Beginning with Avengers #25, Brian Michael Bendis will be joined by the legendary Walt Simonson for a story arc tying into Marvel's upcoming Avengers Vs. X-Men event. This arc, which will focus on the Avengers' perspective in their clash with the X-Men, will also be Bendis' final arc on the the title.
First announced on Marvel's Next Big Thing Liveblog, Bendis and Simonson both expressed a good deal of excitement at the prospect of working together. Bendis was especially happy to be able to work with Simonson after so recently working with another iconic artist, Neal Adams. Few details about their arc together emerged in the live blog discussion, though.
The Marvel character Simonson is most idenfied with, Thor, was confirmed to be a major part of the upcoming story arc. Storm's presence was also confirmed, but Marvel was quick to note that Storm remaining in Avengers did not mean she was necessarily taking the team's side. An AvX teaser released by Marvel does seem to imply that she will not be supporting her Avenger teammates. While not giving away details, Bendis promised plenty of big action and characters for Simonson to draw.
"My interest is in context and story, not so much in whether this guy can beat that guy. I want to know the circumstances. I'm counting on Brian to give me circumstances that I'll be delighted regardless of how it works out." -Walt Simonson
Simonson's story arc, beginning with #25, will run for six issues.
Also noted in the live blog session was that Bendis' upcoming Avengers Assemble series with artist Mark Bagley would bridge directly into his post-Avengers plans -- whatever those may be.
