Marvel's House of M Press Conference

news:
Yesterday Marvel Comics held a Press Conference to discuss some of its upcoming plans concerning the mega-crossover event, House of M. The series is set to shake up the status quo in the Marvel U. On hand to talk about the saga was were Brian Michael Bendis, Joe Quesada, Tom Brevoort, Mike Marts, John Dokes, and David Gabriel.

The panel began with writer Brian Michael Bendis giving a summary of what the House of M is supposed to be and where Marvel is with the initiative so far.

"Just to start off, the House of M miniseries is technically an Astonishing X-Men and New Avengers crossover that birthed itself into a legitimately giant Marvel Universe miniseries that affects more than just the two books it was initially set to affect," Bendis began. "We're gathering here to talk about the long-term ramifications the miniseries will set the stage for. What we're the most happy about is the new kinds of stories we'll be able to tell after this miniseries. We're setting the stage to make a change that allows a lot of writers to tell a great many new kinds of stories."

"House of M involves all the mutants, all of the Avengers - past and present, and is NOT a What If ...? story," Bendis continued. "There have been a lot of rumors on the internet, that think this story is not actually happening in the mainstream Marvel universe, but it is and we are NOT putting the world back the way we found it!"


HOUSE OF M #1 COVER

Then the floor was opened up to a series of questions and answers.

QUESTION: One concern we've been hearing is the amount of comics involved in this whole House of M event. It's huge - the checklists seem to have tons of comics involved. Is it going to be necessary to buy every book that has something to do with HoM or can you just get the main House of M miniseries and leave?

BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS ANSWER: The plan is basically that you'll hopefully be picking up the main title, and that there are so many ideas put forth in that title, you'll be interested in seeing what happens to the key characters next after this story. Like if you like what just happened to Spider-Man or dig the Iron Man armor and want to see what's next, you'll get the next part or their miniseries.

If you're so inclined to buy them all, you will get this massive epic - like a giant miniseries you might see on TV. In fact it reminded me a lot like TAKEN, the recent miniseries from the SCI FI channel. Of course you can just read the main House of M and the pieces that interest you most. I guess all you really have to read though is the main miniseries which is important and necessary to understand the rest.

JOE QUESADA: The event is designed like the larger Marvel events of the past three or four years. We don't want to force our readership to buy every title to get the whole story. It's the law of diminishing returns once you ask this of readers too many times, they gravitate against it. But to get the full experience you want to get the crossover issues. Our advice is, we'd love you to buy them all, but, at the end of the day, you should buy what you like and what you can afford!

This event is really something we planned and it's also a lot of fun. Plus there will be huge ramifications to be carried on through the entire Marvel Universe and felt through all the titles across the board. The way it's laid out, it's almost impossible not to buy the next part.


QUESTION: You're promising ramifications and big endings, what can you tell us of those?

BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS: You truly haven't seen it before - that's for sure! It's the kind of thing -

MARVEL: It's Daredevil! He's responsible!

[laughter]

BENDIS: There were a great many writers involved with the birth of this kind of idea. We showed it to a lot of writers and said, 'Does this excite you as much as it does us?' What you'll get is new kinds of Marvel stories, we're always looking for ideas to birth these new stories and ideas, instead of just repeating the same stories a million times. We are looking for new stories not just for the summer, but beyond - for the chance to really do things that haven't been done before.

QUESTION: What do you learn from writing a big event like Avengers Disassembled that helped your creative process for House of M.?

BENDIS: Don't kill Hawkeye.

[laughs]

QUESTION: Would you do that again if you had the chance? Kill Hawkeye?

BENDIS: If I had to do it all over again, I'd do it. You never go out to purposely piss people off or shock people, but when it's telling itself, you can't shy away from the story. It always looks worse than you imagine. You can't shy away from stuff. You have to let the story happen. There were things I thought people would get pissed off about, but didn't; and things that did piss off, that I have no clue why.

