Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. This edition focuses on Marvel’s April 2025 solicitations. Hit the links for more information.
Godzilla’s tour of terror through the Marvel Universe will continue in two one-shots this April: Godzilla vs. Hulk by Gerry Duggan and Giuseppe Camuncoli, and Godzilla vs. Spider-Man by Joe Kelly and Nick Bradshaw.
Godzilla vs. Hulk will feature a special anti-kaiju task force led by Thunderbolt Ross, which sets its sights on Godzilla:
General Ross has no tolerance for monsters in any form. With the Thunderbolts, his anti-kaiju taskforce, he’s taken down or imprisoned the biggest and baddest monsters on the planet: Fin Fang Foom, Mothra, Kumonga, even the Hulk. Now all that’s left is his biggest hunt of all…GODZILLA. But the Thunderbolts’ efforts to bring their last monster to heel may just result in the most destructive battle royale to ever rock the earth. It’s time to figure out who’s really the strongest there is!
The one-shot will feature a cover by Camuncoli, with variants by Lee Garbett and Nick Bradshaw, and it comes out April 16. Then on April 30, Spider-Man gets his chance to, um, prove he’s really the strongest of them all:
This one takes place after the first Secret Wars miniseries from the 1980s, featuring Peter Parker wearing his black alien costume:
Fresh from the original SECRET WARS (1984), Peter Parker, AKA the Amazing Spider-Man, returns to Earth with a spiffy new (alien) costume without a care in the world except for a complicated love triangle with MJ and Black Cat… and unbelievable pressure at the Daily Bugle… rent… bills… supervillains…o h, and GODZILLA IS IN NEW YORK CITY with all its destructive power aimed squarely at the wall-crawler! Don’t miss the two most popular characters in pop culture history absolutely going at it in this kaiju-sized slugfest for the ages!
It features covers by Bradshaw, Garbett and Greg Land. Oh, and just in case you missed it, here’s a look at March’s one-shot that kicks everything off — Godzilla vs. Fantastic Four, which will see Godzilla and the Silver Surfer teaming up against Galactus and his new herald, King Ghidorah:
It will feature cover art by Adam Kubert, Mark Bagley, Bradshaw, Garbett and more, and it arrives in stores March 19.
Marvel Rivals has proven to be a successful video game for Marvel, bringing much-needed attention to the cutest character of all time, Jeff the Landshark. And now it leaps into comics, as Marvel has announced a print edition of the Infinity Comic they released by Paul Allor and Luca Claretti. It features covers by Tokitokoro, Federico Sabbatini and more, and it arrives in stores April 2.
The Spiderverse and the Venomverse are headed for a big collision this year, in May’s Spider-Verse vs. Venomverse by Kyle Higgins, Mat Groom and Luciano Vecchio. But before that arrives, March will bring Web Of Spider-Verse: New Blood, while Web of Venomverse: Fresh Brains arrives in April. Both are one-shot anthologies with tales of various multiverse versions of Spider-Man and Venom, but they’ll be connected by a two-part story by Groom and Vecchio that sets up the bigger clash. You can find Vecchio’s covers for all three above.
Daredevil is back in black this April, as he returns to wearing the infamous costume from the 1990s from D.G. Chichester and Scott McDaniel. The current creative team of Saladin Ahmed and José Luis Soares pit Daredevil against a new enemy in Daredevil #20, which features covers by John Romita Jr. and Phillip Tan.
To gear up for their film debut later this year, the Fantastic Four will appear in Fantastic Four Fanfare, a four-issue anthology miniseries that will contain “timeless tales set across Fantastic Four history.” (I dig the reference to the classic Marvel Fanfare anthology series in the logo). The first issue will feature stories by Mark Waid, Alan Davis, Sara Pichelli and more, with past FF creators like Jonathan Hickman, Dan Slott, Mike Allred and more slated for future issues.
Kid Juggernaut, the grandson of the current Juggernaut, made his debut in Marvel’s Infinity Comics on their digital platform last year, and in April they’ll collect the story by Emily Kim, Minkyu Jung and Peter Nguyen in print.
“It’s been such a joy to put a twist on a classic Marvel character and instead see a young Asian Canadian kid thrown into the role,” Kim told Marvel.com. “Unlike the Juggernauts who came before him, Justin is someone who sees the best in others and will do anything to keep his loved ones safe.”
Dazzler’s world tour might have ended, but Jason Loo’s tenure working on the character will continue in the Concert of Champions one-shot. Drawn by Rafael Loureiro, the one-shot will feature Allison Blaire and several friends — Lila Cheney, Spider-Gwen, Luna Snow and more — putting on a superhero concert.
