Bunn Mounts a "Fearless" Defense for the Marvel Universe

Article from Comic Book Resources

The Marvel Universe is a place where myths like the Norse gods and their elite female warriors the Valkyrie are very, very real. These mythical beings and warriors live in a floating city located on Earth, regularly interacting with the rest of the world as they protect the regular denizens of the Marvel Universe. The most heroic members of these Asgardians are the thunder god Thor and the warrior Brunhilde, who operates under the super heroic code name of Valkyrie.

While Thor is well-known for both his solo adventures and his exploits as a a member of the Avengers, Valkyrie is a bit lower-key, with memberships in groups like the Defenders and the Secret Avengers. The recent "Fear Itself: The Fearless" miniseries by writers Cullen Bunn, Matt Fraction and Chris Yost gave Valkyrie some long overdue solo spotlight time while setting up her role in a new team book which debuts in February: "Fearless Defenders," by Bunn and artist Will Sliney ("MacGyver").

We spoke with Bunn about the series which stars Valkyrie, the bionic detective Misty Knight, ex-mutant and occasional Valkyrie Dani Moonstar and several more yet-to-be-revealed female heroes.

CBR News: Cullen, how did this book come about for you? I assume it came from the work you were doing on "Fear Itself: The Fearless," but what else inspired your pitch?

Cullen Bunn: While I was writing "Fear Itself: The Fearless," I had this idea that it might be interesting to see Valkyrie gather a new group of Shield Maidens -- not from Asgard, but from Midgard. I wanted to see how Valkyrie would go about making these all-important choices. I wanted to see which women would be up to the task, which would fall short and which would turn Valkyrie down. And, I wanted to see how a team that is essentially composed of very different people would come together to face some earth-shattering threats. That played a role in how I ended "The Fearless." The Valkyrior are gone. Valkyrie has the task of selecting a new team.

I pitched the concept while I was still working on "The Fearless." This was while plans for "Avengers Vs. X-Man" and Marvel NOW! were underway, and the decision was made to hold off until after the launch of the Marvel NOW! initiative. The delay gave way to this new idea -- that Valkyrie simply couldn't bring herself to find anyone who lived up to her high standards.

Front and center in "Fearless Defenders" is Valkyrie, a character you spent quite a bit of time with in "Fear Itself: The Fearless." What's it like revisiting Val in this series? What is it about her character that made you want to develop a team book around her?

I've been a fan of Valkyrie since her original days in the Defenders, but I'm not sure I ever really knew much about her as a character. When she came about as the main hero in "The Fearless," I was able to explore a little bit of her personality, and I realized that there is much, much more to this character than most people realize. The opportunity to explore her personality with my readers is something I'm really, really excited about.

The central premise of "Fearless Defenders" revolves around Valkyrie's failure to form a new team of Valkyrior composed of mortal women. What was the original purpose of this group in the Marvel Universe? And will the group that comes together in "Fearless Defenders" still have that purpose, or will it have changed because of Valkyrie's inaction?

The original group of Valkyrie -- if they were the original group of Valkyrie -- were meant to be a symbol. They were glorious and beautiful and noble -- and warriors who aspired to their example might chance a glimpse of them upon dying.

This new group of Valkyrie will still need to be a symbol of all that is noble and good, but they're going to need to be a little more active in order to set an example. They've got to take the fight to their enemies.

The first member to join Val is Misty Knight. What made you want to include her in this book?

Again, Misty is a favorite character of mine. What I like about her in this book, though, is that she provides such a perfect foil for Valkyrie. They are such different characters, and they'll challenge each other in major ways. Tthat is really what this book is all about, this off-beat team learning to work together. I think when readers saw Misty and Valkyrie on the cover of the first issue, they were surprised. They might have even been scratching their head a little. Good! This team should defy expectations.

How would you describe the initial dynamic between Valkyrie and Misty when the series begins? Knowing the characters, it seems like it might be similar to the initial dynamic between Power Man and Iron Fist in that we have a street wise character and a warrior from a mystical dimension -- is that what you were aiming for?

Yes! The Power Man and Iron Fist correlation didn't dawn on me until I read the solicit text for the first issue, but that's exactly the vibe I'm going for! Misty really understands nothing of Valkyrie's world -- and Val understands even less about Misty's. But neither one of them relishes the thought of admitting that they feel confused. This, of course, just causes the sparks to fly. They don't come to blows right away (like you might expect from a team-up), but I'd be surprised if we don't see a Kung Fu versus Sword and Shield clash at some point!

Dani Moonstar will also become part of this team. When can readers expect to see her? And besides her connection to the Valkyrie, what does Dani Moonstar brings to the book?

Dani shows up in the second issue. It's her connection to Hela's Valkyrie -- her connection to fear and death -- that makes her valuable to the villains in the first arc. They figure, "Hey! Here's a girl with no real superpowers. She'll be an easy target!" Of course, they couldn't be more wrong. It's fun to see Dani cut loose on some unsuspecting bad guys.

Beyond that, I think Dani brings something very important to the book. To some degree, she's the heart and soul of the team. Valkyrie and Misty are both a little -- disconnected. Dani is sort of a balance between the two. She's human, like Misty, but she's also a Valkyrie. They need Dani to bring them together and bring out the all-too-human side of their personalities.

The rest of the team will come together slowly over several storylines. Are you able to talk about the size of the team when it's fully formed? And besides the obvious trait of being female, was there a certain criteria you were looking for when you were choosing the line up for this book?

I've always envisioned this book as Valkyrie's quest to find the perfect team of heroes -- and realizing that this team is nothing like what she envisioned. I want this team to come together naturally. I didn't want to just throw the team together without there being real reasons that each and every member is the right choice for a spot on the roster.

I also want each and every member to have a chance to show their personality and win readers over. That's one of the reasons I'm taking the introduction of the team a little more slowly. Some of these characters will be somewhat unfamiliar to readers, and they need some time in the spotlight. I know some readers want to know the final team right now, but I think the wait will be worth it.

I'll try to at least give some hints: Since this is a Defenders book, there definitely needs to be a magic-based character, a hulk-like character, a cosmic-class character. I've probably said enough with that!

