Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 11:12 am Post subject: Marvel's The Siege
Marvel released their December Solicitations earlier this week and it includes a rather interesting one-shot.
SIEGE: THE CABAL
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Penciled by MICHAEL LARK
Cover by DAVID FINCH
THE SIEGE STARTS HERE!! Remember when you were first introduced to the Cabal, the gathering of the most sinister members of the Marvel Universe, and you said to yourself: Well, that's going to blow up in everyone's face! Well, you were right and it happens right here!! Norman Osborn faces off with Doctor Doom and his mysterious threat to Doom is revealed. All of this is setting the stage for next month's explosive event: SIEGE!
48 PGS./One-Shot/Rated T+ ...$3.99
Marvel has only ever mentioned that Dark Reign would last approximately a full year before the story reached its natural conclusion and I wonder if this could be it, or the beginnings of the story's end.
I doubt it's any real coincidence that, in the same month, there's another in-continuity one-shot focussing on Captain America.
Thoughts, anyone...? _________________ With Great Power, Comes Great... Potential to ROB BANKS!!! HAHAH! THAT'S HOW TO BEAT THE RECESSION!!!
Dark Reign was the status-quo that got me reading mainstream Marvel, and I'm deeply saddened by the fact that it is ending so quickly and without much of its potential for unique storytelling realised. It feels like a waste of time and I honestly can't get behind this new Siege event with any sense of excitement.
I'm really enjoying Dark Reign; certain titles including Iron Man and Dark Avengers have exploded into life for me and are telling genuinely compelling stories at this time, particularly the former. Despite my enjoyment, however, the story should reach its natural conclusion at some point within the next six months.
I would prefer that the story end on a high rather than Marvel tell every conceivable story possible from Dark Reign. I agree that there are many more stories that could be told but I would much rather the story end with my wanting more than end with a whimper and my then breathing a sigh of relief that the story's finally ended. There are many examples in Marvel's history of a story being told for far too long and then ending with an undramatic whimper (and with editors and writers struggling to end the story in a satisfactory manner).
Besides, it gives us all a chance to salivate over what Marvel might do next... _________________ With Great Power, Comes Great... Potential to ROB BANKS!!! HAHAH! THAT'S HOW TO BEAT THE RECESSION!!!
Brian Michael Bendis recently let the cat out of the bag, so to speak...
It seems Siege is indeed a forthcoming Marvel event and will bring to a conclusion the Dark Reign.
Siege is planned to be a four-issue limited series, beginning in January, that will reunite Marvel's Trinity of Captain America, Thor and Iron Man. Olivier Coipel has been confirmed as the series artist.
There are no further details, although I hear Marvel are planning a more detailed press release at a forthcoming retailers summit. _________________ With Great Power, Comes Great... Potential to ROB BANKS!!! HAHAH! THAT'S HOW TO BEAT THE RECESSION!!!
Details on Siege are slowly starting to emerge now.
There's an Interview with Brian Michael Bendis on Newsarama concerning the mini-series. There's little further information but it does give the reader an idea of what Bendis is seeking to achieve.
***
As a side issue to Siege (although there may be some relevance), there's another Marvel mini-series that may earn some attention upon its release: Doomwar.
Doomwar is a five-issue mini-series focussing on a number of heroes (including the Fantastic Four and the X-Men) that basically, well, go to war against, well, Doom (you were expecting Paste Pot Pete?!?).
Finally, expect another concluding Marvel epic in 2010 as Cable and Hope return to present-day Earth. The result is a multi-arc in the X-titles, planned for Spring.
Expect Wolverine to appear in all of them! _________________ With Great Power, Comes Great... Potential to ROB BANKS!!! HAHAH! THAT'S HOW TO BEAT THE RECESSION!!!
double one handed post.
i have just had the new marvel previews in and...
It looks like it is going to be good.
This image here shows the Cap, Thor and Iron-Scum... i mean man
(poor excuse for a man i know, but none the less a man).
Its interesting to note here that if this image is correct that Mr Stark has got his mind back, with the help of the very heroes he turned his back on in the name of the law, and now stands side by side with the real heroes.
see how they forgive him
see how they take him under their wings
after all this was the very man who hounded them and at times beat them down and tried to destroy them (Skrull)
but our heroes are more compassionate, more heroic, and less black and white, so come on buddy, welcome back to the Marvel Universe, we forgive you.
However.... i am not a hero, and i dont pretend to be Heroic.
so if it were up to me i would have let Osborne throw his useless carcass into the ships furnace, and then go after Osborn and rip his head off.
After all, its not like we needed Iron man to win is it, and i am not as forgiving as Cap.
