Slugfest | Deadpool + Wolverine are together again in Marvel’s January solicitations

Marvel kicks off the new year with a new Cable series, Galactus, an amped up Power Man and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. This edition focuses on Marvel’s January solicitations, plus at least one project coming in February. Hit the links for more information.

Deadpool and Wolverine, you might remember, had a pretty big summer together, but the lovefest is far from over. In January Marvel will launch Deadpool/Wolverine by former Wolverine writer Benjamin Percy and his X-Force colleague Joshua Cassara.

“Josh and I really hit it off when we were working together on X-Force and became great friends,” Percy told IGN. “When he made the jump to X-Men, it was honestly a little traumatic for us both—but if you get the opportunity to draw a flagship title, you have to go for it. And he drew the living shit out of that series. We never stopped texting or hanging out at cons. We’re always trading stupid jokes (and many hundreds of Arnold Schwarzenegger GIFs). I even helped his wife locate one of the elusive 12-foot Home Depot skeletons recently, so we’ll both be celebrating Halloween like bosses. This is all to say: we were both so damn excited to get the band back together. Deadpool/Wolverine is us cartwheeling onto the stage and shredding our guitars once more while smoke machines churn and pyrotechnics explode all around us.”

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Marvel explores the legacy of the Jedi in two new comics next year

A pair of ongoing series will debut in February and March.

Marvel will explore the legacy of the Jedi Order in two new Star Wars comics coming early next year — Star Wars: Legacy of Vader and Star Wars: Jedi Knights.

Written by Charles Soule with artwork by Luke Ross, the ongoing Legacy of Vader shows Kylo Ren’s quest to learn more about his grandfather, Darth Vader. The leader of the First Order sets a course for everywhere from Mustafar to Tattooine to confront his own inner turmoil.

“When fans talk to me about my Star Wars work, two of my Marvel comic runs come up more than almost anything else: my 2017 run on Darth Vader with Giuseppe Camuncoli and my 2019 series The Rise of Kylo Ren,” Soule told StarWars.com. “I think both of those worked so well in part because they were set in parts of the Star Wars timeline full of unanswered questions about characters the audience really loves.”

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Daredevil faces a ‘Cold Day in Hell’ courtesy of Charles Soule + Steve McNiven

The future looks bleak for Matt Murdock in a new miniseries launching next year.

Charles Soule and Steve McNiven, the team behind Marvel’s The Death of Wolverine, will reunite a decade later for Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell, a miniseries offering a dark future for the Man Without Fear.

Set in a future Marvel Universe on the brink of collapse, the series introduces a “grizzled, older version” of Matt Murdock — someone more akin to Old Man Logan, another character McNiven knows well.

“I know whatever idea I write is going to be executed masterfully by Steve, and that level of trust allows you to take a lot of risks,” Soule said. “It’s been a really interesting process because the way we made it is something I wouldn’t do with an artist that I didn’t have this level of collaboration and trust with. We’ve been working on this book for four years, and that time has been well spent.”

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The Strange Academy students get a new headmaster in ‘Doom Academy’

The ‘One World Under Doom’ tie-in miniseries will begin in February.

Doctor Doom’s tenure as sorcerer supreme comes with some additional responsibilities — namely serving as headmaster of the former Strange Academy. The students of that institution — who helped Doom save the world from the vampire invasion in Blood Hunt — will find out what it’s like to have One World Under Doom as they relocate from New Orleans to Latveria to study at the Doom Academy.

Announced during this weekend’s New York Comic Con, the five-issue miniseries is by MacKenzie Cadenhead, Pasqual Ferry and João Lemos. It’s part of the larger One World Under Doom event that’ll run through Marvel’s titles next year.

In addition to featuring characters like Zoe, Doyle and Toth, Cadenhead said it will also feature some new faces.

“It was really fun to go through old Doom stories and pick out some random characters that exist in that world and find someone or someone’s kid who might be attending Doom Academy,” Cadenhead said. “And because the school doesn’t exist, we got to really play with stuff. Pasqual is having a great time coming up with beautiful locales.”

