Silver Surfer to star in Maximum Security
Written by James "Marvelite"
Pedrick
Added June 27, 2000
The Silver Surfer is back! It's been a while since we've seen him too - Galactus: The Devourer #6 to be exact. Now, he will be guest-starring in July's issue of Captain Marvel, where he'll be called back to earth by a girl in that series named Kelly, and he'll also be starring in the new Marvel Comics crossover, Maximum Security, which starts in September and then goes into full gear in October. What will be the extent of his role? According to writer Kurt Busiek, "I'll just say that the Surfer's in it, starting with the prologue, MAXIMUM SECURITY: DANGEROUS PLANET. And he'll be a key character as things play out."
Christopher Gridden, of The Comic Reader, had this to say about the upcoming event after interviewing the story's coordinators, Kurt Busiek and Tom Brevoort:
When
many comics fans hear the word, "crossover," they blurt out a loud
groan. Another continuity-defying, interruptive storyline that promises much and
delivers little. Not so with Marvel's Fall event, MAXIMUM SECURITY, claims
writer, Kurt Busiek (AVENGERS) and editor, Tom Brevoort (AVENGERS, CAPTAIN
MARVEL).
--Click on image for larger version--
"The basic premise came up a year or two back," said Brevoort, "as we were discussing why most crossovers don't work as well as they should, and how we could approach the problem differently in the hopes of a better end result."
"The trouble with most line-wide crossovers (or so it seems to me)," said Busiek, "is that they're largely linear stories--one set of characters take the point, and the rest of the universe follows along behind them like sheep, not able to do anything important but not able to turn to their own concerns either."
"The result is an event in which the stars of the story look great, but the secondary and tertiary books just get derailed for a couple of months, annoying and disappointing readers. What we want in MAXIMUM SECURITY is a non-linear story--a broad-based situation, rather than a single specific threat, so each character or series can react to a different facet of it in a different way."
"If the broad-based situation was, say, World War II, then there are so many facets of it," Busiek continued, "the Battle of Britain, the North African campaign, homefront sacrifices, espionage missions behind enemy lines, black marketeering, high-level diplomacy--that a wide variety of stories can be done, keeping things varied and different for the tie-in characters while the leads topple Hitler.
"In MAXIMUM SECURITY, the broad-based situation is that there are aliens--and not terribly nice ones--popping up all over Earth, and we¹re in serious trouble," said Busiek. "That¹s something that can have tons of different repercussions. That's something that can involve all the Marvel heroes, without them ever having to get in one room together and turn into the super-army--in fact, there's no reason all the heroes even have to meet. The core story can play out on its own terms, while everyone else deals with whatever facets of the situation make the most sense for them to deal with."
The MAXIMUM SECURITY event kicks off in September with the one-shot, MAXIMUM SECURITY: DANGEROUS PLANET. In October, the MAXIMUM SECURITY three-issue, bi-weekly mini-series debuts and the event develops into a line-wide crossover, touching virtually every title in the Marvel Universe. The one-shot and mini-series are by Busiek, and artists Jerry Ordway and Will Blyberg.
MAXIMUM SECURITY, like GALACTUS THE DEVOURER and AVENGERS FOREVER, shows a renewed commitment by Marvel to do stories on a cosmic scale. "The starting premise of MAXIMUM SECURITY," said Brevoort, "is that the various alien empires of the universe--the Skrulls, the Kree, the Shi'ar and everybody else--have assembled in order to decide what to do about the Earth problem. Humanity has proven itself both meddlesome in galactic affairs, and capable of dealing with or driving off threats on a cosmic scale, such as Galactus or the Celestials. And that's got the superpower nations of the cosmos worried.
"So they decide to kill two birds with one stone," continued Brevoort, "by declaring that the Earth system will be the Botany Bay of the universe, to which they'll exile their worst criminals, menaces and malcontents, and then seal up the system. If the Earth people destroy the criminals, that's good. If the criminals destroy the Earthlings, that's good. And if both sides wipe each other out, or cripple each other in battle, that's the best result of all."
