BENDIS HAS A SECRET...WAR

**MattBrady** · 11-20-2003, 10:09 AM

Its name is evocative of two things: covert ops and the Beyonder. One is good, and one is bad. In February, Brian Bendis and Gabriele Dell’Otto bring the former, not the latter to the Marvel Universe proper with the debut of Secret War a five issue miniseries that’s gonna shake things up.

The miniseries, fully painted by Dell’Otto (his sequential art debut for an American comic publisher) will ship as five quarterly, 48-page books with a $3.99 cover.

The story centers of Nick Fury who, after years of research, has found a serious and disturbing connection between many of the deadliest villains in the Marvel Universe. Recognizing that action must be taken, Fury assembles a team of heroes for a covert operation that could never be sanctioned by the U.S. government. These things never end well, and Secret War leads to a blowout between nearly every hero and mutant of New York, including Spider-Man, Wolverine, Daredevil, Captain America, Black Widow, Luke Cage and others.

We tracked Bendis down and hit him with the hot lights and thumbscrews.

Newsarama: Starting with Secret War, take us back to the origin of in of this one. Where did this come from?

Brian Bendis: There's this element of the marvel universe that always intrigued me, I've been thinking about it for years. A secret that might connect a lot of the villains of the Marvel Universe

Once someone like Nick Fury figures it out, what will the heroes have to do to fight it?

Joe loved the take and told me that this could be a modern take on Secret Wars. A gritty real world take on the idea of a secret superhero war.

And I said, “Damn, that's it!!”

NRAMA: This connection - have there been pieces of this floating around for a while, or…what? Is this going to logically flow from earlier stuff?

BB: I totally think so. I think people will be able to reread some comics and say to themselves, “Huh, interesting.” And not just my comics, I mean, all their Marvel Comics. I think this opens some interesting doors all the way around.

And anything that gets you to go back and reread some stuff is always a good thing. Except Secret Wars 2. Don't do that. Except the Daredevil issue, that's fucking hilarious.

NRAMA: As the name of a project, Secret War comes with a lot of baggage. But it’s just a name, right? Nothing more – no Beyonder?

BB: Yeah, lets bring back the jerry curl, white jump suit, muther fucker in all his eighties glory. No, I am proud to say that this is not that. Not to shit on others work, but Secret Wars 2 was douche chill bad.

This is an entirely different genre, that's how far from the Beyonder this is, but I like the idea that the words 'secret war' conjure; the mystery. The enigma of it is what captured our attention lo those many years ago when we first heard the words - the idea that there are secrets we don't know about these characters or a story that we the readers will get that civilians in the Marvel Universe might not is a lot of fun to think about.

NRAMA: So then – looking at the story a little. Fury finds the connection and puts together a ragtag team – what’s he looking for in his “soldiers” – pieces of a larger machine, or those he has a personal connection with?

BB: People who owe him. He puts together a team of heroes that owe him one and that believe in him enough to follow him blindly into this. They also happen to be some of the best selling characters in comic history, who knew?

It’s Fury that uncovers the mystery and is forced to go 'under the table' to try to take care of it because the United States government can't; so basically, you could say that Fury takes it upon himself to start a secret war. He's forced to.

NRAMA: Obviously, Spider-Man is going to be involved. You’ve set up the relationship between Peter and Fury in the Ultimate Universe, but in the Marvel Universe? It seems that the not-trysting-of-authority Peter Parker wouldn’t want anything to do with nick Fury…

BB: Well, Fury knows who he is now, so that gets fleshed out a bit more…

NRAMA: Going all out for a tease here - what is “secret” about the “secret war?”

BB: See, how intrigued you are by just the two words. Hee hee hee…

NRAMA: Back to the “war” itself – what’s its scope? Will it be moving out of the five boroughs, or will it be going on – albeit quietly – within NYC?

BB: It’s big. It’s also very gritty. Dirty, like the battles in Black Hawk Down, if the first Secret Wars was this big planetary cosmic hoo hah, this is as real a fight as it gets in mainstream comics.

NRAMA: So what are the stakes in this war? What are we talking about if the good guys loose?

BB: Yeah, like I’m going to tell you that now.

NRAMA: Well then - where do the mutants stand in this? There are hints that this battle will bring things to a head between the mutants and non…

BB: Wolverine is front and center, and the X-Men will fall in during the third act to take care of their own. In fact, every Marvel superhero in the New York area will.

NRAMA: This is the first honest to God Marvel Universe crossover in years. What was good about the former ones that you’re hoping to recreate, and what was bad that you’re hoping not to bring into your mix? In short, what makes these work?

BB: Well, the good hopefully is the grandeur and excitement of it all. I think there's nothing cooler than the gathering of heroes. The Ocean's Eleven swagger of all these big characters getting together. The interaction

The bad is the convoluted goofball storytelling that seems to almost always punish a really good idea for a crossover. It would be great to not be that.

