First, The Forgotten bedeviled them. Then, Newton betrayed them. But those threats pale in comparison to The Author, the baddie briefly revealed at the end of DOCTOR STRANGE AND THE SORCERERS SUPREME #7, set to fully tear onto the scene in May 24’s issue #8.

While searching for shelter from what could very well be the end of the world we came across series writer Robbie Thompson and artist Javier Rodriguez who kindly took a break from chanting incantations to tell us all about this horrifying new antagonist.

Marvel.com: Issue #8 brings the Supremes and Newton face to face with a bloody baddie who goes by The Author. What can you tell us about this deadly new danger?

Robbie Thompson: The Author is the source of the power that brought our Sorcerers together back in issue #1. This creature wrote “The Word of God,” which followers of The Forgotten used to wield unlimited power. No spoilers, but in issue #8, we’ll learn who The Author really is, and more importantly, where he comes from…

Marvel.com: What kind of risk does this antagonist pose to our titular characters? How about the world at large?

Robbie Thompson: The Author is an enormous danger to our heroes and the world at large. He created the Word of God, a book with words so powerful that they can bend reality. If the Sorcerers—and guest stars the Avengers, Howard the Duck, and Luke Cage—don’t stop him, our world will be destroyed!

Marvel.com: Creatively, how did The Author come together? What made him the right villain for this moment for you?

Robbie Thompson: When discussing the first two arcs with editors Nick Lowe and Darren Shan, we really wanted to have some big turns and reveals every issue. In fact, the first call I had with Nick, he pitched out killing Merlin as the ending of the first issue. That really set the tone from the beginning and felt like the right way to pace out our story.

We wanted to continue to put our heroes in deeper and deeper trouble, while keeping the escalation connected to the source of this story: Merlin. So, we’ve been building toward this reveal since the first issue—with Newton waiting in the wings to turn on his fellow Sorcerers, his blind ambition exposing our heroes to a being more powerful than any they’ve faced so far.

Marvel.com: The Author boasts a pretty bizarre look. Creatively, where did you draw inspiration from to realize him/it? What about the look spoke to you as the right choice for the villain?

Javier Rodriguez: I like to think that the simplest concept leads to the most effective solution. In this case, I thought about things that would disturb the reader’s perception when they are out of place. So, a creature made of hands seemed pretty awesome, and I thought it fit well with Robbie’s requirements for the story. I drew all the bad characters for this book very big, looking for a real threat to a group of Sorcerers Supremes, and more visual when all of them are fighting at the same time.

Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme #8 cover by Javier Rodriguez

Marvel.com: How did working with each other help you both to fully realize The Author?

Javier Rodriguez: Robbie and I exchange a lot of [e-mails]. Sometimes he sends me a detailed description and sometimes it’s an open field for creation. But to work with Robbie is like a dream. He leaves me a lot space to put in ideas and he doesn’t have any problem introducing those ideas, or adapting the story to fit with all the new ideas that pop up throughout the process.

Robbie Thompson: I keep saying this in interviews, but Javier really is a Sorcerer! He’s an absolute dream collaborator and master storyteller, and The Author wouldn’t exist or work at all without his work on this book.

After we briefly discussed the true nature of The Author—no spoilers!—Javier went off and designed the creature, and we were all blown away. It was perfect and was created entirely by his amazing mind. In layouts for issue #7, we were all delighted to see the “snaps” The Author uses to wield his “magic”—that’s all Javier, too, pushing the book and our story to be as visual as possible. He’s done that with every panel and every issue of the book.

I write the scripts to give him, inker Alvaro Lopez, colorist Jordie Bellaire and letter Joe Caramagna as much freedom as possible to collaborate. Every layout, design, and page from Javier is more ambitious than the last, and the whole team follows his lead, with everyone pushing the book with their talents.

Marvel.com: Newton is power mad, but he’s also pragmatic. In the face of this overwhelming threat, how does he react? How do the Supremes treat him in reaction to that?