In the end, the core team will be Valkyrie and eight team members, and they will be a diverse group in terms of power sets and backgrounds. There will also be a couple of new characters thrown into the mix.

Now, that's a big team, but each arc will have a revolving cast to some degree. In the second arc, you may see only a couple of team members. In the third arc, maybe there will be only one. The team members who will appear in each arc will be tailored to the adventure at hand, and there will be many guest stars over the course of the series.

We've talked about protagonists, so let's chat a bit about antagonists. I understand you're introducing a new female villain -- what can you tell us about this character?

The villain I'm introducing -- and I'm keeping her name a secret for now -- has big plans for the Marvel Universe, and even though she has no powers of her own, she's not about to let something as insignificant as super heroes stand in her way. My hope is that readers will realize just how serious -- and how dangerous -- this woman truly is. She'll plague Valkyrie and her team for some time to come, but she won't be the only threat they face.

I made the choice to have the first villain in the book be a woman, but I don't want folks to think that this series is just gonna be about good girls versus bad girls. The dangers the new Valkyrie will face will follow no set criteria in terms of gender. They simply have to be extremely dangerous.

Our main villain is an opportunist, and she sees a chance to make some big moves thanks to Valkyrie's indecision in regards to selecting a new team of Valkyrie. She has a goal that she's had in her twisted little mind since she was a child. She's thought about it endlessly, built her life around it and now, finally, is her time to strike.

What she brings about really makes Valkyrie think about her perception of heroism, mortality and humanity. Valkyrie thinks she's got everything figured out, but she comes to realize she's been wrong about so much -- not the least of which is her own past.

The cover to issue #1 also suggests that Misty and Valkyrie will be facing threats from their respective worlds in the form of the Hand and are those zombified vikings? What kind of role do these characters play in the story?

Well, I'm not going to say you'll see the Hand in the first arc. The cover was really meant to represent the two worlds Valkyrie and Misty come from: The world of the Asgardian epic and the world of the street-level Kung Fu throwdown. Both of these characters are gonna find themselves in worlds they're not completely comfortable with.

So, definitely undead Vikings in the first arc, but no ninja. The Hand will be appearing soonish, though.

Artist Will Sliney will bring the heroes and villains of "Fearless Defenders" to life. What's it been working with him to develop this new series and its characters?

Will is a terrific artist. He's dynamic and he brings a lightness to the book that I thought it really needed. There's one panel in the first issue that features Val and Misty fighting this horde of undead beasties, and Will drew Val with this half-smile that spoke of an almost childlike amusement. That was perfect, I thought!

Finally, what kinds of stories, locations and genres can we expect from "Fearless Defenders" moving forward? Is this a book primarily concerned with a couple locales and genres? Or is this really a series that can go anywhere and tell a variety of stories?

This book can and will go anywhere. Asgardia, Hel, the mean streets of New York, the exotic back alleys of San Francisco's Chinatown. Other worlds and other dimensions…

The great thing about this book is that it lends itself to almost any kind of genre. That gives me a lot of room to tell some cool stories and find out more about these characters while they are thrown into some really strange adventures!

I think people who follow me on Twitter and the like have heard me say this quite a bit. At the risk of repeating myself again, I just want to say that it's important to tell your retailers to order this book for you! This is a different kind of book with a different kind of cast. That makes it a prime candidate for encouraging your friends, your family, and your local comic shop to support it!

Also -- The Doom Maidens are rising.

Resident Evil: Retribution's Ada Wong

In what may become a weekly ordeal, star of the Resident Evil film series, Milla Jovovich, has once again tweeted something quite significant about the currently in production, Resident Evil: Retribution. This time her tweet has to do with a certain lady in red.

Milla has posted a picture of Li Bingbing (The Forbidden Kingdom) with her new hairstyle that’ll be used to bring Ada Wong to life on the silver screen. Milla couldn’t show off a picture of the actress in full costume, but she did post an image of Ada in her red dress from Resident Evil 4, which seems to be what her husband, Paul W.S. Anderson is using as concept art. So, the movie version of Ada’s basically going to look like how she does in Resident Evil 4.


What do you think of Bingbing and her new look for the role?

The Dawn of the Jedi arrives in 2012

In 2006, a creative team already well-entrenched in "Star Wars" lore set their sights on the far future of the Skywalker line, chronicling the adventures of rebellious Jedi Cade Skywalker in "Star Wars: Legacy." Now, writer John Ostrander and artist Jan Duursema will take a step back, all the way to the very earliest days of the Jedi Order. Thursday at New York Comic Con, Dark Horse announced "Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi," an ongoing series of 5-issue miniseries launching February 1 with an introductory #0 issue, with #1 following two weeks later. In an era before lightsabers, before adherents of the Force were divided into light and dark, what does it mean to be a Jedi? And how did the Order first come to be?

Comic Book Resources caught up with John Ostrander and Jan Duursema for an expansive chat about the series, featuring exclusive cover art from issue #1!



CBR News: John, beginning at the top -- how would you describe the story you're telling in "Dawn of the Jedi," and what is its place in the "Star Wars" Expanded Universe?

John Ostrander: "Dawn of the Jedi" is epic in scope and personal in the telling. It's rooted in the "Star Wars" Expanded Universe continuity, but also designed to be accessible to those who know "Star Wars" only from the movies or the cartoons. We've taken the existing continuity, asked questions and have formed answers. For example, it was previously established that the galaxy's best philosophers, priests, scientists and warriors had come together on Tython millennia before the Jedi Order's formal founding. Well, that would be sort of difficult, given that hyperspace travel was not common at that time, and that Tython is in the Deep Core -- a place notoriously hard to navigate even in "modern" "Star Wars" times. So one of the first questions Jan and I asked ourselves was -- how did they get there? And why Tython?

 

 

It's also previously established that there were Force Wars (note plural) beginning in 25,793 BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin -- the Rebels' battle against the Death Star in "A New Hope") that lasted for about a decade. At the end, the proto-Jedi left the planet because of a Force Cataclysm and landed on Ossus 730 years later. So we're using -- sometimes clarifying and sometimes reinterpreting -- existing material to give the true story of how the Jedi came to be. I think that anyone with even a passing interest in "Star Wars" would be extremely interested in how it all began.