“I’m honored to work on Marvel’s first annual music festival, and with a STACKED line-up,” Loo said. “Luna Snow was already on my playlist while I was writing the last Dazzler series, so getting to have her share the stage with Dazzler and Lila Cheney is a total dream. Also, get ready for DEEP VOID, 616’s new black metal band, made up of some familiar faces. That one song they have RIPS!”
This one drops April 2.
Marvel will celebrate 10 years of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur with a one-shot anthology that reunites her co-creators, Brandon Montclare and Natacha Bustos.
“Time flies when you’re having fun!” Montclare said. “It was 2015 when a lot of talented creators joined Natacha Bustos and I to bring Moon Girl to life. It seems like only yesterday that Marvel had a brand new super genius super hero—and she was only 9 years old. To celebrate 10 years with the character, the two of us (and a bunch more amazing talents) are celebrating Lunella Lafayette’s 10th Birthday. Join us for the BIG party.”
There’s also a story by Justina Ireland and Luca Claretti that introduces a mysterious new duo known as Devil Girl and Moon Dino. Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur 10th Anniversary Special arrives April 2, with covers by Nick Bradshaw, Bustos and Anand Racheron.
Fans of a certain age will remember Kitty Pryde and Wolverine, the 1984 miniseries that took Kitty and Logan to Japan to fight (and become, in Kitty’s case) ninjas. Uncanny X-Men writer Chris Claremont will revisit that time period in Wolverine and Kitty Pryde, a five-issue miniseries coming April 30. Artist Damian Couceiro will draw the series.
“It’s really great returning to this arc, especially since it’s being presented by a wonderful artist, Damian Couceiro” Claremont said. “It’s the story of what happens between the end of the original Kitty Pryde and Wolverine mini-series and Logan and Pryde’s return home to rejoin the X-Men. Five issues, more than a single story, complete with surprises galore!”
Following the recent Battle of Jakku series of miniseries written by Alex Segura, Marvel has announced that Segura and Phil Noto will helm a new Star Wars series set after the original trilogy and the Battle of Jakku.
“Now that we’ve put the period at the end of the Galactic Civil War with the Battle of Jakku, we can speed ahead into a new, uncharted era, with some new galactic threats, foes, and mysteries for our beloved heroes to grapple with, blending the familiar with the new and shocking,” Segura told StarWars.com. “These stories will be packed with action and the character moments Star Wars fans have come to expect, featuring twists on the galaxy and landscape we know, with an eye toward making sure people can jump in easily and with any issue. We can’t wait.”
Star Wars #1 arrives, appropriately, the week of May 4, with covers by Noto and Leinil Francis Yu.
It’s 2025, so it’s about time for Deadpool to kill the Marvel Universe again. Which leads us to Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time, the wrap-up of the trilogy by Cullen Bunn and Dalibor Talajić.
First, Deadpool killed every hero in the Marvel Universe… Then he killed every hero in another Marvel Universe… Well, now, he’s back, and this time, slaughtering his way through Earth’s Mightiest Heroes won’t be enough!
He’s going after the worst of the worst, a whole Multiverse of Marvel’s greatest gone bad. Get ready for world-breaking Hulks, werewolf Captain Americas, and some all-new twisted takes! The classic universe-slaughtering team of Cullen Bunn and Dalibor Talajić are back to kill everyone one…more…time!
“Oh, man! It’s absolutely bonkers that my pal Dalibor and I are back at it again with good ol’ Wade slaughtering all your favorite heroes!” Bunn said. “And, to celebrate the occasion, we’ve come up with an insanely bonkers story for you! It’s heartwarming for us, seeing all the good will and cheer this book brings our way! All kidding aside, though. We wouldn’t have come back to a new Deadpool Kills story unless we could come up with something completely unexpected. And that’s what you’ll get here. You’ll also get what I think is the most epic Deadpool story of all time.”
The first issue comes out April 4.
Finally, let’s end with one of the coolest ideas I’ve seen in awhile for a series of variant covers. If you’ve ever seen the original covers for the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition from the 1980s by John Byrne, Ron Frenz and Keith Pollard, then these will look familiar, as artist Chris Giarrusso is re-drawing them in his distinctive “Mini-Marvelize” style for this variant series.
“The original covers to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition absolutely mesmerized me as a burgeoning comic reader in the ’80s,” Giarrusso said. “I still remember my brother pointing out, ‘see, they all connect,’ as he held up two issues next to each other. It was mind-blowing to my ten-year-old brain.”
They’ll appear on various Marvel titles throughout April, both in color and as a blue-line sketch version.