When the Marvel Universe split in two, it took an Initiative to right the ship. But now that it's been invaded, don't expect the sinister secrecy to go away just yet.
Last night at the Diamond/Alliance Retailer Summit in Las Vegas, Marvel announced plans for "Dark Reign," a new branding tag line that will grace the covers of key Marvel books in the wake of the blockbuster Secret Invasion event and herald a frightening new status quo for the Marvel Universe. And while comic shop owners learned live the early details of the phrase that will doubtlessly dominate sales in their stores through 2009, we tapped Dark Reign mastermind Brian Michael Bendis for the early scoop on the new status quo.
"The Initiative was kind of like the Cold War," the SECRET INVASION scribe explains, comparing this new push to Initiative branding that followed 2006's Civil War. "There's a war, and then there's a cold war. This was an invasion, and from the invasion, certain people take the hit, certain people rise up as the heroes who you wouldn't expect, and from that comes a new power status in the Marvel Universe that some would consider a dark reign and some would consider heaven. One man's dark reign is another man's 'Finally!'"
And while the exact meaning behind the brooding title won't be revealed until the final issue of SECRET INVASION hits stands on November 19, Bendis promises that the hellish header will have wide-ranging effects on both the publishing and story side of the Marvel U.
"There's going to be new books," vows the writer, one of which will be the new DARK AVENGERS title, written by him with art by Mike Deodato. "There's going to be new alliances. There's going to be new teams and team dynamics. A new world dynamic. What people said about Civil War is that it really changed the dynamic between the super heroes and the rest of the Marvel Universe, and this is even a newer dynamic between the Marvel characters and the world they live in."
And just as The Initiative allowed classic series like THUNDERBOLTS to be reborn with an exciting new direction and new books like AVENGERS THE INITIATIVE to expand upon the building blocks of what the Marvel Universe means, the writer says that Dark Reign will allow the writers and artists at the House of Ideas to take their characters off into new and unexpected directions:
"That's what 'Dark Reign' is—it's one of those ideas where you can do a giant story about it in the Avengers titles but at the same time, you can put it out there for any writer to jump onto, and almost anybody who's books matter as the center and core of the Marvel Universe jump on board gleefully to be a part of this.
"And it's one of those ideas where you can just read your favorite book and enjoy that or dive into this much larger landscape, which we're happy to announce is completely different than anything you've ever seen at Marvel before. And I know when people say that, you go, 'Yeah, yeah,' but if you think about it, every time we've said that under [Editor-In-Chief] Joe [Quesada's] reign—which some people consider the Dark Reign—it's been very, very different. We don't say it with hype. We say it with something to back it up."
The roots for Dark Reign lie in one of the much buzzed about Marvel creative summits where writers test their new ideas for the Marvel U against those of their peers to plot a course for all of Marvel's characters to travel together. In fact, Bendis says that Dark Reign in part got his original pitch for Secret Invasion approved…but not without a little creative criticism, of course.
"You come to the retreats ready to fight," he laughs. "Everyone's got their ideas, and sometimes it's Mark [Millar's] turn, sometimes it's Jeph [Loeb's] turn, and sometimes it's my turn to present an idea or get the crap kicked out of our idea. But what's good with a summit like that is if it can survive the room—and sometimes it has to survive three or four times—that means it's an outstanding idea that can certainly survive the Internet.
"If an idea begets other people's creativity legitimately—not just them going, 'Ah, I want my book to sell'—you can see the difference. When Dan Slott goes, 'Oh! I know what to do with The Initiative!' then you know it's going to rock. And the same thing with Secret Invasion tie-ins or Civil War tie-ins, they go, 'Ooo! Ooo! What about this?' That's just good creativity."
And in the long run, that creativity gives way to new and different paths for Marvel characters—paths that Bendis prides himself on being natural extensions of one another rather than random exercises in plot.
"It's like life," he concludes. "The world keeps turning, and it's our job to create an excitement level, but there's that line between exciting and just shock for shock's sake. The good news about these 'events' or whatever you want to call them is that they all had a logical follow through. They all grew out of the stories that preceded them. For those with long term investment, they're getting a lot for their money, but for people who just want that one story, it's all right there. Following through with these ideas is logical and emotional. You take any one of these characters and put them in a situation and go, 'All right. What would Spider-Man do?' And then you follow that. It's exciting."
For more detail on Dark Reign, including who will take Bendis' place after he departs MIGHTY AVENGERS with issue #20, stay tuned to Marvel.com!
So apparently its looking like we're gonna have 4 Avengers books after Secret Invasion but come on is this really necessary? Sounds like Marvel is letting the success of the existing Avengers books go to their heads and their getting greedy. I'll probably end up picking this up since everything major seems to revolve around the avengers now a days but I do have HUGE reservations about doing so. (I mean come on Dark Avengers? That just sounds corny.)
