Alex Ross set the comic world on fire years ago with his original Marvel series aptly dubbed ‘Marvels’. He then went on to strike gold again with DC’s Kingdom Come landmark story. Since then anything that Ross has been attached to has been a hit, and he has become one of the most sought after artists in the industry. His work with Jim Krueger is considered some of the most memorable in comics, now the two of them are together once again along with Steve Sadowski (penciler for the series) to deliver a brand new Marvel Maxi-Series titled Avengers/Invaders: The Return.

Steve is back from hell, and he's lookin' for Brubaker.

Marvel.com caught up with members of the creative staff to get the lowdown on the upcoming series. There were a great many questions asked about the series from the moment the first promo-image was unveiled. Despite the fact that a returned Cap would be a major story, this is apparently not the case, but according to the creative team behind this event, there is still plenty to get excited about. The first thing Ross did was make it clear that while this story will feature an alive and well Steve Rogers, it will not be a revived Steve, but it will still be a canon story. "As a fan, as a reader, I enjoy those books," says Ross. "I enjoy MIGHTY and NEW [AVENGERS]. I have to read them every time they come in. That's the first book I have to read every week that it ships. We're calling the series AVENGERS/INVADERS because for one, the brand name of Avengers has so increased in value now—because of the quality of all these series and the excitement regarding them—that you don't have to worry about whether it's got the modifier of NEW or MIGHTY in front of it. And in truth in the story, you're going to get both. How could you not?”

"Given the storyline, how could you not have both teams become very much involved to try and find out who these time travelers are or if they are the real deal, fighting over them and basically controlling or liberating them will be a key story point," explains Ross.

The first series Ross did for Marvel, Namor is on the way to 'pee' this guy out.

Ross also expressed a great deal of desire to work with some of the Marvel characters that have undergone considerable cosmetic changes since their early days in the books. . "I'm so thrilled [Marvel] brought back people like the 1970s Ms. Marvel and Spider-Woman, it's just purely speaking to my heart as a fan. When you see things that are resurrected from Marvel's past, you realize, 'Why the hell did they ever get rid of that?' It's really thrilling to get a chance to play with that. If I can figure out a way to somehow in all of this revive Power Man's yellow shirt and tiara, I would do that too, but somehow I don't think that there would be an excuse to do that within the series.”  "We have to use Luke Cage in our story because he's such an important character," he continues. "And of course, working with the contemporary Iron Man is a very striking thing. I'm not one of those fans who are against what they've been doing, I find the creative exploration to be very exciting and I have been jealous of wanting a chance to play in the playground and admiring a lot of the work that has been done."

Jim Krueger also weighed in with his enthusiasm about this new series. "Being part of continuity is being part of the bigger story, the entire mythos, and that's a great thing. If anything, continuity is something Alex and I have always strived for, despite almost seeming to operate outside of it.”

"Nick [Barrucci, Publisher for Dynamite Entertainment], Alex and I have been talking together for a long time—about a lot of stuff," Krueger continues. "Anyhow, this was one of those things that just sort of organically began as we all just sat around and thought, 'Wouldn't it be cool to do this?' Alex and I had worked up a story on the original Human Torch a number of years ago that we were dying to do. We let Nick read it. And Nick had this idea of an Avengers/Invaders team-up. He started talking to Marvel and the ball just started rolling."

A rendition of Cap by artist Steve Sadowski.

After finding out that this story has been in the works for some time, the obvious question was raised concerning a certain star spangled Avenger. "Captain America being dead in the Marvel Universe today is not what we were every planning around in this entire endeavor," admits Ross. That must've thrown a kink into the massive story Ross and Co. have been plotting, right?

"Actually, it may be one of the best things to happen to the storyline," reveals Ross. "Well, there's the thought of beforehand, the meeting of Golden Age/Modern Age Cap or what I would call the equivalent of Earth 1/Earth 2 Cap, that could be interesting too. But it sends more resonance to people in the modern universe to see a guy that they just witnessed die and have him come back, but have it be the guy in his youth, not his prime, but basically his point of origin that really constructed [his character] and was the key point of the history in the '40s. It will always remain part of Captain America's character that he is a soldier from World War II and that's what he was created for.”

The butt kicking to come, should look a little like this. Cap punching a woman.

Before they went, Krueger and Ross commented on the involvement of artist Steve Sadowski, and his connection to the project. "We worked with Steve on one of PARADISE X Specials," says Krueger. "So he's already part of our group. Steve is great. I can't wait to see his art." "I've been wanting to work with Steve for years on any number of things because his history on JSA was so rich and he did some of the best run of that series," adds Ross.

The series will debut in 2008.