All-New, All-Remote Avengers #1 – ‘Rollout’

Posted on by phil.wrede
Iron Man, War Machine, and Domino are on a Zoom call together on the top half of the screen. The title of the comic - "All-New, All-Remote Avengers Presents... 'Rollout'" - is on the bottom half of the screen.
Tony Stark, dressed in his Iron Man armor (with the faceplate removed) attempts to begin a Zoom call, but it becomes clear, very quickly, that the people in the call are not supposed to know that Tony Stark and Iron Man are the same person. Domino tries to subtly explain his mistake to him.
War Machine helps Tony understand his mistake, and Mr. Stark promises to go and, "get Iron Man," to take over the call.
Domino and War Machine express their dismay over Tony's behavior, and eventually, Iron Man appears, with the face plate of his armor applied.
Iron Man reveals the purpose of the Zoom call: to announce the new Avengers-approved task app, "Heroes For Hire."
Due to the public distrust of traditional institutions, Iron Man believes this app will benefit citizens and Avengers alike. He announces that War Machine and Domino can be hired through this app.
Iron Man goes on to announce that the Russian superhero Red Guardian, and the Canadian superhero Guardian, are also participating, but they threaten one another over their similar names.
Iron Man cuts off Guardian and Red Guardian before their war of words can escalate. War Machine and Domino sign off, to go and have a conversation in a break-out room together.
Everybody signs off of the call, except for Hawkeye, who only just barely manages to sign on in time to be alone.
The credits for the comic strip, citing the Unsplash users whose photographs were the background art, the ownership of Marvel by Disney, and the figure photography/script/lettering by me, Phil Wrede.

I had been enamored with the idea toy photography for a very long time before I took it up as a hobby; the cover to that Small Scenes, Big Galaxy book always charmed the heck out of me when I saw it on my many wanderings through many bookstores. I never actually bought it, but I loved to look at the skiing snowtrooper LEGO minifigure on the cover. There was a boldness to the image, and the possibilities of the imagination of the person who took it seemed limitless, to me.

As a former film student (who will always be dreaming of the next big project), and a lifelong comic fan (who can barely draw to save his life), when the idea finally struck me to make a comic with toys and stock photo backdrops, it seemed… obvious, in retrospect. And, when I looked more deeply into what people do with toy/scale photo art, it felt charmingly low-stakes, but still a viable outlet for my need to make and share stories.

It was my wife’s suggestion to have the Avengers talking over a Zoom call. Once she made that suggestion, it was like a key turned in my brain, and the door that had been holding back my ideas came swinging open. The Phil Wrede Marvel Action Figure Comic Universe (#PWMAFCU) was born in that moment. I won’t ever be able to thank her enough for her advice, and support.