Robbie Thompson: Unlike the rest of the Supremes, Newton knew what he was signing up for when Merlin came to him. He knew the Word of God was powering The Forgotten. And he would stop at nothing to get that book in his hands.

What he didn’t know was that the author of that book would come back to reclaim what it created! Worse, he doesn’t know where this creature hails from or how dangerous it is to magical heroes.

But, like you said, Newton is totally pragmatic—he’s going to team up with Strange to survive. And, of course, he hopes that if they defeat The Author, he can reclaim the Word of God and reshape the world as he sees fit. Strange and company are willing to team up for the time being, but they’ve been burned by this madman already, and won’t be fooled again.

Marvel.com: Without revealing too much, is there a particular moment from issue #8 of Author-inflicted devastation you can’t wait for fans to see realized on the page?

Javier Rodriguez: Well, yep, there’s a moment when we’ll see the use of pure comic language to show the power of a Sorcerer Supreme. The end of issue #8 and the first pages of #9 are some of the best pages that Robbie wrote for the series. Can’t wait to see readers’ reactions.

Robbie Thompson: Howard the Duck casts a spell! ‘nuff said!

Actually, I’ll say a bit more: there’s truly amazing work from the entire team on this issue, particularly Jordie, who finds such beautiful light and color in every issue. And it features all of our heroes, the Avengers, Luke Cage, said Duck, and more magic than you can shake a wand at!

Experience The Author in DOCTOR STRANGE AND THE SORCERERS SUPREME #8, brought to you by Robbie Thompson, Javier Rodriguez, and company on May 24!

WASHINGTON (AP) — Off in the distance, young patients can see the Washington Monument from the hospital's new rooftop "healing" garden, dedicated Friday by first lady Melania Trump as a place children and their families can breathe fresh air, "relax and enjoy in peace."

In the upcoming INFAMOUS IRON MAN #8 by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev—available May 24—we’ll see The Maker unleashing his master plan, and facing off against Doom. But how exactly did “Ultimate” Reed Richards go so bad? What led him to follow a course so different from the Mister Fantastic of the Marvel Universe?

Let’s look at some of the critical turning points in the Maker’s history.

With Reed in the Ultimate Universe, we saw a younger version of the brilliant scientist. A child prodigy, Richards always had a challenging relationship with his father, who never really understood him. Reed’s father wanted him to become the popular jock type, and didn’t acknowledge that his son could find another path to success. This early blow to his self-esteem sets Reed on a different path from his Marvel Universe counterpart from the outset.

Reed’s downfall really starts with Ultimatum, where Magneto shifted the Earth’s magnetic poles, creating a tidal wave in New York City that killed many of the Ultimate characters close to Richards, including Franklin Storm, whom he worked for—and who appreciated Reed’s genius in a way his father never did.

We find out that Doctor Doom had actually orchestrated Magneto’s plan, so Reed feels consumed with guilt, blaming himself for what happened and feeling like he created Doom; this messes with his metal state.

Shortly thereafter, events unfold that cause the Fantastic Four to disband. Sue rejects Reed’s marriage proposal and the two of them break up. The end of his relationship and the blow to his most important friendships leaves Richards feeling alone.

After the breakup of the FF, Reed moved back in with his parents. His dad gets up to his old patterns. Soon though, his parents both die in an explosion, and we later find out that Reed himself had orchestrated the murder of his family, as well as other attacks, spiraling downward even more, growing darker and darker as a character.

As The Maker, Reed leads the Children of Tomorrow, who have the impossible and destructive goal of trying to perfect the world. Richards, we learn, had been trapped in the Negative Zone—where time moves differently—for around a millennium, and this had understandably warped his psyche to what we see today.

The Maker confronts Doctor Doom in INFAMOUS IRON MAN #8, coming May 24 from Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev!

Every Friday we use the powers of Marvel Unlimited to look back at the very first appearances of a major character, place, or object that made waves this week.

They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery. If that’s true, then Peter Parker must be the most beloved person in the world. Just look at how many times he’s been cloned! This week one the most famous—and infamous—representatives from that group launched his own series with BEN REILLY: SCARLET SPIDER #1 by Peter David and Mark Bagley!

