FOR APPROVAL: FF OFFICE DAY 3 - MOVE 2

I thought, Sean, that you might post certain previously touched upon elements of the more global scheme for BoP in your own separate entry: I’ll then post the series description in mine. As you’ve probably already assumed, I’d really like to edit this title, but I understand if you’d rather give it to simBrevoort: how this is a plan to counter Big Money’s market incursion; how these issues will run under the RISE OF THE DEFENDERS banner: She-Hulk 21 and 22, Fantastic Four 549 and 550, Uncanny X-Men 450 and 451 (the fourth and fifth of Mike’s tenure) and hopefully others such as Black Panther, New and Mighty Avengers, Iron Man etc.; how this is about five or six months ahead depending on if you count the current issue; and perhaps how you’d really try and sell Vaughan that we need his distinct deftness with both politics and character work.

THE BALANCE OF POWER
A MARVEL COMICS EVENT IN 5 PARTS
WRITTEN BY BRIAN K. VAUGHAN (alt. JMS, alt. SLOTT, alt. MCDUFFIE, alt. LOEB)
PENCILS BY JIM CHEUNG (alt. FINCH, alt. JIMENEZ, alt. moving DEODATO from FF and replacing him with Phil Jimenez, Pelletier or McGuinness)
COVERS BY CHEUNG (variant Turner or McGuinness)

This event portrays Earth's most devastating and unexpected natural disaster, a massive tectonic plate shift 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, and shake America's faith in its government and its heroes, for when the dust has settled in NYC, only two buildings remain unscathed: the advanced tech protected Stark Tower and Baxter Building.

The series will follow the generally disjointed efforts of the Initiative to efficiently manage and recover from the crisis, as well as unregistered heroes on the streets trying to do what they can. We'll see Spider-Man and the X-Men struggle to make sense of the disaster and fear for the rest of the world's safety, and watch as the Fantastic Four wonder how they could have erred so greatly and not seen this coming, as the one time heroes face growing resentment from the people.

However, it will soon be revealed that the rest of the world is relatively unharmed by the global cataclysm; they've been protected by the coordinated efforts of the Defenders: an alliance led by Namor, the series' protagonist, including Doctor Doom, T'Challa, Magneto and several of his former allies who've joined in the interest of "defending the world against American Initiative hegemony." The image of characters who were previously seen as villains defending lives of innocent third world children will stand in sharp, shocking contrast to the image of two superhero towers standing unscathed amid the rubble pile of Manhattan.

America sees allies such as England and Canada request aid from this group whose members number some of the most reviled villains, and the ranks of the Defenders will increase to include not only several villains seeking redemption in the eyes of the world, but even some heroes such as Rogue and Storm, who choose to follow T'Challa's example and ally themselves with a new world order.

Because at its heart, this story isn't about mother nature's fury or global politics. It is a story about trust, and love, and how the two are not always the same thing, about how nothing is safe and nothing is certain--it is the story of a prince who would seek to redeem himself to win the wife of a better man, and the tragedy that arises from the depths of his desperate love.