Chaos War

[Dread]

Indeed. He's also not just the "God of Heroes" for the sun drenched ones like the Avengers or the Fantastic Four, or other gods like Thor or Valkyrie, but even "darker" heroes like the X-Men and X-Force.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Apparently he's the God of Heroes now or somesuch?

Man, **** yes

Yeah, talk about appropriate. The only thing that worries me there is how he's all, "I'm uber-powerful now and I know I was a fool before!" Herc has to be a fool still. That's what Herc's all about! Even when he's being genuinely heroic, like at the end of "Assault on New Olympus," he still keeps up his foolish facade.

 

[Dread]

It's possible that Herc expends a lot of that spare omnipotent energy empowering the other heroes and fighting the Chaos King.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

It's not the power, it's the temperament. I just hope at some point, he gets back to his boastful, rambunctious self and enjoys himself in the heat of combat. He actually felt a lot like Thor in For Asgard rallying the troops there, which is not right at all. Thor and Herc are fun together because they're so different. Herc can't be the dutiful one for too long.

 

[Dread]

One can imagine being infused with some extra "omniscience" as Cho called it would effect Herc's personality, at least until that power was expended or diminished or Herc got used to it. Sort of like being Nova Prime for anyone who isn't Steve Rogers can effect the mind.

You also have to understand that Hercules probably does have his rallying moments. It isn't as if he's never led an army before in his entire history. He just balances it out with his boastful moron moments.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

True. Thor's supposedly co-leading the new God Squad with him, so hopefully that'll allow him to be a little less of the responsible leader guy and more like himself over the rest of the mini.

 

[fifthfiend]

Indeed. He's also not just the "God of Heroes" for the sun drenched ones like the Avengers or the Fantastic Four, or other gods like Thor or Valkyrie, but even "darker" heroes like the X-Men and X-Force.

Hercules himself mythologically was a pretty mixed bag so it totally fits!

 

[fifthfiend]

I dig how in the preview Herc is just like "No, **** whatever you thought you were doing, bigass universe-wrecking menace, ya'll gonna fight it, nobody gonna argue, errbody's a god, we're doing this right now, LET'S FLY MOTHER****EEEEEEEEEEEERS"

...It's the most un-Bendiscomic thing I've seen in years.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Haha, yeah, he totally just hijacks them all and they're like, "Oh, well... 'kay."

 

[Dread]

I dig how in the preview Herc is just like "No, **** whatever you thought you were doing, bigass universe-wrecking menace, ya'll gonna fight it, nobody gonna argue, errbody's a god, we're doing this right now, LET'S FLY MOTHER****EEEEEEEEEEEERS"

...It's the most un-Bendiscomic thing I've seen in years.

And that's terrific.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

Color. Me. Excited.

 

[Dread]

Indeed. Now THIS is what I call, "an epic of epic epicness".

 

[Colossal Spoons]

We get Herc back and the Mikaboshi angle tied up

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Only thing I'm worried about is what becomes of Herc and Cho after this? This is basically what Van Lente and Pak's master plan has been building toward from the beginning. I hope it won't be the last thing we ever see of Herc and Cho aside from the occasional cameo.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Only thing I'm worried about is what becomes of Herc and Cho after this? This is basically what Van Lente and Pak's master plan has been building toward from the beginning. I hope it won't be the last thing we ever see of Herc and Cho aside from the occasional cameo.

Herc's the sort of character who gets a team gig or somesuch every few years. Cho, I don't know; though he's got Pak and Van Lente (especially the former) as writer-patrons, so for the near-term I expect he'll continue showing up in things they write.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

They should totally join the Secret Avengers. Dear lord, the thought of Herc and Valkyrie together...

 

[Vartha]

MAN I can't wait for this

 

[Colossal Spoons]

I wonder if any other writers even have an interest in Herc and Cho

 

[bored]

Slott. He used them to great effect during his run on "Mighty Avengers".

 

[Colossal Spoons]

Correct sir

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Slott's only writing Amazing Spider-Man for the foreseeable future, right? That doesn't help me.

 

[Dread]

Only thing I'm worried about is what becomes of Herc and Cho after this? This is basically what Van Lente and Pak's master plan has been building toward from the beginning. I hope it won't be the last thing we ever see of Herc and Cho aside from the occasional cameo.

That's a worthy question. I'd have to see Pak & Van Lente just quit writing the characters, even if this is their planned end game. I mean, Dr. Manhattan said nothing ever ends, right?

Maybe they'll reunite for a mini or so every once in a while.

I'd rather see them pop up every once in a while than be written poorly more often elsewhere.

Herc's the sort of character who gets a team gig or somesuch every few years. Cho, I don't know; though he's got Pak and Van Lente (especially the former) as writer-patrons, so for the near-term I expect he'll continue showing up in things they write.

That's also possible. Greg Pak is on INCREDIBLE HULKS and likely will have Cho show up there from time to time. As for Hercules, who knows.

They should totally join the Secret Avengers. Dear lord, the thought of Herc and Valkyrie together...

