Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. This edition focuses on Marvel’s July/August 2026 titles. Hit the links for more info.
The middle of the summer is a big month for Marvel, as they’ll have two major crossovers going on at the time: Avengers: Armageddon and Queen in Black, bringing together the “Al Ewingverse” titles — Venom and Mortal Thor.
That’s already a packed summer, but is only the tip of the iceberg. There’s plenty of other new stuff hitting in July. So let’s start with the return of Miles Morales, who comes back from a brief hiatus with a new #1, new creative team anda return to his classic costume.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #1 puts Ultimate Black Panther writer Bryan Edward Hill and artist Nico Leon in charge of the younger Spider-Man’s adventures, and they are picking up after Miles’ adventures in the Ultimate Universe with a story that hits close to home, as his father’s past as a SHIELD agent comes back to bite the whole family.
“I was really humbled when Marvel contacted me because Miles Morales is such an important character to people,” Hill said. “No one knows, but I’m a HUGE Spider-Man and Spider-Verse fan, so I’m going all out here with new villains, new allies, thrilling action and a real exploration of that essential struggle of being a hero and maintaining a life connected to others.”
Here are the details:
Miles Morales is back in black (and red)! Spider-Mans thinks he has it allllll handled: homework, super villains… a new school crush?? No, no, Miles is focused on what matters: helping the good folks of Brooklyn. Friendly. Neighborhood. Spider-Manning at his best! But a vengeful villain from Jeff Morales’ past with S.H.I.E.L.D. threatens to destroy not only Spider-Man, but the entire Morales family!
“Sara Pichelli opened the door to a new generation of comic book artists with Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, and being able to step into that lineage now is a real privilege,” Leon said. “Drawing Miles Morales in his classic suit, a design that turned iconic from the first second, is an opportunity you can bet I will not take lightly.”
This one is appearing in the July solicits, but the first issue won’t actually arrive until Aug. 12.
Speaking of Spider-Man, July brings three more What If? one-shots as part of the book’s 50th anniversary celebration, and they all feature Spider-Man in some way, shape or form.
Starting with the one shown above, “What if the Ultimate Universe survived the Secret Wars?” It’s by Alex Paknadel and CAFU, with a cover by Lucas Werneck, and rather than having 6160 Miles Morales integrate into the 616, it has 616 Peter Parker integrating into the 6160. It comes out July 1.
Then on July 15, Peter Parker doesn’t get bit by the radioactive spider — Jessica Jones, his old schoolmate, does.
Justina Ireland and David Messina reimagine Jones as the former Spider-Girl, who in true Jessica Jones fashion has elft the superhero life behind and just wants to be a bartender, until the Green Goblin shows up. Werneck did the main cover for this one as well, with Michael Gaydos providing a variant.
On July 29, J.M. DeMatteis returns to one of his most famous stories, “Kraven’s Last Hunt,” and shows us what might have happened if Kraven had broken the Spider … and decided to take his place. Yildiray Cinar draws this one as well as its variant cover, while Werneck provides the main cover.
Sticking with the wall crawler, did you know there’s a big Spider-Man film coming out in July? And it has the Punisher in it? You might have heard that. On the comics side, Marvel will revisit the “early days” of their relationship in The Punisher vs. the Amazing Spider-Man, by Dan Abnett and Matteo Della Fonte.
“Brought together by happenstance and forced to stay that way by an ally from Frank Castle’s past in need, will the web-slinger and the gunslinger be able to begrudgingly set aside their differences before they find themselves at one another’s throats?!” Likely not, based on past experiences. Jonas Scharf provides the main cover, shown above, while Netho Diaz is doing one of the many variants:
The five-issue miniseries begins July 15.
Godzilla has been ravaging the Marvel Universe for at least a year now, and in July he’ll set his sights on all the other Marvel Universes in Godzilla Conquers the Multiverse. Gerry Duggan is back on board for this one, along with artist Javier Garron.
“The culmination of this Godzilla X Marvel collaboration has been a privilege from the jump,” Duggan said. “To be able to help smash these worlds together with Javi and our collaborators has brought real joy.”
David Marquez drew the main cover for the first issue, while Juan Frigeri, Giuseppe Camuncoli and Nic Klein did variants.
The first issue arrives July 22.
What If? isn’t the only one with an anniversary this year. Rocket Raccoon first appeared in 1976’s Marvel Preview #7 — although he was called “Rocky” at the time, like in the Beatles song — in a story by Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen. So he’s getting a special, Rocket Raccoon: Rocket Rewind, with stories by J.M. DeMatteis and Shawn McManus, MacKenzie Cadenhead and Enid Balám, Christos Gage and Todd Nauck, and a reprint of that original tale by Mantlo and Giffen.
“Fans of Rocket Raccoon are going to love this special featuring all-new stories that span through his bold, adventurous and sassy career, Editor Mark Pannicia said. “I’m excited to include the first appearance of Rocky Raccoon. That’s right, old bean, in that story by legendary comic creators Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen, Rocket went by Rocky and inexplicably had a British accent. Wild and fun stuff!”
Ryan Stegman did the main cover, while variant artists include Mike Mignola and David Baldeón. It rockets into stores July 29.
Chris Claremont is back writing Gambit in July, as he teams with Robert Gill for Gambit: Wanted. This is another of Marvel’s flashback titles, set around the time Gambit debuted and joined the X-Men. It’ll feature the Cajun X-Man deciding whether to join the team — and the threat of Bullseye.
The main cover is by Leinil Francis Yu, with variants by Phil Noto, Artgerm, Stephen Segovia and Kris Anka.
The first issue of five arrives July 22.
If you haven’t gotten enough of Doctor Doom after last year’s One World Under Doom, Marvel has you covered (at least until the new Avengers movie arrives). Coming in July is the first of five one-shots written by Al Ewing, pitting Doctor Doom against his greatest foes. Up first is Mister Fantastic, in a comic drawn by Mike Henderson with a cover by Fabrizio De Tommaso.
Oh, and did someone say variants? There are also variant covers byAlessandro Cappuccio, Kael Ngu, and Lucio Parrillo.
Subsequent one-shots will arrive throughout 2026 and 2027, featuring Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Magneto and Namor. Look for this first one on July 1.
Now here’s a team up comic I didn’t see coming — Greg Pak and Alan Robinson will bring two 20th Century Studios properties together in Predator vs. Planet of the Apes. It’ll feature a Yautja landing on said planet, and chaos ensues.
“I vividly remember watching the first Planet of the Apes movie on an old 13-inch black-and-white television in the early 1980s, and having my mind TOTALLY BLOWN,” Pak said. “So I was thrilled when Marvel approached me to write Planet of the Apes comics — and then even MORE thrilled when they said it would be a Predator book as well! Planet of the Apes and Predator are two of the most iconic sci-fi series of all time — I’d be thrilled to work on EITHER of them. But both of them together? Just incredible.”
The cover, above, is by Stonehouse, while Tim Seeley and Chris Campana did variants:
The first issue arrives July 29.
With DC announcing a collection of their recent crossover stories with Marvel, the House of Ideas does the same with Marvel/DC: The Dead Of Knight & Other Stories. The collection arrives in September and will include all the stories from Deadpool/Batman and Spider-Man/Superman, as well as the digital releases Thor/Shazam! and It’s Jeff/Aquaman.
Finally, if you don’t make it to your local comic shop this Saturday, never fear — Marvel will collect their Marvel Universe Comics Giveaway Day titles in the 2025 edition of Marvel Zero this July. It won’t be free, but it does come in covers by Marco Checchetto and Peach Momoko.