For those who know the background, "Dawn" will have reverberation and a lot of "Aha!" moments as they recognize these elements and see how we use them. If you know nothing about the background stories, it doesn't matter. Everything you need to know about the series will be in the series.

You're telling a story set in the very earliest days of the Jedi Order, and you've mentioned the Force Wars. When does "Dawn of the Jedi" take place relative to the Battle of Yavin?

Ostrander: It starts with the gathering of the Force sensitive sentients on Tython in 36,453 BBY. We move quickly as the rest of the Tython system is colonized and the series really gets going with events just prior to the Force Wars, which began in 25,793 BBY.

I believe there are stories that touch on pre-Jedi history, but this looks to highlight the time when they were first organizing. Is there a particular event that sparks the evolution?

Ostrander: There are two major events in "Dawn of the Jedi." The first event will be the gathering of Force sensitives on the planet Tython.

The second, and the event that begins to polarize dark and light within the Jedi Order, will be set into motion when another species enters the Tython system shortly before the Force Wars begin.

The press release mentions that in "Dawn of the Jedi" lightsabers have yet to appear. What does the Jedi Order, or the underlying religion, look like at this point in history?

Ostrander: This is the great lost culture of the Jedi, a "Star Wars" Atlantis. While many of the tenets have been set down, the beings who study the Force on Tython are not yet the Jedi. At this point, they are the Je'daii, a Dai Bendu term meaning mystic (je) center (daii). This will later be shortened to Jedi. The Je'daii have been brought to Tython, a planet where the Force is very strong, from around the galaxy and they have spent ten millennia studying the Force, attempting to understand it and their place in relationship to it. That doesn't mean they spend all the time in quiet meditation. The Je'daii are actively engaged with the Force, using its power in a moving meditation in their daily existence. They are still discovering many things about the Force and the power it gives them, experimenting with aspects of the Force sometimes lost or forbidden to later Jedi -- sometimes deliberately. In some cases, the Jedi learned from the mistakes their predecessors the Je'daii made -- some serious, serious mistakes.

The Je'daii don't see a division of the light and dark side; instead, they believe a balance is necessary between the two. The Je'daii are like the Titans in Greek mythology who came before the gods. They are beings of great power and ability, but not all-knowing. They struggle with the idea of balance in the Force and know that being out of balance affects their power and the planet Tython itself.

What does it mean to be a Jedi -- or Je'daii -- in this time?

Ostrander: The Je'daii have been on Tython for ten thousand years. To put that in perspective, here on Earth that would put us, from today, roughly at the Neolithic era, when wheat and barley were just starting to be cultivated. Ten thousand years ago the saber tooth cats were going extinct. Ten thousand years is a lot of time.

To be a Je'daii means constant involvement with the Force in every aspect of your life. There were four levels of attainment starting with the Padawan, or apprentice. After a certain point, you became a Je'daii Journeyer, going from temple to temple on Tython, increasing your knowledge and your skills. A Je'daii Ranger, the next level, would travel out among the Settled Worlds, sometimes at the request of the governments of those worlds, sometimes not. You went where the Force took you and you acted as the Force commanded -- which might not be as the governments or vested interests of the Settled Worlds would like. Finally, there were the Masters, including the Masters of the temples.

Have the Sith or other adherents of the dark side arisen yet, in this era?

Ostrander: We do have Sith, but they're of the Sith species, and not yet the Sith sect. They're members of the Sith species taken from Korriban and brought to Tython. Do not expect them to be evil. It was only later that the Dark Jedi masters came to Korriban and conquered the Sith, taking their name as the name of their Order. There will be those who stray too far to the dark side, but they are considered by the Je'daii to be out of balance. Those who fall out of balance are put into exile on one of Tython's moons until they can find a way back into balance. Those who go to far to the light side of the Force are also considered to be out of balance and are exiled to the other moon of Titan until they can find a way back into balance.

And then there are the Rakata.

For those who don't know them, the Rakata first appeared in the "Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic" video game, and they are nasty pieces of work. The Rakata focused only on the dark side of the Force and used it in their technology -- including their hyperdrives. The "Infinite Empire" of the Rakata stretched to different planets throughout various sectors in the galaxy. Usually these were Force-rich worlds. Jan and I are fascinated by the Rakata, but we also had some questions, such as "How did the Rakata find these worlds?" Well, we've come up with some answers that will also permit us to explore the Rakata and their culture a bit in the process. These are nasty sentients, folks. That makes them really good villains.

 

 

The "Dawn of the Jedi" era is set somewhat before the formation of the Galactic Republic. What does the organization of the universe look like at this point?

Ostrander: The Republic was created in 25,053 BBY which would be 740 years after the Je'daii left Tython, and only about a decade after they landed on Ossus. So our story predates the Republic by a bit. In the "Dawn" era, the Rakatan Infinite Empire would have been very active in the galaxy. They had a kind of hyperspace capability and used it to conquer planets around the galaxy, including planets in the Deep Core such as Byss.

What's more important to our story than the state of the galaxy at that point is the Tython solar system. Remember, getting into or out of -- or even navigating around -- the Deep Core is very difficult. However, "Star Wars" has a history of its heroes going to different locations and planets and experiencing different cultures and societies.

What we've done is focus on the Tython planetary system. In the 10,000 years since the first Je'daii landed on Tython, their descendants have gone out and developed these other planets and moons, which we call the Settled Worlds. Jan and I have put a lot of thought into all this and created new potential places to take our story. We won't get to all of them right away, but we know what they are and their backstory, so we have places to go.

Now that we've got a feeling for this era of "Star Wars" mythology, who are the main characters of this series? Who are our heroes, and what are they up against?

Ostrander: As fans of "Legacy" will remember, we tend to have a big cast of characters and like a wide canvas on which to tell our stories. It's no different here. We have both Je'daii and non-Je'daii. We'll have a wide raft of sentients from which to draw (it ain't "Star Wars" without lots of aliens) and all kinds of characters.

