Agent M aka Ryan Penagos hosted a special live episode of the This Week in Marvel panel at New York Comic Con on Thursday. His guests were Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski, Executive Editor Tom Brevoort, and writers Jed MacKay and Al Ewing. The topic at hand was everything Avengers!
It was a casual atmosphere before the panel. Al, Tom and Ryan sat on the edge of the stage chit chatting with each other and with fans. By the time the 3:15 panel started, it was a packed room of people excited for the latest Avengers titles news.
C.B. Cebulski expressed he was less than enthused about director chairs. “Does anyone enjoy sitting in them?” he asked. He and Agent M debated whether the director chairs were a cost saving measure or a way to encourage conversation.
Despite it being an Avengers panel, Tom Brevoort wore a shirt featuring what looked like every one of the X-Men from the early ’90s, clearly letting everyone know where he’s heading after leaving the Avengers office in the near future.
Ryan asked the panelists for their Avengers origin story. What got them into the Avengers? Jed MacKay credited Avengers #130, which he read as a kid. Tom Brevoort then described the entire cover, cover price, who drew the cover (Gil Kane), and the month and year the issue came out. He even corrected Jed on the page count of the issue (17 pages back then).
Al Ewing’s Avengers origin story was in a UK reprint of Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars. As a child, he appreciated the Avengers all standing in a line announcing their names. It let him quickly learn each character. As Al described another Avengers comic, Tom interuppted, saying it was Avengers #255.
Tom Brevoort grew up a DC reader. He came late to Marvel. As a teen, he wanted to read the first Fantastic Four story, which he knew was in Origins of Marvel Comics. It was out of print, but his local library had it. Unfortunately it was constantly checked out. But he found Son of Origins at the library, which had Avengers #1 in it. After that, he picked up any Avengers comics he could find. His first was the first part of The Korvac Saga, which he described as incredibly confusing. But George Perez did the art, so he came back for the next issue.
C.B. Cebulski couldn’t remember his first Avengers comic, but after describing it, Tom quickly pointed out the issue number. Ryan grew up a X-Men and Punisher fan, and didn’t come to Avengers until much later.
Enough of the past, let’s talk about the future!
A video played showing C.F. Villa art of upcoming Avengers issues featuring Terminus of all villains. The tone screamed big and cinematic. Jed MacKay talked about intentionally bringing the team down to a manageable number of characters. With its Magnificent Seven lineup, it seems reminiscent of Grant Morrison and Howard Porter’s classic run of JLA. Artwork of new villains The Ashen Combine filled the screen.
“I like making of teams of weird people,” said MacKay. When it came to designing the characters, MacKay described it as “a great collaborative process.” He would give C.F. Villa as much space as possible to design the villains, with the designs coming back much better than he ever pictured in his own head. The two previously worked together on Black Cat. Ryan showed off covers by Stuart Immonem of upcoming issues of Avengers.
Ryan also showed fans character designs for the Twilight Court by Daniel Acuna. The Twilight Court, who first appeared in Timeless, return in Avengers #8, coming out in December. The team tees off against the Twilight Court in Avengers #9 as well.
Ryan asked the panel to assemble their own Avengers squad. The choices available to Tom had a very X-Men bent, including such “Avengers” characters as Wolverine, Firestar, Iceman, Blink and Random. Wolverine, Storm, Firestar, Nightcrawler, Darwin, Random and Glob Herman made it onto the Brevoort Avengers squad.
Al Ewing discussed The Immortal Thor. Ryan showed the crowd covers by Alex Ross for issues #1 through 7. Al said he will be retelling some of Thor’s more mythological adventures on this Thor run. Loki appears as The Storyteller. Al said Loki sometimes is a Thor villain, sometimes a Thor ally, but as The Storyteller, he will definitely be a Thor adversary.
Al hinted that “Things in myths often come in three, and the next issue is issue 3.” Expect something big in The Immortal Thor #3, coming later this month. At the recent Avengers summit, Al outlined his plans for the first 25 issues of the series, so expect this title to be around for at least a couple of years. The new Thor Corps debut in The Immortal Thor #5, out in December. Issues 6 and 7 retell the myth of Utgard. “It’s a tale of Thor and Loki in days of old, the original odd couple,” explained Ewing.
C.B Cebulski’s draft Avengers team includes Molly Hayes, Lila Cheney, D-Man “just to kill him on the first page of the new run,” Black Widow, White Tiger and “one of the greatest characters in the history of Marvel Comics, Darkhawk.”
Jed MacKey previewed The Last Day of Moon Knight. Ryan asked him, “Are you really killing Moon Knight?” To which, Jed responded, “Well, the thing about Moon Knight is he dies.” That doesn’t sound good for the Fist of Khonshu.
He said Moon Knight #30 features “Alessandro Cappuccio’s best work. I can’t wait for you all to see it.” Vengeance of the Moon Knight #1 debuts in January 2024, also by Jed MacKay and Alessandro Cappuccio. “The mystery is who is this Moon Knight, what are they getting up to, and how can they be stopped?” The new series spins directly out of Moon Knight #30. “I know we’re testing your patience with Death of Fill in the Blank, but trust me, stick with us,” said MacKay.
Jed MacKay drafted Puck (as leader), Misty Knight, Shang-Chi, D-Man (as a favor to Agent M), Wong and Quasar (to be put in a wood chipper in the first issue). Tom Brevoort immediately ridiculed MacKay’s commercial instincts with that lineup. Tom also made the first of multiple “No Wong answer” jokes which elicited no laughs the first time, and somehow less laughs the second.
While Jed MacKay talked about killing Dr. Strange in the new Dr. Strange series, Tom Brevoort interrupted, saying “You really do kill a lot of characters.” To which MacKay immediately quipped back, “I’m giving the people what they want.” More Marvel mystical characters will be killed off during this series, with Clea as the main suspect. This series also features covers by Alex Ross.
The crowd gave Tom some pity laughs on his third “No Wong answer” attempt.
As Al Ewing picked his Avengers squad, someone in the audience asked, “Is D-Man on every slide?” Ryan is a big D-Man fan. Al’s draft Avengers team consists of Captain Marvel Monica Rambeau, Nova, Loki, Red Wolf, Black Cat, D-Man and Dr. Voodoo.
Avengers United #1, the latest Marvel Infinity Comic, went live on Marvel Unlimited during this panel. C.B. pushed the Marvel Unlimited app, saying new comics debut every day on the app. This comic features the same team as team currently appearing in comic shops in The Avengers.
Everyone who stayed for the entirety of the panel received an exclusive variant cover of Avengers #5.
