New Avengers: The Reunion #2 OFFICIAL THREAD

[Jim @ Marvel]

Ok, gang! The next issue is in stores 4/1!

CBR has a preview of the first 8 pages. Enjoy!
http://comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=2293&disp=table

http://comicbookresources.com/prev_img.php?pid=2293&cover=1

[SpecialK]

Good stuff, Jim old boy.

[Dave Horvath]

Is it Wednesday yet?

[Dave Horvath]

Quote from Bobbi: "No, now you're a spy. Welcome to the W.C.A.".

Jim don't tease with the mere notion of the West Coast Avengers

[Jim @ Marvel]

Quote from Bobbi: "No, now you're a spy. Welcome to the W.C.A.".

Jim don't tease with the mere notion of the West Coast Avengers

You will know EXACTLY what "WCA" is in this issue. :) That is not a throw-away line...

[Dermie]

The preview looks great! I can't believe I'm going to have to wait until Thursday (or maybe even Friday!) to get this issue! Darned changes to my work schedule!! :furious:

[Dave Horvath]

You will know EXACTLY what "WCA" is in this issue. :) That is not a throw-away line...

Okay, not a throw away line but does it stand for West Coast Avengers? Because that would be so fantastic, I couldn't even put it into words. And I'm a wordy type of guy.

[Jim @ Marvel]

Okay, not a throw away line but does it stand for West Coast Avengers? Because that would be so fantastic, I couldn't even put it into words. And I'm a wordy type of guy.

24 hours until you find out...

[Dave Horvath]

24 hours until you find out...

Jim - patience is not one of my super powers but come lunch time tomorrow, this will be the first book I read.

Any word about this possibly becoming an ongoing series yet? Who do I need to write the letter to?

[Jim @ Marvel]

Jim - patience is not one of my super powers but come lunch time tomorrow, this will be the first book I read.

Any word about this possibly becoming an ongoing series yet? Who do I need to write the letter to?

Still no word on further adventures yet- just gotta keep the sales strong! Writing in to Joe Q never hurts (Twitter he's @JoeQuesada) and Tom Brevoort's office - MHeroes@marvel.com

Thanks so much for everyone's support!! Only a few more hours to go!

[Jim @ Marvel]

Find out when Mockingbird was replaced! Learn what the WCA is! Find out who is behind the bomb!

Early reviews:
Weekly Crisis (http://www.weeklycrisis.com/2009/03/new-avengers-reunion-2-advance-review.html)

Comics Bulletin (http://www.comicsbulletin.com/reviews/123854403968998.htm)

Come by and talk all about the issue & THANK YOU for your support for it!

[Dave Horvath]

Still no word on further adventures yet- just gotta keep the sales strong! Writing in to Joe Q never hurts (Twitter he's @JoeQuesada) and Tom Brevoort's office - MHeroes@marvel.com

Thanks so much for everyone's support!! Only a few more hours to go!

Email has been sent. Tweat'ed completed. Thanks.

[Barney's Brother]

Great job. Nuff said.

[Jim @ Marvel]

Writer's commentary with me on issue 2 (by board member Zack_Hunter)

http://www.comicrelated.com/display.php?item=1066

A peek behind the pages and teases for issue 3! (Warning there ARE spoilers for issue 2)

[Dave Horvath]

Oh boy, where to begin, SO much good stuff. Okay, everything else will be hidden below:

First and I have to start there, loved the word-play, initials-play with the W.C.A. Now as much as I knew it would not stand for West Coast Avengers, I thought Bobbi's, as Clint put it 'hijacking' of the letters was great fun. Perhaps the beginning of the West Coast team was one of the happier times in her life and that is what she wanted to remember and honor. I think that there is some real opportunity to build off of this new 'agency' possibility into something that could replace H.A.M.M.E.R. down the road as we all know that new Osborn run agency is not long for the world.

I must say, when this series was being touted as a spy thriller, Mr. & Mrs. Smith type of tale I was a little concerned but I could not be happier with the outcome so far. You really could feel the heartbreak that Clint realized at the end. I felt my stomach drop a little bit when I realized what was happening.

As much as this is a Mockingbird tale, we are really starting to see Hawkeye/Ronin's life played out right before our eyes. I don't think Clint has been this fleshed out in years. As an extremely popular character I've followed for years now, it is quite refreshing. As much as I love what BMB has done with Clint in various Avengers books and event mini-series', this is digging a little deeper and I'm loving every minute of it.

