Special Edition: NYC 2014: Marvel–Next Big Thing

Michael Moccio ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Executive Editor

This panel stood out on Saturday at Special Edition: NYC. Tom Brevoort, the Executive Editor, was joined by Michael Marts, Peter David, Greg Pak, and Jordan White.

The first announcement involved explaining why Katie Kubert was up on the panel as well. The third generation Kubert has officially transitioned into a new role in the Marvel Editorial Department effective yesterday morning.

The panel kicked off with Marts taking the microphone, asking who some Marvel fan favorites were. He casually threw out Ms. Marvel and the entire theatre responded with a resounding yes!

We took a turn to focus on Miracle Man, with comic legends like Neil Gaiman, Joe Quesada, and Axel Alonso weighing in on the importance of the book and character. Gaiman said it was the first book that “really and fully deconstructs the superhero paradigm”; Quesada said it “redefined everything in the world of the superhero genre”; and Alonso said it’s “thrilling to bring back this incredibly important story.”

One of the running gags of the panel involved the next big event in the Marvel Universe where “time runs out.” This September, Uncanny Avengers and New Avengers will jump forward in time 8 months to give a glimpse into this new future.

Other highlights included showcasing the Hawkeye vs. Deadpool book coming out in September. White, the editor for the Deadpool books, said that it’s “a really great storyline” and that “fans of Deadpool will enjoy it and fans of Hawkeye will enjoy it.” The moderator took the opportunity to plug Deadpool Bi-Annual #1 coming out this September as well, which features Deadpool versus Brute Force, a team of animals in cybernetic suits.

Deathlok #1 will come out in October, and Brevoort wanted to stress that it’s “not exactly the same” as what we’ve seen on Agents of SHIELD. Brevoort then transitioned into the Edge of Spider Verse, talking about #1-3 and how five creative teams would be working on five different Spider-Men, including one in which Gwen Stacy is under the mask.

David got a moment in the spotlight as the panel turned to Spider Man 2099, which is written by David and coming out in September 2014. He wrote the same title “a long time ago” along with X-Factor, which he’s now writing as well. David said, “I don’t know if I should be proud of that or be worried I’m in a rut…”—the audience loved the joke. He talked a bit about how he came to be writing the title again, how fan reaction wanted David to write it when it was announced Miguel O’Hara would be back. That fan reaction “reached the highest level of Marvel” and they decided to reach out to David, who was surprised that Miguel was even brought back by Dan Slott. David likes O’Hara “in the modern day, because it gives Miguel a fish out of water feel.”

A “girls night out” was also teased for X-Factor, in which Polaris and Danger would be joined by Scarlet Witch to let off some steam.

At the appearance of Storm #1’s cover, the crowd erupted into cheers, as their excitement for Storm’s first ongoing series became apparent. Pak talked about how Storm influenced him and artist Ibanez growing up saying they “both grew up identifying with [Storm]”. He brought in a discussion about representation, saying how he’s half-Korean and seeing someone like Storm in mainstream media was inspiring to him. He did say that “She’s not a role model, she’s not a boring role model” and decided to focus on how “badass” he thought she is.

Turning away from main Marvel products, the panel took the time to talk about Stephen King’s Dark Tower and Figment.

David talked about how doing the third Dark Tower book came about, how he had a stroke and King decided to visit him in the hospital because he was in the area. One thing led to another, and King decided they were going to do it.

Brevoort shifted focus to Figment #1, which features the character from the iconic ride in Walt Disney World’s Epcot. Marts praised writer Jim Zub, saying “he’s a great writer” and urged fans to pick it up.

The last information to come out of the panel was about the next titular event AXIS. Brevoort teased that there would be more information coming on Monday, but said that there would be many characters on both teams and the event would run for 3 months, 9 issues, starting in Octover 2014. The March to AXIS story starts in September, and we’ll “see most of the major villains playing a role” according to Brevoort.

The panel then opened up to fan questions.

Q: Will Axis mark the end of Rick Remender’s run?

Brevoort: No. Rick has more things planned for the future. We just can’t stop him! I literally this week had a three hour phone call with him to talk about all the things we’re doing and wall the things we’re doing later on. I was the last person in the office at the end of thed day, because once you get Rick going he’s impossible to start.

Q: To Peter David, will Spider-Man 2099 tie directly into Spider-verse?

David: We’re picking up on a storyline that’s left over from Superior and we’re going into the Spider-verse.

Q: Any plans for Chris Hastings to do anything more for Marvel in the future?

White: I don’t think we have anything planned right at this moment, but we don’t have anything planned at this moment. He wrote Longshot Saves the Marvel Universe and Deadpool Annual #2. Check out Dr. McNinja!

Q: When’s Hawkeye coming back?

Marts: In September! Brevoort—He’ll be back once we get the issues together. I can’t talk about everything going on in the lives of things people who are making this book, but stuff is starting to come in. We’ll let you know as soon as possible, and we haven’t forgotten about it!

Q: For Greg—what prep work did you do to work on Storm?

Pak: I went back and reread a bunch of Storm stuff. With every character that’s part of the job. With everything you do, you do internet research, and I’m looking at different meterology and weather patterns. I know what causes a tsunami now!

Q: Is Black Panther still married to Storm?

Brevoort: No, they are no longer Man and Wife.

Q: Carol is off in space, but when are we getting Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel crossover?

Marts: It’s got to happen eventually, right? I’ll say sometime soon.

Q: What’s the future of the Ultimate Universe?

Brevoort: The future is next month’s comics. It’s going well, though. We’re going to continue publishing titles and do stuff in that universe and dig it, buy it, and support it. At least until we hit April 2015, because at that point, time runs out.

Q: What are your plans for Fantastic Four in 2015?

Brevoort: I’m going to publish it. There’ll probably be 4 characters in it.

Marts: It’ll probably be fantastic.

Q: Is there any plans for a solo run Blade?

Brevoort: I wouldn’t mind, but if anything happens, it’ll be after the crossovers.

Q: Will we see another ongoing Young Avengers series?

Brevoort: At the moment, we have the Young Avengers serial which is running in Original Sins. Beyond that, in the future we’d like to do more Young Avengers stuff. We’re taking a very deliberate approach to that title and those character. We’re waiting until we have the right creative team before doing another approach. The characters will be showing up in a lot of places, and eventually you’ll get another Young Avengers series when we have the right set of creative tools.

Q: For Katie, what’s your background in comics and are you related to the Kuberts?

Kubert: I’m a third generation Kubert in comics. I try not to screw up the name too much. I went to BU, I have a film and TV background. I was an Editor at DC, I was editing Batman weekly, Harley, Batgirl, Nightwing. I was working on the new projects that are going on over there, and I was at DC for five years, and now I’m lucky enough to come over here.

Q: When are we going to hear from Sharon Carter again?

Brevoort: Ehhhhhhh, I don’t think I want to answer! She’s definitely not going to show up in one of our comics, especially not one by Rick!