New SHIELD Series

[NightBeetle]

Jonathan Hickman's Secret New Marvel Project?

Tuesday morning Marvel Comics released a teaser image for writer Jonathan Hickman's "Top Secret New Project."

"They’ve been around since the dawn of time....how do they impact the past, present and future of the Marvel Universe?" writes Marvel mysteriously in a press release.

The publisher suggests checking out the image by artist Gerald Parel for clues. Well, here's one - that is Galactus in the left hand side there, isn't it?
The new project will apparently be revealed Tuesday evening at 7pm on G4's Attack of This Show

 

[Franklin Richards]

He better not be stretching himself too thin. He has FF stories to write.

 

[Watchman]

Whatever is I'm interested just by Vitruvian Galactus alone.

 

[NightBeetle]

Some people at newsarama are saying it's a Celestials related book.

 

[Specter313]

Ok, just announced on Fresh Ink that this is actually going to be a book about SHIELD. Yeah, I didn't expect that either. It's going to explore the mysterious and unknown origins of the company, well before Nick Fury, going all the way back to ancient Egypt and up to the 1950's and show how various historical figures helped protect the Earth from such threats as Galactus and the Celestials.

 

[Dread]

Ok, just announced on Fresh Ink that this is actually going to be a book about SHIELD. Yeah, I didn't expect that either. It's going to explore the mysterious and unknown origins of the company, well before Nick Fury, going all the way back to ancient Egypt and up to the 1950's and show how various historical figures helped protect the Earth from such threats as Galactus and the Celestials.

You mean well before it was revealed that HYDRA had infested SHIELD forever and that Nick Fury was the biggest idiot in the universe since forever?

But, yeah, Hickman better not stretch himself thin. Of course, he does technically have Bendis co-writing SECRET WARRIORS.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

Ok, just announced on Fresh Ink that this is actually going to be a book about SHIELD. Yeah, I didn't expect that either. It's going to explore the mysterious and unknown origins of the company, well before Nick Fury, going all the way back to ancient Egypt and up to the 1950's and show how various historical figures helped protect the Earth from such threats as Galactus and the Celestials.

And now...I'm totally off the book after such a kickass teaser image.

 

[Franklin Richards]

I'm predicting a time traveling Dr. Doom right now.

Oh and Apocalypse's return to the non-X-Men Universe.

 

[Franklin Richards]

I'm predicting a time traveling Dr. Doom right now.

Oh and Apocalypse's return to the non-X-Men Universe.

 

[hippie_hunter]

You mean well before it was revealed that HYDRA had infested SHIELD forever and that Nick Fury was the biggest idiot in the universe since forever?

But, yeah, Hickman better not stretch himself thin. Of course, he does technically have Bendis co-writing SECRET WARRIORS.

Hickman is writing Secret Warriors solo now. And if you have Geoff Johns doing Superman: Secret Origin, Blackest Night, Flash: Rebirth, Green Lantern, and Adventure Comics and Bendis doing New Avengers, Dark Avengers, Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man, Powers, and Spider-Woman, I think you can have Hickman doing three books at the same time without worry.

 

[THANOSRULES]

You mean well before it was revealed that HYDRA had infested SHIELD forever and that Nick Fury was the biggest idiot in the universe since forever?

But, yeah, Hickman better not stretch himself thin. Of course, he does technically have Bendis co-writing SECRET WARRIORS.

exactly, sounds like a downward spiral of retconning a bad idea.

I'm waiting to see if Nick Fury was actually born a hyborian...Ill pass on this.

 

[Ace of Knaves]

I think it could be interesting. Showing man kinds interactions with cosmic entities in the past and what not.

 

[NightBeetle]

Video from Attack of the Show is available after the jump

 

[NightBeetle]

Jonathan Hickman spoke with CBR about his just-announced ongoing "Shield" series set to launch in April.

