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As if by magic, the return of the Millar tease.

September 21st, 2007
Author Graeme McMillan

As if he knows that I’m leaving for parts unknown (Oh, okay; Europe) tomorrow, Mark Millar offers up something that’ll get his fans excited and his haters agitated:

Civil War was Marvel’s biggest selling series since the early 90s. So how do we follow that? What character or group or regular book do you feel we’re doing now for next April? I don’t think it’ll be named for another month or two yet, but curious as to what you think we’d work well on.

I’ll tell you this much… I’m having a great time. I stopped writing War Heroes at number 3 and FF at our tenth issue as I’m so far ahead. Started the [Steve McNiven] project a couple of months back and just finishing issue seven now. I’ll have the first big arc (eight issues) done by the time the thing’s announced and then I can jump back onto Kick-Ass. I’ve never been this far ahead before (using my time out wisely towards the end), but it’s a bloody great feeling. The book’s worked out really well too. Steve is itching to get started.

Some clues:

It involves a symbiote at one stage in the story, the death of the greatest Marvel hero, a new President, a blind superhero driving a car 3000 miles and The Hulk as you’ve never seen them (yes them) before. It’s a lot of fun and I have a feeling this is going to be MASSIVE.

Start saving now.

Retailers, you can build that extension you’ve been thinking about. As of January I’m back, my friends!!!

46 Responses to “As if by magic, the return of the Millar tease.”
  1. matteo Says:

    “…and I promise, it’s not going to be Fantastic four!”

  2. Bully Says:

    the death of the greatest Marvel hero

    Quasar?

  3. Kevin Melrose Says:

    Northstar.

  4. KoozyK Says:

    re: 2
    quaser’s already died. they just launched a new quaser and i doubt they’d kill her so soon.

    mcniven’s new project? so much for keeping him on asm for any long period at all…

    and is it just me, but i would rather have quality from millar, not quantity.

  5. Kyle Says:

    Y’know, back when Millar was doing one project at a time (Wanted, Chosen, etc), it wasn’t as good as when he was doing The Ultimates, Wolverine and MK Spider-Man. Quantity kind of IS quality with Millar.

  6. Alex Hulk Says:

    It’s not clear if he’s saying that the story will involve ramifications from the death of Captain America, or he’s saying that ANOTHER “greatest hero” is gonna die within the new story…

  7. Charles Skaggs Says:

    My guess?

    SECRET CIVIL WORLD WAR ANNHILATION INVASION.

    With an accompanying SECRET CIVIL WORLD WAR ANNIHILATION INVASION: FRONT LINE mini-series written by Paul Jenkins.

  8. Matt Says:

    I hope it involves Jesus.

  9. The Dan Coyle Ultimatum Says:

    …And BLAH… BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH…

  10. nandoninny Says:

    sweet.
    i love everything millar writes.

    his millar-verse was great. he did 4 titles at once (well, i think the ashley wood one was cancelled) and all rocked.
    i especially loved “unfunnies” which i don’t think anyone else did.
    that foul little kid just cracked me up though.

  11. Jake Saint Says:

    When yelling “Get out of the way!” just won’t do: I misread the sentence the first time and thought it read “a blind superhero driving a car 3000 miles an hour“, and I admit, I thought that sounded awesome.

  12. Mark Engblom Says:

    “Retailers, you can build that extension you’ve been thinking about. As of January I’m back, my friends!!!”

    Yawn.

  13. Eric Says:

    Didn’t he release a ton of clues about Fantastic Four, none of which seem to be relevant or actually apply to Fantastic Four? I’ll guess Defenders, but only vaguely due to the mention of the Hulks. I love Millar (except maybe for Civil War, where my problem was with the premise, not the execution) and am happy he’ll be back.

  14. J.D. Lombardi Says:

    One of the most over-rated writers currently out there.

  15. Mek Says:

    “a blind superhero driving a car 3000 miles”

    …. Why in the heck does that sound like a rehashed joke from an old issue of ‘Toyfare’?

  16. JusticeGH Says:

    Okay…so BKV leaves behind mainstream super-hero comics, but Millar stays and keeps writing up a storm? Can I get a trade?

    Just one of those times life shows me it’s unfair.

  17. longshot7 Says:

    Mark, shut up already. Nobody cares.

  18. lame Says:

    I care.

  19. Yeah Right Says:

    How in the **** can people get excited over “Events” when they constantly happen?!

    I hope all of these events eventually put comic books into a coma-like state…like what the 90’s almost did.