The cool thing about this job is that we're constantly learning. Everything you do, you learn from writing. It is such an organic process that it has a constant fear that comes with it, but it's also like an excitement because you're always doing something you haven't done before. This is true definitely not only from books I've written, but events that have come before. You learn the lessons of history and what worked about one event or another. What I'm most happy about in HoM is the aftermath. You see things that happen in any company where the event IS spectacular, but the aftermath is disastrous. I'm very proud of what Tom, Mark, Joe and Dan have put together as stories to be told afterwards. It made the whole process worthwhile. That's what I've enjoyed the most about HoM - as we've looked at what has gone on in the past and in history and we try to improve upon it.

QUESTION: You mentioned event will allow Marvel to tell different types of stories. We've seen espionage recently, what other types are you talking about?

BENDIS: It would spoil things a little to give it away. Let's just say we're putting the main Marvel characters in a position they've never in before and watching them deal with it emotionally and physically. Plus there are some new types of villains to pull out of the story. Something like this can't help but be interesting to new readers or the more classic readers.

QUESTION: Is it revamping genres or similar to DC's recent Countdown miniseries?

BENDIS: It's completely different from the DC ones. Different animals with different goals for what they want. Nothing feels like it needs to be fixed at Marvel and this isn't anything like that. This is more along the lines of here's a story that birthed itself out of Marvel continuity of years past an Av Dis; from there the wheels turned and a question like 'What if a Villain like Magneto put the screws to things and the world didn't get put back the way it was?' was formed.

QUESADA: People are speculating that we're fixing things or setting the clocks back. We're in no way doing that. Everything after this is a new take and spin.

TOM BREVOORT: We're making entirely new mistakes.

MARVEL: This gives us the chance to Kill Hawkeye all over again.

[laughs]

QUESTION: Is this actually happening to the mainstream characters? Like we saw Age of Apocalypse and Heroes Reborn but things were kind of the same afterwards ...

BENDIS: We aren't those stories.

One of the things I'm most proud of and that surprised some people is how emotional the story is. I can't speak for the other events and what they tried, but I'm very happy with how emotional the story turned out and the quality of the artwork and such. We can't be compared to anything that has come before. I haven't really seen this before you get excited and nervous.

QUESADA: With the other crossovers, things were normal afterwards. With this, things will definitely be quite different afterwards.

QUESTION: You said that this event will change the Marvel of the future, so if I hate the House of M, am I screwed reading Marvel Comics for the next ten years?

BENDIS: When we say "change" there are certain mega and micro events to change. It doesn't mean all of the comics will be radically different, but it is a world where now some things may be. It's not like Wolverine will now be blue and that's what his story will be about. There are things going on in the Marvel Universe, but something has happened now and characters are dealing with it in these new kinds of stories. We LOVE the Marvel Universe, and we're not turning it on its head because we think we know better. This is a love letter to every single Avengers and Magneto story.

QUESTION: How many issues is this?

BENDIS: 8 issues biweekly; the is opposite of the feeling you've been getting from Secret War. It's almost like a machine gun - every two weeks, *boom, boom, boom,* it's big.

QUESTION: In light of recent issues how many issues is this again?

ANSWER: laughs

QUESTION: The order cut off date is next week. Is this looking like Ultimate numbers or Avengers Disassembled numbers or something like that? Is it meeting expects?

BENDIS: The only thing we can say is its surpassing all expectations so far. Everyone here has a really big smile. Olivier Copiel killed on this. It will really put him on the map. I am so happy with him! I can't even tell you how great it is, and he doesn't even speak English!

[laughs]

QUESADA: Yes, he does!

BENDIS: Have you talked to him lately?

QUESTION: Where's the writing aspect coming from?

BENDIS: I'll tell you how it all started. After AV Dis, I kind of muttered to Joe, 'Hey you know Magneto is here and Wanda is here and Peitro is here, and this could really screw the X-Men and Avengers at the same time.' From there, the idea was put forth to a lot of the writers saying, 'hey if we did something like this, would it excite you or annoy you?' A lot of guys said, 'I'm in. I have something I can do with this!' From there, it built.



For the aftermath of House of M, we did the same thing where we all got together and plotted out what would be a very tight and profound aftermath to this and asked again, 'If we do this are you excited or upset?' And a lot of really talented guys jumped in to carry the torch. That's the most fun part of it for me, because writing such a solitary endeavor. I'm usually alone in my basement, like I am now, and to have others jump in and be a part of this and see the value of it dramatically is the best part of House of M.

