New Avengers #11

History

Writer Brian Michael Bendis and editor-in-chief Joe Quesada co-created the Ronin persona, and Bendis has acknowledged that the original plan was for Matt Murdock (Daredevil) to operate under that disguise — a detail the story itself teases when Captain America approaches Murdock about the Japan mission before Murdock declines due to his publicly exposed identity. A USA Today article inadvertently hinted that Ronin was Daredevil, and ongoing continuity demands in the Daredevil title made Murdock's involvement untenable; Bendis eventually confirmed in a hardcover introduction that those pressures, combined with reader speculation having gotten too close to the original answer, pushed the creative team to substitute Maya Lopez instead. Echo's original creator, David Mack, endorsed the decision to hand Maya the identity. David Finch, who had pencilled issues #1–6 before departing, returned specifically for the three-part 'Ronin' arc (issues #11–13), with inks by Danny Miki and colors by Frank D'Armata; Tom Brevoort edited the issue.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of the Ronin identity in the Marvel Universe: Maya Lopez (Echo) debuts as Ronin in this issue (November 2005), kicking off a lineage of characters who would wear the alias.
• Written by Brian Michael Bendis; pencils and cover by David Finch; inks by Danny Miki; colors by Frank D'Armata; letters by Richard Starkings and Albert Deschesne; edited by Tom Brevoort.
• The Ronin persona was co-created by Brian Michael Bendis and Joe Quesada; Bendis originally intended Matt Murdock / Daredevil to be the identity behind the mask, but continuity conflicts with the Daredevil title and an inadvertent media spoiler led to the substitution of Maya Lopez.
• The story opens 'Ronin Part 1 (of 3),' with Ronin — identity deliberately kept ambiguous on the page — operating in Osaka, Japan against Clan Yashida and the Hand, who are working to install the Silver Samurai (an escaped Raft prisoner) as their puppet leader.
• David Finch returned to pencil issues #11–13 after a gap since issue #6, making this his reunion with the title; the series thereafter passed to Steve McNiven and other artists.
• Maya Lopez had originally been created by David Mack and Joe Quesada in Daredevil #9 (December 1999); her adoption of the Ronin guise here was supported by Mack, and represents her transition from a Daredevil-adjacent character to a full Avenger.
• The issue exists in two print editions: a Direct Edition and a Newsstand Edition (higher cover price), both with the David Finch cover.
• The issue is collected in New Avengers: Complete Collection Vol. 2, the New Avengers Modern Era Epic Collection Vol. 2: Civil War, and the New Avengers Omnibus Vol. 1 (multiple printings), ensuring wide availability in trade format.

Full credits

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#1 Key event — Ben Grimm

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#1 1st appearance — Veranke

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#16 1st appearance — Michael Pointer

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#58 1st appearance — Alisa Jones

Variants (1)