  20. Mike Says:

    Hey, everyone, “Lame” cares. Kinda puts it all in perspective, doesn’t it?

    Millar is a vastly overrated, pompous @$$, too.

  21. s*p rules Says:

    Best guesses: Daredevil drives cross country, the Sentry (hopefully) dies, and maybe that Red Hulk we’ve seen teased before is used…

  22. Gokitalo Says:

    Civil War was Marvel’s biggest selling series since the early 90s.

    I’m beginning to think “modesty” and “Millar” are not exactly synonyms ;)

  23. Mike O'Brien Says:

    I don’t understand Marvel, a hack like Millar gets work thrown at him left and right but a true comic legend named John Byrne has to draw lame commissions for his slobbering suckup fans. Comic fanboys disgust me. As my mentor Bono said,”There are pigs and there are pearls, digging through slop ain’t my bag.”

  24. Donovan Says:

    SECRET WARS III!

  25. jason Says:

    [I]“…a hack like Millar gets work thrown at him left and right but a true comic legend named John Byrne has to draw lame commissions for his slobbering suckup fans.”[/I]

    Look up hack in the dictionary and therre’s Byrne staring right back at you.

  26. Jeremy Says:

    Yea, thank God Mike O’Brien doesn’t run any comic companies. ;D

  27. roy batty Says:

    Does Millar care about ANYTHING else other than how much his books sell?

    He is indeed the paragon of comic book celebrity: he does not want to be a good writer, or even just a writer, or anything like. He just want to sell out and be ‘famous’.

    He’s all about hype and money.

    How sad.

    Please, somebody give him his own reality show (I’m sure he’d LOVE that), and good riddance.

  28. Bezel666 Says:

    Byrn knows what beginnings middles and ends to stories as well as well laid out and well drawn comics, dynamics and drama. unlike most of the flavors of the monthes today. call me a suck up if you want but give me a Byrne drawn comic over 90% of the artists working today

  29. Bezel666 Says:

    and I have nothing at all against Millars work, usually enjoy it, though Civil War was like Ultimate Crisis. unneeded and too many tie ins that relapsed way too much with no adding to the story, just detractions abound

  30. Toneloak Says:

    hahahahahahaha

    DAMN, with the love and hate people spit out at every turn, all that passion for one man’s work. Millar really deserves his checks.

    He’s a walking comic event. How does he ever tell a small story again.

  31. Tim O'Shea Says:

    Graeme: “So, Mike, do me a favor. I’m going to Europe for awhile, but I really want my posts to generate traffic while I’m gone. If you sense my Millar tease post is starting to lag in interest, somehow toss a positive Byrne post in the mix.”

    Mike: “For good measure, in praising Byrne while trashing Millar, I’ll bash all fanboys. That should do the trick.”

    (The above theoretical conversation IS a joke on my part, folks)

    Seriously though, if someone could drag an insult of Harlan Ellison or Rob Liefeld into this thread we’d have ourselves the never-ending post.

  32. Alex Says:

    Hey, you know what was also good in the 1990s?

    A coherent plot!

  33. Martin Says:

    Millar’s acutely aware of how to work the hype machine–he’s learned well from Quesada, methinks. That’s why you constantly hear him talk about how much his books sell, because he knows it drives the fanboy cognoscenti mad to realize that he’s successful *in spite* of them, rather than *because of* them.

    Any success for comics really lifts all boats, so the fact that Civil War sold so well and brought attention back to the comics world is something Millar should be proud of.

    On the other hand, Millar is so used to working the hype machine and being the Big Event Guy now that he’s forgotten that the rest of the comics universe still has to deal with the results of his stories once he’s laid waste to the characters, continuity, and rules of storytelling and moved on. So we get seven-plus months of Reed Richards as an utterly inhuman psuedo-Mengele, and then–wham!–he’s back to being good old Reed without any real explanation or resolution. Thanks, Mark.

    And Tony Stark is all over the map thanks to Millar’s laying the groundwork for Iron Fascist. It makes for a great character study, but it’s inconsistent–is he a morally conflicted-but-decent guy using the ends to justify the means, the way Bendis and Brubaker write him? Or is he a mustache-twirling Machiavellian prick, a la JMS? Again, that’s all due to Millar writing him so completely out of the norm and laying that as the foundation that other writers have to deal with.

    So, until Millar remembers that he works in a shared universe and the toys aren’t only his to play with, I’ll be doing my part to take food out of his baby momma’s and kids’ mouths by not buying his books.

