Marvel Now!

Despite these creative team changes, we do know that some of the writers above will be staying on titles they currently work on. Ed Brubaker (Captain America) will remain on Winter Soldier, Jason Aaron will continue to write Wolverine & The X-Men and Mark Waid will still handle writing duties on Daredevil. However, the fate of many other books remains unknown.

• Currently unconfirmed rumours include Mark Waid taking over Avengers Assemble, Brian Michael Bendis writing a new Guardians of the Galaxy ongoing series and Frank Cho both writing and pencilling Wolverine. There has also been talk of a new Nova series.

• One title that Marvel have been VERY quiet about is The Amazing Spider-Man. With current writer Dan Slott promising some very big (and controversial) changes in issue #700, it is unclear whether that means he might be planning to actually kill off Peter Parker, especially as the hero is getting a new sidekick in the form of "Alpha"...

Marvel NOW!: Iron Man #1 will be released in November with writing by Kieron Gillen and art by Greg Land. Marvel also released an description on the upcoming series...

Technical visionary. Unparalleled engineer. Avenger. Iron Man has done it all, from combating the greatest threats facing the Marvel Universe to dealing with his own inner demons. Now, when his greatest invention becomes his greatest mistake, Iron Man must act fact…and build faster! The lethal techno virus Extremis is out in the wild and for grabs to the highest bidder! It’s up to Tony Stark to contain it and that means creating a new suit of armor!

In an interview with Marvel.com, Kieron Gillen said, “The story will focus on him questioning things about himself and trying to find out exactly how the universe ticks, what’s this all about and why he does this anyway, There will be a lot of changes in the armor throughout the series; in the first five issues there will be a different armor every issue.”

Jason Aaron tells Newsarama what we can expect from the new series, revealing that his take on Thor will involve three different "past, present, and future" versions of the character..

    "I do flash back and show a young Thor in action, but he's actually just one of three Thors that I want to focus on. This first story is an epic tale that plays out over the course of thousands of years. So we spend time with young Thor in the Viking age — the young, hotheaded god of the Vikings, who loves to come down to Midgard and get into trouble. In the present, we see Thor the Avenger on a journey that takes him to the far corners of space, interacting with all sorts of new space gods and wondrous new locations. And then we also see old King Thor, who's the last king of Asgard, thousands of years in the future, where something has gone horribly, horribly wrong. Linking all these eras and Thors together is one villain, an all-new character [Gorr, the God Butcher], who is basically, at least initially, a serial killer of gods. He's a guy with a serious axe to grind against all immortal beings in the cosmos, and he's going around doing his best to kill them all off, one at a time, as brutally as possible. That villain's story unfolds over the course of all these different eras. He starts as a serial killer of gods, but by the end, he has become something even more frightening."

Comics: First Look at the Indestructible Hulk by Spencer Perry August 08, 2012 Share this story

The upcoming Hulk coming from Marvel NOW!

As they did last week, Marvel is rolling out extended previews of their new series this week and today's happens to be Mark Waid and Leinil Yu's Indestructible Hulk. CBR caught up with Waid to talk about the new series and he wants you to know that if you like his Daredevil run, just wait til you read Indestructible Hulk. He says:

The reception to our approach on "Daredevil" had a lot to do with how I'm coming at Hulk -- assuming that everything we know about Hulk is still true, everything he's been through -- but, as we did with Daredevil, having Banner turn a corner and deciding to take a whole new, less "woe is me" view of his condition.

In 1962, Hulk was one of the most unique characters ever in comics because he viewed his powers as a curse, not a blessing. But that point of view is no longer unique -- heck, that's practically the emotional keynote of half the superhero books currently running. So Marvel gave their blessing to morph that attitude into something a little more heroic.

When asked about the adjective change from Incredible to Indestructible, Waid had his reasons.

There's a very good reason we chose the word "Indestructible," it's actually a subtle story point. Without giving too much away, let's just say that it ties in with Banner's whole new attitude.

The series launches in November.

Brian Posehn On How He And Gerry Duggan Got The Job:

Well, this whole thing would never have happened if it weren't for Comic-Con, probably. In any situation where you get something going, it's all about who you know, and this really came from that. Hanging out with Axel [Alonso]. Meeting Axel through Rick Remender. And Remender, who's our biggest cheerleader, going, “These guys are funny. These guys love comics. These guys should be writing.” It originally started with the idea that we were just going to do a special. But with Marvel kind of reevaluating their books, they realized they don't really want to do specials anymore. Then we were on the back-burner for a while. But we've been talking about doing something with them for a couple of years now.

