BOOM! Studios has announced that they’ve acquired the rights to publish comics based on Magic: The Gathering, the popular card game made by Wizards of the Coast. They plan to start publishing Magic: The Gathering comics in April with, appropriately, a comic called Magic.
Writer Jed MacKay, artist Ig Guara, colorist Arianna Consonni and letterer Ed Dukeshire are the creative team for Magic, which will feature names and concepts that most Magic: The Gathering fans will recognize.
“Magic: The Gathering is more than a game—it’s a rich, expansive multiverse and mythology you can really live in and spend an infinite amount of time traversing. This all-new and unique story we’re launching into is full of beloved characters and shocking reveals from the world of Magic that are going to entertain readers new to the brand and surprise lifelong fans in the best possible ways,” said Bryce Carlson, Vice President, Editorial & Creative Strategy, BOOM! Studios. “Jed, Ig, Arianna, Ed, all of our incredible cover artists, and the entire team at BOOM! Studios are firing on all cylinders so I can confidently say that this is far and away the best Magic: The Gathering has ever been executed in the comics medium. Period.”
Here’s how BOOM! describes the new title: Across the vast Multiverse, those gifted with a “spark” can tap into the raw power of Magic and travel across realms — they are Planeswalkers. When coordinated assassination attempts on Guildmasters Ral Zarek, Vraska, and Kaya rock the city of Ravnica and leave Jace Beleren’s life hanging in the balance, a fuse is lit that threatens not just these three Guilds, but the entire plane of Ravnica. Now these three must covertly infiltrate the wild plane of Zendikar and form a tenuous alliance to uncover why the targets of the assassins have all been Planeswalkers. . . which will lead them straight to one of the most enigmatic characters in Magic history!
“Twenty-five years ago when I was digging through the commons and uncommons bin to build my first deck, I would never have thought that one day I would be handed the reins to the Magic: The Gathering comic, but here we are!” said MacKay. “I’m extremely psyched to be digging into the world of MAGIC and all that entails, and can’t wait for all of you to see what we’ve been cooking up for you!”
IDW previously held the license for Magic: The Gathering, publishing related comics between 2012-2018. Prior to that, Dark Horse and Acclaim’s Armada line both published Magic comics.
You can check out covers and concept art for the first issue below:
