Tag: Al Ewing

‘Marvel United: A Pride Special’ will feature stories by Al Ewing, Wyatt Kennedy, Kei Zama + more

After receiving criticism in 2024, the publisher will publish a Pride anthology with ‘Pride’ in the title.

Marvel has announced plans to release Marvel United: A Pride Special this June in conjunction with Pride Month. The anthology will feature four stories “celebrating LGBTQIA+ creators and characters” and is a return to an anthology that calls out “Pride” in the title, something they received criticism for last year.

In 2024, Marvel received criticism for X-Men: The Wedding Special, which replaced the usual Marvel’s Voices: Pride special they published for three years prior. While the content was similar to a Pride anthology, as it featured multiple stories about LGBTQIA+ characters in addition to the main story about Mystique and Destiny’s wedding, dropping “Pride” from the title came at a time when many companies were facing backlash for their Pride activities. Everyone from Target to Budweiser were being raked over the coals by conservative groups, and many felt that it looked like Marvel was backing away from potential backlash of their own. Add to that, last year also brought a line of “ally” covers that did not go over well for the publisher, as it looked like they were putting a focus on straight characters during Pride Month.

(I should note that Marvel does have plans for a line of Pride Month variant covers again this year, but they have not revealed them yet. Hopefully they are a bit more dynamic than last year’s covers).

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Al Ewing + Steve Lieber ‘get groovy’ with ‘Metamorpho: The Element Man’ this December

‘This is 100% fun comics, delivered with total confidence, visceral joy and absolutely no winking to the camera.’

Some announcements just make you want to smile, like this one: Al Ewing and Steve Lieber will team up for a new series featuring Metamorpho, as part of DC’s All In initiative. Or maybe that should be “Al In,” considering it’s one of Ewing’s first major projects with the publisher.

Metamorpho: The Element Man will feature “done-in-ones” stories that build up to something bigger, according to Ewing, who is paired with Lieber of Jimmy Olsen fame. They’re joined by Lee Loughridge on colors.

“This is 100% fun comics, delivered with total confidence, visceral joy and absolutely no winking to the camera,” Ewing said. “It’s a love letter to Bob Haney, Ramona Fradon and the spirit of superheroes at their wildest and weirdest—we’re aiming to catch the essential fab-freakiness of Metamorpho like lightning in a bottle and get groovy with it in our own special way.”

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Who is the ‘All-New Venom’?

Al Ewing and Carlos Gómez take Venom back to the streets in a new series this December.

In the aftermath of the Venom War, Venom will return to his own title in December — but who exactly is underneath the symbiote?

Writer Al Ewing teased to Polygon that All-New Venom will be a “scaled-down, earthbound continuation” of his Venom series, as Dylan Brock seeks to uncover who the new Venom is, with four suspects — Robbie Robertson of Daily Bugle fame, mob boss Madame Masque, perpetual sidekick Rick Jones and “Mayor Power Man” himself, Luke Cage. Ewing will work with artist Carlos Gómez on the relaunched title.

“If people have a strong hankering for something different from me, this is that. It’s almost more like a Spider-Man-level story,” Ewing told Polygon. “It is set on Earth, very much in the normal New York City. Everywhere we go in the story is a place you could go, or at least the type of place you could go. Obviously, when we go to a warehouse… well, I do have a tendency to look up actual warehouses, and then change them just enough to pass legal. So yeah, everywhere we go in this story is a natural place you can go in New York City.”

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Saddle up for the origin of Venom Horse

The list of participants in the upcoming ‘Venom War’ crossover continues to grow, with Venom Horse, the Fantastic Four, Kang and Doctor Doom getting involved.

The first salvo in the Venom War will hit next week, and with it comes word that Al Ewing and Carlos Nieto will do a one-page comic in each issue to introduce you to the character find of 2024 — Venom Horse.

If you missed his appearance in the trailer for the third Venom film, Venom Horse is, well, a horse with a Venom symbiote. In the trailer it looks like he’s literally taken over by Eddie Brock’s Venom symbiote, but in the comic, who knows — but we’ll find out during Venom War with “this special bonus saga” that will “introduce Venom Horse and share his wild origins as he busts free of captivity.”