Anyway, Siege looks like it could be another kick ass comic fun in the same vein as Civil War and Secret invasion,
Christ are we being spoilt or what _________________
Last edited by Batmanuel on Tue Nov 03, 2009 2:24 pm; edited 1 time in total
I could very easily get back into the 'Why I Think Tony Stark Is A Hero' argument... but I'm not going to.
I could very easily post argument, counter-argument and debate the point until I'm olg and grey... but I'm not going to. I still think you, Bats, were very wrong upon your consideration and reflection of Tony Stark within the larger Marvel Universe over the last several years; and that doesn't mean to say I consider myself entirely right in all of my arguments either.
I simply feel that Tony Stark acted like a hero at all times despite the choices he made. He chose to follow and uphold the law, as did many others around him. There were those who chose not to follow the law; however, their point is no more or less valid than those they opposed. Both sides made some very good arguments during their journey and I feel that neither side were entirely right or wrong. Both sides made choices that could later be considered as destructive.
The Marvel Universe hasn't been black and white in a very long time now, and is instead thriving within a greyer area. This is why we are compelled to follow these characters, whether we agree or disagree with the choices they make.
Captain America, Iron Man & Thor are being touted as Marvel's 'Trinity' and I'm pleased to see them all preparing to come back together, regardless of their politcial perspective or stance in recent years.
True friends, regardless of whether they may be hero or otherwise, will always remain friends despite their differences in opinion. They may debate and, at times, argue; however, their friendship and loyalties to each other are always stronger than the hardships they endure.
This is the return of three very true friends, men who, I hope, surpass the argument that drove them apart. They will doubtlessly argue again in the future and will more than likely fight the other, although they will always remain friends.
And Siege had better be good. I haven't forgiven Bendis for Secret Invasion yet, a story that I felt was really very poor by his high-quality standards. _________________ With Great Power, Comes Great... Potential to ROB BANKS!!! HAHAH! THAT'S HOW TO BEAT THE RECESSION!!!
I struggled with the series, if I'm being completely honest.
The concept behind Secret Invasion was, quite simply, stunning. Bendis' idea for the Skrulls was a very simple one and one that fully realised their potential as an enemy for the Marvel Universe. The build-up in New Avengers was also handled really very well.
As for the main story itself; well, I just felt Bendis was the wrong person to handle such a story as he just couldn't repress his natural instinct to tell a decompressed story.
There were certain plot threads that lasted for far too long. The Avengers spent five issues in the Savage Land before concluding they needed to be in New York. When Skrull-Jarvis pinned down Maria Hill in the fallen Helicarrier, I naturally expected the plot thread to be realised in the next issue. Instead, we had a cliff-hanger, a one-page follow-up in the next issue and the end to this scene a month later. No writer should take two/three issues to tell this one scene, one that ultimately was easily handled by Maria Hill in a very anti-climactic sequence.
I also felt as if Bendis hinged his story on big moments. The first issue felt as if Bendis were just stitching together a number of big moments into one extended issue with very little plot between them. I appreciate that a first issue of an event needs to grab the readers by the balls but there still needs to be some plot or character development.
The Skrull Avengers in the Savage Land were also a poor point, in my opinion. The concept behind the last years worth of story had been to put the New & Mighty Avengers into conflict. Bendis had teased this, brought them together a couple of times before placing both teams in the Savage Land for the end of the first issue. The natural lead-on into the second issue is a battle between the two teams with both accusing the other of being Skrulls, a pay-off to their conflict after Civil War. Instead, Bendis cops out by throwing in a number of Skrull Avengers; would it not have made more sense to send in the Skrull Avengers to beat the victorious team...?
The final battle between the heroes and the Skrulls also felt like a number of pasted-on scenes. There was very little continuity between panels, a fault that Bendis carried with him from New Avengers after their battles with the Hood's Masters of Evil.
It wasn't all bad and there were some damned good moments in the series: The Skrull assault on New York, Yu's use of perspective to show the battleground above Earth that started the fourth issue, the return of Thor and Osborn's rise to power.
I just feel Bendis is better used for more ground-level or urban stories rather than event & universe-spanning ones. Bendis can handle characters really well and his work on New Avengers & Daredevil proves this; however, every time he's called upon to tell an event story (House of M & Secret Invasion, not to mention his latter issues on Mighty Avengers), he still falls upon his decompression sensibilities to tell the story.
I'm really looking forward to Siege and hope that, by telling the story in four chapters, he throws caution to the wind and tells the fuck-off, massive story he surely must be capable of telling. Otherwise, I fear it will be another example of outstanding build-up and a damp-squib finish.
_________________ With Great Power, Comes Great... Potential to ROB BANKS!!! HAHAH! THAT'S HOW TO BEAT THE RECESSION!!!
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