Former DC-exclusive writer Steve Orlando will make his debut for Marvel on a book of mystical proportions — Darkhold, named for the evil text that exists within the Marvel Universe. Darkhold Alpha #1, which suggests it’s tied to a bigger event, will come out in June.
Orlando will team with artist Cian Tormey on the comic, which features a cover by Greg Smallwood.
Here’s what Marvel says about the title:
ENTER THE PAGES OF THE DARKHOLD —AND LOSE YOUR MIND IN MIGHTY MARVEL FASHION!
Critically acclaimed writer Steve Orlando makes his Marvel debut with a story that will delight and terrify! For hundreds of years, scholars and heroes alike have searched for the complete text of the Darkhold—AKA the Book of the Damned, written by the elder god Chthon. Now one of the greatest sorcerers in the Multiverse has found it—and Chthon has found him. To save them all, the Scarlet Witch must gather the world’s greatest heroes…and unleash their inner darkness.
With Doctor Doom on the cover, I can only assume he’s the “greatest sorcerer” referenced in the text.
If you aren’t familiar with the Darkhold, it’s a grimoire that was created by Gerry Conway and Mike Ploog back in the 1970s in the pages of Marvel Spotlight. The book was written by Chthon, an Elder God who has plagued the likes of the Scarlet Witch and the Avengers in the past, and is a collection of all his deep, dark thoughts about magic. It’s plagued humanity for eons and was used to create vampires and werewolves in the Marvel Universe, among other uses. There was even a Darkhold comic back in the 1990s, which featured a team trying to find all the lost pages from the book.
So, you can imagine what someone like Doctor Doom might want to do with it. Look for this “Alpha” issue in June, and I’m sure we’ll find out the story doesn’t end there.
I heard it was cancelled