Tag: Jason Aaron

All of Aaron’s Avengers will collide in ‘Avengers Assemble’

The big event kicks off with ‘Avengers Assemble Alpha’ by Jason Aaron and Bryan Hitch in November.

During their Next Big Thing Panel in San Diego today, Marvel announced that all of the various Avengers titles Jason Aaron has worked on over the past few years — Avengers, Avengers Forever and Avengers of 1,000,000 BC — will come together in one epic crossover, suitably titled Avengers Assemble.

The event will kick off in an “alpha” issue, drawn by Bryan Hitch, that will land on Nov. 30.

“Four years of Avengers stories. Threads from really every major series I’ve worked on throughout my last decade and a half at Marvel, from Ghost Rider to Thor. It all leads to this,” Aaron said. “The biggest Avengers story I could possibly imagine. Featuring a cavalcade of characters from across creation. And I’m so deeply thrilled and honored that it all kicks off with an oversized ALPHA issue that’s being drawn by the legendary Bryan Hitch, who I’m getting to work with here for the very first time.”

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What Are You Reading? | Thunder Gods + Powerbombs

This week the Smash Pages crew talks about ‘Mighty Thor,’ ‘Batgirls’ and ‘Do A Powerbomb.’

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our look at what the Smash Pages crew has been checking off their “to read” list lately. Today’s reviews include a good chunk of the Jane Foster issues of Thor, as well as recent issues of Batgirls and Do A Powerbomb.

Let us know what you’ve been reading lately in the comments or on social media.

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What Are You Reading? | ‘Batman: Fortress,’ ‘The Closet’ and more

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately, which includes ‘Avengers Forever,’ ‘JLA Classified,’ ‘Little Monsters,’ ‘Strange’ and more.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our look at what the Smash Pages crew has been checking off their “to read” list lately. Today’s reviews include some Batman, some Justice League, some Avengers and some horror comics.

Let us know what you’ve been reading lately in the comments or on social media.

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Aaron + Walker head back to the past for ‘Avengers: 1,000,000 B.C.’ one-shot

The one-shot promises to reveal more about ‘Thor’s mysterious connection to the Phoenix Force.’

Jason Aaron will continue the story of the prehistoric Avengers in a one-shot this summer titled Avengers: 1,000,000 B.C. He’ll be joined by artist Kev Walker on the story, which promises to reveal more about Thor’s relationship with the Phoenix Force.

“The Prehistoric Avengers have been an important key to my Avengers run since the very beginning,” Aaron told Marvel.com. “They are the earliest versions of some of the earth’s most powerful legacy characters. They’re the heroes who protect the Marvel Universe in its crib. Now, we finally get to see them all in the spotlight in a huge way, in a story that shows how these prehistoric heroes shaped Marvel history in the most profound ways and that will also have big ramifications for the Avengers going forward.”

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Aaron, Saiz + Azaceta will tell the definitive ‘Punisher’ story

The three creators will get frank about Frank Castle in a 13-issue, prestige format series from Marvel.

Marvel has announced Punisher, a prestige format, 13-issue series by Avengers scribe Jason Aaron with art by Jesús Saiz, Paul Azaceta and Dave Stewart.

According to Aaron, the series will cover “the full life of Frank Castle, from troubled kid to heroic soldier to revenge-driven vigilante…to the duly anointed King of Killers.” Saiz will draw the present-day story, which involves The Hand, while Azaceta will draw Castle’s past through flashbacks.

“After writing the Punisher over the years, I’ve always been fascinated by the character of Frank Castle. What moments made him the Punisher, even before that fateful day in the park? And how far will he go to win the war that has consumed his life? Spoiler: as far as it damn well takes,” said Aaron. “This story is the destined next step in the dark and tragic evolution of Frank Castle, from troubled kid to heroic soldier to revenge-driven vigilante…to the duly anointed King of Killers. Believe me when I say, I am as excited about this story as anything I’ve ever written for Marvel.”

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Avengers of the Multiverse will assemble in ‘Avengers Forever’

Jason Aaron and Aaron Kuder send ‘shockwaves across all of reality’ this December.

Marvel is resurrecting the “Avengers Forever” name for a new series from Jason Aaron and Aaron Kuder. While the Kurt Busiek/Carlos Pacheco classic miniseries brought together Avengers from throughout time, this new series will bring together Avengers from throughout the multiverse.

Avengers Forever, one of the eight new tentpole titles coming this winter that Marvel announced last week, will arrive in December. But Aaron says the story actually begins in Avengers #50.

“Avengers #50 lights the fire. Avengers Forever is the explosion that follows,” Jason Aaron told Marvel.com. “A slam bang supernova of a megabomb that sends shockwaves across all of reality, to earth after earth that’s been defaced by the new Multiversal Masters of Evil, to the ruins of Asgard at the end of time, to an Avengers Tower that sits atop a bedrock of fallen gods at Infinity’s End. Along the way, we meet some new versions of Avengers we know, as well as witness the return of some dear old friends, in a series that will swing for the fences with each and every issue, as the Mightiest Heroes of all the Earths in the heavens look to assemble as never before.”