Clayton Crain is doing variant covers featuring Venom Horse for each issue of the miniseries:

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Father battles son in this summer’s ‘Venom War’ by Al Ewing + Iban Coello

Thanksgiving at the Brock household is going to suck this year.

Eddie Brock and his son Dylan have shared the name “Venom” since Al Ewing took over the title back in 2021, but glimpses of the future have shown both of them that there can be only one. So, in the mighty Marvel manner, father and son will sit down at the kitchen table and talk it out …

Not really! Get ready for Venom War, a five-issue miniseries that will see the two face off for the mantle of Venom, with plenty of other symbiotic heroes getting caught in the crossfire. Artist Iban Coello joins Ewing for the August-debuting title.

“This is what we’ve been building to since the start of this wild and way-out symbiote odyssey—the fateful confrontation between father and son,” Ewing said. “Where better to have it than inside the squared circle? And who better to bring this all-action epic to the page with than my old buddy Iban Coello? I’m tellin’ ya, goo believer—this is vehemently varied Venom violence like never viewed, and only one host can wear the symbiote when the dust settles! Who’s it gonna be?”

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Return to a ‘lake of goo’ in ‘Venomverse Reborn’

Hang with Venoms from around the multiverse in the new anthology series.

Rumors about the death of the Venomverse were apparently exaggerated, as Marvel has announced a follow-up anthology, Venomverse Reborn, for this summer.

Each issue will feature multiple stories by different creators starring different Venoms from around the multiverse. They’ll also include a framing sequence by Venom writer Al Ewing and Danilo S. Beyruth that will “lay the groundwork for the next symbiote epic.”

“I’m doing the framing sequence for these issues, and that means I get to see every one of these new symbiote sensations hit my inbox before anyone else outside editorial, and that’s definitely a perk of the job,” Ewing said. “As for what’s in that framing story—if you’ve been a fan of some of the more cosmic aspects we’ve brought to Venom of late, you should be more than happy. But the beauty of an anthology series like this is that there’s something to please everyone who dives into our lake of goo.”

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Thanos plagues the Marvel Universe this summer in ‘The Infinity Watch’ crossover

The Mad Titan and the Infinity Stones return in an event that runs through Marvel’s annuals.

Thanos’ ongoing quest to control the Infinity Gems Stones returns to prominence this summer in nine of Marvel’s 2024 annuals. The crossover event, spearheaded by writer Derek Landy, will begin in Thanos Annual #1 and continue through Amazing Spider-Man, Immortal Thor and more.

Landy will write some of the main stories in the annuals and all of the back-up stories, which will be drawn by Sara Pichelli.

Now, if you’re not up on your Infinity Stones lore, they are indeed the powerful artifacts formerly known as the Infinity Gems, which Thanos once used to form the Infinity Gauntlet and wipe out half the population of the universe, back in the Infinity Gauntlet series by Jim Starlin, George Perez and Ron Lim. More recently, in the Infinite Destinies event (which itself ran through several Marvel annuals a few years back and happens to be on sale on Comixology today), the stones were grafted into “the very bodies and souls of a few of Marvel’s up-and-coming heroes and villains.” These included Star, who has appeared in Captain Marvel and was on a recent team of Thunderbolts; Prince of Power, who appeared in Al Ewing’s run on Guardians of the Galaxy; Multitude; and Overtime. Overall, though, they’ve been under the radar since the Infinite Destinies event.

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An X-Men era ends, and a new one begins, this summer

Gerry Duggan, Kieron Gillen, Al Ewing, Lucas Werneck, Joshua Cassara, Chris Claremont, Gail Simone and more contribute to an oversized issue celebrating 700 issues of ‘Uncanny X-Men.’

If you’re looking for the comic that will put the period — or maybe exclamation point — on the X-Men’s Krakoa era, look no further than X-Men #35, which arrives in June.

