Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. This edition focuses on Marvel’s August 2025 solicitations. Well, mostly. Hit the links for more information.
For the past few years, Marvel has made a habit of releasing a one-shot in August to celebrate its anniversary. This year appropriately will feature Marvel’s First Family, whose first issue debuted in August of 1961, and more importantly are starring in the big summer blockbuster Fantastic Four: First Steps. So history and synergy make a fantastic combo.
The Thing takes center stage in Marvel All-On-One: The Thing vs. the Marvel Universe by Ryan North and Ed McGuinness — a play off the team-up title Marvel Two-In-One, which featured The Thing. In this special, though, Ben Grimm isn’t exactly teaming up with anyone — he returns from a solo mission in space to find the entire Marvel Universe wants to kill him. The story will be told in “all splash pages,” so expect a lot of action.
Marvel shared more details on what to expect:
Ben Grimm, A.K.A. The Thing: He’s the ever-lovin’ idol of millions and powerhouse of the Fantastic Four. He’s strong, he’s kind, and he never gives up. And he’s also tired, and he’s sore, and he’s grumpy. There’s always a new threat facing the world or the galaxy or the universe – and somehow, he and the rest of the Fantastic Four are always the only ones who can stop it. Ben Grimm is sick and tired of it. He just wants a break! But when he returns to Earth after a solo mission in space to discover the Fantastic Four have turned against him – along with the rest of New York City, and, apparently, the entire world – he’s got a mystery to solve…and a whole wide world to clobber.
And they also shared variant covers for the issue by Sean Galloway and Peach Momoko:
“So, Ed McGuinness is a modern legend, and working with him is obviously going to be a thrill,” North said. “BUT – working with him on an issue that’s so big, explosive, and clobber-filled that it HAS to be told in JUST splash pages and double-page spreads, well, that’s literally a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Every single page is an artist’s showcase, but it’s ALSO the biggest Thing story I’ve ever told, and has a ton of VERY fun battles. And heart too? Moments of recognition and self-discovery? It was a joy to write, one that’s only been surpassed every day as I see the new joys of Ed bringing each page to spectacular life.”
Marvel All-On-One: The Thing vs. the Marvel Universe comes out Aug. 20.
Jason Aaron will return to write another Uncle Scrooge story for Marvel in August, following his work on last year’s Uncle Scrooge and the Infinity Dime. He’ll be joined by artists Giuseppe Camuncoli, Mahmud Asrar and Ciro Cangialosi on Uncle Scrooge: Earth’s Mightiest Duck, a four-issue miniseries that begins Aug. 13.
“Scrooge McDuck is one of the greatest heroes in the history of comics, bar none,” Aaron said. “It was a thrill to get to write him in the pages of Uncle Scrooge & the Infinity Dime, as we took him on a journey across the multiverse. With this new series, I knew we’d have to go bigger, not just by incorporating more Marvel artists into the mix, but by sending Scrooge on the most epic story of his career, as he fights to save the one thing more precious to him than gold or any exotic treasure: his own memories of a life of adventure.”
The first features a cover by Gabriele Dell’otto and variants by Chrissie Zullo, J. Gonzo and Mark Brooks.
Marvel’s current Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider title will end in July to make way for All-New Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider by Stephanie Phillips and Paolo Villanelli. According to Marvel, Spider-Gwen’s extended visit to the 616 “becomes permanent as her very life is rewoven into the main Marvel Universe.”
“For Gwen, this new start is about possibility,” Phillips said. “She’s carrying the weight of her past, but she’s finally in a place where she can build something new—new allies, new purpose, and maybe even a new sense of self… or, recovering an element of herself we haven’t seen in a while. Like playing in a band.”
The first issue will feature a cover by David Marquez and a variant by Nogi San, both shown above.
Venom gets the anthology treatment in a four-issue “Black, White & Blood” series in August. The first issue of Venom: Black, White & Blood will include stories by Venom co-creator David Michelinie with artist Jonas Scharf, J.M. DeMatteis and Dave Wachter, and Ryan North and Creees Lee. The main cover is by Greg Capullo, with variants by Doaly and Peach Momoko.
The Marvel Infinity comic X-Men: From the Ashes will continue its migration to print in August, as Marvel releases X-Men: Tooth & Claw, which collects issues 13-18 of the digital series by Alex Paknadel, Diogenes Neves and Phillips Sevy.
Previously only available in the limited edition (and now highly expensive) Marvel Paragon Collection: Chris Claremont, a Wolverine vs. Sabretooth story by Claremont and Tom Reilly will be reprinted as a stand alone comic in August. Wolverine by Chris Claremont #1 will arrive Aug. 6.
Marvel’s Bring on the Bad Guys series-of-one-shots will wrap up in August with three releases. First comes a Red Skull one-shot by Stephanie Phillips, Marc Guggenheim, Tommaso Bianchi and Michael Sta. Maria. Set during World War II, it features the Red Skull making a deal with a certain devil …
No, not this devil … but Dormammu does get his own one-shot as well, by Guggenheim, Paknadel and Javier Pina. Marvel’s playing coy on the description for this one, beyind saying it involves a “battle across generations” and someone asking Dormammu for help. Could that be …
Mephisto? The devil behind all these one-shots finally breaks out into his own one-shot by Guggenheim and Alvaro Lopez. It’ll feature the full line-up of villains from the various one-shots, from Doctor Doom through Dormammu, as the puppet master seeks to take control of every soul on Earth.