I'll end with the best line of the book: "Moonstone? Really?!"

Jim - you rock. Any preliminary sales numbers yet? I know it was sold out of two stores in Columbus, Ohio as I had to pick mine up at the third this afternoon. Hopefully that is a great sign!

[Howlett]

Excellent issue Jim! Halfway through the mini now, and I'm really hoping that we get an ongoing about either character, if we can't get both depending on how this ends. Keep up the good work man :D

[Jim @ Marvel]

Hey everybody! Thanks so much for all the well wishes and the enthusiastic words about issue 2! I remember that writing this issue was REALLY tough, knowing that the ending would be so much of a gut-punch. I actually blog/posted about it here:
http://www.606studios.com/bendisboard/showpost.php?p=5674756&postcount=1

The ride is only at the halfway mark!

Keep fingers crossed for more adventures with one or both of them-- tell your friends to pick up the individual issues while they can and tell your retailers!

THANK YOU for the continued support!

[Dermie]

I finally got to read the book today--awesome issue!

I loved the discussion between Clint and Bobbi about the Ronin identity, and how every weapon Clint uses is in honour of lost loved ones (ok, "loved ones" is maybe a stretch in regards to Swordsman, but you know what I mean). That is a great reveal which says so much about the character in just one or two panels.

The new W.C.A. is a really cool idea. Its fun to see Bobbi taking a commanding role again; I know most people don't really think of her as a leader, although she has led two other teams (the Great Lakes Avengers, and her splinter group of the WCA with Tigra and Moon Knight). Twitchy seems like a fun new character so far, and I look forward to hopefully meeting other agents in the new W.C.A. at some point.

"Moonstone? Really?!" I was thrilled to see Clint's relationship with Karla brought up here. As the first woman Clint fell in love with after Bobbi's "death", that was a really important relationship for him--but it would also be one that would raise Bobbi's eyebrows, given Moonstone's history as a villainous background. This one panel sums up the situation nicely without getting deeply bogged down in T-Bolts history.

Tigra's flashback cameo was good--and I liked seeing the friendship between those two women being touched on. I'd like to see the present-day Tigra, as well as Wonder Man, check in with Bobbi now that she is back. Those original West Coast Avengers had a pretty good bond between them back in the day.

We finally see when and where Bobbi got replaced! In a way, the timing is kinda cool since it means that almost all of Mockingbird's past appearances were really her. I was half-expecting it to be earlier though--around the start of the Roy Thomas run on WCA. After all, prior to his run, Clint and Bobbi had patched things up--in Byrne's run they'd gotten back together to run the GLA, and in Clint's solo series in Avengers Spotlight they had gone to marriage counselling and were back together. I always thought it was weird that she and Clint were suddenly at each others throats again in WCA while they were a happy couple in Clint's solo series. Hey Jim--any chance of a flashback explaining what happened there?? :)

The timing of that abduction means that Bobbi was really having a bad day--she gets kidnapped by Ultron (and has her brain patterns used to create Alkhema) and then gets kidnapped by Skrulls within minutes of being rescued from Ultron! How's that for rotten luck?!

One thing about the flashback that seemed off to me though--when Clint calls Tigra, it sounds like it is only a couple of hours after Bobbi called her in the first flashback. But there was at least a few days between that Ultron incident and Bobbi's "death". But maybe Tigra just thought that it took Bobbi a few days to give Clint the news?

Monica Rappaccini as the bad guy--awesome! I'm glad to see she survived the events of the Modok's 11 miniseries. I've only read about her in that mini and her Ms Marvel appearances, but I think she's a fun villain. And given the way she admired Wonder Man's butt in her Ms Marvel appearances, this could be an advantage for our heroes if Clint takes advantage of his "assets". ;)

And the that final page--wow. That was a blow. I feel so badly for Clint...but at least this explains why Bobbi has been so cool to him. But hopefully this doesn't mean there is no chance for them to get back together at some point. Clint has grown and changed a lot since they originally broke up--perhaps the new and improved Clint Barton can win back the love they once had? We'll see.



Keep up the great work Jim! I can't wait to read next issue!

