It’s been decades since Dazzler has headlined her own series, but this September she returns to the spotlight in a four-issue miniseries by Jason Loo and Rafael Loureiro.
Part of the From the Ashes initiative, Dazzler is heading out on tour in a post-Krakoa world to promote mutant rights and celebrate her music career. She’ll be joined by her squad, which includes a whole bunch of mutants — head of security Domino, personal guard Strong Guy, one-man roadie Multiple Man, drummer Shark Girl, and publicist Wind Dancer.
“Rafael and I are giving everyone backstage access to the greatest show of the decade: the Dazzler World Tour!” Loo said. “Sounds exciting? Not for Dazzler when she’s facing tons of pressure from all sorts of people trying to cancel her shows. But she’s not going down without a fight.”
Marvel shared more details on what to expect:
Out and proud as a mutant and back on the road! Dazzler, Marvel’s glittering mutant songstress, has been in and out of the limelight over the years—but now the time has finally come for her to take center stage! Dazzler embarks on a new world tour, the culmination and celebration of her entire musical career. But while Dazzler may be ready to focus on her music, her celebrity-mutant status and a violent attack may sideline the entire endeavor before it’s even begun…
“Ever since I can remember, I’ve been crazy about two things: music and drawing comics,” Loureiro said. “To think that I would be able to combine both passions in my Marvel debut is beyond my wildest dreams. Not only that, but with such an amazing X-Men character as Dazzler—I absolutely had to jump at the chance.”
Dazzler was initially conceived by Marvel and Casablanca Records in the late 1970s as a cross-medium project; they wanted to not only create a comic character but also a “real” Dazzler with albums and TV specials and the like, but those plans never came to fruition. In the comics, she first debuted in the pages of Uncanny X-Men #130, and after turning down an invite to join the team, headlined her own solo series for 42 issues in the early 1980s. The series featured all sorts of guest stars, from Power Man and Iron Fist to the Hulk to Dr. Doom and Galactus. After it ended, she would go on to join the X-Men, appear in A-Force, lead a dimension-hopping team of mutants in X-Treme X-Men and even serve as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. for a brief time. Besides a one-shot in 2011, she hasn’t headlined her own title since 1985.
Look for the first issue to arrive on Sept. 18, and in addition to the story, it’ll also include “all-new song lyrics from Ali’s notebook.” “Get ready to sing along to some new, original songs off of her new album,” Loo added. “Some of them may be about her exes.” Shout out to Taylor Swift …