Today’s round-up includes news and announcements on ‘Life of Wolverine,’ Gatchaman, the Energon Universe, ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ and more.
Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you that we haven’t otherwise covered. Hit the links for more information.
The new title will feature Cyclops leading a team that handle “explosive mutant-specific issues without restrain,” with the first threat being “an existential new enemy that rises out of the remains of Orchis.”
Both MacKay and Stegman are happy to be here.
“Taking on the X-Men is always a daunting prospect, but I’m extremely psyched to take this team of mutants back into the world with Ryan,” MacKay said.
Gail Simone, David Marquez, Eve L. Ewing, Carmen Carnero, Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman will plot a new course for the X-Men following the end of the Krakoa era.
During their panel at South by Southwest today, Marvel revealed their plans for the X-Men post-Krakoa, which include three core titles sporting the name “X-Men” as well as six other titles.
As most fans likely guessed, Gail Simone will write one of the core titles, Uncanny X-Men, joined by artist David Marquez. Current Avengers writer Jed MacKay and artist Ryan Stegman spearhead the adjectiveless X-Men, and Eve Ewing and Carmen Carnero team up for Exceptional X-Men.
“The X-Men are fractured in the aftermath of the end of Krakoa, scattered across the globe without a central base of operation,” Marvel Executive Editor Tom Brevoort said. “What that means in practice is that all three titles carrying the name X-Men are core X-Men series—they all center around one of the major aspects of what the team has been about at different points. This is very much by design. We want to field a wide assortment of X-titles with different styles and tones and approaches, an X-Men book for virtually any taste.”
The other titles teased at the panel include solo titles for Storm, Wolverine and Phoenix, as well as some familiar team titles — X-Factor, X-Force and NYX.
“I think X-Fans are special in that we identify with having something different about us…and you’re going to feel that in this book, and what it means to have that thing about you that’s different, or exceptional. We go deep into the emotional part of that,” Simone told the crowd in Austin.
More details on the three core titles can be found below …
Gerry Duggan, Kieron Gillen, Al Ewing, Lucas Werneck, Joshua Cassara, Chris Claremont, Gail Simone and more contribute to an oversized issue celebrating 700 issues of ‘Uncanny X-Men.’
If you’re looking for the comic that will put the period — or maybe exclamation point — on the X-Men’s Krakoa era, look no further than X-Men #35, which arrives in June.
According to Marvel, the issue will also mark 700 issues of Uncanny X-Men, the flagship “X” title for the past 60 years, so it’ll also be an oversized issue featuring stories by a variety of creators. Those include some from the Krakoa-era, including Gerry Duggan, Kieron Gillen, Al Ewing, Lucas Werneck and Joshua Cassara, as well as legendary Uncanny X-Men writer Chris Claremont.
“Being a part of the Krakoan experiment has been a true thrill,” said X-Men Senior Editor Jordan D. White. “Honestly—in many ways—it echoed the experience of mutantkind itself in the era. We worked differently, we tried new things, we survived incredible new experiences. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have worked with such fantastically talented creators throughout the era, and working on the glorious ending is truly bittersweet. I will miss it with my whole heart, but I do know… Krakoa will live on within us forever.”
The polybagged version will come with a parental advisory label and extra pages featuring graphic art.
Marvel has announced plans to release two versions of each issue of its upcoming Blood Hunt series — the standard version, and a “Red Band” edition that will deliver more blood and guts.
The crossover series by Avengers writer Jed MacKay and X-Men artists Pepe Larraz and Marte Gracia will feature the Avengers, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man and more going head-to-head with the vampire nation under a sunless sky.
“Labeled with a Parental Advisory and polybagged to keep those weak of heart from experiencing its intensity, the Red Band Editions will contain additional pages and more graphic art too explicit for the regular edition,” Marvel.com reads. “Blood Hunt will mark the first time that a different edition of the same Marvel comic book is produced for more mature readers, fitting for this blood-soaked saga where vampires will viciously sink their teeth into your favorite heroes!”
Several publishers have revealed more about their plans for Free Comic Book Day 2024.
As we move into the new year, several companies have revealed additional details on their Free Comic Book Day plans for 2024. This year’s event will be held May 4 and will feature about 50 titles from various publishers.
And those publishers include Marvel, Dark Horse and Mad Cave, who have shared more about what to expect from this year’s titles. Let’s dig in …
The stakes are high in this new event series by Jed MacKay, Pepe Larraz and Marte Gracia.
Avengers writer Jed MacKay and acclaimed X-Men artists Pepe Larraz and Marte Gracia will team up next year for a battle between Marvel’s heroes and the undead, as Blood Hunt signals the arrival of “the long night” and an emboldened nation of vampires.
Check out the promotional image by Leinil Francis Yu and Sunny Gho in full below, which showcases many fot eh characters MacKay has been writing lately, including Doctor Strange, the Avengers and Tigra:
‘Vengeance of the Moon Knight’ by Jed MacKay and Alessandro Cappuccio will see another character put on the hood.
If you’ve been a mainstream superhero comic fan for any amount of time, you’ve probably noticed certain patterns emerge. For instance, when a major superhero dies, it isn’t long before that void is filled.
Following the announcement that they plan to kill Moon Knight later this year, Marvel has announced Vengeance of the Moon Knight by Jed MacKay and Alessandro Cappuccio, which will kick off in the new year. It’ll follow MoonKnight #30, which will end the current series.
