UPDATE 2/7/11: READ THE FIRST ISSUE OF CAPTAIN AMERICA: FIRST VENGEANCE FOR FREE AT CAPTAINAMERICA.MARVEL.COM!
By Marc Strom
Just as you’re getting your first look at "Captain America: The First Avenger" during this Sunday’s Super Bowl XLV, you can also go further into the story with CAPTAIN AMERICA: FIRST VENGEANCE, an eight issue digital comics series debuting Sunday, February 6 with the complete first issue available for free at captainamerica.com! The issue will then be available on the Marvel Comics iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch app starting Tuesday, February 8.
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| Captain America: First Vengeance #1 cover art by Paolo Rivera |
Written by Fred Van Lente and drawn alternately by Luke Ross and Neil Edwards--along with some gorgeous colors by Richard Isanove--FIRST VENGEANCE weaves in and out of the story of Cap's upcoming film, introducing readers to new corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
"When we started launching Marvel Studios and decided these movies were interconnected, we established that it’s going to be a separate movie continuity that, while it exists parallel to the comics and allows us to pick the best moments from all the previous continuities, it needs to be beholden unto itself," explains Stephen Broussard, Co-Producer of "Captain America: The First Avenger." Once we established the premise that we did want to do that and we wanted to make sure it made sense as a cohesive, whole piece, it really sort of freed us up to start asking what other stories would we like to tell. And of course there’s no shortage of interesting ideas for all that. Basically anything that we really loved but didn't necessarily have a place in the film is fair game."
The story of FIRST VENGEANCE will cover quite a bit of territory, according to Broussard.
"It doesn’t really cover one particular place," he elaborates. "There's a little bit of backstory, there's a little bit of parallel action going on to the movie, and there's a little bit of hints of things to come. But it's all sort of jumbled up in this really satisfying way where you feel like you're getting to walk around the whole piece and see the story from the different angles. That's what's really most interestig about this, it's an opportunity to dig deeper into things that are exciting about the movie that you want to know about, or that are only hinted at between the lines in the movie. It's an opportunity to really bring that all to the surface."
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| Captain America: First Vengeance #1 preview art by Luke Ross |
While fans have yet to meet the Steve Rogers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they’ve known his comic counterpart for 70 years now, and Broussard hopes that FIRST VENGEANCE will give viewers a deeper relationship to the filmic Captain America.
"For a lot of people, they"ve lived with Steve Rogers for decades, so they really do feel like they know him already," the producer continues. "So it’s just another opportunity to continue fleshing him out in the Marvel Cinematic Universe the way he has been in the standard comics universe for years."
Creating a film comes with certain necessary restraints--namely, the set amount of time you have to tell your story in. So while "Captain America: The First Avenger" will stand on its own, FIRST VENGEANCE allows the creators to delve into story beats that couldn't make it onto the screen.
"There are lots of little side stories along the way that would be fascinating if we could stop and listen to them, but just really don't fit into the structure of the story we’re telling," offers Broussard. "What this does, is it allows us to do that. We hear talk about Steve's parents in the film. What was his relationship like with them? That’s something we explore in the first issue. We know that Steve and Bucky have been best friends for a long time, but what was it like when they first met? How did their relationship grow and deepen through the years? All of which is fascinating territory to cover, and it’s great to have an outlet that lets us do all that."
Fred Van Lente, a veteran writer of the traditional Marvel Universe, will dip his toes into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with this latest outing, and the writer hopes that fans will enjoy touring this corner of the newly-formed universe.
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| Captain America: First Vengeance #1 preview art by Luke Ross |
"The relationship between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, for example, is very different, and in a very cool way," says the writer, explaining the differences. "And what's neat about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, just like in the comics' universe, is the interconnections between various movies, particularly 'Iron Man 2' and 'Thor.' You'll start to see those coming out in FIRST VENGEANCE."
While working on the series, Van Lente had a lot of input from those directly responsible for steering "Captain America: The First Avenger" and the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe.
"Marvel Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada and producer Stephen Broussard have been looking over each one of my scripts, keeping me locked in with the vision of the film, and it's been hugely rewarding," Van Lente comments. "Given the way we're launching this comic, out of a Super Bowl spot, it has a chance to really expand the visibility of the comics medium so everyone, from Joe and Stephen on down to me and the artists, are really trying to give people an exciting reading experience they'll never forget--that will both be great unto itself and also enhance their viewing of the film when they go and see it."
Having worked in the world of the film for a while now, Van Lente still can't help but get excited at the prospect of seeing the finished movie when it hits theaters on July 22.
"I read the script last fall and just thought it was terrific. Now, as we're working on the art for the book, having seen all the stills and tech and costumes, it's really got me jazzed. I think this really will go down as one of the classic super hero films."
Stay tuned to Marvel.com for more on CAPTAIN AMERICA: FIRST VENGEANCE in the coming weeks, as well as all the latest on "Captain America: The First Avenger"!
what did you read
i agree they train wrecked doctor doom they used none of his origonal back story and the galactus would have made a better movie to bring the movies together. my biggest pet peive is that they gave cap a pistol the original cap never had a gun he had the shield thats it. and when cap died the second guy used the sheild and no gun the guy died to the gun doesnt show until the third captain america
chris evens is FF all day too me he did 2movie as "J.STORM"...LOL now his CAP...ummmmm we'll see i guess he might just pull it off idk...but im just counting down til the movie. I kno the back story of Cap but not in full detail so i cant wait to see what happens...prove me wrong Chris EVANS please prove me wrong
First of all, just because you don't like Push it doesn't mean that Evans, Honsou or Fanning didn't put in good performances.More to the point Evans is considered a good actor by those in the industry, such as Oscar winner Danny Boyle; try watching Sunshine if you're still under the impression that he isn't a capable actor.
He might do good. i'm more confused about the suit, i thought it was a lot shinier in the comics. Maybe they will give him a new wardrobe when the avengers unfreeze him