Ultron isn’t the only villain joining the West Coast Avengers

Meet Blue Bolt, ‘the biggest jerk in the Marvel Universe.’

Marvel’s West Coast Avengers relaunch announcement came with a surprise addition to the line-up in Ultron, one of the Avengers greatest foes. He’ll be joined by one of their not-so-greatest foes in Blue Bolt, a new character created by Gerry Duggan and Danny Kim.

Chad Braxton, a.k.a. Blue Bolt, is a former henchman with “unrefined lightning-based abilities” who joins the team as part of a prison release program. “Reckless, undisciplined, and downright rude, Blue Bolt may just be the biggest jerk in the entire Marvel Universe,” Marvel.com says. Blue Bolt joins a long list of former villains who have been members, including Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Black Widow and Sandman, among others.

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SDCC | West Coast Avengers returns this winter from Gerry Duggan + Danny Kim

The new line-up is heavy on metal, with Iron Man, War Machine and Ultron joining the team.

If you thought Gerry Duggan was done with Iron Man, think again — although his time on the ongoing title wrapped up and a new title is set to debut this fall, Duggan will continue to write both Iron Man and War Machine in West Coast Avengers.

The title gets revived this November by Duggan and Danny Kim, and it features an interesting line-up: Iron Man, War Machine, Spider-Woman, Firestar and Ultron. Who is apparently a good guy now, maybe, in the One World Under Doom status quo.

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Gerry Duggan + John McCrea bring ‘Dead Eyes’ back to life at Image Comics

‘Dead Eyes: The Empty Frames’ kicks off in September.

Dead Eyes, the series by Gerry Duggan and John McCrea that started life back in 2018, will return with a new miniseries this fall — Dead Eyes: The Empty Frames.

Originally titled Dead Rabbit, the series was recalled after release due to a lawsuit from a New York bar called “Dead Rabbit.” It returned under the new title, Dead Eyes, with four issues being published in total, plus a collection. It’s about a former mercenary/gun-for-hire who gets pulled back into the life after retirement.

“The unkillable Dead Eyes is back! We’ve never stopped working on Dead Eyes, and The Empty Frames has more tragical hilarious action than the first one. As always, McCrea, and colorist Mike Spicer really show off in this new volume and prove once again why they’re one of the best teams in the business,” said Duggan.

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Three Count | Krakoa in pictures, Jinkies, Mermay

Here are three things to see, to buy and to view in comics this week.

Three Count spotlights, as the title suggests, three things from comics today. It’ll be three things with links, no more, no less. Hope you survive the experience.

  1. To View: Gerry Duggan’s Krakoa-era creator photos

It’s a pretty good time to be an X-Men fan. Not only is there the mega-popular X-Men ’97 animated series on Disney+ and a new Deadpool & Wolverine movie coming this summer, but there’s also a lot going on with Marvel’s merry mutants in the comics. As the Krakoa era ends in spectacular fashion, the From the Ashes era gets set to begin, and I’m not sure you could have the excitement of one without the game-changing nature of the other.

Gerry Duggan has been part of the Krakoa journey since the beginning, writing both Marauders and X-Men, as well as Iron Man, which seemed to find its way into the line at the end. In addition to being a writer, Duggan is also a photographer, and even crowdfunded a book of his photos a couple years back. In his Substack newsletter this week, he shared a collection of photos of his fellow creators he’s taken during the Krakoa journey, at retreats and other meet-ups, spanning several years and a pandemic. Outside of stalking them at bars during conventions, it’s rare that you get to see creators interacting like this … in meeting rooms and, yes, at bars.

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Duggan + Brown team for ‘Falling in Love on the Path to Hell’ at Image Comics

A gunslinger and a samurai walk into purgatory …

If you’re wondering what Gerry Duggan will be up to once his run on X-Men ends, never fear — he’s teaming up with artist Garry Brown for an ambitious creator-owned series at Image Comics.

Falling in Love on the Path to Hell will start at the end for the two main characters — an Onna-musha warrior and an Old West gunslinger. After being mortally wounded on different continents, the pair “awake together in a purgatory ruled by a ruthless, nightmarish society of damned warriors.”

“We’re inspired by samurai films, grindhouse, westerns, Tarantino, Lone Wolf & Cub and of course all our favorite weird, supernatural comic books,” said Duggan. “This romance is our love letter to creator-owned comics—it’s a story we can only tell at Image Comics.”

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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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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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‘This Ends Tonight’ begins in July

Artist Jae Lee teams with a trio of writers for three issues of mayhem.

