New Avengers Modern Era Epic Collection: The Initiative

Brian Michael Bendis is an award-winning comic-book creator and one of the most successful writers in the industry. He is known for his acclaimed run on Daredevil, his revitalization of Marvel’s Avengers franchise, and major event projects like House of M, Secret War, Secret Invasion, Siege, Age of Ultron, and Civil War II. Bendis wrote every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man from its launch and introduced Miles Morales to the Marvel Universe. He also worked on Marvel’s mutants in All-New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men, launched Guardians of the Galaxy, and reshaped the stories of Iron Man and Defenders. His creator-owned projects include Scarlet, Brilliant, Takio, and the Eisner Award-winning Powers.

Warren Ellis emerged from the UK comics scene to make a significant impact at Marvel with series like Hellstorm and Druid, followed by extended runs on Excalibur and Doom 2099. He gained prominence with Wildstorm’s Stormwatch, Transmetropolitan, The Authority, and Planetary before returning to Marvel for Ultimate Fantastic Four, the Ultimate Galactus Trilogy, and Iron Man. His series Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. was both critically acclaimed and a cult favorite. Ellis also revived the New Universe with newuniversal, wrote Thunderbolts, took over Astonishing X-Men, and penned the definitive “Extremis” storyline for Iron Man. He offered a distinctive take on Moon Knight, and his miniseries Red was adapted into a hit movie. Ellis also ventured into prose fiction with Crooked Little Vein and the New York Times best-selling novel Gun Machine.

Brian Reed spent a decade designing and writing video games, including Ultimate Spider-Man, before transitioning to comics. He is known for his 50-issue run on Ms. Marvel, chronicling the return of Captain Marvel, co-authoring New Avengers: Illuminati, and creating the creator-owned series The Circle. Reed has also written several event tie-ins such as Secret Invasion: Spider-Man, Secret Invasion: Front Line, and Siege: Embedded.

Alex Maleev, a Bulgarian-born artist, won the Russ Manning Award for Best New Talent in 1997. He first collaborated with Brian Michael Bendis on Image’s Sam & Twitch and later reunited for a gritty and acclaimed run on Daredevil, earning them an Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series. Their partnership continued with New Avengers: Illuminati, Civil War: The Confession, Secret Invasion: Dark Reign, the Halo: Uprising limited series, Spider-Woman (print and motion comics), and the creator-owned Scarlet. Maleev also illustrated International Iron Man and its successor series Infamous Iron Man.

Leinil Francis Yu’s interest in comics was sparked by How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way. Under the tutelage of Whilce Portacio, he landed his first mainstream work on Wolverine. Yu went on to illustrate titles such as Uncanny X-Men, X-Men, Superman: Birthright, and Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk. After working on New Avengers, he collaborated with Brian Michael Bendis on Secret Invasion and has since worked on event comics like Avengers & X-Men: Axis and IVX, as well as Star Wars.

Marc Silvestri is an industry giant who rose to prominence in the late ‘80s with popular runs on Uncanny X-Men and Wolverine. He co-founded Image Comics in 1992, where his imprint, Top Cow, became one of its longstanding studios. At Image, Silvestri created popular properties including Cyberforce, Witchblade, Weapon Zero, and The Darkness. He has since returned to Marvel to work on New X-Men and X-Men: Messiah Complex.

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