C2E2 Announcement: Diamond Retail Summit Reveals New Books

[NightBeetle]

Diamond Retail Summit Reveals New Books

On the eve of C2E2, Diamond hosted one if its semi-regular Retailer Summits, allowing its direct customers to interact with each other, the various publishers in the industry and the distributor itself. One of the highlights of this multi-day event is a series of presentations given by the likes of Marvel, DC, IDW and others during a catered dinner.

Though this is technically something that is for retailers, the IGN crew is rather crafty, and we found ourselves sitting with the very men and women that sell you books each and every week. Though a great deal of the information presented was fairly standard and already announced, there were some fairly significant announcements made as well. Read on for our quick recap of the evening, complete with a few shiny spy shots we managed to take. (We're not very good spies though – the flash kept going off. Oh, and our battery managed to die with a whopping eight photos. Put away those biased signs. Sigh.)

Marvel: Marvel possibly had the most news for regular IGN readers, as the publisher tipped its hand to several announcements that had been slated for later in the C2E2 show. In fact you can expect to see interviews on a number of these fronts in the coming days.

Marvel's Manager of Sales and Communications Arune Singh started by recapping some of Marvel's bigger successes as well as the publisher's general Heroic Age plan for 2010. A number of Avengers titles were highlighted, and Singh revealed two more Secret Avengers – Steve Rogers and Nova. He did note that fans "haven't seen everyone yet." He also noted, when showing a slide about Sean McKeever's Young Allies, that an important detail was missing from the cover, and that the series would be somewhat different than what fans might expect.

On the topic of Fantastic Four, which received a huge round of applause from the retailer audience, Singh did reveal a slide featuring the Fantastic Four logo – but with a 3 in the middle instead of a 4. This is a project that will start in September, and no doubt IGN will have more details in the months ahead.


Quick mentions were given to Thunderbolts, Hawkeye & Mockingbird, Avengers Prime, Second Coming and more. On the topic of Invincible Iron Man, Singh laid out that Marvel's intent for the Heroic Age was to give fans old and new an ideal jumping on point. He said the first of these points would be with Invincible Iron Man #25, and that anyone who hasn't read Iron Man – or even a comic book – would be able to step on board with that issue.

The presentation revealed a number of new items including Shadowlands, by Andy Diggle and Billy Tan, which spins out of developments in Daredevil. It was specified that this was one of the several Marvel "family events" that have been cited several times by various editors. In particular Shadowlands is supposed to shake up Marvel's "street characters." We suppose you might have some guesses as to who might be included in there. We'll have more on Shadowlands over the weekend.

The Punisher vs. The Marvel Universe was mentioned. Once again Frank Castle is going to have to kill every hero in sight. No real specifics were given on this one. The presentation also featured something rather curious – The Death of Dracula. Singh was quick to point out that this was not a throw away story or an attempt to simply attract horror genre fans. "One of the biggest changes in the Marvel Universe in years starts here," said Singh. What exactly that means, and how small of a ripple the "death" of Dracula causes will be interesting to see. No details here, but we'll keep digging. No timetable for a release window either.

Probably the biggest Marvel item revealed during the evening was Steve Rogers: Super Soldier. This one details Steve Roger's new role in the Marvel Universe, and will be written by Ed Brubaker and drawn by Dale Eaglesham. We'll have more for you tomorrow morning, so stay tuned.

Quick mentions were given to the Hulk family, which will soon reveal the identities of Red She-Hulk and Red Hulk. More Oz stories are coming from Eric Shanower and Skottie Young, this time with Ozma of Oz. Also highlighted were Marvelman, Ultimate Comics and the Stephen King adaptations. In all cases "more was coming."

Last but not least, Marvel brought up the success of its Women in Marvel initiative as well as its plans to provide "lots of high quality product" for the Thor franchise by the time that film hits in 2011.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I'm guessing The Death of Dracula has something to do with the rumored X-Men vs. vampires direction the X-Men are going in for the Heroic Age.

I can't believe the title "Super-Soldier" never occurred to any of us as a new name for Steve. I like that title. With Brubaker and Eaglesham on it and the focus on Steve, I'm definitely picking it up. Not really sure why Steve would ever need or want to use a gun (and anyone who cares to explain it to me using the words "he's a soldier" can piss off right now), but Brubaker knows the character pretty well, so I'm only slightly worried. The new costume actually doesn't look half-bad on that cover, either. Still a bit too modern/"edgy" for Steve, in my opinion, but just as a costume, it's not terrible. I could see it being a good fit for a less iconic hero when Steve goes back to his classic Cap costume.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

That 3 seems like it might be hinting someone dies in the Fantastic Four. Please be Reed. Please be Reed. Please be Reed. Is Steve getting a new ongoing seperate from Captain America where Bucky will feature?

 

[Kevin]

I'm interested in that Steve Rogers book. And I'm bored with the someone leaves/die in the F4 book. God, they'll A) Get an Old/new member B) Have one of the kids take the place (Maybe time travel again) C) THe person who leaves/die WILL come back.

 

[ChelseaGrin26]

Could be Ben since he will be in New Avengers. Though I don't see why he couldn't split his time with both teams unless he has some sort of falling out with Reed or something.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

Please be Reed. Please be Reed. Please be Reed. Please Be Reed.