At the center of it all are three young Je'daii Jouneyers. Shae Koda is a Dathomiri female; both of her parents were killed before our story opens in an event called The Despot War. Shae is young, brave, restless, rash, and a bit reckless. With an incessant curiosity about everything, she does not accept things on blind faith and is not afraid to ask questions, even about things that are considered accepted.

Sek'nos Rath is a young Sith male. Born to Je'daii parents who travel the system as diplomats, he was raised by his maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather, both Je'daii Masters. He likes to push the envelope and yearns for adventure. He‘s rowdy and bold and fun loving -- a friend to all. He also loves weaponry and females of all types. Sek'nos is charming but also driven; so many Je'daii have done great things. Sek'nos also wants to do great things.

Tasha Ryo is a female Twi'lek whose non-Je'daii father is Baron Volnos Ryo, a clan lord on the planet Shikaakwa, and her mother, Kora Ryo, is the master of Kaleth, the Je'daii Temple of Knowledge. Very calm and empathic, Tasha looks before she leaps and tries to understand the possible repercussions of what she does. Tasha prefers not to use weapons, employing "empty hand" techniques that uses the Force itself as weapon and shield. She's also often torn between duties to her mother and the Je'daii and to her father and their clan.

At the very center of this all, however, is Xesh -- a mysterious and powerful being called a Force Hound, whose arrival on Tython really sets the entire series in motion and powers the events that will drive the series. This will be his story, but telling too much about him now would reveal too much. I want the reader to encounter Xesh in the context of the story.

And there will be lots of other characters to encounter in the story, like Twi'lek Ranger Hawk Ryo, Ketu, Master of Akar Kesh, Rakatan Predor Skal'nas, Trill, and Je'daii Daegen Lok, just for starters.

A question for Jan: what sort of thought went into designing the new characters in this series? Were there particular traits you wanted to emphasize visually?

Jan Duursema: As with any new series, the first goal was to create characters who are visually striking -- characters who you immediately want to learn more about. With "Legacy" and "Republic" it was easy to take cues from existing material and create characters who fit into worlds that were already created. With "Dawn of the Jedi," we had this huge era for which very little had been established. Initially, it was kind of mind boggling, but as John and I began to come up with the story elements we wanted in "Dawn," we were able to figure out what kind of characters we wanted to see.

Designing the Je'daii characters was tricky. What makes a Jedi look like a Jedi? For me, it's their lightsabers and robes. In this era the Jedi are still using bladed weapons, so that leaves robes, which these early Jedi will still have. I didn't want to give them the same traditional clothes as later Jedi sometimes wear, but instead give them something along those lines which looks as though it might be a predecessor of that style. This costume would be for training or formal occasions. For everyday use, the Je'daii are more individualized, and their costumes based on functionality for the character.


Along these lines, in creating a visual look for the technology and planetary settings, what sort of factors did you have to take into consideration given the early era in which these stories take place? How does this compare to your process on "Legacy," which was set in the far future?

Duursema: With "Legacy," the process of design was forward looking. I could build on existing designs, utilize pieces of existing ships, buildings or weapons. That's one of the things I've always loved about "Star Wars" -- that feeling that objects also had a history. There was also plenty of established technology to play with.

With "Dawn of the Jedi," there was a retro-fitting process involved in designing the ships, temples, weapons and the rest. I tried to imagine design elements that the later tech could spring from. There are airships, dirigible-like vessels that are mostly transport ships or pleasure ships. Dirigibles just felt right for the era. The Je'daii have Pteron fighters, named because they reminded me of Pterosaurs. These are fast, winged vessels -- and armed. The Je'daii have cause to be peace-keepers from time to time.

Some of the tech, like the Tho Yor pyramid ships, are so ancient they look like stone. They are obviously some kind of ancient alien technology. The temple settings vary in style, some being more hi-tech than others and each utilizing the energies of Tython as a power source. The Je'daii are all about balance with their world, Tython, so I tried to incorporate that feeling into each temple building -- considering how the Je'daii would build their structures to enhance or capture the nature of the planet.

"Dawn of the Jedi" entailed more than creating technology. John and I had to consider what kinds of worlds we wanted to populate the Tython System with. These worlds vary from temperate and Earth-like to hot worlds with underground caverns and lakes, to cold out-lying worlds where life is only possible on a space station. Hope you will join us -- we have some really fun places to go!

Jan mentions that the Jedi origin ties in with pyramid ships called Tho Yor. Are these an existing part of "Star Wars" lore, or do they appear here for the first time? In either case, what can you tell us about them?

Ostrander: The Tho Yor are new to "Star Wars." These are the eight great ships that carried the Force sensitive beings to Tython in 36,453 BBY. There is also a ninth, larger Tho Yor on Tython which hovers over the Akar Kesh temple. The Je'daii are uncertain who built these ships, or what their purpose is beyond gathering their ancestors to be brought to Tython. Nine great temples, the centers of Je'daii culture and learning are now scattered around Tython, each attached to a Tho Yor.

"Dawn of the Jedi" brings the "Legacy" team back together. John and Jan, what makes your collaboration click?

Ostrander: Well, we've been doing this a while. Ten years! We both bring slightly different things to the mix. And we both love "Star Wars," and we love telling stories.

Duursema: Besides the fact that working with John is fun, I'm pretty sure we've developed a hive mind. Seriously, I just couldn't resist the temptation to get to tell how the Jedi order began. And working with John to think-tank "Dawn of the Jedi" into existence has been awesome!

"Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi" #0 by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema arrives February 1, 2012.

SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL

This week saw the reveal of actor Henry Cavil in his Superman costume (available here & at CBR): 

While plenty of the comments in the CBR forums have revolved around his haircut (which is odd), my initial pause came from the raised S-Shield. Like all pre-"Superman Returns" media, I always saw the shield as something printed or stitched right into the costume (depending on whether Ma Kent or Jor-El made it). Also, doesn't a raised shield create drag while Clark is flying? And while I'm on the topic, why must all DC characters have texture in their costumes? I get it for Batman, but aliens like Superman and the Green Lantern suit should be smooth and otherworldly. Nitpicky, I know, but we all have our own concept of how these character should look and any deviation feels like an in-grown toe nail. Meanwhile, DC's Source blog confirms the presence of several actors in the film, including Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner.