Gerry Duggan On Deadpool's New Look:

Now might be a good time to point out that when this runs, you'll see some art that shows the tweaks he did to the costume. It's really costume. And they're subtle. You'll look at it and know that it's Deadpool, but it's a new Deadpool that really looks great. Less pouches and less weird, tech-y gear, but more versatile sort of, "Hey, you know what? Those are magazines. Those are clips." You get the sense that he can reach behind his back and pull out either a frying pan or a shotgun. It looks great.

Gerry Duggan On How Deadpool's Mental Instability Will be Handled In The Series:

I would say, though, if you're a fan of a mentally diminished Deadpool, your hopes will be met and your expectations rewarded. I think we wanted with the first issue to make a new Deadpool comic that a Deadpool fan will really enjoy and want to come back for the second issue. The other side there, though, is that we know this is a new #1 by guys that haven't done Deadpool yet, and we're hoping to pick up new fans who will buy the first issue and say, "Oh, this is what Deadpool is? I'm sticking around." I think that's a balancing act that we did a pretty good job of. I think we made a fun comic that any Deadpool fan will recognize as a new chapter in Deadpool's publishing history.

Brian Posehn On The Chances Of Seeing Cable In The Series:

He's not in the first arc, but hopefully we'll be on the book for a while. We have several arcs planned. He could definitely come in. We started over with some new S.H.I.E.L.D. people that you've never met. That was really fun to create new characters as well as work with Wade – this character that we already love.

Tony Moore On Whether He Is Changing His Art Style On Deadpool:

Not incredibly so. The basics are all still the same. I do feel a lot more relaxed with this book since it's not quite so morose as some of the other stuff, especially the work I did on Venom. That got pretty dark. This is a little more freewheeling, and I feel like my cartooning has loosened up a bit. It's made for some fresher art. I'm really happy with the way things have gone. It's a more relaxing kind of cartooning than I've been able to enjoy in a long time, so I'm pleased with the way everything has gone.

Starting in November,Matt Fraction has one more thing in common with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

One of Marvel Comics' brightest stars takes on the original Marvel Universe book when Fraction becomes the writer on the relaunched Fantastic Four in the fall, as well as the spinoff sister series FF, as part of the company's Marvel NOW! initiative.

"This is the family car. Don't scratch it," says Fraction, who takes on the two books while moving on from The Mighty Thor and Invincible Iron Man.

He's doing some detailing on the old classic, though. His Fantastic Four, which teams Fraction with artist Mark Bagley (Ultimate Spider-Man, Thunderbolts), will take the whole family of superheroes —Reed Richards and wife Sue (aka Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman), their two kids Franklin and Valeria, plus teammates Johnny Storm (the Human Torch) and Ben Grimm, the ever-lovin' Thing — on a journey through time and space.

Illustrated by Mike Allred (Madman) in his trademark pop-art style, FF will get a new look and a new replacement Fantastic Four squad, with Ant-Man heading up Reed's Future Foundation and teaming with She-Hulk, the Inhumans' Medusa and Miss Thing, an all-new female character clad in a Thing suit of armor.

For the main Fantastic Four book, Fraction says, "it's the first family, and we're putting family first."

The story line to kick off both of his new books, which share a definite road map, is actually inspired by, of all people, Gov. Angus King of Maine. When he left office in 2003, he, his wife and his two kids hopped in a 40-foot RV and for six months, saw America by driving 15,000 miles over 34 states.

"It was this intensive road-trip home-school experience," Fraction says. "I don't really know any parent who wouldn't want to do that with the time and money available."

The story stuck with Fraction, and it became the root of his idea for the Richards clan: Reed builds a ship that will take his team and his children across time and space for an epic historical lesson, the writer says. "If they're studying ancient Rome, then by God let's go have lunch with Caesar on the Ides of March. If they're looking at the Big Bang, they're going to watch it from the front row."

They'll be gone for a year — which will only be four minutes in regular Earth time —and while there will be continuing plot threads, each issue will be a new adventure and new situation.

"It's very easy to say, 'I want to stay true to what Stan and Jack did.' Well, what Stan and Jack did was invent the entirety of the Marvel Universe in 104 issues," Fraction says of the original Fantastic Four comic that launched in 1961.

"This is the place to be wildly inventive, and I would like to put as many things down on the page as humanly possible and offer up another dose next issue."

The Big Bang happened in less than a second, though, so four minutes is an eternity for the big brain of Reed Richards. He makes it a point for them to choose the people they want to carry on their legacy just in case something goes awry since the Earth will still need protection.

Ant-Man and his group stand guard for the four minutes, but nothing happens. Three weeks later, a one-eyed, one-legged, long-haired, half-insane, bearded Johnny Storm walks through the time gateway, shuts it behind him and says, "We can never open this door again."

