ECCC ‘08 - A Report From the ‘Mondo Marvel’ Panel

Article originally published 05/10/2008 at popculturezoo.com

Marvel Comics brought a few familiar faces to Seattle with their ‘Mondo Marvel’ panel at this year’s Emerald City Comic Con. Members of the current Marvel brain trust in attendance were Ed Brubaker (Captain America), Skottie Young (Cable & Deadpool), Robert Kirkman (Ultimate X-Men) and Jeff Parker (Agents of Atlas). The panel was moderated by Jennfier Grunwald, an associate editor with Marvel. This rambunctious group of comic gurus spent close to an hour trading barbs, sharing stories and fielding questions from a roomful of fans.

Robert Kirkman will be reviving the Golden Age character (and one of Stan Lee’s first creations), Destroyer for a five issue series under the Marvel Max line. The series, which does not currently have a release date, will begin with Destroyer learning that he has been diagnosed with a terminal disease and has only five days to live. The series will document these final five days as Destroyer embarks on a vendetta to kill all of his enemies before he dies. Artwork will be provided by Corey Walker (Invincible). Kirkman also squashed the rumors of a possible new Marvel crossover with his Image Comics creation ‘Invincible’. There is nothing new planned for a future crossover but he did mention that he would be open to one in the future if Marvel is on board.

Ed Brubaker spoke a bit about the decision to kill off Steve Rogers as a culmination of the ‘Civil War’ event. According to Brubaker, the death of Rogers was always one of the options that Marvel looked at when addressing the character. However, when faced with the choice of either forcing Cap into retirement, sending him to jail or killing him off, Brubaker felt that the latter (and ultimate) choice was the best one. “We wanted America to find Cap, and this seemed like the best way” he noted. According to Brubaker, the new Captain America (Bucky Barnes) will make an appearance in the current ‘Secret Invasion’ story arc. Not much information was shared, but Ed did tell fans that “There will be play… but not forced play.”

Not much new Marvel information was revealed at the panel as most of the 50 minutes was spent with the creators heckling each other and making fun of Skrulls. However, here are a few additional highlights from today’s ECCC ‘Mondo Marvel’ panel:

• Skottie Young addressed his involvement with the upcoming Marvel version of The Wizard of Oz, saying that it will be a faithful adaptation of the novel.
• When asked if the Ultimate Universe would be ending, all panel participants responded with a resounding “No!”
• Jeff Parker hinted that characters from his ‘Agents of Atlas’ book would be making an appearance in ‘Secret Invasion’.
• Ed Brubaker made the somewhat-ambiguous statement that he would like to see Uncanny X-Men “Put out a little more often.”

Towards the end of the panel, a fan asked the creators which Marvel character they would want a chance at writing. Ed Brubaker lamented that one of the characters he’d like a shot at is Destroyer, but Robert Kirkman already beat him to it. Brubaker also mentioned that he would love a chance at writing Patriot. Kirkman put Sleepwalker (for a second time) and Darkhawk on his list while Skottie Young said that Chamber from Gen X would be his pick. Jeff Parker rounded out the conversation by hinting that he is currently working on a project involving a character he has always wanted to write… though he couldn’t elaborate with any details.