Comic book tie-in to the Marvel Cinemetic Universe
Fury's Big Week
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Cover of chapter 2. Art by Gerald Parel.
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Publisher
| Marvel Comics
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Format
| Limited series
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Genre
| Superhero
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Publication date
| March
? April 2012
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No.
of issues
| 8 (digital), 4 ("chapters" in paper)
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Written by
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Penciller(s)
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- Luke Ross
- Daniel Hdr
- Agustin Padilla
- Wellinton Alves
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Inker(s)
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- Mark Pennington
- Rick Ketcham
- Don Ho
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Marvel's The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week
, or simply
Fury's Big Week
, is a
limited series
comic book
published by
Marvel Comics
as an
official tie-in comic
to the
Marvel Cinematic Universe
(MCU), specifically the 2012 film
Marvel's The Avengers
. The comic was written by
Eric Pearson
from stories by himself and
Chris Yost
, with art by various pencillers.
Fury's Big Week
follows
Nick Fury
and several agents of
S.H.I.E.L.D.
as they deal with the various events of the
MCU films
leading up to
The Avengers
.
Marvel began releasing tie-in comics to the MCU films in 2008, and revealed an expanded marketing plan for its published tie-ins ahead of the release of
The Avengers
.
Fury's Big Week
was announced in February 2012, with
Marvel Studios
working closely with the comics division to ensure continuity between the various products. The comic draws connections between the different films of Marvel's
Phase One
, retelling events from the perspective of S.H.I.E.L.D. and adding new character interactions and sequences.
Fury's Big Week
was released digitally in eight issues from February to March 2012, to tie-in with the film's marketing. The comic was then published in hard copy from March to April as four individual chapters.
Publication history
[
edit
]
Marvel Comics
began releasing limited comic series to tie-in with
Marvel Studios
' films in 2008,
[1]
and by 2010 had discussed the plan to have them be "not necessarily direct adaptations of the movies, but maybe something that happened off screen and was mentioned in the movie". Then editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics
Joe Quesada
explained that the publisher would be working closely with Marvel Studios and the creators behind the films when developing the tie-ins.
[2]
For
Marvel's The Avengers
in 2012, Marvel's senior vice-president of sales David Gabriel described a "more focused" approach to tie-ins than previously, with the intention to reach fans of 'all walks of life'.
[3]
In February 2012, Marvel announced
Marvel's The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week
, written by
Chris Yost
and
Eric Pearson
. Yost and Pearson had both been members of Marvel Studios' in-house Writers Program, developing feature films such as
Thor
and
Captain America: The First Avenger
, so when it came to
Fury's Big Week
Marvel "realized they had two writers in house that knew the cinematic universe better than anybody". Pearson, who had never written a comic before but did write several
Marvel One-Shots
for the company, was responsible for the final scripts, with Yost assisting him with plotting the series. The pair worked together to develop the format of each issue, and then Pearson "just kind of went until I didn't know what to do and then ask for help." Yost and Pearson hoped to introduce long-established comic elements such as "the full extent of S.H.I.E.L.D." to fans of the films.
[4]
Art for the series was provided Luke Ross, Daniel Hdr, Agustin Padilla, and Wellinton Alves.
[5]
[6]
The comic retells the events of
The Incredible Hulk
,
Iron Man 2
,
Thor
, and
Captain America: The First Avenger
from the point-of-view of S.H.I.E.L.D., with extra scenes added to weave them all together. Yost and Pearson "saw the [MCU] timeline, [and] just tried to approach it from a very logical standpoint". On the title and premise, Yost explains that "There are seven days where S.H.I.E.L.D. had the worst week of their lives...you're seeing S.H.I.E.L.D.'s history and how it all leads right into
Marvel's The Avengers
, so we start in 1943 with Captain America and go all the way through all of the Marvel movies that you've seen to date". Pearson said, "Hopefully, [readers will] see the respect that the studio has for the cohesive universe. It's a comic book tying all of the events of several different features, and you really get to see how they're all in the same world." Yost added, "there's something going on behind the scenes [of the films] that people aren't aware of, and starting with this comic, you're going to become very aware of it." Yost noted that the comic "got the seal of approval" from Kevin Feige and Jeremy Latcham at Marvel Studios, "so this is the real deal" in terms of the MCU continuity.
