Multiversity Countdown: Top 5 C2E2 Announcements

This past weekend was C2E2, Chicago’s big comic convention, had a door busting show with increased attendance and a ton of great creators peddling their creative juices to the masses. There was also a fair amount of announcements this weekend, from various companies telling us an array of things. We did our best to cover it all, but we do the best we can. And wouldn’t you know it, I’ve decided to take a look at what they talked about this past weekend.

Take a look past the cut for my top 5 announcements from this past weekend.

The odd thing about the weekend is that, in all reality, Marvel essentially dominated the news front. This isn’t that odd. At New York Comic Con, DC only really announced one thing by accident, and there was barely any news whatsoever from Emerald City Comic Con all things considered. This is most likely due to Brightest Day not yet being over and them saving most of their announcements until Brightest Day is over.

So in all reality, this is the Top 5 Marvel announcements from C2E2. Let’s begin:

5. Mark Waid, Paolo Rivera, and Marcos Martin Launch Daredevil

Daredevil is definitely one of Marvel’s greatest characters. He’s one of the few characters in Marvel’s history that has had fantastic talent after fantastic talent writing him, as well as a very visible and prominent character arc fueling his stories. From Frank Miller to Brian Bendis, it’s undeniable the amount of talent that the book has had. Daredevil has most recently ended up with Andy Diggle, who took Matt Murdock to his darkest character yet, ending with Matt as an actual villain. While Shadowland might not have been up to expectations and with Daredevil: Reborn continuing that trend, Andy Diggle definitely kept the tradition alive of putting Matt into a situation impossibly hard for the next writer to tackle.

However, Mark Waid promises to bring the character home and ground him once more. Waid is certainly one of the most important talents in the medium, with his work like Kingdom Come literally being staples in every good comic library. Waid has also been known for quite a few fan favorite superhero runs, including that of the Flash, and those that read his Superman 2000 pitch created with Grant Morrison know that there is some heavy duty talent in that mind. With the book back to a character central focus and a promise of less ninjas, plus the added talent of Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin on the art department, the book could once again be at the top of Marvel’s roster. Here’s crossing fingers.

4. Bendis and Bagley Team Up For Brilliant

Bendis and Bagley hold the record for longest creator duo on a Marvel title with 110 issues on Ultimate Spider-Man, and now the duo are teaming up to do a creator owned title. And honestly, if there’s one thing big name creators don’t do enough of, it’s creator owned work. This is the kind of stuff that broke most writers and artists into the business, and to see talent devoting all their time only to established superheroes is a bit of a disappointment. With Bendis slowly moving back to creator owned work with this, Powers and Scarlet, it’s very nice to see that a man who made his name from creator owned work is moving back into that world in addition to all his other work. On top of that, this is Bagley’s first foray into the creator owned world, and to do it with Bendis seems like a perfect fit. The two have a great synergy together, and for all intents and purposes Brilliant should be exactly as it says in the title.

3. Garth Ennis To Write Nick Fury MAX

Garth Ennis is a controversial creator. There’s really no doubt with that one. The man has been responsible for some of the most disgusting comics in the business, with the Boys repeatedly pushing the boundaries of what is sane/allowed in polite society, and Preacher certainly is chock-full of moments that make the reader raise an eyebrow. Heck, the last time Ennis wrote Fury, he did such a bang up job that he turned George Clooney off from ever playing the character (although that clearly worked out for the best).

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Now Ennis returns to Marvel to write a new MAX title, and for those who have read his fantastic run on Punisher MAX know that Garth Ennis is certainly the right man for this job. While Nick Fury has certainly been redefined by writer Jonathan Hickman, I think that Ennis returning to the character to write an alternate version of Nick Fury (in the same vein that the current PunisherMAX and DeadpoolMAX are both alternate versions of the characters) is just what the doctor ordered. Ennis had Fury make an appearance in his Punisher MAX story “Mother Russia,” so one can only assume good things.

