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:

WHAT IF…? DARK: LOKI #1

Walt Simonson returns to write a new Thor story — or, to be precise, a new Loki story — “What if Loki wielded Mjolnir?” He’ll team with artist Scott Eaton. Look for it in stores July 5.

WHAT IF…? Dark: Spider-GWEN #1

Conway will team with co-writer Jody Houser on this one, which shows what might have happened if Spider-Man had died fighting the Green Goblin on the George Washington Bridge instead of Gwen Stacy. Ramon Bachs provides art, and it comes out July 19.

WHAT IF…? DARK: VENOM #1

Writer Stephanie Phillips and artist Jethro Morales bring together two plot points from the original Secret Wars for this one, as they show what happens when Ben Grimm returns from the Beyonder’s planet to find Spider-Man’s trapped Klyntar symbiote in the Baxter Building. It arrives Aug. 2.

WHAT IF…? DARK: MOON KNIGHT #1

Writer Erica Schultz and artist Edgar Salazar imagine what might have happened if Moon Knight was killed by Bushman, and new champion powered by a different god emerged in the wake. I’m betting this won’t be the last time we see Luminary, but you can see her for the first time on Aug. 16.

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