(In the words of my kid, “Can Moon Knight even die?” I guess we’ll find out.
Jed MacKay and Alessandro Cappuccio pull the final curtain on Moon Knight — at least until Marvel decides to bring him back.
Following in the footsteps of Doctor Strange, Ms. Marvel and, well, just about every other character they have, Marvel has announced that Moon Knight will be the next character to die in their comics in a story by Jed MacKay and Alessandro Cappuccio.
It’s hard not to be cynical about comic book deaths, particularly when it comes to Marvel. They not only mourned Ms. Marvel last week in the pages of Fall Friend: The Death of Ms. Marvel, but turned around a few days later to announce her return. The X-Men and their resurrection protocols have pretty much ruined the impact of any comic book deaths these days, right?
And while I’m a big fan of MacKay’s work in general and on Moon Knight in particular, this story comes on the heels of a similar one featuring Doctor Strange. But still, big fan, so I’ll be curious to see how this one plays out and trust that the execution will be well handled (no pun intended … well, maybe a little).
The character from the ‘Moon Knight’ show on Disney+ will appear in a Moon Knight miniseries.
Layla El-Faouly, the character played by May Calamawy in the Disney+ show Moon Knight, will make her comic book debut in Moon Knight #25, with her costumed identity, the Scarlet Scarab, soon to follow.
The character will be shown in flashbacks as a member of the Karnak Cowboys, a mercenary group that Marc Specter was a part of. The character will then make her superhero debut in Moon Knight: City of the Dead, a new miniseries by David Pepose and Marcelo Ferreira.
Jed MacKay, writer of Moon Knight, said that the character will debut in one of three stories that will appear in Moon Knight #25, an oversized issue featuring art by Alessandro Cappuccio, Alessandro Vitti and Partha Pratim.
“Working on Moon Knight #25 was a bit of a mammoth task… 70 pages of story, cutting between three stories, each with their own artist,” Jed MacKay told IGN. “It was a really exciting opportunity to have that much space to work in, telling a Moon Knight story in a longer form than we’re usually used to.”
A team of familiar faces will battle Kang, Terminus and the Twilight Court in the new title.
With Jason Aaron’s time on Avengers wrapping up, Marvel has announced that Jed MacKay and C.F. Villa, who worked together recently on Marvel’s Black Cat, will headline a new Avengers title starting in May, joined by cover artist Stuart Immonen.
Their run will spin out of the recent Timeless one-shot, which featured the Avenger’s old villain Kang going up against a villain named Myrddin and his group of faux heroes, the Twilight Court. The Avengers will face a series of challenges called the Tribulation Events that bring them into conflict with Myrddin’s group.
Marvel also revealed the team line-up, which will be led by Captain Marvel. The team includes Thor, Iron Man, Black Panther, Scarlet Witch, Vision and Captain America — aka the former Falcon, Sam Wilson.
It’s an iconic, fairly conservative line-up, using characters who have all been part of the team for decades at this point. Even Sam Wilson, who is filling the Captain America role on the team instead of Steve Rogers, has been an Avenger since the late 1970s.
Jed MacKay and Pasqual Ferry will resurrect the Sorcerer Supreme in March.
The Doctor Strange story Jed MacKay has been telling over the past year or so will come to a head next March as Stephen Strange will officially return from the dead in a new Doctor Strange title.
MacKay seemingly killed Doctor Strange off in the pages of The Death of Doctor Strange, then replaced him with his wife, Clea, in the pages of Strange. But readers of that title know that death was not the end for the good doctor, who took on a new role serving Death as the Harvestman.
MacKay will be joined by veteran artist Pasqual Ferry on the title, who has always wanted to draw Doctor Strange.
“When I started working for Marvel a long time ago, there were three comics I had always wanted to draw: Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange,” Ferry said. “Why Doctor Strange? Because his stories include all the elements I love as an artist—the fantasy, science fiction, and imagination. Above all, the fact that I could look at Steve Ditko’s work as a reference really motivates me! When he drew Doctor Strange, all the utopian and imaginary sceneries were incredible. So this is a very special moment in my career, and I’m looking forward to seeing where the character is going to take us with this new narrative. I know a lot of artists, including myself, consider Doctor Strange a challenge, like there is a need to add something new to the character because it offers you that possibility. For me, Doctor Strange is a big challenge, but I embrace it.”
Jed MacKay and Vincenzo Carratù bring together the former rivals in December.
Two of Spider-Man’s ex’s will team up in a new miniseries this December, as a part of the bigger Dark Web crossover event Marvel announced at the San Diego Comic Con earlier this year.
The series will be written by Jed McKay, who wrote the most recent Black Cat series as well as the Black Cat/Mary Jane one-shot that tied into the “Beyond” storyline in Amazing Spider-Man. He will work with artist Vincenzo Carratù on the series, who has drawn several series for Dynamite in recent years.
“I’ve kind of lost track of how many lives Felicia has left at this point, but she keeps coming back- and this time she’s brought a friend,” MacKay told Marvel.com. “Getting back to Mary Jane and Black Cat after their one-shot last year has been a delight—and seeing how they’ve been catching up on all the drama that’s happened since then has been, well, catnip.”