Legendary artist Jae Lee will make an action-packed return to interior art in This Ends Tonight, a new miniseries from Image Comics.

Lee will work with co-writers Gerry Duggan, Kelvin Mao and Robert Windom on the three-issue series where each issue tells a separate, but interconnected, story. June Chung joins them on colors.

“I’ve been a fan of Jae’s since Inhumans back in the ’90s and a fan of Robert’s since he collaborated with Jae on the terrific series Seven Sons at Image last year,” Duggan said. “It’s my privilege to be a part of This Ends Tonight beginning this summer. You’re all in for a ride.”

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Marvel reveals more about ‘Fall of X’ at MegaCon

Kate Pryde becomes Shadowkat again and gets a new costume, Colossus leads X-Force and Tony Stark teams with Emma Frost.

Marvel shared several tidbits and teasers about the upcoming Fall of X crossover event during a panel at this weekend’s MegaCon. The panel featured Senior Editor Jordan D. White, writers Gerry Duggan and Benjamin Percy, and artist Joshua Cassara.

We don’t know a lot about the overall Fall of X storyline just yet, but we do know a few things. For one, it’ll kick off in this year’s Hellfire Gala special, after getting a preview of sorts in four one-shots. It’ll also involve non-mutant heroes like Iron Man, as Tony Stark lost his company to X-Men villain Feilong and it’s now making its own Sentinels. While the overall plot is still unknown, it’ll involve “danger, conspiracy and sacrifice” that “threatens to shatter everything mutantkind accomplished on Krakoa.”

One thing revealed at the panel is a teaser image that lists all the crossover titles that will be part of the event, including several new titles that we haven’t heard about yet. The list includes current titles like X-Men, Wolverine, X-Force, Immortal X-Men and Invincible Iron Man, as well as the new (yet familiar in some cases) Astonishing Iceman, Children of the Vault, Uncanny Spider-Man, Alpha Flight, Dark X-Men, Realm of X and the previously announced Uncanny Avengers.

Here’s the teaser image by Bryan Hitch:

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X-Men news: Uncanny Avengers, Hellfire Gala, Negasonic Teenage Warhead

Marvel announces details on several new projects coming straight out of Krakoa.

The Unity Squad will return in a new title later this year as a part of the Fall of X event, Marvel revealed yesterday during a virtual event celebrating the 60th anniversary of the X-Men.

Uncanny Avengers will return to store shelves starting in August by the team of Gerry Duggan and Javier Garron. But before that they’ll appear in a story in Marvel’s Avengers/X-Men Free Comic Book Day title coming in May, and the need for their return will be revealed in July’s X-Men: Hellfire Gala one-shot, which kicks off the Fall of X storyline.

“Everything we’ve been working towards in our third act is coming to a head this summer,” Duggan said. “The Uncanny Avengers have existed to provide an example of unity between humanity and mutantdom, and they will need to work extra hard at that now as relationships and friendships have frayed in the events of Fall of X.”

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Gerry Duggan launches ‘The Ginormous Kokjü’ on Substack

The prolific comics writer adds a paid tier to his newsletter and launches a new comic with Scott Koblish.

X-Men and Invincible Iron Man writer Gerry Duggan has joined the numerous other creators on Substack who are offering a paid tier for access to comics. Duggan, along with artist Scott Koblish, created The Ginormous Kokjü, a new comic that only paid subscribers to his newsletter will receive, at least for now.

“I’ve always made time for creator-owned comics and I’ve been working pretty diligently on some secret projects that are now ready to bring into the world,” Duggan said in a post on his newsletter. “The pandemic changed so many things, some projects slowed down, others had more velocity. What’s changed for me is far less travel to comic cons and editorial retreats. I’ve reinvested that clock in more creator-owned collaborations.”

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Iron Man is ‘Invincible’ again in December relaunch

Gerry Duggan and Juan Frigeri chart a new path for Tony Stark.

Although Christopher Cantwell’s run on Iron Man comes to a close in November, Tony Stark won’t get much of a holiday break. Marvel has announced that the title will relaunch in December as Invincible Iron Man, by the creative team of Gerry Duggan and Juan Frigeri.

“It’s my privilege to try and follow Christopher Cantwell and his collaborators’ stellar run on Iron Man heading into an anniversary year,” Duggan said. “Juan and I are going to introduce a new menace that is gunning for Tony Stark and his greatest creation. We have an epic tale for Stark and plans for old foes, including flashbacks to some of his classic armors. How about a little Silver Centurion for his diamond anniversary? Armor up, you’re gonna need it.”

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