I hadn't realized that this is the first in a while, I think you're right. That's cool.

NRAMA: Speaking of the usual elements, Secret War is fully stand-alone, right?

BB: Well, all Marvel Comics are forced to cross over into NYX now. In fact Joe is making Powers crossover with NYX and he doesn't even publish Powers. That man is totally out of control.

I of course, am joking, but this being Newsarama, I figure that quote is worth two or three pages of posts.

But to answer the question, there will be an arc of The Pulse that expands on some of the ideas of this series. And yes, Luke and Jessica are in Secret War.

NRAMA: On the art side of things - is there anything you do/write for Gabrielle that you do differently than with say, Mark Bagley or Alex Maleev, given his style?

BB: Not really. Gabrielle is the find of the century. The biggest treat of this series is the official introduction of this fantastic painter.

He doesn't speak a word of English, and if he does they are not words I have ever heard, so communicating has been interesting. But there is not one panel that isn't perfect. It’s just great, great colors, great storytelling.

NRAMA: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being not at all, and 10 being unrecognizable to previous. What does Secret War do to the status quo of the Marvel Universe?

BB: See, that’s not fair, because if I say 10 everyone thinks I'm a hypey putz, or more of a hypey putz than they already think I am. But we will introduce a couple of new characters; we will kill a few characters. And one or two characters may switch sides as a result of the magnitude of what this secret war does to them.

NRAMA: Is Spider-Man getting a new costume?

BB: Yeah, this one is all white – with sparkles.

Jonathan · 11-20-2003, 10:22 AM

Wow this looks and sounds really great!

Nuff said!

DanLTaylor · 11-20-2003, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MattBrady
NRAMA: Is Spider-Man getting a new costume?

BB: Yeah, this one is all white – with sparkles.

Now if it were white icing and sprinkles Spidey would be like my favorite doughnut!

JimHughs4 · 11-20-2003, 10:29 AM

There can't be enough Fury-centric series for me. I'll be buying this.

Justice · 11-20-2003, 10:33 AM

This sounds like a great showcase for Fury, and a really cool project in general. Del'Otto's art is beautiful. The only problem is going to be waiting five quarters to read it all!

And after reading that interview, how can you not like Bendis?

That NYX comment alone....

Ha!

Talannon · 11-20-2003, 10:36 AM

The art look so good!

I'll make sure to get that, it's gonna be nice!

xdemon · 11-20-2003, 10:39 AM

A crossover where I don't have to buy 50 titles?

Count me in!

DnBman1 · 11-20-2003, 10:44 AM

This looks sweet. Anyone else got that feeling that DellOtto is going to blow up like Alex Ross did after marvels?

CountD · 11-20-2003, 10:47 AM

"BB: Well, all Marvel Comics are forced to cross over into NYX now. In fact Joe is making Powers crossover with NYX and he doesn't even publish Powers. That man is totally out of control."

Ha!

Seriously, I'm looking forward to a true Marvel cross over and I hope Bendis can keep the story as compelling as it sounds so far..

I would like to hear more on who the main villains will be.

cyclopsfan · 11-20-2003, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MattBrady
[BBB: Well, all Marvel Comics are forced to cross over into NYX now. In fact Joe is making Powers crossover with NYX and he doesn't even publish Powers. That man is totally out of control.

I of course, am joking, but this being Newsarama, I figure that quote is worth two or three pages of posts.
[/b]

LOL. Boy he must be posting around here under a "secret" name!! LOL. I wanted to fall out of my chair on this one. It probably goes without saying, but i will be buying this one with bells on! WOW did those pages look sweet!

scan2001 · 11-20-2003, 10:58 AM

Secret War looks great and story sounds interesting. I still hope the jerry curl, white suite beyonder makes it back somehow.

Chris · 11-20-2003, 11:01 AM

You know... Up until the end, I had it completely in my head that this was gonna be an Ultimate Secret War... but realized that it WASN'T... Weird...

Chris

BoyWonder · 11-20-2003, 11:03 AM

Not a fan of Bendis, but this sounds really good. Count me in.

Also, I'm a bit intrigued by who the main villian is going to be? I don't think it will be the Kingpin, who is the main boss in New York since Daredevil took him down recently. Anyone care to speculate on who the big bad guy is?

If there is one thing that I don't like about the article is Bendis saying the mutants will split from the other heroes. I always liked the idea that all the heroes weren't bigots and fully trusted the X-men and vice-versa. I just thought it was cool that when the sh*t hit the fan everyone pulled together. Of course I'm just speculating here and not prejudging

Sean Walsh · 11-20-2003, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MattBrady
...we will kill a few characters.

And it is with this that I fully realize Bendis will totally ROCK with this series.

(Just so much as he doesn't kill Quasar or Arcade.......other than them, he can go nuts with the MU proper...!)

