SDCC | ‘Ultimate Endgame’ begins in December as ‘Ultimate Spider-Man’ ends

Details were shared at the San Diego Comic-Con this week.

Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto’s final issue of Ultimate Spider-Man will arrive in December, just as the Maker returns in Ultimate Endgame.

Hickman attended the Marvel Comics: Ultimate Universe Panel at San Diego Comic-Con today, sharing that the story he and Checchetto have been telling was always meant to end with issue #24.

“This was everything that I pitched,” Hickman said. “Nothing has deviated. It’s been really nice to execute the plan well and everything culminates into this issue. Fans of the Ultimate Universe are going to love it. It’s been a real pleasure being the writer of Ultimate Spider-Man.”

It was almost two years ago that fans were introduced to the Ultimate Universe version of Spider-Man — an older Peter Parker married to Mary Jane and father to two kids who had never been Spider-Man. As the maker tried to supress the hero community, Tony Stark had found a way to bring them back, and one of the first heroes he contacted was Peter Parker.

And now that story will come to an end. Here’s a look at the final cover by Checchetto:

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SDCC Slugfest | ‘Knightfight,’ Bad Batch, ‘Marian Heretic’ + more

Plus: Terrorbytes! Youngblood! And a big sale from Fantagraphics!

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. With the San Diego Comic-Con upon us, we have news and announcements dropping left and right, so here’s an attempt to keep up with it all. Hit the links for more information.

From the DC All In Panel earlier this week came news of a tie-in title for the big DC K.O. event that DC announced last week — and it involves a whole lot of fighting and a whole lot of Robins.

According to reports from the panel, Knightfight by Joshua Williamson and Dan Mora “explores Batman’s worst nightmare: what if the Robins all became Batmen in twisted alternate futures?”

Yes, Dan Mora is adding another book to his schedule, and still killing it:

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SDCC | Marvel’s ‘Deadpool/Batman’ will feature a Frank Miller story

Al Ewing and Dike Ruan also join the line-up with a Rocket Raccoon/Green Lantern story.

It’s 1982, and Frank Miller is drawing Wolverine. It’s 1987, and Frank Miller is writing Batman. It’s 2025, and Frank Miller is writing and drawing Wolverine and Batman.

Marvel announced in San Diego this week that the recent Eisner winner is, indeed, writing and drawing a story for the upcoming Deadpool/Batman one-shot that will feature Wolverine — the Old Man Logan version — and the Batman as seen in Miller’s classic Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. He also drew a variant cover featuring both characters:

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SDCC | Marvel teases the end of ‘One World Under Doom’ — and what will follow

Ryan North and RB Silva present the big finale in November.

All good things must come to an end, even the benevolent rule of the one true Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Doom.

The One World Under Doom, Marvel’s big crossover event and miniseries, will come to a head in issue #9 in November, and in San Diego this week writer Ryan North teased what that issue will bring.

“The story is in two parts,” North said. “[In the second part], you’re kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop, because there’s no way he’s doing what he’s doing without any consequences. So in the second half, you see what’s going on behind the scenes.

“There is some stuff coming up that I’m very excited for,” he continued. “I know issue nine is the conclusion, but issue eight has some big stuff that I’m very excited about.”

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SDCC | She-Hulk, Nova + more ongoings will spin out of ‘Imperial’

‘Planet She’Hulk’ and ‘Nova: Centurion’ lead the pack in November.

At the San Diego Comic-Con today, Marvel revealed that Jonathan Hickman, Iban Coello and Federico Vicentini’s Imperial miniseries is not only redefining the Marvel cosmos, but is also serving as the launching pad for five new ongoing series starring Nova, She-Hulk and more.

If you’ve been paying attention to the one-shot tie-ins for the event, you can probably guess the five series:

  • Planet She-Hulk by Stephanie Phillips and Aaron Kuder
  • Nova: Centurion by Jed MacKay and Alvaro Lopez
  • Exiles by a to-be-announced creative team
  • Black Panther: Intergalactic by to-be-announced creative team
  • Imperial Guardians by to-be-announced creative team

All five series are being set up in the Imperial War one-shots, with the first two debuting in November.

“This is a story that unites all the disparate and separate powers of the galactic portion of the Marvel Universe—the Kree, the Shi’ar, the Skrulls, and more—all in one big science-fiction epic, set up in a series of Russian nesting dolls where in every issue, something is pulled off, and something is revealed behind the thing you just learned the last time out. It’s an all-out cosmic war,” Marvel Execuitve Editor Tom Brevoort said.

Here’s a look at the two announced titles:

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SDCC | Frank Tieri + Stefano Raffaele pit ‘Alien vs. Captain America’

The miniseries kicks off in November.

Following the recent Aliens vs. Avengers miniseries that brought the Alien franchise into contact with the Marvel Universe, Marvel announced at the San Diego Comic-Con today Alien vs. Captain America by Frank Tieri and Stefano Raffaele.

The story, set during World War II, will feature Hydra looking for the hidden city of Attilan, home to the Inhumans. But like the stupid Nazis they are, their quest for power leads to them unleashing something very, very bad.

“Ya know, sometimes a project comes along and you just have to pinch yourself that you get to be involved with it,” Tieri said. “I mean, here you have two of the most iconic properties in entertainment—Captain America, who is basically the ultimate hero, going against Alien, one of the ultimate names in horror. As a writer, what more can you ask for than that?”

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SDCC | ‘Age of Revelation’ continues in November

See what’s up with Magik, the Fenris twins, the Iron King, Vindicator and the X-Babies during Marvel’s next big X-Men event.

Marvel has revealed more details about Age of Revelation, their big alternate-history X-Men event that kicks off in October. Following the slow trickle over four days of revealing the titles that’ll take over the X-Men line in October, Marvel has released covers and solicits for the second issues of each of those titles, which will arrive in November.

