Norman Osborn has fought the Skrull menace on home turf and won a victory for all of humanity, or at least that’s how the media portrayed the events, according to creators at Marvel‘s Dark Reign panel yesterday at New York Comic Con.

After the Skrull Invasion, the citizens of the Marvel U looked to Osborn as a hero, allowing him to gain control of the initiative and form a Dark Illuminati. Osborn wants support as he vies for power and offers to help the shadow group, comprised of himself, Emma Frost, Dr. Doom, Namor, Loki, and The Hood.

“The media is a big part of Norman’s war,” said New Avengers scribe Brian Michael Bendis, who indicated that his control over the media’s image of him will be central the theme of Dark Reign — Marvel’s non-event following Secret Invasion that will take place in several different books. Unlike previous cross-over events, Dark Reign will not have a self-titled series at all.

On Tuesday I received in my inbox an email asking me, “What is this mysterious image?” Marvel didn’t want to tell me much, only that I would have to wait for in-depth interviews “on all the major announcements being made” at Marvel’s “jaw-dropping presentation at the Diamond Retailer Summit.” Well, answers to the mysterious image, and more, have definitely got me excited.

First off, the image to the right is a teaser for the upcoming Marvel Noir. “The Marvel Universe meets Film Noir next year in three limited-series re-imagining Marvel’s most iconic characters in the 30′.” The three titles will be X-Men Noir, Spider-Man Noir, and Daredevil Noir.

“The Noir line came together in one of our editorial meetings,” explains Executive Editor Axel Alonso, who will also be helming Daredevil Noir. “We had a couple of promising pitches that re-imagined Marvel characters against a Noir backdrop so we figured why stop there? If you imagine an icon like Spider-Man or the X-Men or Daredevil as a product of the 30’s, the story possibilities are endless.”