Well, once we're into the story I'm sure there will be more specifics coming, and with most of these things, the story will reach a point that's a natural turning point, where more tie-ins can spin off of it. But the early book you guys have pointed to, like I said, is "Secret Avengers." That title is interesting in that Nick Spencer is taking the reins on the series. How did he become involved in the book, why do a "Fear Itself" tie-in right now and what does all this mean for the future of "Secret Avengers"?
Brevoort: Well, Ed was coming to an end of his time on the title. I don't know that we've said this anywhere yet, but "Secret Avengers" #12 will be Ed Brubaker's swan song on the book. He realized he had enough other things on his plate and some other stuff coming down the road, and that was the book that strained his mind more than any other. Everyone, including myself, told Ed, "You write a pretty good team book. Your ensemble work is good," but he was not having a wonderful time with it. It didn't flow for him in the same way that writing "Cap" or "Daredevil" or "Criminal" flowed for him. So when he reached critical mass in terms of his workload, he said, "I think I need to wrap on this, and this is a good point to do it. I'll have brought most of my main arc to a boil, but we'll leave it in a good place for other people to pick up the baton and take it forward." And that coincided with "Fear Itself" getting started, so it made sense to me, since those characters and particularly that team will be getting some decent play in "Fear Itself," to look for opportunities for connectivity and tie-ins.
I spoke to Nick about doing four issues of "Secret Avengers" -- one of which would be the Point 1 issue which we already announced, and a three-part "Fear Itself" tie-in. He was enthusiastic and down with it. Quite honestly, I thought of him both because he's a hot, young, up-and-coming voice and because he'd done such great work on "T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents"...which is something you'd never thought you'd hear said in a Marvel column. [Laughter] But he did great work there! And he got people interested and talking about "T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents" which, based on the odds, should have been a book that completely flew under the radar and didn't register with anyone. But it's a book that clearly has an espionage bent to it, and that flavor seemed to translate over to the world of "Secret Avengers" as we've set it up. It seemed like a nice fit, and Nick came on board, and he pitched out in broad strokes what the Point 1 would be and the "Fear Itself" issues. He'll do these three stories, and they'll be personal stories, and they'll be exciting espionage-tinged adventures of the covert Avengers team. He'll get a chance to explore these characters in a little more depth than Matt will be able to in "Fear Itself," just as a matter of page count -- what it means for Steve Rogers to go from a soldier who -- up until this point -- has been more comfortable serving as a foot soldier on the front lines to now being a general overseeing vast numbers of other troops and super heroes in this worldwide battle from behind the lines. Nick will explore what kind of pressure that puts him under and what kinds of choices a General has to make that perhaps Steve isn't as comfortable with. He'll also delve into Valkyrie, given the Asgardian nature of what's going on, as well as some stuff with Natasha once we get to the third issue of the three-issue arc.