As a reminder, Age of Revelation is an Age of Apocalypse-style event. Like the 1990s event — which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year — Age of Revelation will show us an alternate world and bring the relaunch of several X-related titles for the duration, as Doug Ramsey, the heir to Apocalypse, creates a new world order and we jump 10 years into the future to see what it brings.

I covered the first issues when they were announced here, here, here and here, if you need to catch up on what was previously announced. Now here’s what you can expect in November … note that a couple of titles, Binary and Rogue Storm, are missing, but Marvel said details on their second issues would be released at a later date.

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SDCC | Abrams ComicArts to publish John Byrne’s ‘X-Men: Elsewhen’

The 600-page story will be told across three hardcover volumes.

I can’t say I ever expected to see this news, but hey, there’s no better time than the week of Comic-Con for a surprise. Abrams ComicArts and Marvel are teaming up to publish X-Men: Elsewhen, a collection of John Byrne’s alternate history X-Men story.

Byrne is one of the legendary artists of the new X-Men, if not THE legendary artist of the new X-Men that debuted back in Giant-Sized X-Men #1. Byrne joined writer Chris Claremont on X-Men with issue #108, shortly before “Uncanny” was added to the title. Together with inker Terry Austin, he drew some of the most well-regarded issues of the title, including the Dark Phoenix Saga, Days of Future Past, the introduction of Alpha Flight and more. He left the title with issue #143, and went on to work on everything from Fantastic Four to Alpha Flight to Sueprman to Doom Patrol and so much more.

Cut to about seven years ago, and Byrne started posting these X-Men: Elsewhen comics on his Byrne Robotics forum. As the press release describes it:

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Jeremy Whitley + Bayleigh Underwood roll for initiative on ‘Strange Tales’

The four-issue miniseries features several of Marvel’s mystical heroes in an RPG-inspired story.

Marvel is reviving Strange Tales, a title used by the company for decades — even before they were Marvel — for a “mystical mystery” story by Jeremy Whitley and Bayleigh Underwood.

The four-issue miniseries will feature magical heroes like Scarlet Witch, Wiccan, Nico Minoru and Doctor Strange in a story that “blends Marvel Comics storytelling with elements of popular tabletop role-playing games.”

“I’ve always been a fan of the spookier side of the Marvel Universe and to get to play in that playground was a ball,” Whitley said. “And to get to add aspects of table-top role-playing games on top of it – who could resist? Then I found out we’d get to see all of the excitement penciled by the amazing Bailey Underwood! Strange Tales is a treat I think all Marvel fans will enjoy!”

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White Tiger returns in Marvel’s Voices Comunidades special this October

Daniel José Older, Bruno Abdias, Cynthia Pelayo, Moises Hidalgo and more will present two stories starring two versions of the character.

With Hispanic and Latin American Heritage Month coming up this fall, Marvel has announced their annual Voices Comunidades special in October will focus on White Tiger.

White Tiger Reborn will feature stories about both people who have worn the White Tiger costume — Hector Ayala, who died in the pages of Daredevil, and his sister Ava Ayala, the current White Tiger. The two stories in the special starring the Puerto Rican heroes are by writer Daniel José Older and artist Bruno Abdias, and writer Cynthia Pelayo and artist Moises Hidalgo.

“As a Puerto Rican author, it is an honor to make my Marvel Comics debut with White Tiger,” Pelayo said. “I’m grateful to be a part of the experience of new audiences, and old, learning about the legacy of the first Latin American, and Puerto Rican, superhero in the history of American comic books.”

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SDCC | Jimmy Palmiotti + Dan Panosian enlist for ‘Marvel Knights: Punisher’

Palmiotti returns to the imprint he helped bring to life at Marvel in the 1990s.

Earlier this year Joe Quesada returned to Marvel for Marvel Knights: The World to Come, named for the imprint he helped spearhead starting in 1998 that redefined characters like Daredevil, Black Panther, the Punisher and many more. Now his co-conspirator for Marvel Knights, Jimmy Palmiotti, will return as well for Marvel Knights: Punisher, which is set in the same world as The World to Come.

Palmiotti will work with artist Dan Panosian on the limited series, which features Frank Castle in “one of the most savage comics ever.”

“The secret behind Marvel Knights has always been creative alchemy: the perfect blend of raw talent and fearless storytelling, forged by creators who don’t flinch when things get intense,” Palmiotti said. “Now, years later, under the iconic Marvel Knights banner that Joe Quesada and I created all those years ago, I’m writing a brand-new Punisher series that’s being lit on fire by one of the industry’s most electrifying artists: the incomparable Dan Panosian. This is Frank Castle pushed past his limits into uncharted, brutal territory. Dan and I aren’t revisiting a legend—we’re detonating it.”

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SDCC Slugfest | ‘Ultimate Endgame,’ ‘Cult of the Lamb,’ ‘Die!namite’ + more

The Ultimate Universe heads toward its ‘Endgame,’ ‘Cult of the Lamb’ returns and when Ahoy Comics invites you over for ‘Thanksgiving,’ politely decline the invite …

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. Hit the links for more information.

The annual San Diego Comic-Con will kick off later this week, and publishers have been releasing announcements in the lead-up to the event. We’re also in the middle of monthly solicitation time, where publishers are revealing what’s coming out in October. In an effort to keep up with all the madness, here’s a round up of recent announcements as we prepare for the big show.

Let’s start with a Marvel teaser for something coming late in 2025, Ultimate Endgame. Readers of Marvel’s Ultimate titles know that the clock is ticking on the return of the Maker, a.k.a. the Reed Richards from the original Ultimate Universe, and Marvel teases his return with a nod to the Marvel Cinematic Universe:

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