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Aaron + Asrar’s ‘King Conan’ will reign in December

Jason Aaron, Mahmud Asrar and Matt Wilson reunite to tell stories about an older Conan and his son.

Jason Aaron, Mahmud Asrar and Matt Wilson’s King Conan, which the creators first teased in early 2020, will finally take the throne in December.

The trio previously worked together on Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian title in 2019, on the first 12 issues of that title, but Aaron knew that wasn’t his final word on the character.

“I knew as soon as Mahmud, Matt and I finished ‘The Life and Death of Conan’ in Conan the Barbarian, one of the absolute personal highlights from my career as a comic book writer, that I wasn’t done hanging out with everyone’s favorite Cimmerian,” Aaron told Marvel.com. “As King Conan rode into the sunset at the end of that story, with his son, Prince Conn, by his side, I always knew where I wanted that story to take us next. Now at last comes that next chapter, as Mahmud, Matt and I reunite to reveal a pivotal moment in Conan’s life as a king, as a father, as a mortal enemy of snake-worshipping Stygian wizards and as a barbarian who was born to chase the wind, even to the ends of the earth.”

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Marvel announces eight new ‘tentpole’ titles for this coming winter

Daredevil, Fantastic Four, She-Hulk and more have new projects lined up at the House of Ideas.

Marvel revealed today eight new titles for the coming winter that they’re referring to as “tentpole” titles — or titles that “will shape the future of the Marvel Universe in the months to come.”

Marvel announced earlier this month plans to reveal several new projects today in celebration of their birthday — so, Happy Birthday, Marvel!

The projects range from event titles to new ones featuring some characters you’ll soon see on Disney+.

Here’s the lowdown on the eight titles:

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Marvel announces plans for milestone ‘Avengers’ #750

The oversized issue will include stories by Jason Aaron, Christopher Ruocchio, Steve McNiven, Carlos Pacheco and more.

Marvel is pulling out the stops on issue #750 of the Avengers, which arrives in November, as the 96-page issue will include multiple stories by current Avengers writer Jason Aaron and artists like Carlos Pacheco, Aaron Kuder, Ed McGuinness and Javier Garrón.

“It’s such an honor to be a part of issue #750 of Avengers, and I’m looking to celebrate the rich history of the title and its iconic characters by using this issue as the gargantuan-sized kick-off for a story that’ll be as wildly sweeping and swing-for-the-fences epic as it can possibly be,” Aaron told Marvel.com. “It’s not just that everything I’ve been doing in the last 50 issues of Avengers has been leading to this, but there are threads feeding into the next year’s worth of stories that stretch back to most every major series I’ve ever written in my 15 years at Marvel Comics.”

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Hawkarang-in-the-eye: Heroes Reborn roundtable, week 5

Same Hawk-time, same Hawk-channel: Carla, Tom, Shane and JK continue to discuss Marvel’s latest comics event.

We are back this week for our fifth Heroes Reborn roundtable, where we break down the latest Marvel crossover issue by issue. This week Shane Bailey, Tom Bondurant, Carla Hoffman and I talk about Heroes Reborn #5, as well as two tie-in issues: American Knight and Marvel Double Action. It’s Bat-week! Three out of four bloggers would probably agree it’s also the best week of the event thus far.

You can read part one of our roundtable discussions here, part two here, part three here and part four here.

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How many TVs was that again? The Heroes Reborn roundtable, week 3

Carla, Tom, Shane and JK assemble once again to discuss Marvel’s latest comics event.

Time for round three of our Heroes Reborn roundtable, where we break down the latest Marvel crossover issue by issue. This week Shane Bailey, Tom Bondurant, Carla Hoffman and I talk about Heroes Reborn #3, which puts the spotlight on the super-speedster, Blur, and the more mystical elements of the Marvel Universe.

You can read part one of our roundtable discussions here and part two here.

So grab your copies and let’s jump in …

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Re-reading ‘World’s Finest’ #258, the comic that got Jason Aaron into world-building

Tom Bondurant dives into a classic issue of DC’s ‘Dollar Comics’ line that helped inspire the architect of Marvel’s ‘Heroes Reborn’ event.

As part of our round-robin Heroes Reborn [2021] coverage, I learned that writer Jason Aaron’s first superhero comic book was August-September 1979’s World’s Finest Comics #258. Back then it was part of DC’s “Dollar Comics” line, boasting 68 pages’ and five features’ worth of colorful characters. In his newsletter, Aaron says

I fell in love with these books, in part because they didn’t just give me one story, but instead gave me a taste of an entire world of characters and adventures and history that was out there waiting for me. The sort of gargantuan super-world that would come to consume a large portion of the rest of my life. […] In other words, I think I’ve been primed from the beginning to want to build my own world of superheroes. And HEROES REBORN is maybe as close as I’ll ever come to doing exactly that.

It will surprise none of you to learn that I also read World’s Finest Comics regularly as a kid, especially during the Dollar Comics phase. (It lasted over five years and almost 40 issues, from April-May 1977’s #244 through August 1982’s #282; and a Green Arrow/Black Canary backup continued for a couple of issues past that.) Although the Dollar Comics line was largely an experiment in marketing and economics of scale, World’s Finest was pretty impressive among the company’s late-1970s output.

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