[4]
The concept of "Fury's Big Week" had been conceived by executive
Brad Winderbaum
when he was hired in October 2008, with one of his first tasks to create a timeline for the MCU.
[7]
The first of eight issues was released digitally on the Marvel Comics app on February 5 to coincide with the release of a new trailer for the film on that day. The rest of the issues were set to be released on the app each Tuesday beginning February 14. New Marvel editor-in-chief
Axel Alonso
described the comic as "an exciting story set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that sets the stage perfectly" for the film.
[8]
The comic introduced a red 'Avengers' stamp on its cover, indicating it as an
official tie-in to the MCU
.
[9]
The comic was then published in hard copy as four chapters on March 7,
[10]
March 21,
[11]
April 4,
[12]
and April 18, 2012.
[13]
Plot
[
edit
]
External image
|
---|
The Phase One Timeline
infographic released by Marvel in May 2012, which shows the start, events, and end of Fury's Big Week.
[14]
|
The World Security Council shuts down S.H.I.E.L.D.'s search for Captain America's crashed plane in the Arctic, as well as the surveillance of Tony Stark and
Bruce Banner / Hulk
, in favor of Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. ? S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attempts at exploiting the
Tesseract
? though Director Fury decides to continue these operations "off the books". Fury learns on the same day, that
Stark is near death
,
Banner has entered the U.S.
, and there are
unusual atmospheric disturbances above New Mexico
. With S.H.I.E.L.D.'s help, Stark discovers a new element that saves his life, while Agents Coulson and
Clint Barton
discover
Thor Odinson
in New Mexico, and recover the remains of the Asgardian
Destroyer
armor there. Romanoff follows Banner to New York City, where, while the Hulk fights the
Abomination
, she discovers the mutating
Samuel Sterns
. A year later, S.H.I.E.L.D. is actively studying Sterns,
Jane Foster
's Nine Realms Theory, and the Destroyer ? which they now have control over, and are developing into a handheld gun ? and have been successful in their search for Captain America. Barton is assigned to watch Dr.
Erik Selvig
at Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S., who, using Stark's new element, is on the brink of harnessing the Tesseract's power, but who is also under the control of the Asgardian
Loki
.
[5]
[15]
[16]
[6]
Reception
[
edit
]
The series holds a rating of 8.0 on the
review aggregation
website
Comic Book Roundup
.
[17]
Fury's Big Week
received praise from CJ Wheeler of
Den of Geek
, who thought the tone of the series was "a perfect fit for the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far and will get you stoked for what's to come." He described the writing as "punchy, suspenseful and funny. S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury and fan-favourite Agent Coulson get a chance to shine, with some great lines from both that could easily by delivered by
Sam Jackson
and
Clark Gregg
." Wheeler found the artwork to be "reliable", preferring that of Ross and Alves to the other artists for being "much more movie-like in style and panel-work".
[18]
Prints
[
edit
]
Issues and chapters
[
edit
]
Issue numbers
|
Title
|
Cover date
|
Estimated sales (first month)
|
1?2
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"Chapter One"
|
April 2012
(
2012-04
)
|
19,829, ranked 92nd in North America
[19]
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3?4
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"Chapter Two"
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May 2012
(
2012-05
)
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17,975, ranked 101st in North America
[20]
|
5?6
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"Chapter Three"
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June 2012
(
2012-06
)
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14,442, ranked 128th in North America
[21]
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7?8
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"Chapter Four"
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June 2012
(
2012-06
)
|
14,070, ranked 131st in North America
[22]
|
Collected editions
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Tobin, Paul (October 20, 2008).
"Paul Tobin on Iron Man: Fast Friends"
. Newsarama.
Archived
from the original on October 12, 2014
. Retrieved
May 3,
2013
.
- ^
Wigler, Josh (November 1, 2010).
