Eightball and Nick Fury

I was wondering if anyone could fill me in here, how did Fury die before the Heroes Reborn series? I know it was near the end of the 'Over the Edge' series. I am guessing it was Castle because I had a Daredevil Edge comic with Castle almost killing Nicks son, and then in the next 'over the edge' concluded in the hulk I see a funeral on the cover for Fury. What happened? Was this also the time when Castle finally went back to 'normal' if you can call a guy like that normal?

On another note, does Eightball and the Fatboys feature anywhere else in Marvel or is it specifically a page filler for DD's annuals? Anyone think Eightball might be the next potential DD? He reminds me alot of Matt in his youth, especially if I look at Millers take on Matts youth.

Well thats it for now, cheers.

Almost. The 'Over the Edge' series started off with a couple of double-sized issues, 'Double Edge' Alpha and Omega, which had Fury pursuing Castle. Omega ended with Castle killing Fury.

That's about it. The Hulk was helping out Castle (or rather, hindering Nick, due to past grievances) which is why he was also persona non grata after that mess.

Not exactly. Castle was supposedly executed by electric chair for that murder, but he was smuggled out of prison after his 'death' (which had been faked by a Mafia boss). The boss was dying, and made Castle his successor (quite a good storyline, by John Ostrander and Tom Lyle).

Eightball, similar to the MC2 villain of Spider-Girl, possible?

Hmmm I'm not too aquainted with Spider Girl or the mentioned villian but Eightball is no villian. It's a lil kids nickname, whos part of a little gang that call themselves the Fatboys. They live in Hells Kitchen i.e why they appear in DD's annuals. Their stories are more like short moral lessons. Usualy I detest stories like that in marvel comics, they should keep that kind of stuff for Harvey comics with Casper and such. However I feel the little Eightball stories are done quite well and I'm sure he could easily make the next DD or at least a potential heroe.

Thanks for the input as well Bala, that just about covers my dark spots in my knowledge. I guess old skullbones was always more popular than Nick. They havn't brought Nick back yet by any chance? (not counting the Ultimate X-men which isn't part of the norm marvel time continuim)

They actually brought Nick back pretty soon (ridiculously fast after a supposedly permanent death), well before the Ultimate universe launched.