Fantagraphics announces a series of Atlas Comics collections

The publisher will work with Marvel to bring the 1950s comics line back into print.

Fantagraphics and Marvel have announced a series of hardcover volumes collecting comics from Marvel’s 1950s Atlas Comics line. Fantagraphics plan to release collections of individual titles and compilations of a single artist, starting with Adventures Into Terror and artist Joe Maneely.

Edited by Atlas scholar Dr. Michael J. Vassallo, the comics were scanned “directly from the original printings and meticulously restored with a wealth of detail never seen before.” Fantagraphics will publish five volumes a year, with the first two volumes coming this fall.

“It is with great pleasure that I reintroduce modern audiences to this hidden gold and Marvel’s talented 1950s creators, many of whom would go on to fame in the silver age and beyond,” Vassallo said.

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‘Star Wars: Dark Droids’ kicks off in August

The crossover event introduces a droid virus that corrupts their programming and spreads like wildfire across the galaxy.

Both the Empire and the Rebel Alliance will face dire consequences when their droids break bad during an event that will run through Marvel’s Star Wars titles starting in August.

Announced during the Star Wars Celebration event earlier this month, Star Wars: Dark Droids will introduce something called the Scourge that will spread through the galaxy. It’ll infect everything from Lobot to a squad of Clone War-Era Prototype Battle Droids, bringing a sense of dread and horror to the Star Wars line.

The event kicks off in Star Wars: Dark Droids #1, which comes out Aug. 3 from writer Charles Soule and artist Luke Ross, before spreading through the other Star Wars titles. Here’s the rundown …

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Marvel + Clover Press will crowdfund a series of fine art books

‘The Marvel Art Of David Mack’ and ‘The Marvel Art Of Alex Maleev’ will be available via Kickstarter.

Marvel and Clover Press have announced plans to release a series of art books showcasing different artists, starting with David Mack and Alex Maleev.

The Marvel Art Of David Mack and The Marvel Art Of Alex Maleev are described as “prestige coffee table books” that will feature “iconic images alongside rare and never-before-seen artwork.” Clover Press, which is no stranger to crowdfunding, will use Kickstarter to raise funds for both volumes — which might be the first time we’ve seen an official Marvel project on the platform.

“Since its launch in 2019, Clover Press has established a reputation as an eclectic publisher whose books celebrate the arts and the creative process,” said Clover Press Publisher Hank Kanalz. “The Marvel Art Of David Mack and The Marvel Art Of Alex Maleev are a testament to the vision of two awesome artists whose storytelling helped define the look and feel of today’s Marvel Universe. We’re working very closely with the artists on the design and contents of the book to create stunning art books that you will not want to miss.”

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Marvel’s ‘What If?’ returns this summer

Walt Simonson, Gerry Conway, Stephanie Phillips, Scott Eaton and more create new stories set in alternate universes.

Marvel has announced the return of What If?, their classic alternate history comic, for the summer, with four one-shots planned under the title What If? Dark.

I chuckled a bit when I saw that they added “Dark” to the title. If you ever read any of the original What If? run, you know that more times than not, the stories would take a dark turn. For instance, “What If Phoenix Had Lived?” ended with the death of pretty much everything else.

In any event, What If? helped introduce Marvel’s version of the multiverse, and this year will introduce four new universe where things took a different turn. The one-shots also mark the return of two classic Marvel creators, Walt Simonson and Gerry Conway, as they revisit stories they’ve become synonymous with.

Here’s the rundown:

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Marvel + Abrams team up for team-ups

Cartoonist Mike Maihack has two ‘Mighty Marvel Team-Up’ graphic novels in the works.

Marvel and Abrams’ partnership will continue in June and next January with the release of two Mighty Marvel Team-Up graphic novels, both written and drawn by cartoonist Mike Maihack.

Spider-Man: Animals Assemble! will arrive in stores on June 13, and features Spider-Man helping out the Avengers by pet-sitting for them. It’ll feature appearances by Redwing, Lucky the Pizza Dog, Captain Marvel’s cat Chewie, Throg and more.

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Slugfest | Groo goes wild in a new miniseries

Plus: Batman Beyond, more Birdking, Thor vs. M.O.D.O.K., the return of ‘Fire Power,’ Hellfire Gala fashion and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. Hit the links for more information.

Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier will reunite for Groo: In the Wild, a new miniseries that kicks off in July.

The duo is joined by letterer Stan Sakai and colorist Carrie Strachan for a story that sees the barbarian and his dog looking for food. Things go downhill from there, in typical Groo fashion.

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Back to school: DeMatteis + Nauck will revisit Magneto’s time as headmaster of the New Mutants

The four-issue ‘Magneto’ miniseries will introduce a new character, Irae, when it debuts in August.