The new crew of FF were carefully chosen by the old team as well as Fraction.

Reed Richards reaches out to Scott Lang because as Ant-Man, he's scientific, he has things to prove, he's a family man and, because he recently lost his daughter Cassie, Reed feels putting this brokenhearted hero in charge of the kids in the Future Foundation will help him.

Sue wants a woman like Medusa who has a link to the Fantastic Four through the Inhumans but could also be a mother, a hero, a friend, a wife and "seemingly have eight arms to handle all these jobs at once," Fraction says.

She-Hulk has a pedigree with the team since she has been a member of the Fantastic Four, plus she'd be Ben's pick because she's "the one person he knew he could never lick," says Fraction, who writes Red She-Hulk in Defenders, which ends its run at issue 12 in November.

"Strong guys are easy but you need more than just a strong guy."

Miss Thing is the most interesting choice because, as Fraction puts it, "Johnny spaces it because he's Johnny." She just happens to be a "Lohan-esque celebutante blonde" he's with the night before he leaves and she's thrown into the middle of this situation.

"She's the regular person, she's the human, she's the overwhelmed 'Whaaa?' of it all," Fraction says.

For Fantastic Four, Bagley takes his first crack at the group and brings both warmth as well as big-time action sequences to the book, according to Marvel executive editor Tom Brevoort. And with Allred, he says, FF will have a tone and a flavor that will make it different from anything else on comic shelves.

"My hope is that it will be quirky in the same way that the Fantastic Four were quirky when they first appeared in the early '60s," Brevoort explains. "We know who they are, we know what they're about, but when they first showed up, it was like a bomb going off in comics.

"These were remarkable characters who were doing unexpected things and had a real element of danger to it and excitement and unpredictability. The hope is we'll be able to tap into something akin to that."

Ant-Man has been one of Allred's all-time favorite characters since he was a kid, and when Marvel editor in chief Axel Alonso told him he'd be doing the superhero with Fraction, "I did a back flip," the artist says. "He's always in touch with the deepest part of my brain."

Allred "melted" when he learned Medusa was on the new team — "She was my first and favorite costumed comic-book crush," he says — and is falling for the other two women, too.

He almost pushed to replace She-Hulk, "but then my brain cracked open, and like many 'arranged marriages,' I saw her soul and opened my heart to her," says Allred, adding that Miss Thing "is so weird and wild."

He digs the chemistry between the four and is giving them all matching uniforms —"except the 'new kid' who has the most 'traditional' look for obvious reasons," Allred says.

Brevoort reports that the new FF artist is "the happiest man on the face of the Earth. His enthusiasm is electrifying. He enjoys getting to play with all this stuff. It has such a nice bounce and spark to it because of that."

At meetings discussing the changes of Marvel NOW!, Fantastic Four received a good amount of interest from different writers because it's one of "the mini-crown jewels of Marvel," according to Brevoort.

Fraction, though, was perfect for it and FF in a couple of ways, the editor says, starting with the cutting-edge, technological aspect of Fantastic Four. "Matt's obviously got something of a crazy science brain."

Plus, like Reed Richards, he's a big family man — Fraction has two young children with wife (and Captain Marvel writer) Kelly Sue DeConnick, and part of the Fantastic Four appeal for him, he says, was "a chance for me to tell stories about my family through the lens of the cornerstone of the Marvel Universe."

In doing so, Fraction aims for the title to be entertaining for all ages, from his kids to the older comic fan.

"I feel that one of the best Fantastic Four stories was The Incredibles, and I want to take that back. It's so arrogant to say but it should have been us. We should have done that," Fraction says, laughing.

"If this could be the Pixar version of the Fantastic Four, something that everyone can enjoy, not just our medium 30-year-old white-dude reader, I'd be happy."

Whereas the Fantastic Four is about the Richards family having all-new adventures, FF is about an all-new Fantastic Four getting to meet the team's greatest hits, Fraction teases. "Suddenly, there are imposters to the throne and they come out of the woodwork for these guys."

Ant-Man has an agenda of his own, too, in addition to protecting the world. He blames Doctor Doom for the death of his daughter and, with the power of the Fantastic Four and the Future Foundation, wonders what would happen if they declared war on Latveria and devoted all their time and resources to eliminating Doom once and for all.

"It's a dark twist on what the Fantastic Four is about — it's the other side of the coin," Fraction says. "We have this Fantastic Four with a specific mission in FF and how can he direct and bring these people along with him?"

