MARVEL NOW!

Beginning in October 2012, Marvel starts a bold new chapter in its history, with Marvel NOW!, a publishing initiative extending into 2013 that will touch every major Marvel character from the Avengers to the X-Men to Spider-Man to the Fantastic Four and beyond.

Marvel.com spoke with Marvel Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada, Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso and Senior VP – Executive Editor Tom Brevoort to get all the details on what to expect from Marvel NOW!

Marvel.com: In your words, what is Marvel NOW!?

Axel Alonso: Marvel NOW! is the next chapter in the ongoing saga of the Marvel Universe. From October through February, we’ll provide at least one great reason for readers—old, lapsed or new—to go into a comic store each week: a new issue #1, featuring an exciting new creative team and driving concept, that’s an easy entry-point into the Marvel Universe. Each and every one of these launches is built to last.

Tom Brevoort: Marvel NOW! is a coordinated creative refresh across our entire publishing line, a unique moment in which the creative reins on virtually all of our quintessential series are being passed from one person to another. As a result, there’ll be both the excitement and uncertainty of seeing a new creative partnership handle characters and series that have been in other hands consistently for many years. And at the same time, this is the perfect instance for readers both new and lapsed to dip their toes back into the Marvel pool, in that all of these creators are going to be beginning their story-cycles during this time, so it’s about a clean a point of entry as there’s ever likely to be.

Joe Quesada: Marvel NOW! is the next step in Marvel story evolution and character evolution. It’s not a reboot. It is a universe-shifting catch-all, which really just tells fans that if you enjoyed Avengers vs. X-Men, get ready for what the outcome is because there’s some major, major changes coming to the Marvel Universe. A lot of changes to the character status quos, alter egos, costumes, creator shifts, design shifts, the way that we do our covers, digital shifts and the way we start delivering our books. We’re continuing with our evolution push as we start to embrace more and more of the digital world and its technology; the sky’s the limit with Infinite Comics, AR, and all sorts of things. As the technology changes we’re going to change with it and our fans are going to eventually tell us what it is that they really love out of all those things that we’re playing with. But it’s a big shift because it’s not just story and character. There’s also the way we tell our stories and the way we deliver our stories that are starting to change as well.

For the full interview, head over to Marvel.com.