  34. Goodman Says:

    It’s not Millar’s fault that JMS and other writers are writing Tony Stark like he’s Iron Vader. I thought Millar was much harsher on Reed Richards (who, unlike Tony, was written totally out of character) but other writers have basically ignored it and it did no real lasting damage to Mr. Fantastic.

  35. Ddemon Says:

    Reed Richards is a skull…………..?

  36. Gokitalo Says:

    Millar’s acutely aware of how to work the hype machine–he’s learned well from Quesada, methinks.

    He’s kind of a mix between Jemas and Quesada, along with his own “fact exageration” added into the mix. I was a bit dumbfounded when he said that Marvel hadn’t done to the X-Men what they had done to the Avengers, because that’s exactly what New X-Men was.

    Despite his hyperbole, though, he generally seems like a nice fellow and has produced some pretty entertaining comics (Civil War could have been better, though). I think I’ll give his mystery project a look, as well as his Fantastic Four with Hitch.

  37. Gokitalo Says:

    He’s kind of a mix between Jemas and Quesada, along with his own “fact exageration” added into the mix. I was a bit dumbfounded when he said that Marvel hadn’t done to the X-Men what they had done to the Avengers, because that’s exactly what New X-Men was.

    Not referring to a statement he’s said here, btw, but a statement he’s said elsewhere ;)

  38. Predabot Says:

    ALL you HATERS: STFU!! >>((

    Millar is solid gold. I have as of yet not read anything by him, from Marvel, that I did not like.

    I’m quite curious about this! What ever could it be?? I didn’t even know he had this much stuff coming, seems like he’s on a roll.

  39. BReal Says:

    Death of the greatest Marvel hero = Stan Lee. Mark’s going to smother him with a pillow. I don’t like it either, but they’ll do anything for sales now.

    Also, about this two Hulk thing…a giant red monstrosity bursting through walls? Kraft Foods\Kool-Aid should sue.

  40. BBRS Says:

    Spiderman: the end?

  41. mostlyhuman Says:

    Okay, so Millar is getting us all riled up again. He’s really just working the industry the best way he knows how: “Sell the book.” Has any book since the death of Superman had the kind of mainstream media coverage that Civil War had? Didn’t think so. And whether you liked Civil War or not and whether you like Millar or not, you have to agree that his work on Civil War brought more new readers in comics shops than anything alse in a loooooong time. That includes the Spider-Man movies and the subsequent comic movie boom. Those folks generally would rather have a bunch of Spider-man related merchandise than an armful of non-Spider-man comics.

    Back to my point… Millar hypes his stuff, it gets bought, and it’s rarely as horrible as some (or most) of you make it out to be. Remember that first time you picked up and issue of “The Ultimates” and how good that was?

    Why don’t we give this new book a chance before we ask for Millar’s head?

  42. Mac Don Says:

    Mark Millar is the best writer of Marvel Comics at the moment. People talk about Brubaker and Bendis (great talents of course) but it´s Millar who´s bringing the most entertaining stories. And that´s what its all about: ENTERTAINMENT
    Keep up the great work Mark and I´ll keep buying!

  43. JD Says:

    Mark Millar is the best writer of Marvel Comics at the moment.

    Not in 2007. He’s barely put anything out.

  44. KentL Says:

    “Does Millar care about ANYTHING else other than how much his books sell?”

    Should he care about anything else? Millar has had critical acclaim in the past. Didn’t amount to too many sales, really. As quickly as being “hot” in comics can fade, he’d be a fool to not cash in on his name while it’s still a hot commodity.

  45. Sam Says:

    “On the other hand, Millar is so used to working the hype machine and being the Big Event Guy now that he’s forgotten that the rest of the comics universe still has to deal with the results of his stories once he’s laid waste to the characters, continuity, and rules of storytelling and moved on. So we get seven-plus months of Reed Richards as an utterly inhuman psuedo-Mengele, and then–wham!–he’s back to being good old Reed without any real explanation or resolution. Thanks, Mark”

    REED IS A SKRULL!!!

  46. Hondo Says:

    NOT the biggest Marvel fan, but I haveta say that Millar is one of my favorite writers, and he’s definitely one of the very best writers Marvel has. It’s hard to believe he’s so far ahead on everything and makes me kind of leary about what we’ll be getting, but damn, that FF sounds stupendous. What he’s saying here though, all red herrings about Hulks and 3000 mile drives and stuff. Not not not not not. Don’t believe it.

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