His favorite Fantastic Four run of all time is still Lee and Kirby's first issues in the '60s, and Fraction feels the pure raw inventive power of them is unmatched.

Reading those, "you watch an idiom get invented, and when they really hit their stride, just page after page after page is remarkable," Fraction says. "I can't actually read Kirby for too long. I can only go a handful of pages and I have to take a break and chew things over.

"It's so imaginative, it just sends me spinning. I have to put it down and daydream for a little while and go back to it." So what is folks thoughts and views on what marvel is doing with this relaunching, changing the status quo and new writing/artist teams on books?

I haven't followed all the details on whats going on myself. But one thing i am glad is its not a reboot like dc new 52 but just more of a re-branded/changing creative teams of books. After the fallout of the avengers vs x-men event ongoing right now.

So this thread can discuss all things Marvel Now!

Here is some of the new creative teams/books:
- Rick Remender and John Cassaday will be teaming up for the Marvel NOW! flagship series, Uncanny Avengers.
- Kieron Gillen and Greg Land will be teaming up for a new Iron Man series
- Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic will be teaming up for a new Thor series
- Mark Waid and Lenil Yu will be teaming up for a new Hulk series.
- Brian Posehn, Gerry Duggan and Tony Moore will be teaming up for a new Deadpool series.
- Rick Remender and John Romita Jr. will be teaming up for a new Captain America series.
- Matt Fraction and Mark Bagley will be teaming up for a new Fantastic Four series.
- Matt Fraction and Mike Allred will be teaming up for what appears to be a new FF series.
- Simon Spurrier and Tan Eng Huat will be teaming up for what appears to be a new X-Men Legacy series, although that is pure speculation at this point.
- Brian Michael Bendis (Spider-Men) and Stuart Immonen (Fear Itself) will be teaming up for All-New X-Men, a series which will see the original five X-Men - Cyclops, Jean Grey, Angel, Beast and Iceman - arriving in the present as teenagers. While it sounds like a limited series, this will in fact be a new ongoing.
- Jonathan Hickman and Jerome Opena will be teaming up for The Avengers, a book which will reportedly feature a cast of 18 heroes. Meanwhile, Hickman will also be writing New Avengers, although there are currently no details as to what we should expect from that series.

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/JoshWildingNewsAndReviews/news/?a=65177#xxJqmBKv2TCGbxuc.99

Despite these creative team changes, we do know that some of the writers above will be staying on titles they currently work on. Ed Brubaker (Captain America) will remain on Winter Soldier, Jason Aaron will continue to write Wolverine & The X-Men and Mark Waid will still handle writing duties on Daredevil. However, the fate of many other books remains unknown.

• Currently unconfirmed rumours include Mark Waid taking over Avengers Assemble, Brian Michael Bendis writing a new Guardians of the Galaxy ongoing series and Frank Cho both writing and pencilling Wolverine. There has also been talk of a new Nova series.

• One title that Marvel have been VERY quiet about is The Amazing Spider-Man. With current writer Dan Slott promising some very big (and controversial) changes in issue #700, it is unclear whether that means he might be planning to actually kill off Peter Parker, especially as the hero is getting a new sidekick in the form of "Alpha"...

Some Marvel Now Covers:
Marvel Now image:

Unncanny Avengers:

Iron Man:

Thor:

Hulk:

Deadpool:

FF:

Fantastic Four:

Iron Man Series Details:

Marvel NOW!: Iron Man #1 will be released in November with writing by Kieron Gillen and art by Greg Land. Marvel also released an description on the upcoming series...

Technical visionary. Unparalleled engineer. Avenger. Iron Man has done it all, from combating the greatest threats facing the Marvel Universe to dealing with his own inner demons. Now, when his greatest invention becomes his greatest mistake, Iron Man must act fact…and build faster! The lethal techno virus Extremis is out in the wild and for grabs to the highest bidder! It’s up to Tony Stark to contain it and that means creating a new suit of armor!

In an interview with Marvel.com, Kieron Gillen said, “The story will focus on him questioning things about himself and trying to find out exactly how the universe ticks, what’s this all about and why he does this anyway, There will be a lot of changes in the armor throughout the series; in the first five issues there will be a different armor every issue.”

Thor Series Details:

Jason Aaron tells Newsarama what we can expect from the new series, revealing that his take on Thor will involve three different "past, present, and future" versions of the character..

