By Ryan Penagos and Virginia Melendez
Marvel's second panel of the 2007 New York Comic Con was even more packed than the World War
Hulk panel, with fans filling up all available seats. In attendance at the panel were: Joe Quesada, Jim McCann, Dan Slott, Bill Rosemann and Mike Oeming
Civil War is over and everyone's cheerful. The panel kicked off with talk of Brian Michael Bendis's Civil War:
The Initiative one-shot. It sets up the landscape for the Marvel Universe with one story that goes through the post-Civil War world. Slides of Marc Silvestri's interior artwork are shown. Wow. The crowd was in awe.
The panelists barrelled through the Initiative books, including:
Captain America (#25 is a must-read, in two weeks)
Civil War: The Confession (first look at art by Alex Maleev. HOT!)
Avengers: The Initiative (Dan Slott put it best: "There was an army of superheroes and now there's a superhero army.")
Black Panther and
Fantastic Four (you won't need to read both books to get a full story, but each will enhance the other.)
She-Hulk (her books will lead DIRECTLY into World War Hulk)
World War Hulk (see the
World War Hulk panel report
Thunderbolts (the crowd loves this book!)
Nova (The Lone Ranger of space!)
Iron Man (Director of
S.H.I.E.L.D., kids!)
Ms. Marvel (editor Bill Rosemann explained that they're setting her up to be the best of the best, fighting the worst of the worst and really dealing with her past and her present)
Mighty Avengers (a classic-stlye Avengers book)
Moon Knight (pro-reg forces come knocking on Moonie's door, but it doesn't turn out so well. Dun, dun, dun!)
New Avengers (Jim McCann said there are big things brewing in the book and they'll be going toe-to-toe with the Mighty Avengers)
Civil War: Fallen Son (Loeb, Romita, Finch, McGuinness, Cassaday and Yu!)
Omega Flight (Oeming explained that the characters are blank slates. There will be superheroes fighting, but you will enjoy the characters and care about them)
New Warriors (the first peek at New Warriors artwork was shown and it's HOT. Joe said that the character on the cover may be someone we've seen before)
Sub-Mariner (see our
Sub-Mariner story for more details)
Thor (the God of Thunder got a huge round of applause, extended by the fact the first interior artwork was also shown)
Champions (the classic team book is coming back! Read our
Champions story for more!
Two exclusive announcements were made at the show:
Stefano Casselli signed exclusively with Marvel. The crowd cheered for the Avengers: The Initiative artist. For more on him, check out our
Stefano Casselli goes exclusive story.
Barry Kitson is also joining the Marvel family as the artist on Champions. Read more about
Barry Kitson here!
Jim McCann said, "You got a glimpse of some of the characters, but you have no idea what's in store." And with something as big as The Initiative, it's true.
The Q&A was up next. Here are some highlights.
--The U.S. is having real problems with other countries. Now that the U.S. has an army of superheroes, will other countries have a problem with them? Look to Mighty Avengers #2
--Someone made the point that Cap didn't just give up. Joe agreed and said there was something he missed out on and didn't see the bigger picture for Civil War. He was motivated by his own beliefs and forgot about the bigger picture. There's a country behind him, it can't just be a personal issue.
--Are we to take death literally with fallen son? Joe says read the book!
--Will it be shown why
Ares joined Tony's Avengers. You'll find out why he's joined the group in issue 1. They join, fight and it's by Bendis. Miracle of miracles, all in one issue! Oh and they let slip a possible Ares sequel? Goof or truth? Tbd!
-Are all the bad guys Marvel Heroes? Are we going to have villains in the marvel universe again? Bill Rosemann said that there is a real villain in Ms. Marvel. Joe added that there's a big villain thing brewing. A whole new underworld. Organized crime developed their power base during Civil War. Stuff is bubbling. The bigger thing is about 2 years away.
Steve McNiven joined the panel during the Q&A and he was met with HUGE applause. That guy can draw!
--Fans want to know who's in each team in the Initiative. Dan Slott said he's going to show glimpses now and then of other teams. Over time, everything will be shown.
--Will
Gravity be back? Slott says to keep reading Marvel books. "If I had my way, he'd be a Great Lakes Avenger."
--With the
Mandarin coming back, what will the interpretation of be? Jim McCann says to look for more on that later this year in Iron Man. There will be a definitive version shown there.
--What kinds of new characters are in the Initiative? Dan says he really likes Kimoto. She's a college student who worked with Curt Conners and stole some of his
Lizard serum to try and make it work correctly. The fans dug that! One of Dan's favorite new characters is Trauama. She's really cool.
--What's Jarvis's role in the Marvel U.? McCann said read Mighty Avengers #1 for the answer.
There's plenty more, but for the full Q&A section, look for the video of the panel, soon on Marvel.com.
Check out the rest of our
New York Comic Con coverage.