According to Marvel, the issue will also mark 700 issues of Uncanny X-Men, the flagship “X” title for the past 60 years, so it’ll also be an oversized issue featuring stories by a variety of creators. Those include some from the Krakoa-era, including Gerry Duggan, Kieron Gillen, Al Ewing, Lucas Werneck and Joshua Cassara, as well as legendary Uncanny X-Men writer Chris Claremont.

“Being a part of the Krakoan experiment has been a true thrill,” said X-Men Senior Editor Jordan D. White. “Honestly—in many ways—it echoed the experience of mutantkind itself in the era. We worked differently, we tried new things, we survived incredible new experiences. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have worked with such fantastically talented creators throughout the era, and working on the glorious ending is truly bittersweet. I will miss it with my whole heart, but I do know… Krakoa will live on within us forever.”

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Cafu gives Carnage a frightening makeover in Marvel’s ‘Symbiosis Necrosis’ event

Venom and Carnage will try to eat each other again in a four-part event this spring.

Venom and Carnage will cross over in March and April, bringing together Cletus Kasaday and Dylan Brock for the first time, and debuting a new look for Carnage.

The crossover will be written by Torunn Grønbekk and Al Ewing, with art by Ken Lashley, who also will do a series of connecting variant covers for the crossover, and Pere Pérez.

“There is some family drama going on here because technically they’re both the child of Eddie or Venom in a sort of strange way and it felt natural to bring them together,” Grønbekk said on the This Week at Marvel podcast. “It brings up, especially for Dylan, all the secrets that Venom has kept from him. Venom was the one who made Eddie do horrible things. If Dylan sees the full extent of what Venom has done in this world, it might not be great.”

Here’s the new look for Carnage, designed by Cafu:

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Roxxon wages a hostile takeover against Thor + Marvel this spring

The Roxxon Age of Comics is upon us.

Thor will get a corporate makeover of sorts in April, as Marvel’s longtime evil oil company, Roxxon Energy Corporation, “takes over” Marvel in April and releases their own Thor comic.

Roxxon Presents: Thor is a one-shot by current Immortal Thor writer Al Ewing and, probably the perfect artist for a project like this, Greg Land. Roxxin’ Thor will “be there to defend big business and the sanctity of shareholder value,” as he smashes woke environmentalists at the bequest of longtime Thor villain and Roxxon CEO Dario Agger, a.k.a. the Minotaur.

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The Krakoan Age will conclude in two new X-Men miniseries

Marvel announces ‘Fall of the House of X’ and ‘Rise of the Powers of X’ at the New York Comic Con.

All good things, as they say. The Krakoan Age, the current era of X-Men comics that began in 2019 when Jonathan Hickman returned to Marvel for House of X and Powers of X, will come to its official end next year in two miniseries announced today at New York Comic Con.

Fall of the House of X by Gerry Duggan and Lucas Werneck, will continue the story of Cyclops and his capture during Fall of X, as he’s put on trial and faces the death penalty. Rise of the Powers of X by Kieron Gillen and R.B. Silva takes place in the future as mutants attempt to stop Omega Sentinel and Nimrod from summoning “their binary god to consume everything in their accession.”

As they’ve done before, Mark Brooks and Richard Isanove supply the teaser image, which showcases Marvel mutants in various costumes from the comic’s history:

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Here’s a look inside ‘Marvel’s Voices: X-Men’

The anthology features new comics by Al Ewing, Greg Pak, Daniel Bayliss, Jorge Corona and more.

Marvel will release another of their Marvel’s Voices anthologies in August, this time focusing in on the X-Men.

The anthology series, which sprang from a podcast on Marvel.com with the same name, has been published since 2020 and has spotlighted “diverse storytellers and their journeys,” as well as characters from diverse backgrounds. This year Marvel’s Voices began spotlighting specific character groups, like the Spider-Verse characters and the citizens of Wakanda, in stories by diverse creators.

And this time around, they’ve recruited a very diverse group to create stories about one of their most diverse character groups. Here’s a look at what you can expect to find in the anthology when it arrives Aug. 16.

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