I've reached the conclusion that Brubaker works better with low to mid level power characters and not uber-powerful ones. Being able to handle Namor fine in a story or two here and there every few years isn't quite the same as, say, a veteran space writer. In SECRET AVENGERS, Valkyrie and War Machine are the two most powerful characters, and both have done very little over the first arc besides functional roles (although Valkyrie had more to do in issue one than Rhodes had in four).

 

[Colossal Spoons]

I've reached the conclusion that Brubaker works better with low to mid level power characters and not uber-powerful ones. Being able to handle Namor fine in a story or two here and there every few years isn't quite the same as, say, a veteran space writer. In SECRET AVENGERS, Valkyrie and War Machine are the two most powerful characters, and both have done very little over the first arc besides functional roles (although Valkyrie had more to do in issue one than Rhodes had in four).

Agreed. He wrote Nova exactly like he wrote Vulcan. So powerful, he just floats in the air daring somebody to come fight him.

 

[fifthfiend]

Slott's only writing Amazing Spider-Man for the foreseeable future, right? That doesn't help me.

The worst would be if Herc and Cho showed up in his alternate universe Spider-satanist comic cause then I might forget it's a meaningless alternate universe and accidentally care about the things that happen there.

 

[NightBeetle]

http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=338025&page=3The editor of Chaos War prepares for a Marvel Universe-shaking event

Marvel.com: Mark, needless to say, this is event is shaping up to be pretty epic. As an editor, is there a bit of a chaos war going on for you keeping everything together and in line? Are you getting much sleep these days?

Mark Paniccia: As a chronic insomniac I don't get much sleep to begin with. But, yes, it's been challenging. In a good way. Trying to find the organic and relevant stories that branch out of the main event is half the fun. And I've got a great editorial team working with me to make sure that all the pieces click into place. Jordan D. White, Mike Horwitz, John Denning and I have weekly meetings going over the logistics, troubleshooting and updating our grid. This is a project we're all immensely invested in and proud of and want to give the readers the best experience we can.


Marvel.com: You've been working alongside Fred and Greg for some time now. What's it been like working with those two crazy guys? What do you like about them as creators and how they approach their titles?

Mark Paniccia: Great. They're both extremely talented and versatile writers to begin with and they just keep getting better. We've built many projects together and it usually starts with a simple conversation that explodes into something cool within seconds. And fans love them too, which means they're doing something right. When they collaborate, it's pure magic. INCREDIBLE HERCULES has been an incredible working experience and a book that I've enjoyed beyond measure. FreG, as I like to call them, have made Chaos War something really special to me. It's something that 10 years from now I'll look back with the same pride and joy I'm feeling now.


Marvel.com: As mentioned, Chaos War involves a lot of tie-in titles. How did you guys get the various creators involved on board? Did you already have an idea of who you wanted for what title or did people sort of come to you with some ideas?

Mark Paniccia: When we made our wish list of tie-ins, there were certain names that came to mind that were perfect casting. Others that were inspired by recent works. I approached them with a brief summary of Chaos War and the responses were unanimous across the board. The outline of the event truly excited every creator and when they read the scripts they were blown away by how epic this story is and really gravitated towards it.

Marvel.com: What are some of your personal favorites?

Mark Paniccia: Really they're all good but some are further along in production and seeing art and color coming in really gets me jazzed. I absolutely love the CHAOS KING one-shot by Brandon Montclare and Michael Kaluta. We were originally going to do a short story to introduce our big bad to new readers, something we could get out across the masses with digital or include in one of the main issues, but the more Brandon, John and I got talking, the more cool stuff kept growing from it. We had to have it all in the book and I begged for the extra pages to do it. And Brandon made this crazy thing work. It's creepy cool and is loaded with spectacular action and Kaluta's imagination is just breathtaking.

Also, the GOD SQUAD one-shot by Marc Sumerak and Dan Panosian is top notch stuff.

Watching Silver Surfer, Hellstorm, Sersi and Venus in this
twisted, twilight zone war story is just flat out wild. The art is some of the best that Dan Panosian has ever done. The action and characterization are stellar.

THOR, ALPHA FLIGHT, ARES, DEAD AVENGERS and one more that's not been announced are certified cool, too. When I have more art on them I'll be happy to expound.

Marvel.com: Big picture, what can you say about what's to come in Chaos War and what kind of action readers can expect to see?

Mark Paniccia: This is really big. I think we're looking at a story that's going to leave its mark in comics as one of the coolest and greatest battles of the decade. No hype. Just my gut. It's Marvel Universe-sweeping action with a huge cast and a villain that takes the threat to a whole new level. This isn't the end of life, it's the end of everything. Existence. No Earth. No hell. No heaven. Even for gods. It's actually a disturbing and frightening prospect. The kind that really gets you rooting for the heroes and keeps you on the edge of your seat like any good action or horror film does. It's jam packed with insane action and great drama, but the ideas and concepts are the kind of awe-inspiring elements you crave from comics.