    "I do flash back and show a young Thor in action, but he's actually just one of three Thors that I want to focus on. This first story is an epic tale that plays out over the course of thousands of years. So we spend time with young Thor in the Viking age — the young, hotheaded god of the Vikings, who loves to come down to Midgard and get into trouble. In the present, we see Thor the Avenger on a journey that takes him to the far corners of space, interacting with all sorts of new space gods and wondrous new locations. And then we also see old King Thor, who's the last king of Asgard, thousands of years in the future, where something has gone horribly, horribly wrong. Linking all these eras and Thors together is one villain, an all-new character [Gorr, the God Butcher], who is basically, at least initially, a serial killer of gods. He's a guy with a serious axe to grind against all immortal beings in the cosmos, and he's going around doing his best to kill them all off, one at a time, as brutally as possible. That villain's story unfolds over the course of all these different eras. He starts as a serial killer of gods, but by the end, he has become something even more frightening."

Hulk series Details:
http://superherohype.com/news/articles/172157-comics-first-look-at-the-indestructible-hulk

Comics: First Look at the Indestructible Hulk by Spencer Perry August 08, 2012 Share this story

The upcoming Hulk coming from Marvel NOW!

As they did last week, Marvel is rolling out extended previews of their new series this week and today's happens to be Mark Waid and Leinil Yu's Indestructible Hulk. CBR caught up with Waid to talk about the new series and he wants you to know that if you like his Daredevil run, just wait til you read Indestructible Hulk. He says:

The reception to our approach on "Daredevil" had a lot to do with how I'm coming at Hulk -- assuming that everything we know about Hulk is still true, everything he's been through -- but, as we did with Daredevil, having Banner turn a corner and deciding to take a whole new, less "woe is me" view of his condition.

In 1962, Hulk was one of the most unique characters ever in comics because he viewed his powers as a curse, not a blessing. But that point of view is no longer unique -- heck, that's practically the emotional keynote of half the superhero books currently running. So Marvel gave their blessing to morph that attitude into something a little more heroic.

When asked about the adjective change from Incredible to Indestructible, Waid had his reasons.

There's a very good reason we chose the word "Indestructible," it's actually a subtle story point. Without giving too much away, let's just say that it ties in with Banner's whole new attitude.

The series launches in November.

Deadpool Series Details:
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/08/09/relaunching-deadpool-whats-next-for-the-merc-with-a-mouth

Brian Posehn On How He And Gerry Duggan Got The Job:

Well, this whole thing would never have happened if it weren't for Comic-Con, probably. In any situation where you get something going, it's all about who you know, and this really came from that. Hanging out with Axel [Alonso]. Meeting Axel through Rick Remender. And Remender, who's our biggest cheerleader, going, “These guys are funny. These guys love comics. These guys should be writing.” It originally started with the idea that we were just going to do a special. But with Marvel kind of reevaluating their books, they realized they don't really want to do specials anymore. Then we were on the back-burner for a while. But we've been talking about doing something with them for a couple of years now.

Gerry Duggan On Deadpool's New Look:

Now might be a good time to point out that when this runs, you'll see some art that shows the tweaks he did to the costume. It's really costume. And they're subtle. You'll look at it and know that it's Deadpool, but it's a new Deadpool that really looks great. Less pouches and less weird, tech-y gear, but more versatile sort of, "Hey, you know what? Those are magazines. Those are clips." You get the sense that he can reach behind his back and pull out either a frying pan or a shotgun. It looks great.

Gerry Duggan On How Deadpool's Mental Instability Will be Handled In The Series:

I would say, though, if you're a fan of a mentally diminished Deadpool, your hopes will be met and your expectations rewarded. I think we wanted with the first issue to make a new Deadpool comic that a Deadpool fan will really enjoy and want to come back for the second issue. The other side there, though, is that we know this is a new #1 by guys that haven't done Deadpool yet, and we're hoping to pick up new fans who will buy the first issue and say, "Oh, this is what Deadpool is? I'm sticking around." I think that's a balancing act that we did a pretty good job of. I think we made a fun comic that any Deadpool fan will recognize as a new chapter in Deadpool's publishing history.

Brian Posehn On The Chances Of Seeing Cable In The Series:

He's not in the first arc, but hopefully we'll be on the book for a while. We have several arcs planned. He could definitely come in. We started over with some new S.H.I.E.L.D. people that you've never met. That was really fun to create new characters as well as work with Wade – this character that we already love.

Tony Moore On Whether He Is Changing His Art Style On Deadpool:

Not incredibly so. The basics are all still the same. I do feel a lot more relaxed with this book since it's not quite so morose as some of the other stuff, especially the work I did on Venom. That got pretty dark. This is a little more freewheeling, and I feel like my cartooning has loosened up a bit. It's made for some fresher art. I'm really happy with the way things have gone. It's a more relaxing kind of cartooning than I've been able to enjoy in a long time, so I'm pleased with the way everything has gone.

