| The Twelve | |
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Promotion art for The Twelve #1 by Kaare Andrews. |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Limited series |
| Genre | Superhero |
| Number of issues | 8 (12 planned) |
| Main character(s) | Blue Blade The Black Widow Captain Wonder Dynamic Man Electro Fiery Mask Laughing Mask Master Mind Excello Mister E Phantom Reporter Rockman Witness |
| Creative team as of October 2008 | |
| Writer(s) | J. Michael Straczynski |
| Penciller(s) | Chris Weston |
| Inker(s) | Garry Leach Chris Weston |
| Letterer(s) | Comiccraft Jimmy Betancourt |
| Colorist(s) | Chris Chuckry |
| Creator(s) | J. Michael Straczynski Chris Weston |
| Editor(s) | Tom Brevoort Molly Lazer Joe Quesada |
| Collected editions | |
| Volume 1 hardcover | ISBN 0-7851-3372-0 |
The Twelve is an American comic book limited series from Marvel Comics, which the company announced in July 2007 would run twelve issues beginning spring 2008, with the creative team of writer J. Michael Straczynski and artist Chris Weston.[1] The series stars 12 obscure characters from Marvel's earliest incarnation as Timely Comics from the 1940s period historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books.
Contents |
Writer J. Michael Straczynski said in July 2007 that the story concerns 12 superhumans randomly kidnapped by the Nazis during World War II in order to study their powers for the Nazis' "Master Race" efforts. The superhumans were put in cryonic suspended-animation until the present day, when a construction project in Berlin, Germany inadvertently uncovers them. The series explores the culture shock of people from the 1940s being revived in the present day. "I wanted to explore their reactions to us, and our reactions to them ... what was good about the World War II period that we lost, and what was not so good about it that we've eliminated in all but them".[1]
In early 2009, Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada said the series was put "on hold" after issue #8 (Nov. 2008) because of Straczynski's increased demand as a screenwriter after the success of Changeling, and artist Weston's having taken on conceptual art and storyboarding on a separate film project.[2] The series remained on indefinite hiatus throughout 2009. In February 2010, Straczynski said that the series would be resuming later that year.[3] In November of that year, with no further issues having appeared, Straczynski said Weston "has now caught up on the artwork", without specifying an issue or page-count, and that he intended to continue scripting.[4] According to news site Bleeding Cool, as of April 2011, Weston had just begun inking pencils for issue eleven. [5] On September 30, 2011, Weston announced via Twitter that the Twelve was complete. [6]
As related by the Phantom Reporter: During the World War II Battle of Berlin in 1945, a dozen of the many superheroes and masked crimefighters of that era are ambushed by Nazis in the basement of an SS building, where the heroes are gassed and placed into cryogenic suspension for later experimentation, but the building is air bombed soon after and anyone aware of their situation is killed. In the present day, construction workers find this bunker, and the Twelve, as they become known, are revived. Put into the care of the U.S. military, they are housed together in a mansion where they receive counseling and support, are gradually made to understand that decades have passed, and are offered a role as heroes in the 21st century.
The Twelve adjust in various ways: The Blue Blade becomes a celebrity; the Phantom Reporter starts a column for the Daily Bugle, Dynamic Man allies himself with the FBI and other law-enforcement agencies and throws himself into heroics; the Black Widow reconnects as the "instrument of vengeance" of an unknown party and begins going on missions; and Rockman bemoans being cut off from an underground kingdom that may or may not exist. On ballistics evidence, police arrest the Laughing Mask for a 1940s murder. In addition, the daughter of the creator of the robot Electro reclaims possession of the robot.
In framing story set "much later", the Phantom Reporter, gun in hand, stands over the body of the Blue Blade, regretting the man's death.
The Twelve are:[7]