As longtime comic book fans know, Marvel and DC often tailor their comics to closely resemble their latest movies as closely as possible. Usually this is on the superficial level of changing a character’s costume to match the movie before inevitably changing it back to the original design a few years later.
During the Inhumanty and All-New Marvel NOW! panel at New York Comic-Con, Marvel revealed that former Iron Man and former War Machine James Rhodes will be getting a new ongoing series as Iron Patriot. In the comics, the Iron Patriot identity was created by Norman Osborn, but Rhodes has recently co-opted the name and armor for himself. In Iron Man 3, Rhodes was the only Iron Patriot.
Ales Kot and Garry Brown are the creative team of Iron Patriot; which will focus on Rhodes stepping out of Iron Man’s shadow after getting tired of being used a covert weapon.
The new Silver Surfer ongoing series by Dan Slott and Mike Allred was previously teased by Marvel. But Slott was onhand to reveal that the Surfer will be getting a female companion from Earth who is a “kindred spirit.” Given that Slott is a huge “Doctor Who’ fan, it’s hard not to see some parallels when he said that the Surfer and his new friend will enjoy exploring the universe together.
Ghost Rider was another surprising announcement, as former Tokyopop manga creator Felipe Smith will make his Marvel debut with the book alongside artist Tradd Moore. Marvel editor Mark Paniccia declined to state the premise of the book, but he did promise that it was a very different take on Ghost Rider.
The other new comic announced was James Robinson’s All-New Invaders; which reteams the surviving Invaders in the modern day after the return of a WWII device that can “weaponize Asgardians.” In the present, the Kree have found the device and the Invaders reunite to stop them.
A good deal of the panel was spent talking up Inhumanity, the event spinning out of Infinity that will dramatically increase the profile of the Inhumans in the Marvel Universe when the release of the terrigen mists creates thousands of new Inhumans around the world.
Personally, I think that Inhumanity was born out of Marvel’s long term film plans. Marvel can’t use mutants in their movies because of their deal with 20th Century Fox. However, the Inhumans are now being re-imagined as ordinary people blessed and cursed with superpowers; which is basically the idea behind the mutant population as well. If Marvel is planning to make an Inhumans movie in its Phase 3 films, then perhaps the Marvel creative team is just getting a jump on their counterparts in Hollywood.
Need proof? Marvel gave the Guardians of the Galaxy a big push in the comics and even in animated guest appearances on “Ultimate Spider-Man” and “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” animated series before announcing the Guardians of the Galaxy film. If Marvel follows the same strategy for the Inhumans then a film is very likely to happen.
Inhuman will debut in January 2014 as part of the All-New Marvel NOW launch, with Indestructible Hulk and Iron Man receiving Inhumanity tie-in issues during the same month.