FF and Fantastic Four story details:
Fantastic four and FF covers/story details:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/story/2012-08-09/Matt-Fraction-Fantastic-Four-comic-book-series/56911846/1

Starting in November,Matt Fraction has one more thing in common with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

One of Marvel Comics' brightest stars takes on the original Marvel Universe book when Fraction becomes the writer on the relaunched Fantastic Four in the fall, as well as the spinoff sister series FF, as part of the company's Marvel NOW! initiative.

"This is the family car. Don't scratch it," says Fraction, who takes on the two books while moving on from The Mighty Thor and Invincible Iron Man.

He's doing some detailing on the old classic, though. His Fantastic Four, which teams Fraction with artist Mark Bagley (Ultimate Spider-Man, Thunderbolts), will take the whole family of superheroes —Reed Richards and wife Sue (aka Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman), their two kids Franklin and Valeria, plus teammates Johnny Storm (the Human Torch) and Ben Grimm, the ever-lovin' Thing — on a journey through time and space.

Illustrated by Mike Allred (Madman) in his trademark pop-art style, FF will get a new look and a new replacement Fantastic Four squad, with Ant-Man heading up Reed's Future Foundation and teaming with She-Hulk, the Inhumans' Medusa and Miss Thing, an all-new female character clad in a Thing suit of armor.

For the main Fantastic Four book, Fraction says, "it's the first family, and we're putting family first."

The story line to kick off both of his new books, which share a definite road map, is actually inspired by, of all people, Gov. Angus King of Maine. When he left office in 2003, he, his wife and his two kids hopped in a 40-foot RV and for six months, saw America by driving 15,000 miles over 34 states.

"It was this intensive road-trip home-school experience," Fraction says. "I don't really know any parent who wouldn't want to do that with the time and money available."

The story stuck with Fraction, and it became the root of his idea for the Richards clan: Reed builds a ship that will take his team and his children across time and space for an epic historical lesson, the writer says. "If they're studying ancient Rome, then by God let's go have lunch with Caesar on the Ides of March. If they're looking at the Big Bang, they're going to watch it from the front row."

They'll be gone for a year — which will only be four minutes in regular Earth time —and while there will be continuing plot threads, each issue will be a new adventure and new situation.

"It's very easy to say, 'I want to stay true to what Stan and Jack did.' Well, what Stan and Jack did was invent the entirety of the Marvel Universe in 104 issues," Fraction says of the original Fantastic Four comic that launched in 1961.

"This is the place to be wildly inventive, and I would like to put as many things down on the page as humanly possible and offer up another dose next issue."

The Big Bang happened in less than a second, though, so four minutes is an eternity for the big brain of Reed Richards. He makes it a point for them to choose the people they want to carry on their legacy just in case something goes awry since the Earth will still need protection.

Ant-Man and his group stand guard for the four minutes, but nothing happens. Three weeks later, a one-eyed, one-legged, long-haired, half-insane, bearded Johnny Storm walks through the time gateway, shuts it behind him and says, "We can never open this door again."

The new crew of FF were carefully chosen by the old team as well as Fraction.

Reed Richards reaches out to Scott Lang because as Ant-Man, he's scientific, he has things to prove, he's a family man and, because he recently lost his daughter Cassie, Reed feels putting this brokenhearted hero in charge of the kids in the Future Foundation will help him.

Sue wants a woman like Medusa who has a link to the Fantastic Four through the Inhumans but could also be a mother, a hero, a friend, a wife and "seemingly have eight arms to handle all these jobs at once," Fraction says.

She-Hulk has a pedigree with the team since she has been a member of the Fantastic Four, plus she'd be Ben's pick because she's "the one person he knew he could never lick," says Fraction, who writes Red She-Hulk in Defenders, which ends its run at issue 12 in November.

"Strong guys are easy but you need more than just a strong guy."

Miss Thing is the most interesting choice because, as Fraction puts it, "Johnny spaces it because he's Johnny." She just happens to be a "Lohan-esque celebutante blonde" he's with the night before he leaves and she's thrown into the middle of this situation.

"She's the regular person, she's the human, she's the overwhelmed 'Whaaa?' of it all," Fraction says.

For Fantastic Four, Bagley takes his first crack at the group and brings both warmth as well as big-time action sequences to the book, according to Marvel executive editor Tom Brevoort. And with Allred, he says, FF will have a tone and a flavor that will make it different from anything else on comic shelves.

"My hope is that it will be quirky in the same way that the Fantastic Four were quirky when they first appeared in the early '60s," Brevoort explains. "We know who they are, we know what they're about, but when they first showed up, it was like a bomb going off in comics.

