Today I took part in a bizarre press call with the good people of Marvel comics and the mighty Joe Casey. Vengeance is a new event running concurrently with Fear Itself, written by Casey and drawn by Nick Dragotta.
Casey played on the notion that while all attention is on Fear Itself, he can get away with some mischief in the six part Vengeance. That said it is definitely an event. "It's time to bring the event book back," he proclaimed. "This book will change everything. Nothing will be the same. Marriages will end. Babies will be born. Mountains will crumble."
We'll be seeing further solicitation information tomorrow, but this is what I can tell you about Vengeance, as viewed through a slight smoke screen. Fear Itself alters the balance of the Marvel Universe. This is the youth response. A "teen brigade" of new and revised characters set out across the Marvel U, time and space. Each issue will focus on the impact of the villain featured on its cover. Magneto is no longer a black-hat level villain. How does that paradigm shift affect the larger Marvel U? Bullseye is dead, but there's a young woman out there carrying on his legacy. What is that relationship? What does it mean to be a legacy character? There's a definite through line, but right now it's a little sketchy. All we need to know right now is that Vengeance looks at villains from across the world and examines their role in shaping everyone's lives. And it's going to be crazy.
"When I thought about evil," says editor Tom Brennan, "Joe Casey was the first name to come to mind." Fans of Joe Casey's previous Marvel work will find a lot of familiar friends and concepts throughout the event.
Artist Nick Dragotta expressed excitement over designing the new (or possibly repurposed) team of super teens. Casey revealed that one is called Miss America. Another is Ultimate Nullifier.
What else do we know? Well, the first eight pages take us through the sixth dimension, Hitler's Germany, a night club, and a homeless shelter. Casey scoffed at Dragotta's emphasis on the homeless shelter, saving it for last in the list of settings. But he also said it was a pivotal homeless shelter, perhaps the most important "flop house" in the Marvel U.
I asked about the importance of the title. Casey was reluctant to answer directly, though Brennan explained that the concept of vengeance or righteous anger would certainly follow any villains with this kind of stature. The teen brigade is made up of characters profoundly affected by the actions and iconography of Marvel's heroes and villains. If they're not all out for direct revenge, anger and cause and effect will at least play a prominent role. Asked later if the title referred to the "Acts of Vengeance" event from the late 90s, Casey guffawed. Brennan simply replied, "Yes."
For anybody unfamiliar with Acts of Vengeance, it centered on Loki trying to assemble a kind of Ocean's 11 team of villains to finally destroy the Avengers once and for all. And failing comically.
Vengeance #1 launches in July.
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I’m in. Hook, line and sinker.
Well Loki is a little kid now. Male Red Skull is dead. Bullseye is dead. Doc Oct is dying of cancer. Magneto is an X-Men and Doom is now in the FF. This is going to be mental!
Love it when the get good writers and artists to look at villains (like Pak with his Magneto/Red Skull limited series)! This should be awesome!
I love the title of this article. It’s just barely sarcastic. Almost.
@JNewcomb It’s not sarcastic. That’s Marvel’s name for these announcements.
Is there a chance Christophe will take the reign is premier baddy since Doom is with FF.
I wouldn’t even be marginally interested except I hear Joe Casey wrote the only Dark Reign tie-in worth reading, Zodiac. He seems to have the right approach to these sort of things, and as much as I’d like to see some more Nathan Fox work, Dragotta is no slouch (at all). Alright, I’ll bite.
Yech. This looks like a hot mess. I’m interested in a renewed take on NightHawk, who always seemed like a character with a lot of potential, but was a little underpowered for the company he usually kept in the Defenders.
I just want to reiterate that this was the strangest press call I’ve ever taken part in.
“Tell me what you know about the sixth dimension, Paul.”
“I…uh…without consulting a graphic calculator…”
@PaulMontgomery Did you read the backmatter rant Joe Casey put in Butch Baker #1? This doesn’t surprise me.
Pivotal homeless shelter? Maybe it’s a throwback to time the Human Torch discovered Namor all bearded and nasty in a homeless shelter with amnesia……that’s kind of pivotal..
“When I thought about evil, Joe Casey was the first name to come to mind.”
Took the words right out of my mouth.
This sounds interesting to me. There is a hook here I can sink my teeth into, unlike Fear Itself which still hasn’t grabbed me in concept (to be fair, I haven’t picked up or read the first issue, this is just my perspective leading up to the story).
