MARVEL's NEXTWAVE/ULTIMATE EXTINCTION PRESS CONFERENCE

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

http://www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/NextWav...sconference.htm

 

UPDATED Thursday 12/8, 1:25pm EST

Marvel held their latest conference call with the comics press Thursday, this month to discuss Warren Ellis’ January debuting new ongoing series Nextwave (with art by Stuart Immonen) and the January-debuting Ultimate Extinction #1, the start of Ellis’ third part of his “Ultimate Secret” trilogy, with art by Brandon Peterson.

 

Ellis attended along with the usual Marvel staff/dignitaries and they also took the opportunity to reveal Ellis’ next Marvel project, Newuniversal, a new ongoing series featuring the writer's brand-new take on Marvel's "New Universe".

 

The following is just some highlights from the joked-filled conference, which featured Ellis's often tongue-in-cheek descriptions of his work.

 

 

Marve will soon launch a new Marvel digital comic book format, debuting soon on Marvel.com. Marvel's Marketing head John Dokes said they won't "initially" be charging for their the new digital comics format. It will be used to bring attention to new titles like Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1, and projects they want to promote.

In a correction to something reported earlier, Ellis' Nextwave will not be seen as a digital comic any time prior or concurrent with its January launch.

 

 

Marvel mangaged to get Warren Ellis on the line 23 minutes after the start of the conference, and the event began in earnest...

"People get kicked, things explore - this is what they want. What more do you need to know", Ellis said when asked to describe Nextwave.

 

"Ultimate Extinction is finishing upon this stupid job that I took a year ago to help Mark Millar out," Ellis said, laughing. "Ultilmate Extinction ties off the whole trilogy. Each [of the three] have a different tone, and this one ties it all together into a thematic structure.

 

"Hopefully, it ties the whole thing off with some satisfaction."

 

 

Nextwave will be told in two-issue story arcs...

 

Asked if he thought the use of secondary characters in Nextwave would result in sales more similar to his independent work rather than his mainstream, Ellis compared Nextwave to The Authority, in that the characters are not well known to a larger audience from the start. He said he felt comfortable in using them in that the characters he's using in the series haven't been seen for a long time, and had little attention.

 

Getting to the anticipated announcement from the event, Ellis’ next Marvel project will be the ongoing series Newuniversal (a working title). “They’re giving me the New Universe to play with,” Ellis revealed.

"I'm going to be doing many terrible things with the old New Universe books - clean stuff, as if the books had never been published before, so I won't be beholden to any of the older work."

 

Ellis' new (i.e. rebooted) take on the New Univese will include a "chunk of the old stuff and a slightly smaller chunk of new stuff, just to get the best story out of it."

 

Ellis named Nightmask as one of the more interesting concepts of the previous New Universe incarnation.

 

Newuniversal will be an ongonig title, featuring all of the characters of the/his New Universe. "I wanted to write a big ensemble book," Ellis said, "and the idea that hit me as I was flipping through the [original] stuff was that it all should have been one big story. To me, the people lost sight of that when they did it."

 

Ellis said that it will be written at a Marvel Universe level (n terms of content), and Marvel editors said that it would most likely be rated "T+".

 

The stories of Newuniversal will not be self-contained, Ellis said. "It will roll along."

 

The series is slated to be launched at the end of the summer.

 

Coinciding with the release of Newuniversal, there will be collections of the original New Universe titles released.

 

Editor Mark Pannicia will also be editing a preceding (the month prior) "New Universe" event celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the line. This New Universe event will feature stories set in the original continuity, however, and pre-The Pitt.

Paniccia explained that these "Untold Tales of the New Universe" - which will be published a month before the launch of Newuniversal - will feature five one-shots: StarBrand, NightMask, Justice, Psi-Force, and DP7. The other New Universe properties - Merc, Spitfire, and Kickers, Inc will appear as 8 page back-up stories - the first two in Amazing Fantasy, while Kickers, Inc will appear in New Avengers.

 

When asked what the attraction of the New Universe was for him, Ellis said that he's always wanted to take an old, forgotten franchise and "mess with it" as a technical challenge, to see if he can find what excited people about it in the first place, and bring that back out to the surface."

He'll be creating a mix of old characters and new characters of his creation.

 

"At the heart of it, it's science fiction, of course," Ellis said, the nature of which appealed to him. "It's an event that suddenly, overnight, in the space of a minute, appears to literally change the laws of physics on Planet Earth."

 

Speaking about picking up what is seen as a failed attempt at a new imprint, Ellis presented the following analogy: "Battlestar Galactica back in 1979 was a bloody awful television series. It was indefensible. The remake, however, is quite good. The PR of course, for the new Battlestar Galactica show didn't say: 'Finally, a piece of crap from the 1970s reborn for a new century!'"

 

In regards to not re-making the mistakes of the past in regards to the New Universe, Ellis said that, "the joy of that is that they are clearly in print there for you to see.

[Steviekick 0]

I'm all for a new Kickers Inc.

[SuperJerk 0]

I'm all for a new Kickers Inc.

Word.

 

Hey, at least they're giving Ellis something nobody cares about to fuck with this time.

 

Speaking about picking up what is seen as a failed attempt at a new imprint, Ellis presented the following analogy: "Battlestar Galactica back in 1979 was a bloody awful television series. It was indefensible. The remake, however, is quite good. The PR of course, for the new Battlestar Galactica show didn't say: 'Finally, a piece of crap from the 1970s reborn for a new century!'"

 

Its funny cuz its true.