The story of "Shield" begins in what would be the '50s and '60s of the Marvel Universe. "This is, of course, relative to Marvel's sliding scale time line. When doing something like this, we have to wink at some of the previous stories from that time period, and sometimes we have to massage some of the others and try to make it all work (the perfect example of this being Sharon Carter from "Captain America," who started out as the little sister of Steve Roger's WWII girlfriend and later had to be changed to her niece - the story just doesn't work anymore if you don't fudge it)," Hickman explained. "Anyway, we start with a normal guy, just like you and me, who's snatched out of his daily life and swept up into something bizarre and wonderful, what is essentially a whole new reality. We'll then, of course, find out that he's much more than a simple boy. Blah, blah, blah... Joseph Campbell mixed with my own special blend of dysfunctional weirdness, and we're off."
The Golden Age of the Marvel Universe is just where the story of "Shield" starts. Early on in the book, the action will flash back to ancient times. "We jump back through time and see the first alien invasion that happens on the planet. I'm not talking about the Celestials or any of that stuff. This is more along the lines of a straight up, 'humans repel alien invaders' event that happens. We see what gets born out of that, how it transforms society, and how that evolves through the history of man," Hickman revealed. "We start our flashbacks in the third dynasty of ancient Egypt with a man called Imhotep. He's considered the world's first polymath, which is another word for what's commonly referred to as a 'Renaissance man'. We never state this in 'Shield,' but that kind of becomes the requirement for somebody to be part of the organization. That's the type of men and women that the Shield is looking for. It's only natural that Renaissance men big guns, like da Vinci and Galileo, feature and feature prominently"


Making up the main and supporting cast of "Shield," Hickman has assembled a collection of historical figures, established Marvel characters, and original creations of his own. "I would say our main cast is around eight to ten characters. Very early on, we're introduced to Nathaniel Richards, the father of Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards, and Howard Stark, the father of Iron Man, Tony Stark. The young man I talked about above is named Leonid. He's the Eternal Dynamo... the great engine of the human machine. He represents progress, the advance of society and all that other cool stuff," Hickman said. "There's also a guy called The Night Machine who is the opposite of Golden Age Renaissance heroes like da Vinci, Michaelangelo, and Galileo. We'll see the dark dreams of Nostradamus and we'll unflinchingly answer the long-standing question of whether Isaac Newton was the first man of the age of reason or the last of the magicians. And, hey, why be boring... let's stick a Celestial, Galactus, and the Brood in the first issue and see what happens."


Because "Shield" is a story that flashes back and forth between various time periods and spans thousands of years, it will be structured differently than other ongoing Marvel series. "It's probably best not to think of this series in arcs. It's really not that kind of story. This is a bit like 'Secret Warriors' in that it has a beginning, middle and end, but the comparison probably falls apart after that. "Shield" is not a mini-series. It's an ongoing, but it's also a finite story," Hickman stated. "I'm honestly not sure how many total issues it will be, but it's simply not an arc-driven thing. I know there's a tendency to do that because of the marketplace, and God knows we all want to do our due diligence in being commercially relevant, but this isn't that kind of story. There's no real way to break the pieces up. It simply fits together a certain way."

 

[Blader5489]

You mean well before it was revealed that HYDRA had infested SHIELD forever and that Nick Fury was the biggest idiot in the universe since forever?

That's not what happened.

But, yeah, Hickman better not stretch himself thin. Of course, he does technically have Bendis co-writing SECRET WARRIORS.

Dread, I'm pretty sure I've told you this a dozen times already, but Bendis has never written anything on Secret Warriors. Ever.

He was only listed as co-writer because he created the characters (and probably as a sales ploy too).

 

[JewishHobbit]

Not to mention that Secret Warriors, dispite a slow start, has become one of the best Marvel books on the shelves.

And as a person who still reads a lot of Bendis... it reads NOTHING like a Bendis book and hever has really. It's just flat out GOOD!

I'm planning on dropping all or close to all Avengers-Centric titles after Dark Reign... save Secret Warriors. It's good enough that I have no desire to drop it for any reason.

