A staple of Marvel’s summer comics line-up will return in July as the company resurrects its infamous Marvel Swimsuit Special.
The special will feature swimsuit pin-ups of Marvel characters by Nic Klein, Marguerite Sauvage, Luciano Vecchio and many more, along with a story by Tim Seeley and Tony Fleecs — the Local Man team — drawn by artist Nick Bradshaw.
Carla Hoffman revisited the classic Marvel Swimsuit Special back in 2021, noting that these would feature a whole bunch of cheesecake pin-ups as well as a story that explained why Captain America was wearing a bathing suit on Monster Island:
What was thought to be utterly salacious drivel by my mother when I tried to get a copy in my youth, the ‘93 Marvel Swimsuit issue has a story. Seriously: the Infinity Watch play a poker game, Pip the Troll wins, so he makes them all use the Infinity Stones to gather all the superheroes of the Marvel Universe to a party at Monster Island. When they are all suddenly transported there by the Space and Time Gems, they are forced into not fighting one another and having a good time by the Mind Stone, so a big beach party breaks out and Pip the Troll takes pictures of everyone in their swimsuits.
This year’s story will focus on Roxxon, the evil corporation run by a minotaur that recently bought Marvel Comics so they could make their own Thor comic:
Roxxon Comics is at it again when they release their own UNAUTHORIZED SWIMSUIT SPECIAL! Wasp is on the case and seizes the opportunity for Marvel’s heroes to do their OWN swimwear fashion shoot all over the world! But fear not, True Believers, we know what you’re REALLY here for! This super-sized special features splash page after splash page of gorgeous art, but with a story so you can pretend you’re “reading it for the articles…”
Marvel Swimsuit Special: Friends, Foes, Rivals will feature a main cover by Adam Hughes and variants by Russell Dauterman, Taurin Clarke and Mark Brooks:
Surf’s up on July 9.