Originally created by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #149 from 1975, the clone who would be Ben Reilly came about thanks to the machinations and twisted science of The Jackal. Peter first met his clone—who also sported the original’s memories and morality—at Shea Stadium, surprised first to see someone in his costume and even more so when that person shared his face!

Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #149

• Published: October 10, 1975
• Added to Marvel Unlimited: April 29, 2013
• Writer: Gerry Conway
• Penciller: Ross Andru
• Cover Artist: Gil Kane

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The copy seemed to die in an ensuing explosion and Peter dropped the body down a smoke stack to avoid answering too many questions. Aside from an appearance in WHAT IF? #30, that proved it for the unnamed clone until he made a reappearance nearly 20 years later, first as Ben Reilly in SPIDER-MAN #51, and then as the heroic Scarlet Spider WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #118.

A back-up story in SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #223 explained that, after seemingly dying, the clone crawled out of the smoke stack, decided not to take over Peter Parker’s life and then went out on his own. You also see him taking the designation Ben Reilly for the first time in that story as he explained that he took his uncle’s first name and his aunt’s maiden one.

At first, Ben tried to work alongside Peter as an arachnid-themed hero. The two traded off on the Spider-Man identity as Mr. Parker found himself dealing with a series of rough times including the loss of his powers. At one point, Ben and Peter even believed that they’d switched places all those years back and that the clone had gone on to star in all the comics fans read for two decades. Eventually the truth came out that the webslinging duo had been fooled, but that still left two heroes running around New York City—until SPIDER-MAN #75 hit and Ben Reilly once again died trying to save Peter’s friends and family from The Green Goblin.

Web of Spider-Man (1985) #118

• Published: November 10, 1994
• Added to Marvel Unlimited: June 20, 2016
• Writer: Terry Kavanagh
• Penciller: Steve Butler
• Cover Artist: Steve Butler

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What is Marvel Unlimited?

Once again, it seemed Mr. Reilly would rest in peace until the events of the Clone Conspiracy event that wrapped up just recently. As it turned out, Jackal killed and recreated Ben Reilly so many times that he lost some of his sanity and decided to create New U Technologies and also bring back just about every dead person in Peter’s life, while masquerading as his creator. Ben survived the virus that took out most of the clones and now runs around Las Vegas in a cosplayer’s suit, charging the people he saves in his new ongoing series.

Flash Forward

If you’re curious about the Clone Saga, but don’t feel like diving into several years’ worth of stories, the original tale’s architects Howard Mackie and Tom DeFalco re-teamed in 2009 for SPIDER-MAN: THE CLONE SAGA. The six issue limited series drawn by Todd Nauck presents the story as they original intended to tell it, but distilled down into a few concise parts!

Earlier today, Elon Musk delivered an engrossing TED Talk under the following umbrella theme: The Future You. While TED Talks have arguably reached a saturation point these days, any time Musk is given a platform to discuss his vision for the future, it's always worth paying attention to.While Musk's talk was predictably far-ranging, he did take some time to not only confirm the development of a Tesla semi-truck, but to also give us a teaser photo of what the company's all-electric semi-truck is going to look like. Before we get to the photo, it's worth noting that Musk earlier this month promised that the company was planning to hold an unveiling event this September. And teasing the vehicle like only Musk knows how, he added that the "team has done an amazing job" while adding that the final design is "seriously next level."When addressing Tesla's truck plans during today's TED Talk, Musk went even further, boasting that a prototype of the vehicle has already been built and that it drives "like a sports car."Below is the teaser photo Musk unveiled earlier today.Aside from the semi-truck mentioned above, Tesla has plans to release a slew of other vehicles over the next few years, including a brand new Roadster, a crossover version of the Model 3 dubbed the Model Y, and a pickup truck. In fact, Musk at one point went so far as to say that Tesla would be stupid not to release a pickup truck, a reasonable assessment given that the 3 top-selling vehicles in the United States this past year were all pickup trucks.