"These were remarkable characters who were doing unexpected things and had a real element of danger to it and excitement and unpredictability. The hope is we'll be able to tap into something akin to that."

Ant-Man has been one of Allred's all-time favorite characters since he was a kid, and when Marvel editor in chief Axel Alonso told him he'd be doing the superhero with Fraction, "I did a back flip," the artist says. "He's always in touch with the deepest part of my brain."

Allred "melted" when he learned Medusa was on the new team — "She was my first and favorite costumed comic-book crush," he says — and is falling for the other two women, too.

He almost pushed to replace She-Hulk, "but then my brain cracked open, and like many 'arranged marriages,' I saw her soul and opened my heart to her," says Allred, adding that Miss Thing "is so weird and wild."

He digs the chemistry between the four and is giving them all matching uniforms —"except the 'new kid' who has the most 'traditional' look for obvious reasons," Allred says.

Brevoort reports that the new FF artist is "the happiest man on the face of the Earth. His enthusiasm is electrifying. He enjoys getting to play with all this stuff. It has such a nice bounce and spark to it because of that."

At meetings discussing the changes of Marvel NOW!, Fantastic Four received a good amount of interest from different writers because it's one of "the mini-crown jewels of Marvel," according to Brevoort.

Fraction, though, was perfect for it and FF in a couple of ways, the editor says, starting with the cutting-edge, technological aspect of Fantastic Four. "Matt's obviously got something of a crazy science brain."

Plus, like Reed Richards, he's a big family man — Fraction has two young children with wife (and Captain Marvel writer) Kelly Sue DeConnick, and part of the Fantastic Four appeal for him, he says, was "a chance for me to tell stories about my family through the lens of the cornerstone of the Marvel Universe."

In doing so, Fraction aims for the title to be entertaining for all ages, from his kids to the older comic fan.

"I feel that one of the best Fantastic Four stories was The Incredibles, and I want to take that back. It's so arrogant to say but it should have been us. We should have done that," Fraction says, laughing.

"If this could be the Pixar version of the Fantastic Four, something that everyone can enjoy, not just our medium 30-year-old white-dude reader, I'd be happy."

Whereas the Fantastic Four is about the Richards family having all-new adventures, FF is about an all-new Fantastic Four getting to meet the team's greatest hits, Fraction teases. "Suddenly, there are imposters to the throne and they come out of the woodwork for these guys."

Ant-Man has an agenda of his own, too, in addition to protecting the world. He blames Doctor Doom for the death of his daughter and, with the power of the Fantastic Four and the Future Foundation, wonders what would happen if they declared war on Latveria and devoted all their time and resources to eliminating Doom once and for all.

"It's a dark twist on what the Fantastic Four is about — it's the other side of the coin," Fraction says. "We have this Fantastic Four with a specific mission in FF and how can he direct and bring these people along with him?"

His favorite Fantastic Four run of all time is still Lee and Kirby's first issues in the '60s, and Fraction feels the pure raw inventive power of them is unmatched.

Reading those, "you watch an idiom get invented, and when they really hit their stride, just page after page after page is remarkable," Fraction says. "I can't actually read Kirby for too long. I can only go a handful of pages and I have to take a break and chew things over.

"It's so imaginative, it just sends me spinning. I have to put it down and daydream for a little while and go back to it."

Fraction admits he's "terrified" he's going to screw up Fantastic Four, but he feeds off that fear and to be true to the spirit of the book, he says, "you've got to invent, invent, invent.

"That's an all-too-rare occurrence in comics these days but I'm excited to get started."

Fraction admits he's "terrified" he's going to screw up Fantastic Four, but he feeds off that fear and to be true to the spirit of the book, he says, "you've got to invent, invent, invent.

"That's an all-too-rare occurrence in comics these days but I'm excited to get started."

Comics: Behold! Captain America #1 by Spencer Perry August 10, 2012 Share this story

See the cover to the all new series

This might be the final Marvel NOW! cover we get this week, but we can always keep our fingers crossed for more in the near future (though we might have to wait a month). Now we've got a look at the all new Captain America comic courtesy of iFanboy.

The series wil be written by Rick Remender and drawn by John Romita Jr. and will focus on the solo adventures of Captain America.

Remender had this to say about the series: In the tone of the thing, I decided to try and draw from the Kirby era of Cap where characters like Arnim Zola were created in the mad bomb stuff. All of these giant huge ideas, and a bit of sci-fi leaning as I am wont to do, that seemed perfect to me. To sort of emulate, as much as I could in my own voice, that era of Cap. So that’s sort of where we’re going. Seeing Johnny do that stuff, there’s nobody who could do Kirby and still be himself like Johnny. It turns into this, it’s like Man Without Fear mixed with all of the mad bomb Zola Kirby stuff.