DC Reboot

With the relaunch of the DC Universe my pull list will definitely be altered.  I am very disappointed that my favorite DC Heroine will not be featured any time soon it seems. So here are the books that I will be adding:


Batman
Batman: The Dark Knight
Batgirl
Batwoman
Catwoman
Nightwing

Green Lantern: New Guardians
Justice League
Stormwatch
Teen Titans

Grifter
Supergirl
Voodoo
Wonder Woman

How long I stay on these books will depend entirely on the art & stories.

DC Announces Post Flashpoint Details, Relaunches All Titles

It is official, DC Comics will relaunch the majority of its publishing line this September with a wave of new #1 issues starting with "Justice League" by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. The news comes on the heels of weeks of rumors and speculation about the fate of the DC Universe line and draws even more questions about what else may lay around the bend.

After speaking with multiple sources throughout the industry on the condition of anonymity, CBR News has learned some of the salient details of DC's September roster, starting with the perhaps telling news that the publisher plans to launch a full 52 monthly titles with #1 issues across the month with 13 new titles shipping each week. The number holds some significance for longtime DC readers as 52 is the number of parallel earths making up DC's multiverse, and CBR has confirmed that the #1 launches will be accompanied by a major reboot of continuity with many pieces of DC's current status quo being rewritten and undone including character relationships and even the existence of some cast members.

Included in the 52 series will be:

• A new title starring Superman written by Grant Morrison.
• Birds of Prey #1 - This new ongoing series will not feature the work of longtime "BoP" writer Gail Simone. In fact, many tried and true approaches to books will be getting a second look at DC in September.
• Teen Titans #1 - The new start for the teen team will be written by "Red Robin" scribe Fabian Nicieza. UPDATE: Nicieza has come out publicly saying he is not writing the Titans, however the other consistent word CBR News has heard is that writer Scott Lobdell will be involved with the franchise. Either way, expect to see many old friends from DC Editor-in-Chief Bob Harras' Marvel days working on DC's new books.
• Justice Society of America #1 - Only one of a number of current titles that will welcome a creative team shift, the future of the original superhero team will apparently not involve current writer Marc Guggenheim.
• Wonder Woman #1 - Don't expect the recent changes from writer J. Michael Straczynski to stick when the Amazing Amazon sees another new #1 hit.
• Green Lantern #1 - Even with a new #1, Green Lantern remains in Johns' hands, and readers can expect the effects of major crossovers like "Blackest Night" to stay in place moving forward.
• Hawkman #1 - While fans have known a "Hawkman" series by James Robinson has been in the works since the writer mentioned it on a panel at New York Comic Con, Bleeding Cool's Rich Johnston has been reporting the rumor that the book will be drawn by "Batman & Robin" and "Outsiders" artist Philip Tan.
• Aquaman #1 - No surprises here. The already announced series featuring the sea king by Johns and Ivan Reis will be part of the relaunch wave.

The other seismic shakeup that remains unconfirmed is whether long-standing titles "Action Comics" and "Detective Comics" would also renumber with brand new first issues. However, at this time, CBR has found no confirmation one way or the other on the fate of those titles. DC Comics offered no comment on the above information.

What has been said by many sources is that a number of the new titles will feature new characters or characters now serving in non-traditional roles. However, the total number of titles changed or launched new shouldn't shift the overall output of DC's line too much as CBR sales analyst John Mayo explained, "By my count, there were 59 DC Universe titles in the June solicitations, not counting the DC Retroactive titles, 'DC Universe Online Legends' or 'Doc Savage' and 'The Spirit.' Subtracting out titles with more than one issue in June reduces the number by three leaving 56 titles in the DC Universe.

"52 new #1s is close enough to not make a huge difference. To me, this is the normal fluctuation of the number of titles from month to month."

Of course, while all the changes will doubtlessly stir discussion and debate within fan communities, a more practical question remains: will it work? The comics market has been extremely soft in the past few years of the Great Recession, and there is little precedence to compare such a line-wide relaunch to.


[UPDATE: John Jackson Miller wrote to clarify some of his numbers crunching, and has posted his full analysis on his blog. The story below has been edited to meet these corrections.]

"If they are doing something where they're shaking up continuity and starting over from there, that has been shown to have an effect [n sales]," said comics sales historian John Jackson Miller of Comichron.com. Miller spoke with CBR News before official word of the new #1s came out. "If you want to go back to 'Crisis On Infinite Earths,' we did see some attention coming to titles that hadn't had it before. Although, some of that attention did not come from 'Crisis.' We talk about a big renumbering there, but like with 'Superman' going back to #1 – that didn't happen because of 'Crisis.' That happened because John Byrne had done 'Man of Steel.' That's a completely separate reboot. Did Superman sales improve? Yeah they did, but would they have improved that much if John had just taken over existing Superman continuity and not rebooted the series? That's a question we'll never have an answer to.

"If we're talking about a full-scale continuity reboot, then we're getting into the territory of 'Heroes Reborn'...those numbers improved dramatically on the first issues and then began to tail off, while still remaining higher than they had been before. There are some reasons behind why it tailed off, which also get into the element of not just continuity but also renumbering, but it was a pure reboot in the sense that those characters left their previous existence. It's different than something like the Ultimate Universe, which was a reboot that ran concurrent with the regular Marvel Universe."

Of course, the comics market is in a different place today than it was in 1996 when Lee last took a role in rebuilding a major superhero franchise wholesale with "Heroes Reborn," and although there will be some similarities, the new DC relaunch is both a vastly different beast in terms of sheer comics and in terms of the in-story continuity elements at play. Retailer Mike Malve, owner of Arizona's Atomic Comics chain, explained before the news broke that for his part "I applaud them if they do do #1s. And everybody is going to be against me saying this, but I applaud them because as a business, they're hurting so bad – as we all are. Look at the numbers. They're selling 40,000 or 60,000 of a book that three years ago was at 80,000. These days, they're not hitting those numbers, and we're not gaining a lot of new customers right now. We're trying to hold on to what we've got.