And I didn’t realize Bullseye was dead dead. I thought he was just Hand ninja dead.
@conor Seriously? That’s hilarious! 😀
Ummmmmmmmmm, what? I was hoping for a sequel to Acts of Vengeance!
@stasisbal I assume Bulleye is as dead dead as you can get in mainstream super-hero comics which is basically dead for now. Or until someone forgets you’re supposed to be dead and includes you in his book.
Such great covers! Also @ origamikid this is going to be very interesting indeed. I’ll probbly do some of these! 😀
I was gonna roll my eyes and then I saw Joe Casey’s name…SOLD!
I’m glad someone finally connected Vengeance to Acts of Vengeance. Though, to be honest, I feel like the book has two different, completely independent of each other lists of what’s going on. Not necessarily a bad thing, just… weird.
Is Marvel being purposefully vague about everything it puts out from now on?
I’m still not sure what Fear Itself is about even after the first issue has been released. Their pitches now just sound like “There’ll be a thing and it’ll be really important. Now give us money”
I’m sorry, I really read this article and I still can’t figure out what the hell this is about.
Not your fault by any means, I think Marvel handled this poorly cause I’ve been so so many websites and I couldn’t figure it out either reading their take on it. Hopefully the solict for tomorrow explains it better.
@AlanMac This was especially vague, yes. It made it a little difficult to ask questions. I was one of the first reporters called on and I had to ask, “Ok, where does this take place?”
@AlanMac hahaha like that bit in Family Guy that shows Stephen King trying to tell his editor about his new book and scrambles around the room, grabbing a lamp and describing how it’s going to be about an evil lamp. Editor: sold.
I like the idea of Joe Casey in loose cannon mode, undermining and satirizing the event book even as it happens.
is that X-Stacy? or whatever she was called?
@kidCharlemagne Casey did reference her. So it’s at least some iteration of that character.
I love the way Marvel and Joe Casey are handling this announcement. There’s alot of mystique about this series, which kinda equates to when you’re dollar bin diving and come across books that seem interesting but are mysterious. Can’t wait.
Those covers are all pretty sick. Bullseye and Loki are especially creepy.
@kidCharlemagne In the interview Joe Casey said something like “Sure looks like Stacy-X huh?” then went on to say people will see lots of characters from his old Marvel writing days.
If it is her, I’m curious to how she is back becasue she was depowered during M-Day, joined the Secret Warriors and killed off…
those covers make excellent wallpaper for my laptop (favorites are Megneto and Loki)
I’m in for the creative team. At least this will be interesting, right? Knowing Casey, it will be an interesting read, and Dragotta will make the book look lovely.
You know, I like Marvel’s current crop of teenage heroes. Couldn’t we just spend time on fleshing them out for now? Do we really need yet more of them?
The Captain America vibed character looks like he might have knife guns. I recall some new character had those and he looked like a bandit. I can’t remember what that was in … dark reign new avengers? Executioner II? I want to say he fought wolverine.
“This book will change everything. Nothing will be the same.”
Never heard that before! LOL
Gunhawk from the Mongrels. Wolverine fought em. That is who I am thinking of. Anyone else think that is the cap character? I think he was older maybe, but he sure had white hair.
I would like to think that Marvel is concerned about putting out quality comics with a consistent creative team that lasts longer than three or four months (remember Moon Knight? That’s what I mean…) instead of focusing on 80’s and 90’s retreads that weren’t that great to begin with.
Is Spidey going to have his powers taken by the Chameleon and then be constantly attacked by his varying enemies until he finally gets his powers back? Is Wolverine going to fight a robot made of a mysterious metal that his claws can’t pierce in Madripoor? Is Gligamesh gonna show up in Avengers tower for no reason? Or, how about Wolvie and Spidey team up in Germany?
I hope not, because all that crap happened already… time to move on, and come up with some new ideas, instead of apeing the stories of old. And maybe, just maybe, you won’t have to come up with events every ten seconds to keep our attention. A comic costs a little less than a gallon of gas in California, for cryin’ out loud!
Is it just me, or is this era in comics just becoming the inverse of the artist-centric nonsense of the 90’s where now the writers are the ones going nuts? And the idea that we, as fans are trained to go for the shiny red button of “Events” is ridiculous, since most of the best ones in the past (just like now) are often spaced by years. If it becomes event after event, no true stories are being told, and while I like popcorn, you can’t live off it as the sole source of nutrition.
This is already more interesting than Fear Itself. Sold.