Sean

cyclopsfan · 11-20-2003, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BoyWonder
Not a fan of Bendis, but this sounds really good. Count me in.

Also, I'm a bit intrigued by who the main villian is going to be? I don't think it will be the Kingpin, who is the main boss in New York since Daredevil took him down recently. Anyone care to speculate on who the big bad guy is?

If there is one thing that I don't like about the article is Bendis saying the mutants will split from the other heroes. I always liked the idea that all the heroes weren't bigots and fully trusted the X-men and vice-versa. I just thought it was cool that when the sh*t hit the fan everyone pulled together. Of course I'm just speculating here and not prejudging

Actually, DAREDEVIL! (also written by Bendis) is the newest "Kingpin". OMG HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Kirk538 · 11-20-2003, 11:12 AM

....is the only thing that scares me. Hulk NightMerica is aweful. What other books has Dell'Otto done so I can go check it out.

BoyWonder · 11-20-2003, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sean Walsh

(Just so much as he doesn't kill Quasar or Arcade.......other than them, he can go nuts with the MU proper...!)

If Marvel has a list of characters that cannot be killed in Secret War, those two probably won't be on it. In fact, if there is a kill list those two would probably be on it.

Orange Monkey · 11-20-2003, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by JimHughs4
There can't be enough Fury-centric series for me. I'll be buying this.

Yeah! Furry porn rocks!

Oh, sorry, you meant Fury...never mind.

scoobyrex · 11-20-2003, 11:18 AM

sounds good, looks good! the paintings sure are purty.....

MattFreakinLittle · 11-20-2003, 11:22 AM

How do you digitally imply drooling, pants-shitting, and your eyeballs falling out of your head all at once? Where's that emoticon? Because I need it right now.

nihilance · 11-20-2003, 11:22 AM

I have to second being worried about the painting. The individual images look great (as they often do when comics are painted) but most painters can't get the narrative flow going that is necessary for the sequential art in a comic. The images in the article are great but so far they look pretty static without any real connectivity. Hopefully the book as a whole will be better and the dialogue will help establish the narrative.

nihilance · 11-20-2003, 11:30 AM

Quote:

And anything that gets you to go back and reread some stuff is always a good thing. Except Secret Wars 2. Don't do that. Except the Daredevil issue, that's fucking hilarious.

I don't agree with this either. The Daredevil issue where the Beyonder gives him back his sight was kind of cool but there were other tie-ins that worked better than the mini-series as well. Both FF issues were good (benevolent Beyonder doing It's a Wonderful Life with Johnny after an admirer of his tries to become a human torch - and the P.O.'d Beyonder destroying Doom when he has the FF on the ropes thus creating a paradox actually brings Doom back from the dead) and the Spider-man issues also had some interesting ideas (the apartment building that is turned into solid gold - and then taken by the Kingpin) plus all the covers were done by Byrne back in his prime.

Plus the only reason that the Beyonder had a black perm was because he modeled his human form after the ultimate human (Captain America) and felt he needed to differentiate himself a bit from the Avenger.

Hdefined · 11-20-2003, 11:45 AM

I'm interested. I really can't stand Bendis' pacing in a lot of his books lately, but this series is five 48-page issues, which in Bendis terms is the length of two storyarcs . . . but it's one story. So in other words, he might be able to get in all the little quiet moments he loves AND incorporate a lot of story in as well.

Just wondering, is this coming with ads? Probably, Marvel loves stuffing its books with ads on every other page lately. How about the kind of DC prestige binding? Or merely the kind of Punisher: Born cardstock? For $4 an issue, I don't see why they wouldn't bind it well.

NotAnIssue · 11-20-2003, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kirk538
....is the only thing that scares me. Hulk NightMerica is aweful. What other books has Dell'Otto done so I can go check it out.

Do NOT be scared....Dell'Otto has done some really amazing stuff. I'm not worried at all. I have no idea what they were done for, but there are a LOT of Marvel pieces he's painted. Wizard published several of them a while back.

There's a book I found in Montreal last year....it's all French. It's called Marvel Galerie...it's a huge hardcover collection of paintings by Ross, Jusko, Sienkiewicz, some pencilled stuff by Jae Lee, etc....awesome...but it has a TON of stuff from Dell'Otto.

For a picture of it, try here:

http://www.bedetheque.com/index.php?S=2245

Kil49ers2004 · 11-20-2003, 11:53 AM

THANK YOU O LORD FOR THY GIFTS YOU GIVE US!!!!

BENDIS BENDIS BENDIS!!

I WOULD BE HAPPY IF HE JUST WROTE EVERYTHING!

AND THIS NEW ARTIST, WOO HAA

AWESOME!

I WAS WONDERING WHAT MARVEL WOULD HAVE HIM DO!

THIS IS A PERFECT START FOR HIM!

MOVE OVER ALEX ROSS, THERE'S A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN AND HIS NAME IS DEL'OTTO!!!