Sean, I also think it might be good to try and get this in front of Tom as soon as possible, possibly as my second move today, definitely with a post from you explaining your reasoning behind it etc.:
After the previously posted three arc stories in Fantastic Four and She-Hulk, instead of a crossover as previously suggested, these two books will instead both be published under a RISE OF THE DEFENDERS banner for three issues each, as will the fourth and fifth issues of Mike's UNCANNY X-MEN (and presumably several other books in the Marvel Universe). In She-Hulk 21-23, She-Hulk and the FF will investigate the previously described and dubious actions of Doctor Doom. In FF, we will follow Doom, Namor, Magneto and T'Challa as they join together as the Defenders, a group with the express purpose of protecting the world from American Initiative Imperialism. After these books have been released, the following linewide crossover will occur, anchored by this limited series:
THE DEFENDERS
A MARVEL COMICS EVENT IN 5 (7?) PARTS
WRITTEN BY BRIAN K. VAUGHAN (alt. JMS, alt. SLOTT, alt. MCDUFFIE, alt. LOEB)
PENCILS BY MIKE DEODATO JR. (moved from FF) (alt. FINCH)
In this title, we will bear witness to the world's most devasting and unexpected natural disaster, a massive tectonic plate shift, a disaster that will level much of the East Coast of the United States, wipe Miami off the map, drive the Mole Man and his domain up from under ground, crash the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier in Times Square and just otherwise wreak havoc.
The first issues of this limited series will follow the Initiative and Underground American heroes disjointed and unsuccessful efforts to save their own cities. We'll see Spider-Man contemplate how little he can really do in the face of such adversity, witness the X-Men struggle to make sense of the disaster, and watch the Fantastic Four as they desperatley try and figure out what they've done wrong, and how bad things must be in the rest of the world.
However, the middle of this series will mark a major turning point for our heroes, as they see that the rest of the world went relatively unharmed, protected by the efforts of the Defenders. Slowly America sees its allies England and Canada request aid from this group whose members number some of the most reviled villains around. And as tensions rise and the debris builds up, we lead to a dangerous conclusion, not only for the fates of all the heroes of the Marvel Universe, but also for an Atlantean Prince whose love for the wife of another man leads the world as we know it to the brink of devastation.
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11 comments:
I don't want to look like I'm trying to make your decisions look bad, but I have to say one thing about this (no, not the title).
> In this title, we will bear
> witness to the world's most
> devasting and unexpected
> natural disaster, a massive
> tectonic plate shift, a
> disaster that will level much
> of the East Coast of the United
> States, wipe Miami off the map,
> drive the Mole Man and his
> domain up from under ground,
> crash the S.H.I.E.L.D.
> Helicarrier in Times Square and
> just otherwise wreak havoc.
Worldwide weather disasters, earthquakes, the Mole Man and the Helicarrier crashing in the middle of New York... Didn't we have all of that in Mighty Avengers #1-3? A book edited by a certain Mr. Tom Brevoort?
I definitely want to get this in front of Tom sooner rather than later, but I also want to nail down current book statuses first. Let's set the overal direction/tone of what will likely be called NuMarvel 2 (or something equally demeaning) and then hit with our extra stuff. Like I said (somewhere???) I'm aiming for something like this to launch towards the end of our sim.
Remember that I'm looking for organic here. If the earth is hit with major disasters, what will happen? Mole Man having to deal with cave ins and such... okay. (Although we should make sure that it's clear that it's natural causes and he's coming up for his own safety, not to wreck more havoc.) SHIELD Helicarrier going down... harder to buy into. Assume that your Tony Starks and Reed Richards have taken EVERY precaution against this kind of stuff with their respetive HQs, so your devastation level stuff is going to hit people WITHOUT vast resources at their disposal. Your Spider-Mans, your Cloak and Daggers, your Sabras, your El Aguilas...
I literally wrote this post and then read Mighty Avengers. But who cares. If there's a good idea, let's run it into the ground!
To Sean... Sure.