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The Carnage symbiote gets an unexpected host in ‘Eddie Brock: Carnage’

Coming out of ‘Venom War,’ the former King in Black will be wearing red.

Coming out of Marvel’s Venom War event, Charles Soule and Jesus Saiz will put an unexpected symbiote on Eddie Brock in the new ongoing series Eddie Brock: Carnage.

Coming out of this weekend’s New York Comic Con, Marvel shared more details on the aftermath of Venom War, which we already know connects a mysterious new host to the Venom symbiote. But somehow Eddie Brock will end up wearing the murderous Carnage symbiote.

“Carnage is someone that has to kill, so Eddie has to feed him deaths. In order for Eddie to be okay with that, the people he feeds Carnage are serial killers,” Soule said. “But Carnage is also an addict, and addicts need bigger and bigger highs…”

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NYCC | Doctor Doom takes over the world in ‘The Rise of Emperor Doom’ by Ryan North and R.B. Silva

It’s Doom’s world now; we’re all just living in it.

Marvel’s big summer event series Blood Hunt ended with Doctor Doom convincing Doctor Strange to pass on the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme to him in order to save the world from eternal darkness and the vampire threat — which Strange did reluctantly and Doom, in turn, fulfilled his part with relative ease.

But Doom elected to turn his temporary assignment into a full-time job before heading back to Latveria to … well, do whatever Doom does. Until next February, when Doom will star in The Rise of Emperor Doom, an “anchor series” for a bigger event Marvel is calling One World Under Doom. The five-issue miniseries is by Ryan North, current writer of the Fantastic Four, and artist R.B. Silva.

One World Under Doom sees Doctor Doom coming out of [Latveria], and overnight, taking over the world,” North said. “Every country is a province of a united Latveria, and everyone answers to Doom, and he is going to make some changes… He gets to show the world that he’s the greatest at what he does, and that might not be great for people not named Victor Von Doom.”

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NYCC | ‘Ultimate Wolverine’ is the Maker’s ultimate weapon in a new series coming next year

Chris Condon and Alessandro Cappuccio’s ‘Ultimate Wolverine’ will launch in January 2025

Marvel’s Ultimate Universe is getting a new but familiar addition this January, as today at the New York Comic Con the publisher announced Ultimate Wolverine by the team of Chris Condon and Alessandro Cappuccio.

Like many of the inhabitants of the Ultimate Universe, Wolverine’s a bit different in this universe than he is in the 616. Sporting the codename “The Winter Soldier,” this Wolverine isn’t in control of himself — he’s an agent of three members of the Maker’s council, Magik, Colossus and Omega Red. To ensure they maintain control of a world that now has superheroes running around and causing a raucous, they unleash him to do all those things that he’s best at.

“When Wil Moss called me and asked me if I wanted to take on this title, I jumped at the chance and immediately had an idea of what to do with it,” said Condon. “I’m bringing my essence of storytelling from That Texas Blood to the Marvel Universe with Wolverine, looking back at what came before and bringing us something new.”

(If you haven’t read That Texas Blood, by the way, it’s one of my first go-to “This is the comic you should be reading” recommendations whenever someone asks.)

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NYCC | Marvel announces a new TPB line called the ‘Marvel Premier Collection’

Marvel says the new line will be ‘one of the best’ places for new fans to start reading.

Marvel has announced a new trade paperback line called the Marvel Premier Collection, which will offer material from “Marvel’s most celebrated and prestigious storylines and creators.”

The 6” x 9” formatted collections will be slightly bigger than DC’s Compact Comics line, but seems to be taking a similar approach — offering classic and recent beloved material from their back library. Marvel’s line will cost $5 more than DC’s, coming in at $14.99 each.

“We’ve all heard the age-old questions: ‘Where do I start? What is that one run you just cannot miss? What should I read before or after the next big movie or television show to have the best experience?’ The Marvel Premier Collection program is our answer to each of those questions,” said Dan Buckley, president of Marvel Comics and Franchise. “Comics are at the heart of everything we do at Marvel, so this collection will be our go-to publishing line for any and all fans looking for a way into — or further into — the Marvel Universe. These titles will not be the only place to start of course, but they will be one of the best.”

