LIFESTYLE MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2014 Features38 For Marvel, a digital timeline for 75-year history rom the Golden Age Toro to Ultimate Human Torch, characters sprung views with classic writers and artists — including Stan Lee and Roy Thomas to the present day” focusing on each decade. from Marvel Entertainment are as varied as the people who read, — along with contemporary ones like Dan Slott, Kelly Sue DeConnick and “That vast spread is why we did it by era, so that we could highlight even Fwatch, listen and even play them in video games. The publisher of Brian Michael Bendis, among others. “The web gives us the capability to do those that may not be prominent and still give them their due,” he said. That Marvel Comics is focusing on its panoply of characters, enlisting writers, things differently, daily and across platforms — audio, video, picture galler- will help them lavish attention on every era from the Golden Age of the late artists, editors and historians to build a sprawling digital and interactive ies, lists — with all the characters and the creators,” said Ben Morse, editor 1930s and 1940s to the Silver Age and the creation of Spidey, the Fantastic timeline that showcases the famous, the infamous and the obscure heroes, of Marvel’s website and an architect of the initiative. “We’re looking at the Four, the rise of the X-Men and contemporary characters, too. “For long- villains and others. characters, the history and the major stories from different perspectives time fans, it’s a refresher course and will probably fill in some gaps,” Alonso The endeavor is part of Marvel’s celebration of its 75th anniversary, than we normally would.” said. “For the new ones? It’s the chance to see everything that has gotten us said editor-in-chief Axel Alonso, and to make people aware of more than In most cases, promotion is about what is to come — a new Rocket Rac- to where we are now.”—AP marquee names like Captain America or Spider-Man. “We want it to be coon comic or a Big Hero Six film. The 75th anniversary site is about looking as friendly to people who come out of the Cineplex to people who have back and taking stock. “This is an opportunity to celebrate what’s come long boxes in their basement,” he said this week of the site at www.marvel. before,” said Morse. Part of the interactive is breaking the company’s history com/75. “It’s time for us to underline that and show our rich history.” into different eras, said Matt Robinson, Marvel’s art director for digital, to The site, which goes live in April, features interactive timelines, inter- have content from “over the years, from the beginning of Marvel all the way Writer Mark Millar pours foundation for a Manga-Comic-Convention universe ark Millar is wasting no time in hatching his own world and uni- verse, moving like lightning to populate it with heroes and villains Mof his own creation, from US government-created speed demons fueled by illicit drugs to old-fashioned space opera that recalls 1950s-era sci- ence fiction tales with moon men, monsters and space cadets on dangerous missions. The books — “MPH” and “Starlight,” respectively — are being published by Image Comics this year. They’re the latest in his efforts to not just exert creative control over characters and concepts he’s created, but to expand storytelling in the pages of comics with a more contemporary vibe and with real-world influences, too, under his Millarworld umbrella. It’s integral to his drive to create modern characters for a modern generation raised on classic tales but yearning for what he called “21st century” heroes. “I think pop culture atrophies if it doesn’t move on,” he said of his desire to advance a new breed of heroes while acknowledging and paying homage to those who came before like Batman and Spider-Man or Wonder Woman and Black Widow. “DC Comics created all their main characters — Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern — between about 1938 and 1942,” he said. “All the major Marvel characters, all the ones we really understand, were created 10 years before I was born, in the early 1960s.” Yes, they have a resonance that remains strong 75 and 50 years after their creation he said, but readers want new characters, too. “Each generation has their own universe of heroes like this and I just thought, ‘My God, there’s a gigantic gap in the market,” he said. “A whole wave of contemporary superheroes and ‘Kick-Ass’ was the first step in that A cosplayer dressed in a fantasy costume direction.” His “Kick-Ass” series, which is in its third outing and has yielded stands in front of a poster with books dur- two successful movies, along with associated merchandise, has given Millar a ing the Manga-Comic-Convention at the stepping stone. Leipzig International Book Fair in Leipzig, “MPH,” a five-issue miniseries due out May 21 and illustrated by artist Dun- Germany, Saturday.—AP photos can Fegredo, is about four teens from Detroit who stumble upon a batch of illicit pills that gives them the power to move at light speed for seven days. It is, Millar said, as if your neighbor down the street suddenly manifested the powers of Mercury. “This guy who is looking for a new life and this pill is his way out of it,” he said of the story, which examines whether having such gifts will result in ruin or something more noble. “The four most powerful people in the country are these four teenagers.” That book, along with “Starlight,” a space opera serial in the Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers vein that sees the protagonist dealing with retirement, is serving as a gateway to Millarworld’s upcoming titles. “I liked the idea of having an entry-level book. It won’t initially feel like it’s connected, but it will all eventually intercon- nect,” he said of the Cosplayers dressed in fantasy costumes take a break book illustrated by during the Manga-Comic-Convention. Goran Parlov and due out March 5. “I have nine titles planned in a three year timeframe here. This opens the door to those.” Cosplayers dressed in fantasy costumes Ultimately, the perform during the convention. creator of “Civil War” and writer of “Swamp Thing” and “The Ultimates” views his new works as an op- portunity to seed new readers for today and beyond. “I really do believe that the public is very, very tuned into the idea of heroes created in the 21st century,” Millar said. “I’m devoting the next few years of my life to trying to do the 21st century version of the Marvel universe.”—AP This cover image released by Image Comics A cosplayer dressed in a fantasy costume walks shows “MPH” by Mark Millar and Fegredo.—AP between the visitors during the Manga-Comic-Convention..