"I think this is a good thing for the industry. I just hope that if they do this, they should have an advertising plan and a marketing plan to get new readers and not just expect us to do it," Malve added. "I want these stories to be friendly for new readers, because that's one of the things I felt about the Point-1 initiative at Marvel. I didn't think those stories were new reader-friendly at all."

Malve did say that downsides exist to such an aggressive publishing change at the retail level, saying "If they're all coming out at once, it would hurt the books. You'd have to order certain books a little less than 'Batman' or 'Superman.' But if they do it right, they'd tier it over a couple of months, which is what I'm hoping they'd do. They should launch with their three big ones – Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman – in that first month, and then do their other books after. I don't know. DC hasn't released anything yet, so we don't know. But it would hurt if they all came at once because [new readers] would all come in that one week or that one month, and then we'd never see them again.

"'Flashpoint' has a lot of people talking. The alternate reality things have always done well in comics," he noted of the current impact of both DC and Marvel's latest "event comics" pushes. "'Fear Itself' did so much more than I thought it would sales-wise. All the tie-ins are doing great so far...Same thing should be happening for 'Flashpoint' coming up. With all these tiles coming out, I think it's just going to grow."

Another major factor in the relaunch will be the reader reaction to renumbering of titles. While launching an older property with a new #1 has been a fashionable publishing move in recent years, the play remains hotly debated online. Recently in his Talk To The Hat column on CBR, Marvel's SVP of Publishing Tom Brevoort made the argument that despite some fan outcry, #1s do draw more new readers to comics. However, Miller explained that those numbers may skew quite a bit over time.


"Retailers ordered almost twice as many 'Fantastic Four' Vol. 3 #1s," the sales analyst explained again using
"Heroes Return" as a comparison point. "And that was great. But what happened is that by the time you got down to issue #3 or 4, you had sales back down to what they were beforehand. The group of people that came in to buy the extra copies of the new issue #1 is to some degree collectors who just want that #1 and then to a second degree the new issue grazers. How many of those grazers come in depend on who the talent is and what the promotion is. And the downside there is that every jumping on point is a jumping off point...One of the risks you run when you do a reboot of long-running series with a new #1, yeah you're going to get a boost. But the slide that follows that is going to be a much steeper one than you had beforehand. How steep it is depends on how much brand loyalty there is for that title – how many people are willing to say, 'I will stick with Batman no matter what the number is.'

"The problem is, I think people realize that it doesn't so much matter what the number is. The new issue #1 gets you that boost when it comes out, and that's great. But there are a couple of things I think we've seen with that. The things that make a new issue #1 sell well with the person on the street work just as well in the ongoing series. Exhibit A of this is Jim Lee on 'Batman.' They could have started his run as 'Batman: Hush' #1, and it would have done great. But they put it in as 'Batman' #608, and retailers who were already ordering 'Batman' every month looked at Jim Lee, and the sales ended up being much higher. The highest issue was #611 which came after retailers caught on. And what happened when it ended? Jim Lee went away, and 'Batman' sales on the regular series stayed much higher than they were before. There was a lingering effect that stayed there."

Whether or not DC's gamble will pay off in the long terms depends on many factors – not the least of which is critical reception to the creative efforts put forth by the writers and artists behind their new line. Malve for one has faith that at least DC's first new book will be able to carry that burden well. "I had people come in for the death of the Human Torch that aren't regular comic book fans that are coming in still," he said. "If anybody can do something like that, Geoff Johns can."

Sturges and Power Girl Display "Girl Power"

Under the guidance of the creative team of writer Judd Winick and artist Sami Basri, the titular heroine of DC Comics' "Power Girl" has gone toe-to-toe with some of the universe's nastiest and most outrageous villains, from Max Lord to magical dinosaurs. This summer, however, fill-in writer Matt Sturges pits Karen Starr's super powered alter ego against her greatest foes yet: rabid fans at a Power Girl convention!
Sturges, best known for his work with Bill Willingham on "Jack of Fables" and "JSA" as well as Vertigo's ongoing "House of Mystery" series, is stepping onboard "Power Girl" for two issues starting this July. With Basri providing the art and covers, Sturges spoke to CBR about his two-issue arc, entitled "Girl Power," his approach to writing his favorite super heroine and feminism in the DCU!


CBR News: Matt, July sees you and Sami Basri teaming up on "Power Girl" #26. Will you be writing more issues of the series beyond that?
Matthew Sturges: It's actually two issues, so it's twice the fun! For the time being, I'm just doing the two issues. I love Power Girl; she's always been one of my favorite characters in the DCU. Some might say she's been my favorite character in the DCU. I love her personality so much, she's just sort of brash and brassy. There's not another character really quite like her and writing her has always come really naturally to me. It's always a good time to do Power Girl.

Sturges takes the titular hero to a convention held in her honor in "Power Girl" #26 & 27