 

[Kevin]

I'm starting to think that JustABill has a problem with Reed...

 

[Drz]

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/steve-rogers-super-soldier-100416.html

Apparently this is just a mini-series, and yeah he isn't receiving the codename Super Soldier. It's just a title for the book. The mini-serie is about Steve *not* being Captain America and what his role is. James Bond-esque story telling coming up from this mini. Touch of Mission Impossible too in it.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

Hmm. I'll still pick it up.

 

[Iron Man]

Ah, I kinda liked the name Super-Soldier. And I was hoping it was an ongoing.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Still not a fan of Steve + gun. But whatevs. Hopefully he'll take Bucky's route and just kneecap the occasional *****ebag, as opposed to murderalizing everyone. Bit disappointed that there's not a single mention of the gun in that interview with Brubaker on Newsarama.

Valeria Richards is around 2 now, right? Maybe the big 3 refers to her birthday!

Actually, the idea of the FF soldiering on with just 3 members while Ben moves to the New Avengers is... interesting, I guess.

 

[Franklin Richards]

Won't happen. Maybe this is a Franklin dream. Or the Frank, Val and a Power Kids make a new group.


Or Sue and Reed retire with the family again and Spider-man joins the boys.


Or Ben does spend extended time with the Defenders.... I mean New Avengers.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

My first thought was something with the kids. I'd totally buy a Franklin/Val/HERBIE series.

 

[roach]

Not liking Steve's uniform...it comes off as Cap-lite...almost if Bruce came back and leaves Dick as Batman but becomes Flying Fox man
I am not sure they can use the name Supersoldier. Wasnt that the name of the Amalgam character owned by both DC and Marvel

 

[Iron Man]

Not liking Steve's uniform...it comes off as Cap-lite...almost if Bruce came back and leaves Dick as Batman but becomes Flying Fox man
I am not sure they can use the name Supersoldier. Wasnt that the name of the Amalgam character owned by both DC and Marvel

Super-Soldier isn't his new codename. It's just the name of the mini.

 

[roach]

yes I know that. I was responding to people who wonder why its not his codename

 

[Iron Man]

Oh right, my bad.

 

[CaptainCanada]

My first thought was something with the kids. I'd totally buy a Franklin/Val/HERBIE series.

Maybe child #3 is on the way?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Could be. I don't know how many kids they really want Reed and Sue to pop out, though. Two seems enough.

 

[CantThinkOfAName]

So this Super Soldier mini will be running along side Secret Avengers? Man, more Brubaker stuff to get!

Is Shadowland supposed to be a mini-series or is it going to be within the pages of Daredevil? If it's a mini I wouldn't be surprised if DD went on hiatus, I doubt Diggle could writer two books a month. It's too bad Billy Tan is the artist

Fantastic Four looks cool.

 

[Franklin Richards]

So this is a mini? I'm worried about Eaglesham splitting time. He needs breather issues on FF as it is.


And please don't be another FF member death. Taking off for a bit is ok, but it never works out for good. Plus I'm over saturated with it.

Explore some ****ing place. Leave the lineup alone.

 

[Tron Bonne]

I'm guessing The Death of Dracula has something to do with the rumored X-Men vs. vampires direction the X-Men are going in for the Heroic Age.

I didn't even think of that, honestly. If that's the case, the interest that spark was as gone as fast it came.

Ugh, do we have to do this stupid Punisher vs the Marvel Universe **** again?

I'll probably read the Super Solider thing with Steve. Like others the gun in the picture makes me wary, though. I won't be surprised if they try to do away with the no kill code for Cap, though I hope they don't.

My first thought was something with the kids. I'd totally buy a Franklin/Val/HERBIE series.

 

[Franklin Richards]

Just tweeted by brubaker...




brubaker

Just FYI - I just saw that Super-Soldier cover for the first time, and that's not the gun that Steve is carrying. He's got something else.


brubaker

It's more of a hi-tech gadget gun, not a 45 or a glock.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Just tweeted by brubaker...




brubaker

Just FYI - I just saw that Super-Soldier cover for the first time, and that's not the gun that Steve is carrying. He's got something else.


brubaker

It's more of a hi-tech gadget gun, not a 45 or a glock.

Oh, cool

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Just tweeted by brubaker...




brubaker

Just FYI - I just saw that Super-Soldier cover for the first time, and that's not the gun that Steve is carrying. He's got something else.


brubaker

It's more of a hi-tech gadget gun, not a 45 or a glock.

So we've got confirmation that Pacheco in fact does not have any idea what's going on. Good to know.

Seriously, I'm happy Steve won't just be shooting the place up with a normal gun. A super-spy gadget gun sounds like it could be fun and fit right in with the Bond-esque tone Brubaker's looking to set in Super-Soldier, so I'm excited to see what it actually is. If Brubaker really wanted me to geek out, he'd have Hank Pym build it for Steve, too.

I didn't even think of that, honestly. If that's the case, the interest that spark was as gone as fast it came.

Only times Dracula in the Marvel universe really worked for me was in the '90s horror stuff (Darkhold Redeemers, Ghost Rider, et al.), Mutant X, and Captain Britain and MI-13. Every other time he shows up, it just feels weird to me.

Fun fact: Drac once bit Sif and turned her into a vampire temporarily, before her blood rejected his silly human vampirism and returned her to normal.