Busiek also commented on the cosmic scope of MAXIMUM SECURITY: "This happens to be something of a cosmic story because that's the idea behind it--it stems from Earth's relationship with the greater cosmos. But that doesn't mean I enjoy this kind of story more than, say, some of the stories I've told in ASTRO CITY, merely that this one requires this kind of big, sprawling canvas. It's fun to play with something with this much scope--and, of course, anything that is going to involve most of Marvel's line for a month had better have scope."
Brevoort assured readers, however, that MAXIMUM SECURITY is not just a cosmic story: "So all of these alien menaces begin popping up on Earth, causing havoc and raising hell, and it's up to the heroes of Earth to deal with the problem, find out what's causing it, find out what the real reason behind it all is, and take care of business. So it's a two-pronged set-up. A book like AMAZING SPIDER-MAN will likely be earthbound for its MAXIMUM SECURITY crossovers, whereas a title like CAPTAIN MARVEL may be more space-based, as different characters deal with the facets of the problem they're best equipped to cope with."
Will there be MAXIMUM SECURITY spin-off titles, like CAPTAIN MARVEL which was spawned from the pages of AVENGERS FOREVER? Only time will tell said Brevoort. However, there are plenty of new characters and interesting developments for existing characters in the Marvel Universe.
"Well, we start off by introducing a new alien race, the Ruul," said Busiek. "But the Ruul have secrets, and to describe them would involve blowing those secrets.
"But we will feature some fairly dramatic changes for some Marvel characters," continued Busiek, "including a completely new status quo for the USAgent, who is central to the core story, and a dramatic sacrifice on the part of one of Marvel's best-loved cosmic characters."
A cosmic story, a crossover that really works, dramatic sacrifices and alien invasions. This one has it all. This time they may really mean it when they say the Marvel Universe will never be the same!
Marvel.com had this to say about the first two issues of Maximum Security:
"In MAXIMUM SECURITY #1, and "a worldwide rash of alien menaces spreads, threatening to overrun humanity - not to mention Earth’s crime-fighting community As if dealing with the USAgent in his new role as federally appointed ‘superhuman sheriff’ weren`t enough, the Avengers face a bigger problem in the Kree warrior known as Ronan the Accuser - who announces that, now and forevermore, Earth shall become a holding cell for the universe`s worst perps!
"Two weeks later, in MAXIMUM SECURITY #2, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers and the world`s super-powered defenders struggle to cope with the horde of alien criminals on Earth - one of whom threatens to swallow the planet whole! Meanwhile, in space, Professor X and Cadre K (his group of mutant Skrulls) storm the Galactic Council in search of answers! But it`s U.S.Agent who discovers the key to the true power behind MAXIMUM SECURITY!"
They also released the following schedule of the comics which will makeup the Maximum Security storyline:
Week 1 (On Sale Oct. 4):
MAXIMUM SECURITY #1
AVENGERS INFINITY #4
THOR #30
UNCANNY X-MEN #387Week 2 (On Sale Oct. 11):
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #24
BLACK PANTHER #25
IRON MAN #35Week 3 (On Sale Oct. 18):
MAXIMUM SECURITY #2
CAPTAIN AMERICA #36
CAPTAIN MARVEL #12
BISHOP #15
INCREDIBLE HULK #21
PETER PARKER: SPIDER-MAN #24
THUNDERBOLTS #45
X-MEN #107Week 4 (On Sale Oct. 25):
AVENGERS #35
GAMBIT #23
MARVEL KNIGHTS #6
X-MEN UNLIMITED #29Week 5 (On Sale Nov. 1):
MAXIMUM SECURITY #3
Stick with the Silver Surfer Website for the latest news and information about Maximum Security and any other Silver Surfer appearances!
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