Marvel will resurrect an old title for a new event this summer. The publisher will pay tribute to Bring On The Bad Guys, a collection of villain-focused origin stories published in the 1970s, with a connected series of seven one-shots.
Marc Guggenheim and Stefano Raffaele will kick things off with Bring On The Bad Guys: Doctor Doom in June, followed by comics featuring Green Goblin, Loki, Abomination, Red Skull, Dormammu and Mephisto, which will take us through August. Creative teams for subsequent volumes have not been announced.
These are the seven villains featured on John Romita Sr.’s cover of the original collection:
The first one-shot will feature a variant cover by Mike McKone that pays tribute to that cover:
Which is pretty neat. Guggenheim said he owned that original volume, which drew him to the project.
“As someone who grew up with the original Bring on the Bad Guys on his bedroom shelf, this project is particularly exciting to me,” Guggenheim said. “It’s been a while since I had the chance to work with other writers on a crossover event and I’m truly enjoying the collaboration. Marvel has such a rich roster of antagonists and it’s a huge amount of fun to not only give them their time to shine but also add a new villain to their ranks — Sister Sorrow — who is every bit as dangerous and formidable as these classic villains.”
Here’s a look at Sister Sorrow, on Leirix’s variant cover for the first one:
Mephisto appropriately stars in the final volume, as it appears he is once again the instigator of mischief, which draws the attention of Doctor Doom:
Mephisto seeks enough souls to power an ancient artifact called the SOUL FORGE – destined to give him dominion over ALL human souls! Doom must stop him at all costs, but who is the mysterious Sister Sorrow, and what is her connection to Mephisto’s ultimate scheme?
“Marvel broke the mold with supervillains, pushing them past the archetypical to the complex and some even morally gray but still to be feared,” Editor Mark Paniccia said. “Each of these one-shots are an opportunity for fans to see what makes these villains some of the most dangerous characters in the Marvel Universe.”
Bring On The Bad Guys: Doctor Doom will feature a main cover by Lee Bermejo:
Look for it to arrive in stores June 5.