Your story takes place at a Power Girl Convention. Is this you getting some of your PG fandom out there?
[Laughs] Maybe so! The image occurred to me of a bunch of people running around dressed as Power Girl. I think when you are at conventions, especially San Diego, you tend to see a lot of Power Girls -- and it's a look that not everyone can pull off. It requires a certain body-type in order to be convincing. The Power Girl costume leave zero to the imagination! The whole sexual politics of Power Girl is something that's kind of interesting, so that's kind of where the idea came from: seeing all these gals at conventions running around in Power Girl costumes and thinking about who those people were. If you had a convention in the DCU that was focused on Power Girl, what would it be like and what would happen? How would they get Power Girl to actually show up at it and what chaos would ensue when she did?
Why would people in the DCU have conventions about heroes (like Power Girl) who actually exist in their world?
My idea has always been that superheroes are sort of the celebrities of the DCU, in the way we look at movie stars or the British look at the Royal family. I've always envisioned there are tabloids devoted to the comings and goings of superheroes and trying to figure out who they really are and wanted to work that concept into comics. I've always been interested in subverting genres and doing meta-commentary on them. This seemed like a good way to do it. I mean, when you think about the DCU and how it functions -- and the Marvel universe in the same way -- the rules and physics of social existence are significantly different from our world. So you have to plot the crossovers with how we act and how people in that world act and find your metaphors. Dealing with a world where things are significantly different from ours gives you the opportunities to create situations you can't have in our world. Moving beyond just bad guys showing up and people fighting, it's trying to make a comment on who we are as people and to show this through the lens of this weird alternate reality that's been created and molded over seventy years.
Because Power Girl, at least in Judd Winick's current run, as well as the previous one by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Amanda Connor, is an comedic and off-beat character, did you feel her comic would be an especially good place to explore those meta ideas, rather than with established heroes like Superman or Batman?
Absolutely. The thing about Power Girl is that she's a character that hasn't been around as long as those characters and isn't as iconic as those characters. She is herself a comment on superheroes because she's this alternate version of Supergirl. The fact that her personality is a little more aggressive and a little brasher gives you a lot of comedic opportunities and certainly that's something that I always play into. It's fun to watch her get annoyed by the things that are going on around her. She's not the most patient person and she doesn't have time for a bunch of crap.
For me, the best thing to do with Power Girl is put her in a situation where she's incredibly annoyed and watch her react. And I want to make comics that are fun and let the reader have a good time; when you are doing a fill-in it's especially important because you have to get in and get out quickly. You don't have the luxury of spinning some big cosmic tale. You have to get in, say something and leave. Sometimes a lighter tone makes that easier.
So, what can you tell us about your Power Girl Con story?
Essentially, Power Girl shows up at a convention she's been talked into appearing at. The reason she's agreed to come is she decided she wants to take advantage of this captive audience of women to talk to them about empowerment. The whole issue is a story about female empowerment. People might say, "What does this guy know about female empowerment?" I guess the answer is not as much as maybe a woman writing the same book, but at the same time it's a subject that deserves to be talked about. I think the more we talk about these kinds of things, the better off we'll be. Even if someone says, "This guy doesn't know what he's talking about; to be empowered as a woman is X," then I've still done my job because I started a conversation.
It's also a story that could appeal to younger readers. You could take an issue of this comic and hand it to a girl who was eleven or twelve years old and they could read it and get something out of it, without having to know anything about Power Girl or the DCU. Make it a gateway drug in a sense, without being condescending. The basic story appears to be about a rabid fan of Power Girl who wants to know everything about her and is actually writing a Master's thesis on Power Girl and her powers. She's done all the comparisons and has decided Power Girl is the most powerful woman in the world. But then you find out her motives are a lot more sinister and she's taken her admiration for Power Girl to a level that is clearly unhealthy. Also, this issue takes place in the zero gravity of outer space, which will be fun, though I'm sure artist Sami Basri is going to miserable. My apologies to Sami that you have to draw the same people floating a room for twenty pages -- best of luck with that!

Sturges first wrote Power girl as part of his and Bill Willingham's "JSA" run

Where were you first exposed to Power Girl? She's not normally a character people point to when listing their favorite DCU superheroes.
You're right. I think my first exposure to her was in Geoff John's "JSA," which is a book I really enjoyed. Geoff is someone who has had a clear understanding of the character, who made the character his own for a really long time and did a really good job in the four issue "JSA Classified" about her origins. That portrait of the character has always stuck with me. He really humanized her and showed this vulnerable side, so that's really where my love for her started. It occurred to me that I've been writing the character for two years, so I guess I've also made some minimal impact on who the character is and how she is to be viewed.
During the time you've been writing her, have you been able to consciously see Power Girl change?
I think so. One of the things I wanted to do was open her up a little bit as a person. She is often in this role of leadership and I think she sees herself as someone who has to be really tough and really strong, often to the detriment of her own relationships. That's something I played with a lot. Also, she's seen as this Marilyn Monroe in spandex and there's a lot of attention paid to her chest. I think she's very cognizant of that and it makes her a little standoffish. That's something I've been very careful about. If you notice, in "JSA" and "JSA All-Stars" I've never, ever once mentioned her breasts. It's a subject I don't want to get into. I don't think it's funny. This issue is the culmination of that because she's decided to open up to these young women and tell them what she thinks it means to have power. The title of the issue is "Girl Power," so that's what it's all about.
That's interesting, as with Power Girl you have this dichotomy of her being a feminist but also being sort of a sex object.
That's the big inner conflict to Power Girl, isn't it? She looks like how she looks. She certainly makes no attempt to hide how she looks. I think that is a legitimate conflict a lot of women have. Again, this is me talking from a man's perspective. I can only talk about my observations and not my experiences. But this desire to want to be beautiful and attractive but at the same time be taken seriously as a person irrespective of that, that's something that men don't have to deal with as much. I always try to play her as a real person. In the DCU the notion of a woman dressing in tight clothes and jumping around and punching people has a different meaning within its own invented culture than if someone was doing that in the real world. We look at that and we say there's obviously selling of sex here, metaphorically speaking. But if you look at how society functions in the DCU, people don't see it that way. There's always that dichotomy of a woman who obviously wants to be taken serious but at the same time dresses in this extravagant, almost outlandish way given her figure. I think that's got to be a source of conflict for that character. But at the same time it's something I've shied away from because I don't want to get involved in gender politics.
I don't know, it sounds like you could write your own Master's thesis on Power Girl!
[Laughs] Maybe I could! I try to be sensitive to that stuff. It's something I spend a lot of time thinking about, especially since I have daughters. I want my daughters to be raised in a world that respects women and gives them the opportunity to be who they are without trying to pigeonhole them. Power Girl embodies that. She doesn't allow herself to be pigeonholed as a sex object or a stone bitch. It's the same problem Hillary Clinton had when she was running for President; there's this weird cognitive dissidence between her perception as a woman and her perception as a politician. When you see a woman being very forceful or aggressive it's perceived differently than if a man is forceful and aggressive. So there are parallels. Anything I can do to help soften that dissonance is a positive.
This story is also about fandom. On a personal and professional level, what has been your experience with conventions?
I've been to a few, probably not as many as my peers as it is expensive and I have kids. There are certain conventions that hit this sweet spot of not too big, not too little -- the Baby Bear porridge of conventions! Those are my favorite, things like Emerald City and Heroes Con, where you can relax and spend time talking to people, as opposed to San Diego where its this huge, enormous event but lacks the intimacy of other shows. But I really enjoy going to conventions. Comic book creators spend the vast majority of their time in a room by themselves typing or drawing. The opportunity to get out and connect with human beings who are reading your books is really good and sometimes the reactions are different from you expect. You might think that, because of the way people talk about it online that's how everyone feels about this book. Then you'll meet someone at a convention who will have every issue and say, "This is my favorite book -- I love it!" That reinforces your own feelings about your ego and insecurities that inevitably develop in your writing life!
How do you feel about the explosion of convention attendance in recent years?