"Joe Quesada Outlines Plans For 'Marvel Cinematic Universe' Comics With Movie Creators"
. MTV.
Archived
from the original on October 26, 2014
. Retrieved
May 3,
2013
.
- ^
White, Matt (May 8, 2012).
"Marvel and Disney Assemble Avengers Tie-Ins"
.
Publishers Weekly
.
Archived
from the original on July 20, 2014
. Retrieved
June 1,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
"Writing The Avengers Movie Prelude"
.
Marvel.com
. March 6, 2012. Archived from
the original
on 2014-06-06
. Retrieved
June 4,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
Chris Yost and Eric Pearson (
w
), Luke Ross and Daniel Hdr (
p
), Mark Pennington (
i
). "Chapter One"
The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week
, no. 1 (February 5, 2012).
Marvel Comics
.
- ^
a
b
Chris Yost and Eric Pearson (
w
), Agustin Padilla and Wellinton Alves (
p
), Rick Ketcham and Don Ho (
i
). "Chapter Four"
The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week
, no. 4 (April 18, 2012).
Marvel Comics
.
- ^
Robinson, Johanna; Gonzales, Dave;
Edwards, Gavin
(October 10, 2023).
MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios
. New York City:
Liveright
. pp. 120?121.
ISBN
978-1-63149-751-3
.
- ^
"Download The Avengers Movie Prelude for Free"
.
Marvel.com
. February 3, 2012. Archived from
the original
on 2015-03-20
. Retrieved
November 11,
2014
.
- ^
"Marvel's The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week (2011) #2"
.
Marvel.com
.
Archived
from the original on July 23, 2014
. Retrieved
June 6,
2014
.
- ^
"Marvel's The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week (2011) #1"
.
Marvel.com
.
Archived
from the original on April 10, 2015
. Retrieved
June 30,
2014
.
- ^
"Marvel's The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week #2"
. Comixology. Archived from
the original
on August 11, 2017
. Retrieved
November 11,
2014
.
- ^
"Marvel's The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week (2011) #3"
.
Marvel.com
. April 4, 2012.
Archived
from the original on November 2, 2014
. Retrieved
November 11,
2014
.
- ^
"Marvel's The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week #4"
. Comixology. Archived from
the original
on March 4, 2016
. Retrieved
November 11,
2014
.
- ^
Franich, Darren (May 17, 2012).
"
'Avengers' timeline: Nick Fury's busy week"
.
Entertainment Weekly
.
Archived
from the original on February 15, 2015
. Retrieved
November 18,
2018
.
- ^
Chris Yost and Eric Pearson (
w
), Luke Ross and Daniel Hdr (
p
), Mark Pennington (
i
). "Chapter Two"
The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week
, no. 2 (March 21, 2012).
Marvel Comics
.
- ^
Chris Yost and Eric Pearson (
w
), Agustin Padilla and Wellinton Alves (
p
), Rick Ketcham and Don Ho (
i
). "Chapter Three"
The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week
, no. 3 (April 4, 2012).
Marvel Comics
.
- ^
"THE AVENGERS PRELUDE: FURY'S BIG WEEK"
.
Comic Book Roundup
. Archived from
the original
on 2017-08-19
. Retrieved
2017-06-27
.
- ^
Wheeler, CJ (March 30, 2012).
"Marvel's The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week review"
. Den of Geek.
Archived
from the original on March 19, 2014
. Retrieved
July 16,
2014
.
- ^
"March 2012 Comic Book Sales Figures"
.
comichron.com
.
The Comics Chronicles
. Retrieved
2017-06-27
.
- ^
"March 2012 Comic Book Sales Figures"
.
comichron.com
.
The Comics Chronicles
. Retrieved
2017-06-27
.
- ^
"April 2012 Comic Book Sales Figures"
.
comichron.com
.
The Comics Chronicles
. Retrieved
2017-06-27
.
- ^
"April 2012 Comic Book Sales Figures"
.
comichron.com
.
The Comics Chronicles
. Retrieved
2017-06-27
.
- ^
Marvel's The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week
.
Amazon.com
.
External links
[
edit
]
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