Marvel has announced more details and revealed covers for two of their three Free Comic Book Day titles for 2022.
Last year’s Spider-Man/Venom FCBD title previewed the “Beyond” era of Amazing Spider-Man, where Ben Reilly and the Beyond Corporation took over the Spider-Man name from Peter Parker and Marvel re-introduced a “writer’s room” approach to the comic. With the Beyond era wrapping up soon, Zeb Wells — one of several writers currently writing the title — will team with the legendary John Romita Jr. for a relaunch of Amazing Spider-Man. And Marvel will offer a preview of their run in this year’s Spider-Man/Venom FCBD title.
In addition, like last year, Marvel will preview the work Al Ewing, Ram V and Bryan Hitch are doing on Venom. Here’s a look at the main cover by Romita Jr. and the variant cover for the FCBD issue by Jonboy Meyers. Is this the first time we’ve seen a variant cover on a Free Comic Book Day title? I can’t recall that being a thing before.
“I’ve waited my entire career to work with John Romita Jr.,” Wells told Marvel.com. “To team up with him on Amazing Spider-Man for the character’s 60th anniversary is so exciting words can’t describe it. We’re gonna have a blast!”
Here’s a look at the cover to Amazing Spider-Man #1:
“To take being lucky to another level: Marvel has allowed me to get back to work on this amazing character, and work with another brilliant writer, Zeb Wells! The stories are stunning and I am reading the scripts with a grin and wonderment…..then wondering how the heck to do them justice!!” Romita Jr. said. “Well, fortunately, I have a close friend and brilliant artist to help me do that. Scott Hanna and I have worked on this character before and Scott is still a brilliant artist who will continue to be brilliant, lucky for me and anyone who looks at the art. Adding to Scott and myself is the third artist, the color artist, Marcio Menyz. It’s difficult to describe how wonderful his work is, so to save space and everyone’s patience, I’ll let it speak for itself! It’s stunning!!”
And here’s a preview of their first arc, which will focus on Tombstone:
But wait! There’s more. Marvel has two other FCBD titles this year — an Avengers/X-Men title that they haven’t really talked about yet, and a “best of” collection of stories from Marvel’s Voices. That one will include six stories from previous volumes of their Marvel’s Voices anthologies:
- Writer Evan Narcisse and artist Jahnoy Lindsay’s tale showcasing the heroic journey of Brother Voodoo from MARVEL’S VOICES (2020) #1
- Acclaimed artist Jeffrey Veregge’s showcase of Marvel’s greatest indigenous heroes from MARVEL’S INDIGENOUS VOICES (2020) #1
- Oscar winning writer John Ridley and artist Olivier Coipel’s action packed Miles Morales adventure from MARVEL’S VOICES: LEGACY (2021) #1
- Writer Alyssa Wong and superstar artist Whilce Portacio’s Wave and Bishop team-up story from MARVEL’S VOICES: IDENTITY (2021) #1
- Artist Luciano Vecchio’s rousing exploration of the history of LGBTQ+ representation in Marvel Comics from MARVEL’S VOICES: PRIDE (2021) #1
- Writer/artist Leo Romero’s celebration of Brazilian culture with the X-Men’s Shark-Girl from MARVEL’S VOICES: COMUNIDADES (2021) #1 by Leo Romero
It will also feature a brand new story featuring Moon Girl, by Nadia Shammas and Luciano Vecchio. Remember when Marvel announced a new Moon Girl title was on the way, from an unrevealed creative team? Maybe this is a preview.
Here’s the cover by Carlos Gomez:
And this one also gets a variant cover by Peach Momoko:
Free Comic Book Day is May 7. Amazing Spider-Man #1 arrives in April.