Marvel’s 616 Day Digital Reveal Is That “He Is Back”… Knull? Donny Cates?

Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Marvel Comics, Venom | Tagged: 616, 616 Day, Donny Cates

Marvel’s 616 Day digital reveal is that “He Is Back”… does that mean Knull The King In Black? Venom? Carnage? Donny Cates?

Yesterday, Bleeding Cool reported the return of the Marvel Comics QR Code that so annoyed X-Men readers last year, in last week’s Giant-Size Spider-Man, ahead of Marvel 616 Day, to the address https://www.marvel.com/616 and which was meant to have gone live at 06:16 ET, 03:16 PT or 11.16 BST, where I am. Well, it was late. But by 06.23 it was up.

He is back… Knull, The King In Black? Meridius? Eddie Brock as Venom? Cletus Kasaday as Carnage? Venom as the bad guy? Donny Cates? Come on now, be realistic. Either way we will now find more at 6.16pm tonight. Which is… 11.16pm for me.

Bleeding Cool has already been reporting on what Marvel has provided for stores for Marvel 616 Day as a surprise, what some stores will be doing for it, and what one ramen diner in Brooklyn patronised by C.B. Cebulski will be giving away. Marvel Comics sent comic book retailers a special secret thing for Marvel 616 Day with a warning not to open it until the 16th of June, or 616 Day. Some folks, it seems, can’t wait to open their presents before the special day. And then put them on eBay. The packages include pins, posters, and special 616 variant covers for the following titles.

• Amazing Spider-Man #2 616 Day Variant by Sara Pichelli
• Avengers #25 616 Day Variant by Marco Checchetto
• Fantastic Four Fanfare #1 616 Day Variant by Greg Land
• X-Men #15 616 Day Variant by Leinil Francis Yu
• Fantastic Four 616 Day Pin Set featuring Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and the Thing

In an accompanying letter, Marvel President Dan Buckley says;

“Every year, we look for new ways to celebrate the incredible comics that make up the heart and soul of our industry. Our job is to tell stories that keep readers on the edge of their seats, introducing them to characters that feel real and relatable, and building a passionate community that embraces the fun and joy of being a comic book fan.”

“This June 16th marks 616 Day, a celebratory day inspired by our main 616 universe. Over the years, a growing number of fans have embraced 616 Day to appreciate and share their favorite parts of the Marvel Universe, and we want to help build that moment over the next few weeks for everyone to participate in. Our hope is that 616 Day becomes an exciting opportunity for you and your stores to rally your customers, build interest in comics, and drive foot traffic in a way that feels special.
“With the highly anticipated Fantastic Four film coming this summer, this year’s 616 Day is the perfect time to spotlight Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben (who, I admit, is my personal favorite). It’s also a great reminder of where Marvel comics started—that core of Marvel is the characters and creators who push the boundaries of comic book storytelling and truly grow an evolved fan base.

“We hope you enjoy these special comics and pins, and we look forward to continue building this yearly 616 Day celebration into something that brings fans together, celebrates the stories we all love, and helps to keep this industry thriving for years to come.”

616, is the numerical definition of the Marvel Universe‘s own reality. In 1981, Dave Thorpe was writing original Captain Britain comics for Marvel Superheroes, drawn by Alan Davis and Paul Neary. These were surreal, satirical, allegorical and political tales, which weren’t that appreciated at the time. He was replaced by Alan Moore, who amped up the weird, but continued a number of Thorpe’s concepts such as Mad Jim Jaspers, Saturnyne, The Crazy Gang, the Jaspers Warp – and the idea that the Earth Captain Britain was fighting on, was designated 616.

It was a joke. DC Comics had Earth One, Earth Two and Earth Three – so this Earth that Captain Britain was on was Earth 616. While DC Comics had Earth 1, Earth 2, and Earth 3, Dave Thorpe put Marvel Comics further down the dial. Thorpe told Bleeding Cool “616 was the worst of the parallel Earths that was holding the others back from achieving the shift forward to the next evolutionary stage, which is why Saturnyne turned up to administer the evolutionary fluid to its population. 666 = number of the beast (Crowley). It would have been too obvious to use that. I chose 616 = 666 – 50. Why 50? A nice round number, but the school in the world’s coldest town in Siberia closes when the temperature reaches -61.6 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s an extreme tipping point.” But then he gives a different answer to everyone.

The phrase 616 wasn’t published in the comic when Dave Thorpe wrote it, but this was meant to be the parallel universe in which his Captain Britain was fighting. When Alan Moore began writing the Captain Britain strip, he took on the idea of the Omniverse and created the Captain Britain Corps. During which, in an issue of UK magazine Daredevils #7 in 1983, he used the numbers for the first time, now stating that the parallel universe Dave described above was to be designated 238 and that the Marvel Universe, in which Captain Britain originally resided and returned to, was to be 616.

It also came a couple of years after Bryan Talbot published his Luther Arkwright comic, which also had high numbers for different parallel worlds, such as Para 00.38.56 on the very first page. Alan Moore would write the foreword to the comics in question.

Chris Claremont was a big fan of Alan Moore’s work. When he wrote Excalibur with Alan Davis in 1988, he picked up on a number of characters from Captain Britain, and the number 616 began to pop up. Other Marvel Comics engaged in dimensional travelling storylines used the same number for the Marvel Earth.

Soon, it became a fan-favourite way to designate the Marvel Universe reality to the extent that Marvel EIC Joe Quesada and SVP Tom Brevoort spoke out about their hatred of using it. Creators were given a last hurrah to use it and get it out of their systems on stories such as Spider-Verse, Infinity, and Time Runs Out, culminating in the Secret Wars comic that destroyed the 616 Universe and then recreated it as Prime Earth.

But people loved 616 so much, and creators kept using it that the Marvel execs had to throw in the towel. Especially when it started getting used in Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, Spider-Man: Far From Home and the new Marvel TV series Marvel’s 616. And today, having Marvel’s President Dan Buckley embrace Marvel 616 Day officially.

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