The first crossover between Ultraman and the Marvel Universe is getting bigger. While Marvel will publish Ultraman X Avengers by Kyle Higgins, Mat Groom and Francesco Manna next month, Japanese publisher Shogakukan will publish Ultraman: Along Came a Spider-Man, a manga that will be released the same week.
In addition, Viz Media confirmed during their panel in San Diego this week that they will publish Ultraman: Along Came a Spider-Man digitally in the U.S. via their Viz Manga app as it is released in Japan, with plans to release a print collection next year. The manga is written by Shigenobu Matsumoto and drawn by Tomo Hirokawa. Marvel Comics Executive Editor Tom Brevoort and Tsuburaya Fields Media & Pictures Entertainment’s Transmedia Producer Jeff Gomez served as creative consultants for the series.
“We’re thrilled to bring together Marvel comics and manga in such an exciting way, uniting our biggest heroes directly with Ultraman against ultimate villains like never before,” said C.B. Cebulski, Marvel’s editor-in-chief. “This manga will be an epic showdown at a cosmic level, but it’ll have plenty insightful themes and touching moments as well. We’re excited for fans to experience this story around the globe.”
The story will feature Doctor Doom teaming up with with Ultraman foe Alien Mefilas and his kaiju. The Avengers will cameo, just as Spider-Man is set to appear in Marvel’s crossover. Here’s the full description:
On Marvel Earth, Spider-Man joins forces with the Avengers to battle Doctor Doom in New York City, but when several civilians are killed in a building collapse as a result, Spider-Man becomes demoralized and finds himself whisked away in a strange spacecraft called the Interdimensional Train. Doctor Doom stows aboard and both find themselves in the Tokyo of the Ultraman universe! Witnessing Ultraman battle a giant Kaiju, Doom craves the Giant of Light’s power and joins forces with Alien Mefilas and his army of Kaiju from the Monster Graveyard to steal it.
“The contrast in how our two sets of heroes approach their roles is fascinating to see play out, but they have a lot of similarities as well,” said Kei Minamitani of Tsuburaya Productions. “In both the Shogakukan and Marvel titles, we watch how our heroes grapple with these differences before ultimately reconciling to find greater solutions. It has been incredibly special to explore the concept of heroism through the perspectives of these two very different sets of heroes and we are excited for fans to join them on these two adventures.”
Both the U.S. comic series and the manga series arrive Aug. 14.
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