One of the mandates I have to myself is, I don’t want to touch the World War II stuff. I think that that has been done, now, and it’s been done perfectly. To go back and to keep focusing on Cap in World War II at this point, again, would be following too closely to what Ed has already done. What I’m doing is spending a lot of time in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the 20s and 30s, showing Steve grow up. The first arc is 10 issues, and it’s called “Dimension Z.”

I don’t want to give away too much, but a big portion of it is Cap dealing with Arnim Zola in Dimension Z. I’m trying to take Zola and do with him, what we did with Apocalypse over in Uncanny X-Force. Where we take what’s there, re-imagine it, build a new mythology and really expand Zola, and try and build Zola into a very, very big and important character.

The other half of it is going to be a lot of flashbacks to a young Steve Rogers growing up in Depression-era Lower East Side, and getting to know his family and his friends, and how this 98-pound weakling became such a tenacious, strong person; focus on the fiber and the integrity of who he is, and really develop that for the first time.

The new series launches in November.

Comics: X-Men Legacy is here! by Spencer Perry August 10, 2012 Share this story

With an unexpected central character

Well, we were wrong, Captain America wasn't the last Marvel NOW! first look we'd be getting this week, instead it will be the all new X-Men Legacy.

MTV Geek talked with writer Simon Spurrier about the project and a look at the cover to the first issue, and to announce that the lead character in the series will be none other than Charles Xavier's son Legion!

In the past the title has been principally preoccupied with Xavier, then Magneto, then Rogue... Now it's David's turn. The whole point of doing things this way is that we get a really unique perspective on the Marvel Universe in general and its mutanty side in particular. I tend to think things take on a richer, more truthful flavour when they're being processed through a character's direct filter, and it opens the door (or in David's case, ha, doors) to a lot of interesting new stories.

...all of which is a slightly wanky and pompous way of saying this title's a headstrong little bastard and it doesn't always like to be team player. Think of Legacy as the black sheep of the X-family.

David’s story is very much a part of the X-Universe’s own developing yarn – it’s simply that he’s not going to be wearing a brightly coloured supersuit and having team-up banter. In fact, he’s very aware from the getgo that in a certain light the X-Men are kinda obliged to regard him as a villain.

When asked what he could tease, Psychic insanity! Telepathic parasites! Golden Age characters! Multi-dimensional prison! Kirby krackles! Romance! Murder most foul! Parental Trauma! Classic villains! New villains! Sex! Drugs! Memetically altered rock music! Wraparound weirdness! Aliens! A bloody enormous crow! EVERYTHING EXPLODES!

The series will be written by Spurrier and drawn by Tan Eng Huat and launches this November.

Comics: First look at the All New X-Men by Spencer Perry August 13, 2012 Share this story

See the cover to Bendis' new X-Men series

With the announcemenet of Marvel NOW!, we first learned about the shake up of creative teams on their respective titles with the announcement that Brian Michael Bendis would be leaving The Avengers books so that he could begin work on X-Men titles.

The series, by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen, will be about the original five X-Men coming to the present day Marvel Universe and seeing the results of what their work as the X-Men have done to the world and themselves.

You can take a look at the cover for the first issue (via Newsarama). The title hits shelves in November.

COMICS: Jonathan Hickman's Marvel NOW! Team Of AVENGERS Revealed?

We know that Jonathan Hickman's upcoming Marvel NOW! relaunched Avengers series will feature a rotating cast of 18 superheroes,but what is perhaps the core team has been revealed in an early sketch by J. Scott Campbell. Check it out! Josh Wilding - 9/1/2012

Brian Michael Bendis has dominated the Avengers books ever since he "Disassembled" the team in 2004. As this era of the Marvel Universe wraps up with the conclusion of Avengers Vs. X-Men this Fall, the Marvel NOW! relaunch brings with it new titles, looks and creative teams. That includes Jonathan Hickman (Secret Warriors, Fantastic Four) taking over two of the core Avengers books; The Avengers and New Avengers. We still know very little about these two titles, but Bleeding Cool have unearthed an interlocking variant cover by J. Scott Campbell for the first issues of All-New X-Men, Uncanny Avengers and Avengers. As you can see, it appears as if the core team will consist of Spider-Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Hulk and Iron Man. What do you think of the team?

It’s a new day and a new beginning for the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, with a brand new team that’s bigger and better than ever before! And they won’t just be 'Earth’s Mightiest Heroes', either – when the galaxy is in danger, the Avengers will answer the call!