Heroes Reborn

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"Heroes Reborn" was an event in which Marvel Comics temporarily outsourced the production of several of its most famous comic books to the studios of its popular former employees Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld. Launched in 1996, the "Heroes Reborn" line represented the aftermath of that year's Onslaught event.

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[edit] The Origins of "Heroes Reborn"

Following the apparent "deaths" of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four during the Onslaught affair, their series were restarted from #1, with the intent of telling their adventures anew for modern generations. This was explained, in-story, as their having been transported into a pocket universe by Franklin Richards, the near-omnipotent son of Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman, to save them, where they lived their lives again in new, different ways, oblivious to their pasts.

For this reworking, Marvel "farmed out" the properties to some of their former employees who had left the company to form Image Comics; Jim Lee's WildStorm studios handled Fantastic Four and Iron Man, Rob Liefeld and his Extreme Studios took the reins of Avengers and Captain America. However, after six issues, Marvel attempted to re-negotiate Liefeld and Lee's contracts, offering them a smaller amount of money for the projects. Rob Liefeld rejected the revised contract, while Jim Lee accepted the new terms and took over Liefeld's titles. While Avengers had performed poorly with fans for Liefeld's issues, Walt Simonson took over the book when it moved to WildStorm and produced a well-regarded conclusion. [1] Although the four titles in "Heroes Reborn" were slated for a twelve-issue run, writer James Robinson wrote a thirteenth and final issue for each book. The storyline, entitled World War III, was a crossover between the Marvel and WildStorm characters. Between the outsourcing of the stories to Image and the changes made to the characters, the "Heroes Reborn" event generated controversy both with critics and fans. Despite this, it was still an unqualified financial success. [2] At the end of the storyline, the Fantastic Four and Avengers were returned to the mainstream Marvel Universe, again through the intervention of Franklin Richards. The ensuing storyline, dubbed "Heroes Return" was once again created in-house at Marvel Comics.

[edit] "Heroes Reborn" revisited

Onslaught Reborn page by Rob Liefeld.
Onslaught Reborn page by Rob Liefeld.

In July 2000, Marvel collected issues #1-6 of Fantastic Four (Vol. 2) in the trade paperback Fantastic Four: Heroes Reborn. With 2006 marking the "Heroes Reborn" event's 10th anniversary, Marvel is re-visiting it with a new event. First, the reality-travelling Exiles visited the "Heroes Reborn" Earth in Exiles #81-82. Next, Marvel will release collected editions of the four "Heroes Reborn" titles in Fall 2006 (reprinting only the first 12 issues of each title). Finally, in November 2006, Jeph Loeb and Rob Liefeld will reunite for Onslaught Reborn, a five-part weekly limited series that features both Onslaught and a world similar to the "Heroes Reborn" universe. The latter will tie in with the memorial scholarship fund established in honor of Loeb's son Sam. Weekly release plans for Onslaught reborn have changed somewhat, issue 3 has slipped from Jan 17 to Mar 7, as Rob Says

"There is a ton of Civil War product dropping the 2 weeks before, Civil War #7, Civil War Front Line, Mighty Avengers, Civil War:Initiative and plenty of Civil War tie-ins. Onslaught was moved along with others into a less competitive month. I screamed, kicked, pleaded, hit the wall, threw stuff, drove the car down the hill real fast, put my head under water and did my best to cool off. This was seven hours ago and I'm just starting to cool off."

[3]

[edit] Trivia

  • Liefeld and Loeb's run on Avengers hints that the "Heroes Reborn" Hawkeye might be Simon Williams, not Clint Barton as he is in the mainstream continuity. When Walt Simonson took over the title, however, he revealed Hawkeye to be Clint Barton after all. Simonson stated that he did not speak with Liefeld prior to becoming the writer of the series and had no knowledge of Liefeld's plans for the series. [4]
    • Onslaught Reborn #3 hints that Hawkeye is actually Wolverine.

[edit] Bibliography

  1. Heroes Reborn: Doomsday
  2. Heroes Reborn: Rebel
  3. Heroes Reborn: Masters of Evil
  4. Heroes Reborn: Ashema
  5. Heroes Reborn: Remnants
  6. Heroes Reborn: Young Allies
  7. Heroes Reborn: Doom

[edit] Collected Editions

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