Following our look at the X-Men Initiative I would like to shine the spotlight on another great line that I would like to see as a pillar of the site and that would be the books about Earth's Mightiest Heroes: The Avengers. The line, right now, is at half of its full potential with so much room open to add some really great titles, despite boasting more solo books than the X-Men, and round out the line in a similar fashion to the X-Men, yet with a different flavor than X-Men. The heart of these two branches are different, you're not going to see the same style of story in Avengers that we're exploring in the other line...so what stories can you expect to see at MA? Well, I'm glad you asked.
Tony Thornley & Scott Redmond
· The Avengers is a book about high concept heroics on the grand scale. The nature of this team creates possibilities that are denied most other teams by being able to explore multiple themes: by being sponsored by the U.N. they can explore International themes. Maybe during a session at the U.N. delegates from multiple countries argue and fight over getting the Avengers based out of their nation. Depending on their roster at the moment they can be pulled into mythical lands and battle creatures of myth, and travel into space to battle alien armadas and beings powerful enough to tear the entire fabric of the universe asunder.
Following the attack on the Avengers Mansion in #1 that left several members presumed dead the surviving members must pick up the pieces of their broken team and get down to business of finding out who attacked their home. By using these deep style plots we’re given a glimpse into the internal strength of character the Avengers hold in their soul as they push beyond the pain to do a job that nobody else on the planet is capable of doing. We’ll see them at their most desperate and their most defiant in the face of total annihilation. The Avengers is a book that will put the team against the most awesome and overwhelming forces of evil in the universe and push the borders or reality and story-telling. The roster may change and new faces may be asked to rise up in ways they’ve never been asked to before, but the spirit of the team will never change and their courage with never falter. They are Avengers.
Stuart Fairchild
· This book is a slight departure from the normal Force Works books of the past. This book is about high concept science fiction and survival than it being about heroics like the Avengers. Force Works will mash sci-fi and anti-terrorism together to give us a unique flavor in this line. Anti-terrorism when concerning the Avengers is something that transcends what we know of conventionally and expands to encompass threats like Kalum Lo, the Kree and Krang the Conquerer all based on their high amount of involvement they’ve had in recent history and stretching back to when the Avengers was founded.
Let’s be honest here. The Avengers haven’t exactly made friends of their enemies and there will come a time when those forces lash out over having their plans constantly thwarted and push back specifically against the Avengers as a consequence of their meddling. And it’s easy to say that because their enemies are bad guys that their motivations and desires to do evil and selfish things are easily dismissed, but those same motivations keep fueling them to come back for more. Force Works is a book about when the villains just say ‘fuck it’ and dismiss their own petty desires in favor of revenge, to see the Avengers destroyed and every last trace of their existence wiped out. As a team Force Works will draw the line in the sand in defense of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and they will make sacrifices no person should ever have to make and do things that no person should ever be asked to take upon themselves in order to accomplish their mission of rooting out and eliminating the threats before they succeed and the Avengers are no more.
Clayton Tooley
· West Coast Avengers is a much looser book when it comes to long term planning as the plots will develop themselves as the book moves forward. WCA is also more about the characters and building the plots to them as opposed to the other titles who build the plots based on what characters they have. Where those books look outward, WCA looks inward. As a team they’re less about finesse than the Avengers - who operate like a well-oiled machine - and are far louder than Force Works - who’re more about operating in shadow and secrecy - when it comes to accomplishing their goal. And when you have guys like Hercules and USAgent as team members how could you possibly be anything about finesse and serenity? Hercules wishes to anxiously give ‘The Gift’ to every villain worthy of getting bashed in the head with his mace and USAgent crashes through diplomacy with the grace of a bull with its nuts in a twist. Fortunately, there are cooler heads around to balance things out in Jim Hammond and James Rhodes.
Almost every character in this book brings with them a ton of baggage that they’ll have to sort through somehow while avoiding getting melted into a messy puddle of goo by Lava Men. The cast includes demigods, WW2 heroes, an underwater hottie, an out of his place teen, a bull headed ass and an armored hero with an arsenal to obliterate a small nation. What could possibly go wrong?
Mike Hintze
· The first solo book we’ll explore is Iron Man. The first issue of this title wasn’t afraid to come out swinging and shake this book to its very core by having the audacity to assassinate the lead character of the title. What we’ll see happen now is the result of a culmination of protocols and events directly influenced by Tony Stark just in the event that something like this would happen. And if Tony Stark should fall how will the legacy of Iron Man continue and who will have Stark chosen to fill his jet boots? How will the loss of Tony Stark and the new Iron Man effect those like War Machine and Pepper Potts and will they accept Tony’s choice? How will this new Iron Man live up to expectations expected of Iron Man and how different will he approach a situation compared to his predecessor?
Mike Hintze
· Tied into the events of Avengers Assemble this book kicks off with Tony Stark’s presence requested by the Pentagon to analyze an amazing find by the U.S. Military: an Iron Man armor that’s been frozen in ice for several hundred years, yet it’s easily that advanced in comparison to present day Iron Man. Tony is pulled by who built this mysteriously advanced armor and why did it travel back through time? We’re not given an answer right away as we’ll discover that secret over the course of this books limited run.
Where this book is unique lies in its very nature. Starting with #1 each following issue will focus on a different Avenger, that don’t necessarily have to be of present day, so as the story unfolds the only consistent piece to the story will be the armor that’ll tie the overall arc together and be explored through a variety of views that will give this book a great flavor and a unique story-telling style.
