Marvel Announces Judgement Day
Marvel Comics officially announced its next large event, Judgment Day, on Wednesdays. The architect of the event, Kieron Gillen, teams with artist Valerio Schiti on a tale that pits the Avengers, Eternals, and X-Men against one another. The narrative begins in July.Gillen is currently writing Marvel’s ongoing Eternals series, and he’ll be launching the new Immortal X-Men series as part of the Destiny of X relaunch. He’ll combine threads from Aaron’s and Garron’s recent Avengers stories with material from the first two volumes of Marvel Now! to tell a new story. Schti has worked on high-profile Marvel titles such as Empyre and Inferno in the past. Here is the summary provided by Marvel:
“The X-Men have achieved immortality and mutants have taken their place as the dominant species on the planet. The Eternals have discovered long hidden knowledge about their species, including a devastating truth about mutantkind. The Avengers have come into direct conflict with the Celestials and are currently using a fallen Celestial as their base of operations, slowly unlocking its secrets… When the Eternals brazenly target the mutant nation of Krakoa, the Avengers try desperately to de-escalate a potentially apocalyptic war. But this is no simple conflict. The Eternals’ purpose cannot be denied and mutantkind’s future will not be threatened. And after the opening battles, new players and revelations for both sides will emerge as the inhabitants of the Marvel Universe are JUDGED by the greatest power they’ve ever come into contact with.”
“We believe that the Marvel Universe is a toybox, which creators take toys out of, play with, and then place back,” Gillen explains in the press release. But I don’t think you understand me; I know it, but it’s never quite how I’ve seen it — to me, “play” means something else. I picture a music store with all of these instruments, each one with its own set of characteristics, implying distinct songs and tales. I’ve never written an event for any of the Marvel instruments I’ve played. It’s something different to produce an event. It’s not like creating music, so keep that in mind. It’s having access to all of Marvel Music’s instruments. It’s not like writing a song. It’s more like creating a symphony than it is to putting words on paper.
“I looked at everything in Eternals and Immortal X-Men and everything else all the X and Avengers writers have done and thought… yeah, this is an event. In fact, an event is the only way to do justice to this. The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson described the music he was reaching for as Teenage Symphonies to God. I think that’s what the best Marvel Events aspire to be, and it’s what we’re aspiring to here. I want the scale. I want the heartbreak . I want a book that wears its heart on its sleeve even as it puts a fist in your face. I want something Wagnerian in its volume as emotional as God Only Knows.”
Schti adds, “It is great to have the opportunity to draw another Marvel event after Empyre. The difference is that last time I was just excited, but now I know how high the expectations are, so now I am both excited and a bit scared! Luckily for me I have the great Kieron Gillen and Marte Gracia watching my back and together we can face any cosmic threat!”
The launch of Marvel Free Comic Book Day: Avengers/X-Men #1 will serve as a precursor before it debuts in its entirety on May 7th. Check out the latest issues of Eternals, Avengers, and Immortal X-Men to follow the build up to Judgment Day, according to Marvel.
What are your thoughts on it? Give us your input in the comments. In July, Judgment Day begins.