Redy1 superhero Joined: 01.01.1970 Posts: 1257
More Darkness
Posted: 09.09.2008 3:35pm
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Wow, that sounds heavy, even more dark that it is now, were is this world going? _________________ "Greater the power, greater the responsability"
Whiskystick novice Joined: 02.14.2008 Posts: 7
Posted: 09.09.2008 4:17pm
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More Avengers titles in this cashtight economy? I was hoping that Marvel would be a little more cutting-edge, and have the Earth heroes LOSE to the Skrulls. Watch Earth become part of the Skrull Empire and try to regain their freedom over the next year. That unfolding into a Marvel Revolution would have been kick-&@*!. Just a fan's thought.
Re: Prepare for a Dark Reign
Posted: 09.09.2008 4:24pm
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First of all, I'm not going to lie... Secret Invasion is horrible.
There might be some big reveals in the last few issues that have a large impact, but as it stands now, it is simply a reason to stick Skrulls in virtually every comic and create dozens of boring copycat skirmishes. There have been a couple of good issues, specifically in New Avengers and Mighty Avengers, but for the most part, those issues have not even been about the teams. I appreciate the insight into the activities of the Skrull Empire, as well as Nick Fury, but even much of that seems a little disjointed in the larger scheme of things. It lacks direction. It lacks flow.
And now we're discussing the aftermath of this event in vague terms, so it is difficult to make a solid judgment, but it doesn't sound all that great. Dark Reign... Dark Avengers... Have we decided to make the entire Marvel Universe appealing to a certain group of readers?
While I enjoy characters like Daredevil and the Punisher, that oftentimes show the "darker" side of the Marvel Universe, I do not want every book that I read to have that same feel about it. It's boring like having Skrulls in every book. Variety is the spice of life!
hxcscarecrow acolyte Joined: 12.29.2007 Posts: 29
Dark Avengers
Posted: 09.09.2008 4:51pm
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Honestly, i think this is going to be a book about the hood's gang, who knows where they stand in the aftermath of SI, and their willingness to help will with the alien problem no doubt put them in the laws good graces.
johnnyhorror acolyte Joined: 01.01.1970 Posts: 15
Re: Prepare for a Dark Reign
Posted: 09.09.2008 4:54pm
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swordofsutekh wrote:
First of all, I'm not going to lie... Secret Invasion is horrible.
There might be some big reveals in the last few issues that have a large impact, but as it stands now, it is simply a reason to stick Skrulls in virtually every comic and create dozens of boring copycat skirmishes. There have been a couple of good issues, specifically in New Avengers and Mighty Avengers, but for the most part, those issues have not even been about the teams. I appreciate the insight into the activities of the Skrull Empire, as well as Nick Fury, but even much of that seems a little disjointed in the larger scheme of things. It lacks direction. It lacks flow.
And now we're discussing the aftermath of this event in vague terms, so it is difficult to make a solid judgment, but it doesn't sound all that great. Dark Reign... Dark Avengers... Have we decided to make the entire Marvel Universe appealing to a certain group of readers?
While I enjoy characters like Daredevil and the Punisher, that oftentimes show the "darker" side of the Marvel Universe, I do not want every book that I read to have that same feel about it. It's boring like having Skrulls in every book. Variety is the spice of life!
Agreed. Secret Invasion has been bad. I've never seen so much "Nothing" happen in a comic book before. The only really great fun reads i got out of Secret Invasion was in the new "Captain Britian" title.
Now, "Dark Reign"...nice title but swordofsutekh is right. Things in the Marvel U are getting WAY too dark. Don't get me wrong, i like dark, but after awhile are not things supposed to get better? Ya know? You go through the bad to get to the good.
And the title makes me think of Mephisto when i hear it. But, i doubt he's going to have anything to do with it.
johnnyhorror acolyte Joined: 01.01.1970 Posts: 15
Re: Dark Avengers
Posted: 09.09.2008 4:55pm
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hxcscarecrow wrote:
Honestly, i think this is going to be a book about the hood's gang, who knows where they stand in the aftermath of SI, and their willingness to help will with the alien problem no doubt put them in the laws good graces.
Good theory.....I had forgotten Hood and his cronies showed up in S.I.
Tidus08 acolyte Joined: 01.01.1970 Posts: 17
Posted: 09.09.2008 5:01pm
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SO ITS GONNA BE A DARK UNIVERSE??? I WONDER WHO IS GOING TO BE IN DARK AVENGERS!!!
Cosmic_Avenger hero Joined: 03.14.2007 Posts: 785
Posted: 09.09.2008 5:02pm
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I'm just a tad bit freaked out about it. But what's next after it ? The whole MU has been having rapid changes ever since Disassembled.
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