Sturges has a story in a coming issue of "The Spirit"

I think the best part about it is, the demographics have changed a lot. You see a lot more women at these things than you used to. And that's really great! A lot of things I write, like "House of Mystery," are very girl-friendly, and intentionally so. Seeing girl fans getting out there and having their own perspective on fandom and on the community and doing all the costumes -- there's a little bit in this issue about cosplay and what it means to people -- but I tried to take these convention-goers seriously and not just score cheap laughs off of them. You have this big community of people who, when I was a kid, would have been total outcasts. Now you see young people in their 20s who grew up in a world where being geek was totally cool and totally OK. They are more confident and self-possessed than my peers and I were at that age, because we thought what we were doing was sort of weird and offbeat. I don't get that sense anymore. I think it's a really positive change and it's a pleasant environment for me to be in.
Does this mean we'll see you spying on convention-goers at this year's San Diego Convention for future "Power Girl" material?
[Laughs] I don't know! I try to make a beeline for my table and sit and sign things and then run away since I'm not a crowd person. I like to hold court at panels! I'm really good at that part, but crowds freak me out, so I try to stay as low profile as possible.
So, is there a little bit of Matt coming out in "Power Girl?"
Maybe so! There's always that slight discomfort being at conventions because you never know what you are going to get. Ninety-nine percent of fans are wonderful and gracious and made you glad you showed up. But there's always that one guy who wants to tell you his theory on the Lantern emotional spectrum that is forty-five minutes long and has diagrams! But again, that's just a small part of the experience.
Any favorite Power Girl fan you made up for these two issues?
I saw the cover when it was solicited, and on the cover, which is gorgeous, Sami Basri drew this adorable little ten-year-old girl on his own accord. I thought that was the cutest thing I ever saw, so I injected her into the story. She's my absolute favorite. She has this subplot going on where she has this weird magical belief that if she touches Power Girl she can absorb her powers! [Laughs] So she has a whole subplot that really makes the issue for me and it has a surprise ending!
How does writing Power Girl differ from your other DC superhero work like "Shadowpact" or "Blue Beetle?"
That's a good question; in my mind they are all real people, so they are all individuals. To me, it's like saying how your kids differ from each other. I see them as completely separate. But one of the places where you can draw a line from writing "Power Girl" and writing "Blue Beetle" is that they are predominately optimistic characters. Even though Power Girl can be difficult, she's ultimately a powerful, optimistic symbol, as is Jaime as Blue Beetle. Whereas Jack Horner in "Jack of Fables" is a cynical character. So when you're writing characters like that you are writing different aims and motivations. I guess you could say there are some similarities there.
Besides these two issues, what else do you have in the works?
There is an issue of "The Spirit" that I wrote that comes out next month. It was drawn by Victor Ibanez, who did a great job and really captured the story I wanted to tell. I don't know why I keep getting called up for these fill-ins lately, but its fun to do after doing fifty issues of "Jack of Fables" and forty issues of "House of Mystery" -- and not so many of "JSA All-Stars," not necessarily by choice! [Laughs] I also got to do the "Doctor Who" miniseries for IDW, which was a big labor of love. I have a creator-owned series that is going to be announced at San Diego. So it's that whole, "I got a cool new thing, but I can't say anything about it!" I'm sure I'll do more stuff in the DCU too. We'll see.
Talking about "JSA," one of your biggest collaborators in comics is Bill Willingham. Now, the two of you and "iZombie" writer Chris Roberson have mentioned the group Clockwork Storybook before -- for those who don't know, what is Clockwork Storybook?

Sturges' "Doctor Who" gig was a "labor of love"

It was a secret cabal of villains bent on taking over the world which met with moderate success -- we've taken over the World Bank, but other than that we haven't done much!
No, it was a writing group Bill Willingham started in 1998. Chris Roberson and I actually go back further, we were best friends in college. He was the guy who turned me onto comic books in the first place, so I owe my entire career to him and also to Bill who helped me get my first work. There were three of us and a guy named Mark Finn -- who is a prominent Robert E. Howard scholar, of all things. The goal was to become better writers. It was rigorous because we had to write something every week and we would churn out pages of prose and then rake each other the coals. It was like, "Well this is OK, but this part sucked!" It was no holds barred, so it was a great crash course in becoming a better writer and may have had something to do with Roberson and my ultimate success. I tell people when they ask, "How do I get into writing comics?" to start a writing group and really rake each other over the coals. There's this perception that if you want to write something you just sit down and write it, but it doesn't work that way. The rule of thumb is that you have five hundred thousand words of garbage before you get to the good stuff, so start now and the five hundred thousand words will come quicker.
Finally, one of your stated goals for these issues is to appeal to younger readers. Does this mean you are going to have your daughters read it?
Yeah! I'll stand at the door of their elementary school and hand out copies saying, "Hey, comics! Kids, comics!" [Laughs] But I should iterate that just because it's all-readers friendly doesn't mean grown-ups won't like it. It just means I didn't put in any overt bloodshed or nastiness into the pages. I think when you are writing for all-ages you still need to write intelligently. You don't want to write down to anybody, you just have to be careful about the material you present.