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The ever lovin’ Hulkette debuts in ‘Spider-Boy’ #13

Another New Champion makes her debut next month.

Before the New Champions arrives next year, another of its members will make her in-comic debut. Hulkette, who first appeared on a variant cover for Sensational She-Hulk #1, will face off with Spider-Boy and Daredevil in Spider-Boy #13.

Created by artist Mirka Andolfo, Hulkette’s story will be told by Dan Slott and Paco Medina across several issues of Spider-Boy, including her origin.

“We’ll learn more about Hulkette and her powers as she faces off against Spider-Boy and Daredevil,” said Slott. “There’s a big surprise in store for Marvel fans when we finally drop the secret of her origins… but for now, if you want to see this pint-sized powerhouse throw her first punches on the page, this is the issue where her journey begins.”

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Marvel will release a series of team-up one-shots by J. Michael Straczynski

The prolific writer will team with Will Robson, Bernard Chang and more on team-ups featuring Spider-Man, Captain America, Galactus and Doctor Doom, among others.

Captain America writer  J. Michael Straczynski will write an eclectic series of one-shots for Marvel next year, each featuring a different art team and a different set of characters “in unexpected team-ups or action-packed showdowns.”

Straczynski will work with artists Will Robson, Bernard Chang, Elena Casagrande, Germán Peralta, Juan Ferreyra and Phil Noto on the one-shots, which feature oddball team-ups like Doctor Doom and Rocket Raccoon, as well as battles between the likes of Ghost Rider and Galactus.

“I like to go where the fun is, and the idea of putting together Marvel characters who had either never been paired before, or only minimally, seemed like it would be a ton of fun, and it was even more of a blast than I anticipated,” Straczynski said.

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Jason Aaron, Kieron Gillen + more help celebrate 10 years of Star Wars comics at Marvel with ‘A New Legacy’

The one-shot will put a spotlight on the Star Wars characters who debuted in comic books.

Next year will mark 10 years since Marvel reclaimed the license to create Star Wars comics (and more than 12 years since Disney bought Lucasfilm, in case you were wondering) and to celebrate Marvel will release a one-shot that will spotlight many of the creators and characters who have been part of this new era.

January’s Star Wars: A New Legacy will include stories by Kieron Gillen, Jason Aaron and Charles Soule, three writers who have contributed to the line since its relaunch, along with recent Star Wars artists Ramon Rosanas, Leonard Kirk and Salva Espin. Their stories will feature characters who made their debut in the comics, including Doctor Aphra, Sana Starros, Scar Squadron, Krrsantan the Wookiee bounty hunter and more.

“This is the monumental moment we’ve been waiting for: celebrating a decade of the re-union of Marvel Comics and Star Wars!” editor Mark Paniccia said. “We’ve got a great package here with some of the most influential Star Wars comic writers in recent history along with amazing art. It is so cool to spotlight as many of the Marvel-created characters as we could. Longtime and new fans alike will get a kick in the thrusters with this!”

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The Guardians of the Galaxy will land in the Ultimate Universe in January

Deniz Camp and Juan Frigeri introduce a new but familiar team to the Ultimate Universe.

The Guardians of the Galaxy are coming to the Ultimate Universe — or at least a new version of the team is. Star-Lord, Captain Marvel, Cosmo and the Ultimate Nullifier will make their debut in January’s The Ultimate #8 by Deniz Camp and Juan Frigeri.

The story in that issue will focus on America Chavez, as a group of galactic travelers “from a far-flung, Maker-free future” show up looking for her.

“The creative goal we set for ourselves on Ultimates—in addition to telling complete stories every issue—was to create (or recreate) characters interesting enough to sustain readers’ imaginations and their own series, if they had to,” Camp said. “Whether we’ve succeeded on either count is up to the readers to decide, but the reaction so far has been really special. I am so grateful for it, and am doing my best to be worthy of it.”

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