Magneto’s slow and complicated face turn back in the 1980s was one of the highlights of the X-Men titles at the time, and now J.M. DeMatteis and Todd Nauck will explore one of the key milestones in that timeline — the period when Magneto became headmaster of Professor Xavier’s school and taught the New Mutants.

“Magneto may be the single most complex character in the Marvel Universe: a man of dizzying contradictions who has endured, and caused, extraordinary suffering. Who’s been both villain and hero. Whose long, tangled history invites endless exploration,” DeMatteis said. “Our new Magneto series allows us to look at all aspects of Erik Lehnsherr’s soul and psyche—at a period when he was trying to put his life as a so-called ‘evil’ mutant behind him and step, somewhat reluctantly, into Charles Xavier’s shoes, attempting to guide a new generation of mutants. We also get to look back at the early days of the X-Men—one of my favorite periods in Marvel history—and introduce a new villain, born in the cauldron of Magneto’s dark past.”

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Scarlet Scarab will make her comic book debut in July

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.” 

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Nocenti + Villanelli send Captain Marvel on a cosmic mission in ‘Dark Tempest’

The five-issue miniseries kicks off in July.

Although Kelly Thompson’s epic run on Captain Marvel ends with issue #50 in June, Carol Danvers won’t be off the shelves for long — she’ll star in a five-issue miniseries, Dark Tempest, starting in July.

Ann Nocenti, writer of Daredevil, Longshot, The Seeds and more, will team with Star Wars: Bounty Hunters artist Paolo Villanelli to take Captain Marvel on a cosmic adventure involving a new foe, a legacy Mar-Vell villain and a new group of young heroes.

“I became curious about Carol Danvers during Kelly Sue DeConnick’s iconic run on the book, because of how great her work is, but also at how deft Kelly Sue is at drawing in and embracing female readers,” Nocenti said. “Her Carol Corps is inspiring. Then I read some of Kelly Thompson’s work on the book, and her stories are so much rollicking fun, I fell in love with Carol Danvers all over again. Captain Marvel is a sassy, funny, kick-ass hoot, and so much fun to write.”

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Marvel celebrates 84 years with ‘Marvel Age #1000’

J. Michael Straczynski, Kaare Andrews, Steve McNiven, Ryan Stegman and more will contribute stories to the new anthology.

The 84th anniversary of Marvel Comics #1, published by Timely in 1939, is coming up on Aug. 31, and to mark the occasion Marvel will release Marvel Age #1000. The one-shot will feature stories by Dan Slott, Mike Allred, Mark Waid, Kaare Andrews, Jason Aaron, Rainbow Rowell and more.

That 1939 issue kicked off what was effectively the Marvel Age of Comics, introducing the Golden Age Human Torch and featuring the first widely available appearance of Namor. “Marvel Age” was also the name of a promotional magazine that Marvel published in the 1980s and 1990s, so if you were hoping this was a celebration of interviews, house ads and Fred Hembeck, you might want to hold your excitement until August.

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Fall of X: Alpha Flight, Dark X-Men return + Nightcrawler becomes Spider-Man

Marvel reveals more details on several Fall of X tie-in titles launching this summer.

After teasing the tie-in titles for their upcoming Fall of X event at MegaCon earlier this month, Marvel has revealed more details on a number of the new series that will spring forth from Krakoa this summer.

Here’s a look at what’s been announced for August:

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Marvel will revisit ‘Days of Future Past’ in a new miniseries

Marc Guggenheim and Manuel García will tell the story leading up to the monumental issues by Chris Claremont and John Byrne.

The back story leading up to one of the greatest story arcs in the history of X-Men comics will be revealed in a new miniseries by Marc Guggenheim and Manuel Garcia.

“Days of Future Past” appeared in Uncanny X-Men #141-142 and still resonates with many X-Men fans today. Those two issues helped set the tone for the series for many years after it, as Chris Claremont and John Byrne shared the consequences of where the prejudice and hate against mutants could ultimately lead. It also helped solidify the idea that Magneto could be an ally to the X-Men and introduced Rachel Summers, who would find her way back to the past to join the current day X-Men. And how many variant covers owe their lives to Byrne’s cover for issue #141?

X-Men: Days of Future Past – Doomsday will tell the story of the events leading up to the future state where mutants were kept in concentration camps and a small group of scrappy X-Men fought back — and lost.

“Growing up, I never thought I’d get the chance to write the X-Men as many times as I have. I particularly never thought I’d be able to play around in the amazing timeline that Chris Claremont and John Byrne brought to life in ‘Days of Future Past,'” Guggenheim told Marvel.com. “I still have the most vivid memory of visiting the stationery store where I used to buy my comics and seeing Uncanny X-Men #141 on the rack. That iconic cover blew my nine year-old mind.”

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