Anthony Crute
· It’s no secret that Hank Pym is an unstable man, just look at Marvel who insists on harping on a single moment in his life to define who Hank Pym is. Good thing for us we have a psychiatrist behind the title who can give Hanks mental issues their proper due and approach them with an understanding and maturity that makes Hank more than just a guy who obsesses over beating his wife. Hank Pym is a very intelligent man whose quirks make him interesting and endearing, like he’s the Walter Bishop of the MAU before there was a Walter Bishop. He’s a man who means well and wishes to use his talent to improve humanity and the safety of the world. And the fact that he can shrink and live his life constantly looking at the world through an Alice in Wonderland point of view gives us some great concepts to explore like shoebox laboratories that are scattered and hidden across NYC in unexpected places like a brick that’s in the face of a famous hotel. He can live inside a dollhouse sized place that’s fully functional, luxurious and scale-wise much larger than the brownstone it’s housed in.
Yellowjacket will push the limits of adventure by being able to transcend reality and how we look at it, peril by getting stuck in a situation so absurd and scary that most normal men would go insane, and fun…for all the reasons I just mentioned.
That pretty much wraps up the books we have that are ongoing. Naturally, there are always more ideas and options we have open at MA for potential books and some concepts to help sell the idea of these potential titles and the role they can play in the overall universe. What are some of those books, you ask? Well, good question. Here are a few suggestions:
· Avengers. In. Space. Need more than that? Okay. Following Annihilation the great powers of the universe are shattered and severely weakened. Whole star systems were lost and entire civilizations wiped out in the wake of the annihilation wave. If there was ever a time for a heroic presence in space it would be now to help bring stability back to the stars. And the perfect platform to launch this book is already on site: INFINITY. Following the eventual wrap up of the current arc of Infinity the next new issue can re-brand the series and add some more great characters to an already great cast that are already of Avengers status: Captain Marvel, Nova, Ms. Marvel, Mantis with Adam Warlock and Gamora.
How would this take place? Well, Captain America goes to Ms. Marvel and pitches his idea to her aware of the delicate situation that the cosmos is in. And the threads are already woven in Infinity to carry forward a broader focus and the base of operations created with Infinity Station. So, who makes the team? Why not characters like Rocket Raccoon, ROM the Spaceknight, Moondragon, Starfox, Quasar, Firelord, Star-Lord and the living ship ‘Rora, Moonstone and Photon. Need a God on the team? Well, forget Thor or Beta Ray Bill and let’s look at Balder the Brave. Need another choice? There’s Ares. There’s even Athena. All could add some great personality conflicts.
What are some possible plots to run with? Well, Wiki has a wonderful list of the aliens in Marvel. Maybe a few of the smaller races that were barely explored or touched upon once decide that now is a good time to spread their influence in the wake of Annihilation and take advantage of the nearly destroyed Skrull Empire and the weakened Kree. Infinity Station is a great melting pot of various aliens coming together in one place, many who need asylum and others looking for more. There’s also a big Avengers crossover in the planning that will set in motion a series of events that’ll help shape the cosmic theater more. With the diversity of the setting and team there’s a real opportunity to make this book a great combination of Farscape, Deep Space Nine and Battlestar Galactica…on an Avengers scale.
· The Great Lakes Avengers offers a great opportunity to mash heroics and comedy together in the same situation. Let’s face it: these aren’t the guys you’d run to first - or even last - to solve a major problem for you or call when Juggernaut is tearing up downtown Lansing, Michigan when the Avengers or the X-Men are too busy to help. But the genius comes when these well-meaning heroes, under the leadership of Squirrel Girl, roll over Juggernaut like he was a garden gnome - even when most of the time they have no idea what the Hell they’re doing.
The approach that could help make this book shine could follow the example of the movie GET SMART where the heroes of the GLA are competent (because of Squirrel Girl) and they truly deserve the accolades given to them, but they have a knack to get into a situation that falls apart around them like a dozen strings of beads, or threaten to skewer then like a swordfish that nearly impales your head. And no matter how many times they succeed they just can’t earn the respect of their peers. With so many serious Avengers books on site there’s absolutely room for a book that’s a little more absurd to help cut the tension and mood of those other books and offer something to read that’s fun, lighthearted, smart and sometimes somber and serious.
· Let's introduce the next generation of Avengers. Marvel isn’t necessarily known for their Legacy characters like their competition, so here’s where we can break that trend. To start let’s look at Luna, the daughter of Quicksilver and Crystal. Her father is the president of Genosha and submerged so deeply into politics he barely has time to acknowledge her existence and her mother is an ambassador to the U.N. and a member of the Avengers. She’s shuffled off to the New Warriors as a way to get her out of the way…at least that’s how she’ll perceive it. Another possible member could be the forgotten Julia Winter who joins the New Warriors as the masked Patriot. She returns years after being abandoned by Nomad and has a big chip on her shoulder. We could look at adapting a brand new Thunderstike as our Asgard tie. Or he could be the first newborn Asgard in centuries, which could really through the entire realm into a tizzy. He’s a kid that Loki could have his eyes on.
To help lead this young team is Donyell Taylor and his wife Silhouette (they could be married by now), both who are looking to turn the New Warriors into the heroes of tomorrow and do it separate from the shadow of Dwayne Taylor, a man they both had strong ties to.
· The beauty of these books is that each of these guys are pillars of the Avengers. Each of these books, despite being solo, has the potential to have the same impact of a team book with far reaching consequences. These are only a few of the solo Avenger books we’re interested in seeing, and hopefully these help spark some ideas.
Next: ANTHOLOGY