[marco19]

just wanted to say we are two issues in and im very impressed so far on how you are handling these characters, and im also intrigued by this new wca group being formed, hopefully this will link up with whats going in secret warriors. Also while an ongoing series would be cool, i hope you dont jump the gun, as personally i would prefer to see hawkeye and mb in new avengers and maybe see another miniseries spotlighting these characters not another ongoing, regardless this has been a cool limited series so far

[Arion]

Hey everybody! Thanks so much for all the well wishes and the enthusiastic words about issue 2! I remember that writing this issue was REALLY tough, knowing that the ending would be so much of a gut-punch. I actually blog/posted about it here:
http://www.606studios.com/bendisboard/showpost.php?p=5674756&postcount=1

The ride is only at the halfway mark!

Keep fingers crossed for more adventures with one or both of them-- tell your friends to pick up the individual issues while they can and tell your retailers!

THANK YOU for the continued support!

You're welcome. You know, it is kind of funny but maybe it was because of the boards that I decided to give The Reunion a try. After all I didn't really know you but seeing you posting here made it all more interesting (and the Chen cover helped too).

[Mo_Soar]

Hi, Jim:

just read issue #2 (I'm on mail-order, as I've no LCS) and I'm greatly enjoying the expanded, far more capable Mockingbird. I see you've picked up on the feelings that she expressed early in the WCA run (and previously in the main Avengers title) that she didn't really "belong" in the Avengers - not because she couldn't make the grade but because it wasn't what her background, training or interests.

I think it's in the mini that launched WCA that she thinks to herself that she wouldn't be there if she wasn't Hawkeye's wife. Likewise, the scene back in Avengers where she meets Thor.

One thing that's not clear (probably because I'm not reading the "Dark Reign" titles) Mock's WCA is composed of Skrull-kidnapped SHIELD agents who have come back and realized there is no SHIELD to return to - where are they getting the equipment and funding to operate? Previously hidden SHIELD caches that only they know about?

[Spidey616]

Finally got a chnace to read the second issue a few days ago, and gotta say, it just keeps getting better :D

The last page reveal about Clint and Bobbi's current status was heart wrenching, but I'm still holding out for a few surprises for the couple by the end

Love seeing Scientist Supreme Monica Rappaccini appear in this mini and is one of my favorite Fred Van Lente characters.

[Spidey616]

Congrats once again to ya Jim! #2 has sold out. :thumb:

http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0904/09/index.htm

[Jim @ Marvel]

Hi, Jim:

just read issue #2 (I'm on mail-order, as I've no LCS) and I'm greatly enjoying the expanded, far more capable Mockingbird. I see you've picked up on the feelings that she expressed early in the WCA run (and previously in the main Avengers title) that she didn't really "belong" in the Avengers - not because she couldn't make the grade but because it wasn't what her background, training or interests.

I think it's in the mini that launched WCA that she thinks to herself that she wouldn't be there if she wasn't Hawkeye's wife. Likewise, the scene back in Avengers where she meets Thor.

One thing that's not clear (probably because I'm not reading the "Dark Reign" titles) Mock's WCA is composed of Skrull-kidnapped SHIELD agents who have come back and realized there is no SHIELD to return to - where are they getting the equipment and funding to operate? Previously hidden SHIELD caches that only they know about?


Hey Mo! Glad you liked the book & the way Bobbi is being portrayed. I wanted to really get her back to her strong roots & not just arm candy for Clint. For her return to matter, she needed to have a compelling reason to be back, to have changed from her experiences (which you will see in issue 3), and to have a clearly defined character. The fact that she was the most non-Avengery Avenger of her time always fascinated me, too.

The WCA is still a forming group. You'll learn more about them as the series goes on, and I hope to do more with them in the future. For now, Bobbi mentions that they are "pooling their resources." One thing I found in doing a lot of research on espionage & the spy game (as well as common tropes of the genre) is that agents often have personal caches that they keep in case of emergency, safehouses and back-up contingencies in the event they get burnt or exposed in an op. They also have a "retirement" fund. This is where that is coming from, as well as what they could mine from SHIELD stashes that they know about, as you mention. This is a group that is very fly-by-night, but I wanted to portray SHIELD agents as capable people in their field, the best of the best, the kind of people Nick Fury would recruit, not just men & women in blue jumpsuits.

Hope that helps clear it up & that you enjoy the rest of the mini!! Thanks for supporting the book!!