I suppose some people might find it odd that I have this item higher than my excitement for the return of Daredevil or even a Bendis/Bagley team-up, but I suppose what should be stated here is that I’ve been wanting to read a Nick Fury ongoing since I got heavily into comics. Secret Warriors certainly counts, but I can’t say I don’t want to see Fury go off and be a ridiculous gun-toting badass with a cigar in his mouth. So bring it on, Ennis!

2. David Liss and Patrick Zurcher Launch The Mystery Men

The Mystery Men is something that Marvel teased a while ago, and while it caused some controversy due to it’s name the final reveal of it being a 1935 pulp-based comic is a very intriguing thing. I’m a huge fan of pulp and 1940’s sensibilities, so this type of title seems right up my alley with some brand new characters in perhaps the greatest era of American history. Marvel recently went back and retold it’s history in the Marvel’s Project, and seeing as this takes place before the Marvel’s Project, it should be interesting to see how this fits into the greater Marvel continuity (and if it’s anything like SHIELD in that aspect). Suffice it to say, this is the one comic that I know the least about and yet want to read the most.

1. Greg Rucka and Marco Checchetto Launch Punisher

When Marvel revealed they were bringing back the Punisher, my immediate reaction was that I’d be skipping it, because who could possibly compete with the stories of two of my favorite creators – Matt Fraction and Rick Remender? But when it was revealed that Greg Rucka would be taking the writing reigns for this title, my opinion immediately changed, and now I’m 100% ready to keep reading the Punisher past In The Blood.

Greg Rucka’s last major superhero run in comics was perhaps the best non-Morrison related thing to come out of Batman RIP. Rucka’s writing of Kate Kane in Detective Comics was absolutely phenomenal, and anyone who has followed his illustrious career knows that Rucka is a writer at the top of the game. Books like Stumptown, Queen and Country, and even Gotham Central prove time and time again that Rucka knows crime, and now he’s coming at it in a brand new angle: with the Punisher.

For the past few years, the Punisher has been mixing it up in the world of the super, with writers Matt Fraction and Rick Remender taking Punisher on an odyssey (so to say) that fundamentally strayed from everything that every other Punisher has tried to do with him. Now Rucka is bringing it back to basics, putting Punisher back in the “real” world and continuing his war on crime. However, knowing Rucka’s ability to mix the super with the real (see: Gotham Central), it should be incredibly exciting to everyone just what his Punisher take will be.

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So that’s what rocked at C2E2. But not everything was all that great. Wondering what the worst announcement was?

1. The Flash Runs Out In May (With Issue #12)

While not technically announced at C2E2, DC ran a news report on their blog (labeled as Friday Flashpoint: C2E2 Edition) saying that the Flash would be “cancelled” as soon as Flashpoint starts. Nothing beyond issue #12, despite a solicit for issue #13 (see: image to the right).

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Is the Flash permanently done? Probably not, no. But even so, the book has barely made it out of it’s first year and it has already a) been thrown headstrong into an event and b) been announced as ending. First Rebirth is faced with myriads of delays, then the ongoing is hit with just as many, which now results in Johns apparently dropping this from his writing list temporarily. This is really not the way to bring an iconic character like Barry Allen back from the dead, now is it? Especially when Flash: Rebirth #6 promised a lot of stories from loose threads. One can assume that after Flashpoint there will be another Flash title in it’s place, but even so. Geoff Johns was once a writer praised by everyone I know – including myself – but his recent (and late) work on Green Lantern and Brightest Day have made him fall from grace a tad with Multiversity, to the point that he actually didn’t make our “Writer of the Year” list for 2010. It’s too bad, because the first arc of the Flash was fantastic, and the CSI aspect of the title seemed like one that had honest longevity for an original take on the superhero detective/crime fighter.

Give the Flash a chance to run!

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So there you have it! And in case you missed it, here is every bit of news we ran during C2E2 Weekend: