CAPTAIN AMERICA: FIRST VENGEANCE Digital Comic Debuts Super Bowl Sunday
On Super Bowl Sunday we'll get our first look at Captain America: The First Avenger but that's not all. We'll also get the Captain America: First Vengeance digital comic. The 8 issue digital series debuts this Sunday and the first episode will be available for FREE at captainamerica.com. It will then be available on the Marvel Comics iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch app starting Tuesday, February 8. The series is written by Fred Van Lente with artwork by Luke Ross, Neil Edwards and colors by Richard Isanove. First Vengeance weaves in and out of the storyline from the movie introducing readers to some newcomers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
"When we started launching Marvel Studios and decided these movies were interconnected, we established that it’s going to be a separate movie continuity that, while it exists parallel to the comics and allows us to pick the best moments from all the previous continuities, it needs to be beholden unto itself," explains Stephen Broussard, Co-Producer of "Captain America: The First Avenger." Once we established the premise that we did want to do that and we wanted to make sure it made sense as a cohesive, whole piece, it really sort of freed us up to start asking what other stories would we like to tell. And of course there’s no shortage of interesting ideas for all that. Basically anything that we really loved but didn't necessarily have a place in the film is fair game."
"It doesn’t really cover one particular place," he elaborates. "There's a little bit of backstory, there's a little bit of parallel action going on to the movie, and there's a little bit of hints of things to come. But it's all sort of jumbled up in this really satisfying way where you feel like you're getting to walk around the whole piece and see the story from the different angles. That's what's really most interestig about this, it's an opportunity to dig deeper into things that are exciting about the movie that you want to know about, or that are only hinted at between the lines in the movie. It's an opportunity to really bring that all to the surface."
Broussard is also hoping that First Vengeance will give the loyal Captain America readers a deeper relationship and understanding to the film. He goes on to say;
"For a lot of people, they"ve lived with Steve Rogers for decades, so they really do feel like they know him already, So it’s just another opportunity to continue fleshing him out in the Marvel Cinematic Universe the way he has been in the standard comics universe for years."
"There are lots of little side stories along the way that would be fascinating if we could stop and listen to them, but just really don't fit into the structure of the story we’re telling," offers Broussard. "What this does, is it allows us to do that. We hear talk about Steve's parents in the film. What was his relationship like with them? That’s something we explore in the first issue. We know that Steve and Bucky have been best friends for a long time, but what was it like when they first met? How did their relationship grow and deepen through the years? All of which is fascinating territory to cover, and it’s great to have an outlet that lets us do all that."
Veteran Marvel Universe writer Fred Van Lente also had a few things to add about the series and his excitement for the films release on July 22nd;
"The relationship between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, for example, is very different, and in a very cool way," says the writer, explaining the differences. "And what's neat about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, just like in the comics' universe, is the interconnections between various movies, particularly 'Iron Man 2' and 'Thor.' You'll start to see those coming out in FIRST VENGEANCE."
"Marvel Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada and producer Stephen Broussard have been looking over each one of my scripts, keeping me locked in with the vision of the film, and it's been hugely rewarding," Van Lente comments. "Given the way we're launching this comic, out of a Super Bowl spot, it has a chance to really expand the visibility of the comics medium so everyone, from Joe and Stephen on down to me and the artists, are really trying to give people an exciting reading experience they'll never forget--that will both be great unto itself and also enhance their viewing of the film when they go and see it."
"I read the script last fall and just thought it was terrific. Now, as we're working on the art for the book, having seen all the stills and tech and costumes, it's really got me jazzed. I think this really will go down as one of the classic super hero films."
