THE HOUSE THAT MARVEL BUILT

By: Scott Collura
Date: Monday, October 08, 2001

Now that Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada has helped to restore the luster to the Marvel reputation, fans are eagerly awaiting all of the spectacular new adventures set to debut in the months to come. CINESCAPE has the scoop on all the hot new projects about to emerge from the newly rebuilt House of Ideas, so why not check them out right now? 'Nuff said!

NOVEMBER
o In honor of the fourth anniversary of Marvel Knights, the four issue MARVEL KNIGHTS: DOUBLE SHOT will temporarily replace MARVEL KNIGHTS and feature two stories in each issue. The first issue features a Daredevil story by Rob Haynes (DAREDEVIL: NINJA) and a Punisher tale written by Garth Ennis and drawn by Joe Quesada. Future creators include Grant Morrison, Ted McKeever, Greg Horn, and Greg Rucka, spotlighting characters like Nick Fury, Cloak & Dagger, and Man-Thing. All four painted covers are by Glen Fabry. The regular MARVEL KNIGHTS series re-launches in March.

o UNCANNY X-MEN #400 will sport a wraparound cover by Ashley Wood (HELLSPAWN), who also provides the finished art on #398. Joe Casey will pen the double-sized issue, "an artists' jam issue," according to Marvel Marketing Communications Manager Bill Rosemann, that will feature interior art by Wood, Sean Phillips (WILDCATS), Javier Pulido (ROBIN: YEAR ONE), and Eddie Campbell (FROM HELL). Look for it on November 7th.


o HULK #34 is due on November 21st with a new writer in the person of Bruce Jones, the legendary horror scribe from books like CREEPY and EERIE. John Romita Jr. returns as interior artist. Coinciding with HULK #34 will be a BANNER collection. As Rosemann says in a tantalizing hint of movie-things to come, "While it might not be the exact same continuity as HULK, the feel of BANNER is very close to what the feel of HULK is going to beand also the movie."

o X-MEN: EVOLUTION #1 is based on The WB cartoon series that was recently re-upped for a second season. To coincide with the show about teen X-Men, this will be an ongoing series, written by Devin Grayson (GHOST RIDER) and with manga-influenced art by a group called UDON and Studio XD. Rosemann claims that "the art is an animated style that looks like it came right off the screen." The title launches November 28th.

DECEMBER
o MOMENT OF SILENCE ties into HEROES, the tribute book inspired by the September 11th disaster. Debuting in December, MOMENT OF SILENCE will feature four short stories and tie into the 'Nuff Said event. All four segments are inspired by true stories and written by Kevin Smith, Quesada, Bill Jemas, and Brian Michael Bendis. The art will be handled by John Romita Jr., Mark Bagley, Chuck Austin, and Igor Kordey (CABLE). Proceeds from the book will go to the families of victims who were working in the Trade Center towers on the day of the attack. Quesada also provides the cover art, which will be painted by Alex Ross.

o The Fantastic Four are celebrating their 40th anniversary with #50, a 64-page spectacular. The book will feature the work of Carlos Pacheco, Jeph Loeb, Fabian Nicieza, Tom Grummett, Steve Rude, and a cover by Barry Windsor-Smith. Look for it on December 5th.

o CAPTAIN AMERICA #50 is Steve Rogers' last go before joining the darker Marvel Knights line. This 96-page special arrives on December 19th. Dan Jurgens, Evan Dorkin, Stuart Immonen, Jan Van Meter, Frank Quietly, and Gene Ha (TOP TEN) all kick in on an issue that Rosemann describes as "another example of our trying to reach out to all companies and get great creators and bring them over here."

JANUARY 2002
o ULTIMATES is the fourth book in the Ultimate line. Written by Mark Millar and drawn by Bryan Hitch, ULTIMATES is the Avengers with a twist. Cap, Iron Man, Giant Man, Wasp, Thor, Hulkall the original Avengers are here, but as Rosemann explains, this isn't your father's superhero team. "These are individuals that are on this team. They all have their own agenda for being on the team. It's a really different feel from THE AVENGERS." Look for it in January 2002.

o Steve Gerber returns to the character he created with HOWARD THE DUCK, along with Phil Winslade (who worked with Gerber on GODDESS). The MAX series will also sport painted covers by Glen Fabry. As for why Howard looks like a big rat on the cover, Rosemann says: "Don't ask."

o The Marvel Mangaverse, an attempt by Marvel to capitalize on the growing popularity of Japanese style comics, debuts in January. The idea is for the Manga-influenced creators to simply take the name of popular Marvel characters and "go with it." The initial run of the Mangaverse will consist of seven one shots: AVENGERS ASSEMBLE (which will be like Voltron, with each Avenger literally assembling into a giant Iron Man robot), IRON MAN, HULK, FANTASTIC FOUR, SPIDER-MAN, and X-MEN.

FEBRUARY
o CAGE will be a six-issue limited series written by Brian Azzarello of 100 BULLETS and drawn by the legendary Richard Corben (currently illustrating BANNER). Jiminy Christmas, this one arrives in February 2002.

o The future of the Defenders is about to arrive, and it's called OVERLORDS. Kurt Busiek will be staying on as writer, with Matt Haley (JOKER TANGENT) as artist. OVERLORDS deals with what happens when the Defenders finally figure out how to circumvent the mystical curse which keeps them bound together take over the world!

MARCH
o The Black Widow returns in the MAX line's BLACK WIDOW: CODENAME WIDOW, a three-issue mini-series written by Greg Rucka (DETECTIVE COMICS, QUEEN AND COUNTRY). Greg Horn, cover artist for ELEKTRA, will be fully illustrating the new book. Rucka also co-wrote the last BLACK WIDOW series.

APRIL
o CAPTAIN AMERICA joins the Marvel Knights line under the guidance of new writer John Ney Reiber (BOOKS OF MAGIC) and artist John Cassaday (PLANETARY). Reportedly, after the World Trade Center disaster, the team went back and started from scratch on a completely new first issue that was called "powerful stuff" by those who've seen the script.

And these are only a few of the Marvel-ous new titles and stories arriving in comic shops as we head into 2002. For more on these and many more Marvel masterpieces, keep checking CINESCAPE! Excelsior! (Sorry, sometimes that trademark enthusiasm is catching.)