And with Hickman writing this new Shield series, I'm definately making room to pick it up.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Definitely passing on this. A new SHIELD series would be fine, although Secret Warriors already sort of covers that. This series sounds like it's gonna be a messy orgy of inserting random, unnecessary retcons into Marvel's past, inevitably mucking it all up because Hickman (or anyone else) would never be able to keep everything consistent, in order to appeal to the conspiracy theorist-types. Basically, it sounds like the kind of idea that would be perfect for a Vertigo series, if Marvel had something like Vertigo. But since it doesn't and this will likely be shoehorned (badly) into continuity, I'm not interested.

 

[NightBeetle]

Basically, it sounds like the kind of idea that would be perfect for a Vertigo series, if Marvel had something like Vertigo

Icon?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Icon, as far as I understand, is mostly just to provide Marvel's best-selling creators with a place to publish their creator-owned work and still make money for Marvel, as opposed to taking that creator-owned work to Image or another indie publisher. Or, if that's not exactly how it's set up, that's at least how it's worked out so far.

 

[Max J Power]

Icon only has three ongoing series right now, and has only ever had a few others. It's clear that Marvel only keeps it around so their big creators won't go to Vertigo or image with their creator-owned projects. I think Marvel even said that it didn't want to encroach on Vertigo's territory, since some of its writers work there too.

 

[NightBeetle]

New 2010 Teaser

Marvel seems to be on a teaser roll as of late, this time dishing out a piece of art with the semi-vague "Time to Save the World" headline and a key date of "April 2010."

The teaser features a Vitruvian Man-style treatment of Galactus along with a silver skull that could potentially be made of Adamantium. (Another theory is this is somehow connected to the Silver Surfer.) Also present are the blue "Mind" and yellow "Reality" Infinity Gems.

All of this might suggest something involving Marvel's cosmic books, but it's far, far more likely we're looking at a teaser for Jonathan Hickman's upcoming ongoing "SHIELD" series. Hickman has gone on record talking about plots that will deal with the Renaissance era, Leonardo da Vinci and Galactus. SHIELD is also set to launch in April 2010. That seems like a pretty spot-on match, doesn't it?

Take a look at the image. IGN will have more on Hickman's SHIELD series (and Marvel's ongoing cosmic saga) in the future.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

SHIELD, the Infinity Gems, Da Vinci, and Galactus back in the Renaissance era? Yep, it's definitely looking like a retcon-fest.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Icon only has three ongoing series right now, and has only ever had a few others. It's clear that Marvel only keeps it around so their big creators won't go to Vertigo or image with their creator-owned projects. I think Marvel even said that it didn't want to encroach on Vertigo's territory, since some of its writers work there too.

You would think that Marvel would try and convince Jason Aaron to bring Scalped and Mike Carey to bring the Unwritten to Icon. Really would give Icon a boost beyond just Bendis, Millar, and Brubaker taking advantage of it.

They should have also convinced Millar to publish War Heroes.

 

[Watchman]

Da Vinci vs. Galactus

Along with Fraction's Thor this is the Marvel title that I'm looking forward to the most in 2010. I've been loving Hickman's work at Marvel.

 

[NightBeetle]

S.H.I.E.L.D. #1
Written by JONATHAN HICKMAN
Penciled by DUSTIN WEAVER
Cover by GERALD PAREL
Historical Variant by DUSTIN WEAVER
Black & White Issue Variant also available
Leonardo Da Vinci was an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. So was Issac Newton. So were Imhotep and Zhang Heng and Galileo and many other geniuses throughout time. They were the first heroes to defeat Galactus and the Brood and turn Celestials back. They saved the world long before Captain America or Iron Man were ever born, but what does this mean to our heroes of today? What does this mean to Nick Fury? Do not miss this Marvel Comics masterpiece that fans will be talking about for decades to come. All the insanity is courtesy of JONATHAN HICKMAN (FANTASTIC FOUR, SECRET WARRIORS, Nightly News) and DUSTIN WEAVER (X-MEN).
40 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99