading personal essays and recollections from the period. He’s hoping to capture some of the spirit of that time and to instill Steve Rogers with true grit. He wants to explore the formative years that led Steve to earn the things he’d earn later, to be the kind of man befitting that title. He pointed to the scene in last year’s Captain America: The First Avenger film when frail young Steve leapt onto what he believed to be a live grenade to protect his fellow soldiers. “That’s heart,” said Remender. What led Steve to that kind of conviction? Remender also alludes to Steve’s dynamic with his mother as a major contributor to the man he’d soon become.
To get a handle on characterization, we asked the writer and artist how they thought Steve might’ve lived out his life had he not received the Super Soldier Serum. “You don’t go back and face the bullies the way he does if you don’t have the grit,” said Romita. “There’s a lot of guts in those people. I think he would have become a cop, would have gone into the military. He would have been something more than just the guy on the street. Without it, he would have been something more than the average joe.”
Later in the call we had the opportunity to ask a yes or no question. Would there be, in those Great Depression era sequences, any street toughs with felt crown hats? There will be street toughs, we were told, but no felt crown hats. But there is a guy with a cabbie hat.
We think you should read it.
Captain America #1 hits shelves on November 24th.
For now, here’s a preview of John Romita Jr.’s cover and interiors for the first issue as well as a variant cover by Skottie Young!
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Remender is one of those rare writers who has built up so much good will with me that I’ll literally give anything he writes a shot. Add on an artist that I love and a character that I love and you have the fixins of a great book. This is probably the Marvel NOW! title that I’m most looking forward to.
It looks great to me too. I loved most of Brubaker’s run, but I’m ready for some wild sci-fi Cap adventures!
Completely agree. Cap’s probably my favorite character in comics, and when I saw that creative team I knew I’d be getting into the new series right from the get-go. This looks like top-notch comic work and will hopefully lead to a long Remender run on good old Steve Rogers.
At this point, Remender could walk into my bedroom, punch me in the face and set my bed on fire, and I would still buy anything his name is attached to. I’m not even a Cap fan and I will buy the shit out of this book.
Who’s coloring this? Because holy $#@! those colors look amazing.
Dean White. Add Klaus Janson on inks and it’s a grade A art team.
Dean White is one of those guys who really gets across what a difference an awesome colorist can make. His work on Uncanny X-Force has been incredible.
This was one of the creative team / character match-ups that had me very interested when it was announced. Then I saw these preview pages and I do NOT like the finishing / coloring on this. Enough to stop me from buying it. I like line. I can not see line, I see a painterly effect that does not work for me.
I am very excited to give this a try.
Not been a big fan of JRJr’s recent work, but goddamn, the combination with him, Klaus Janson and Dean White is amazing.
“Another villain to watch out for, a Kirby creation called Dough Boy.”
Hmm. Never heard of this one until now. A little research shows the character may have been part of Kirby’s run on Cap in the mid 1970s.
By the way, “Dough Boy” is no relation to me. 🙂
I think Dough Boy made an appearance when Ron Lim was drawing the book in the early ’90s, maybe during the Streets of Poison storyline.
Best Romita jr art in years. wow.
I’m not really a Captain America fan so I initially wrote this off. But it sounds so awesomely crazy that I must read it. Taking Cap to a whole new world is a smart hook. And that art is fantastic.
Wasn’t going to be picking this up due to the JR art, but now it looks like this will be one of my most anticipated books from Marvel NOW!
I haven’t read Captain America regularly for over a decade, but Remender’s pitch for the book, combined with a stellar art team, has me dying to read this. This is the only Marvel book that I am adding to my pull list with the Marvel NOW! Program. Everything else I am reading is the same books I was reading previously, but this just seems too great to pass up.
The idea is 30s era flashbacks to Steve’s childhood in depression era Brooklyn and the events that shaped him into the man he would become is such a great idea, I can’t believe it hasnt been heavily explored until now. The Super Soldier Serum gave him the tools he needed physically, but clearly it is the man inside that makes him a hero. How he became that man should be a fascinating story.
Wow. That’s a good looking preview. Dean White is KILLING it on art and with Klaus it’s making Romita Jr’s work look amazing. As a huge fan of the artist, I was falling out of favor with Romita Jr these last few years. There was just something about his work that wasn’t connecting with me. His run on Amazing was, well…amazing, but, after that, it seemed he was tired or something, his work started to look kind of ‘noodly’.
But man or man does it look like he’s hitting the ground running with this book. Very impressed.
Nice coloring.
Looking forward to Remender doing some crazy shit with Cap. Knowing how he rolls, maybe we’ll eventually see the return of werewolf Cap!