SHIELD Helicarrier going down was more for the visual of that, and I'd still like it to happen but I'd like it to be caused by operator error. You're absolutely right that Stark and Reed should have all precaustions in place (and that's really nice story beat if the only buildings completely undamaged in NYC are Stark Tower and the Baxter building, it shows that the heroes are sort of looking out for themselves) but a big part about the beginning of this story is that Reed and Tony really drop the ball...
And I'm not trying to make everybody seem like a moron. Some of those lower-powered characters will in all liklihood form an effective method of saving maximum human life. The character beats of this story (particularly the opening ones) should be that Tony and Reed have been so focused on Registration and stopping HYRDA and getting all their ducks in a row that they were caught completely off guard by mother nature, and that their response to this situation was not sufficient, an instance in which somebody else was the greatest heroes on Earth. The difference, however, is that at the end of the day Tony and Reed are always trying to do what's right and these Defenders are not.
Can we make it a goal to nail down book statuses tomorrow so we can put this out as a special additional post? Cause that also increases the liklihood that we can grab hold of Vaughan.
Again, I'm not trying to be a thorn in anybody's side here.
Except Mike. Mike I'm a thorn in your side. I hope I hurt.
Uhm...
:oP
NOT ANOTHER HELICARRIER!!!!
Take down the statue of liberty if you want pop. Stay away from Helicarriers. I swear those things fall from the sky every month or two.
I like the beats you're pulling out of this, but Debbie's got a point: the Helicarrier going down has been done a lot. Dan Slott's even been making fun of that in recent (real) issues of She-Hulk.
Also, with the global spin you're putting on the Defenders as a group (which I really like) can we do something similar with the visual beats? Intact Baxter Bldg amidst chaos/rubble is good, but are there international equivalents we can touch? What about Hercules trying to hold up the Parthenon? It's getting late and I'm drawing a blank on other ideas but the same general ideas/direction on a global scale.
I hear you loud and clear.
Helicarrier crash is outer than Elton John.
Hercules is a great beat, I'll mimic it world wide: Magneto holding the Great Wall of China together by metal bracings, Doom standing in the middle of a large group of terrified South American children triumphantly holding a force field emitter above his head that protects them from fallen rubble as a crowd looks on cheering, Namor and several members of the Atlantean guard astride sea creatures carrying stranded kids, reuniting families in a tsunami swept Indonesia, T'Challa and the Wakandan guard welcoming refugees into Wakanda
These images aren't necessarily as striking; they're supposed to be about the emotional impact of the characters. Baxter Builder standing pristinely in a force field while the city around it crumbles is by comparison a pretty damning image.
It comes even heavier. When the Baxter Building and the Stark Tower are the only things standing amidst all the rubble and chaos, that's two towers.
It will be an inverted 9/11.
As for the Great Wall of China: How about the Mole Man? He's a monarch as well, and I doubt that all of his Moloids were killed in Mighty Avengers #3. Can you imagine millions of Mole people standing all along the Chinese Wall, trying to keep it vertical? I think that could be a better image than Magneto holding it in place with girders. I think Magneto should hold something already made of metal. The Eiffel Tower?
Also, could Blob get his powers back? Think of the image when the immovable Blob is supporting the structure of Brussel's Atomium in an Atlas kind of image.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomium
Alternatively, Juggernaut could do the same. Both are allied with Magneto, whose brotherhood (Mystique, Blob, Sabretooth, Toad, Juggernaut and, *gasp*, Gambit and Rogue (who believe that the X-Men should oppose Stark and Richards, thus ending up on the Defenders' side. And Doom even finds a way to cure Rogue, something Xavier never managed to do)) will be involved in this, of course. They are his X-Men, after all.
Clarification: With "cure", I mean get rid of Ms Marvel's powers and memories, as well as control of her powers.
Oh Mike,
I get all tingly when you start including mutants in the crossover.
This is feeling pretty global.
Yeah, definitely, all those images of former villains holding things together, Magneto keeping the Eifel Tower, this is all perfect.
I'd rather not use Juggernaut because he's in New Excalibur, and Blob's a little silly for this...
But could I have Colossus? Forsaking America and joining the world community at large, perhaps holding up the Atomium or something more Russian?
And I love the Mole Man being a part of this. It's a bit out of his character, but it makes a lot of sense.
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