QUESTION: Why does IRON MAN look like a Gundam?

ANSWER: People like Iron Man's new armor, some think he looks like a Transformer, but there's a lot of effort to make Iron Man the Shining Knight of the future that he's supposed to be. I said it before, my cell phone can take a picture, but Iron Man still has to use these roller skates.

QUESTION: With this conflict the characters are thrown in will they be aware of it and trying to fight against it or immersed in it against their wills. Are the characters involved completely subjected to it?


BENDIS: That's one of the mysteries of the story. Issue three has some answers. We have a very tight first act. Issue #2 has 21 scenes in it, which for me is a miracle.

QUESTION: If this affects what happens from this point on, what about the past events and lives of these characters? How does that come into play? Does it still matter?

BENDIS: It's a very emotional book.

QUESTION: Who is Layla Miller?

BREVOORT: She's an all new characters. She is crucially important and crucially important to plans afterward for the House of M. It's early for us to talk about and speak about. You will want to watch her as things go forward. We have clear plans for her as the first in another of new characters.



QUESTION: About continuity ... titles go back and forth on how tight continuity is. Will this draw continuity together or break them apart by this ability to tell new stories? It sounds like each title and subject are separate universe with different relationships and world views. How does it work in the future?

BENDIS: It works the way it has worked in the recent past. If you look at last year in the case of New Avengers, which has Spider-Man and Wolverine; and characters turning up elsewhere - all the characters share the Marvel universe. This is the opportunity for a connection and crossover and to see the effects of one book on another. This is and will continue to be an element going forward. No one in his own little boxes after this - everyone plays with everyone else. That's one of the beautiful things about House of M and New Avengers and what we're doing. We are seeing what new elements can come out of this interaction.


What some people have the feeling of when we say we're going to try something new is that we will destroy something old, but this is the opposite of that. When we announced the Ultimates, the reaction was 'you'll destroy the main Marvel universe!' And now, here we are a few years later, and that's not the case. New doesn't mean destroying anything old. It's kind of a valentine to what Marvel was in the early '70s. We wanted to push forward and not retell old stories over and over again - all that can still be accomplished and all that can still be done; this is a love letter to what has come before us.

BENDIS: I actually would like to say THE PULSE newspaper is a fun little bit that I think people will really enjoy. We actually put out a newspaper together with all the writers writing articles containing bits and pieces about the series you will only find in this edition.

QUESTION: Is Layla Miller only new character?

BENDIS: Nope.

QUESTION: Why bring in new characters when there are so many existing characters who could be used?

BENDIS: We'll be using the old too. I have no qualms about using classic characters, remember I'm the guy who shoved Jessica Drew down your throats in New Avengers. You'll see both new and old characters all share the same spotlight. We'll see what the public likes.

QUESTION: Will Hawkeye in series?

BENDIS: [solemnly] He passed away - very suddenly.

[laughter]

QUESTION: Will there be lots of deaths?

BENDIS: I won't say no, because everyone yells at you; but I will tell you it's weird that in three months there was an inordinate amount of killing in all my titles, which of course most I'd written ahead of time. So even though it seemed I was being all Hannibal Lector-ish, it wasn't my intention. I did make a promise this year to be all about the creation and birth and the new, so you're seeing things like the reintroduction of Sentry to new villains from the House of M and New Avengers. I made a promise to create and not destroy.

QUESTION: How are you going to make sure the House of M does not have all eggs in one basket?

BREVOORT: We tend to go forward with stories and with ideas that we have confidence in; so it's not a questions of all our eggs in one basket. We have confidence in it as a story to excite readers and fans, but they are not the only books we're putting out that month. It's not that we feel less excited - the basket is no different than before House of M - this is just shiniest thing in basket this month.



QUESTION: Does THE PULSE Special have any word about the cover image that has been bandied about that looks like a photo of the King of Spain?

ANSWER: The King of Spain not the biggest villain in the marvel universe

[laughter]

QUESTION: Are there any new permanent books launch as a result?

ANSWER: Yes. All have letter "M" Somewhere in the title.


Tomorrow I'll include all the upcoming House of M tie-ins & mini-series as the start of the event nears.