Zdarsky + Ferry cast a ‘Spider’s Shadow’ in April

The What If?-style story examines what might have happened if Peter Parker kept his symbiote suit.

Chip Zdarsky, Pasqual Ferry and Matt Hollingsworth will explore a “What If?” style universe where Peter Parker not only kept the symbiote suit he found on an alien world in the original Secret Wars, but he also embraced its darkness.

Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow will tell a darker Spider-Man story in April.

“I’m thrilled to be kicking off a new era of What If? stories with this tale of a Spider-Man gone bad! How bad will he be? Will he have a goatee and no hyphen in his name? Pick up issue one to find out! But seriously, I feel that with Spider’s Shadow we’re exploring some dark situations with Spidey and the Marvel Universe, while making it cool and fun to read. I think longtime fans will love it and new readers will be amazed at what Marvel lets us do,” Zdarsky told Marvel.com. “Pasqual and Matt are producing amazing work on this book. When every page comes in, I share them with all of my friends even though Marvel says I’m not allowed to do that.”

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Mail Call | DC reveals more details on April’s relaunch of ‘Green Lantern’

A round-up of recent news on ‘Aliens,’ DC Future State, IDW’s Canto and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently that we haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

When Green Lantern returns later this year after the events of Future State, Geoffrey Thorne and Dexter Soy will chart a new path for John Stewart, Sojourner “Jo” Mullein from Far Sector and Teen Lantern, the hacker Green Lantern who appeared in Young Justice.

Here’s how DC describes the first issue: With the majority of Green Lanterns called back to Oa, John Stewart arrives alongside Teen Lantern Keli Quintela, whose homemade gauntlet could be one of the most powerful and unstable weapons in the universe. With the entire landscape of the universe in flux, is this the end of the Green Lantern Corps…or a new beginning?

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Marvel celebrates 30 years of Darkhawk this April

Danny Fingeroth, Mike Manley, Dan Abnett and more will contribute stories to a new anthology, ‘Darkhawk: Heart of the Hawk.’

Darkhawk, the hot character launch of 1991 (if you don’t count Sleepwalker), turns 30 years old this year, and Marvel’s celebrating with a new giant-sized anthology titled Darkhawk: Heart of the Hawk.

The anthology will feature three stories, including one by the character’s creators, writer Danny Fingeroth and artist Mike Manley.

“It’s an understatement to say that I’m thrilled to team up once again with the great Mike Manley to reveal an untold tale of Darkhawk’s earliest days,” Fingeroth said. “Hawkamaniacs are always asking me when we’ll be returning to the character we established, and I’m glad to have the opportunity to once again tap into the Darkhawk magic with Mike. Hope everybody enjoys this new tale of the high-flying, amulet-wielding hero!”

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Jane Foster soars again in ‘The Mighty Valkyries’

The new ongoing series begins in April.

Following Return of the Valkyries, the King in Black tie-in miniseries that’s currently in stores, Jane Foster, aka the former Thor and current Valkyrie, will star in another ongoing series, Marvel has announced.

As the title implies — The Mighty Valkyries — Jane Foster won’t be the only Valkyrie appearing in the series. She’ll be joined by the new Valkyrie, the one who looks more like Tessa Thompson, who debuted in the KiB tie-in.

Jason Aaron and Torunn Grønbekk will re-team as writers on the series, with Mattia de Iulis providing art. (de Iulis designed the new Valkyrie).

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Spurrier and Quinn put Nightcrawler at the center of ‘Way of X’

The new X-Men title will explore “the dark mysteries of the X-Men’s new way of life.”

With X of Swords in the back issue bins and the X-titles moving into what they’re calling “Reign of X,” Simon Spurrier and Bob Quinn are preparing for their own arrival on Krakoa. The duo will team up on a new title, Way of X, which features Nightcrawler, Dr. Nemesis, Pixie and Blink, among others, confronting “the dark mysteries of the X-Men’s new way of life.”

“I should probably just tell a lie for the sake of a neat elevator pitch and say that Way of X is a story about the creation of a new mutant religion,” Spurrier told Marvel.com. “But it’s not—not really. That’s kinda where it starts, for sure. Nightcrawler realizes something’s wrong with the hearts and minds of mutantkind and sets out to fix it. But as he quickly discovers, this isn’t a job for priests and prayers… The question is, what do they have to become in order to fight it? Preachers? Cops? Executioners? Or something entirely new?”

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Tom and Carla lock down 2020

Tom Bondurant and Carla Hoffman review the year that was for Marvel and DC, while looking toward the future for both companies.

From 2009 to 2015, Tom Bondurant and Carla Hoffman collaborated on year-in-review posts centered around DC and Marvel. Circumstances kept them apart for a while; but it turns out that being stuck in your house for months on end can also help you reconnect. Therefore, Smash Pages proudly presents the return of an annual tradition, as Tom & Carla lock down 2020!

[This conversation has been edited from an extended Slack chat that occurred in December.]


Carla: Okay, so main topics for the year I see right up front are production (company decisions, strategies, etc), story (what’s actually happening in the comics) and media (TV and movie stuff).

Anything else this doesn’t cover? What’s the most important of these do you think?

Tom: I would say the production side of things – shutting down Diamond for six weeks, plus all the DC layoffs and cancellations, and DC changing distributors twice (or at least 1 1/2 times). Didn’t Marvel have some cancellations as well? Feels like Marvel had a low-key year event-wise, although it went from Empyre to X Of Swords to King In Black.

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‘The Marvels’ returns to Marvel’s schedule in April

The new series by Kurt Busiek and Yildiray Cinar will offer ‘a smorgasbord of Marvel heroes and history.’

Marvel has announced that The Marvels, a new series by Kurt Busiek and Yildiray Cinar, will now arrive in April.

The series, which was described as telling “stories that span decades and range from grand adventure to intense human drama, from street-level to cosmic, starring Marvel’s very first heroes to the superstars of tomorrow,” was originally announced last year, but was delayed due to the pandemic.

Alex Ross, who Busiek previously worked with on the Marvels miniseries and Astro City — two projects whose influences seems to live on in this series — will provide the covers.

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Marvel debuts a new suit for Spider-Man

Dustin Weaver designs a new costume for the webslinger.

Marvel has revealed the variant covers for Amazing Spider-Man #62 and #63 — both of which feature a brand new costume for Spider-Man designed by Dustin Weaver (Paklis, Avengers).

“This design was really a collaborative effort between Nick Spencer, Editor Nick Lowe and I. They reined in the weirder and more tech-y features I was bringing and helped create something that I think is simple and both futuristic and classical,” Weaver said. “I can’t wait to see Patrick Gleason really bring it to life!” 

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Black Knight spins out into a solo miniseries after ‘King in Black’

Simon Spurrier and Sergio Dávila will tell a new story featuring Dane Whitman and the Ebony Blade.

Simon Spurrier and Sergio Dávila will launch a new Black Knight miniseries in March, following the character’s appearance in Marvel’s King in Black crossover.

Marvel recruited Spurrier, fresh off a recent stint on the critically acclaimed but unfortunately cancelled Hellblazer, for the King in Black: Black Knight one-shot that arrives next month, and must have liked what they read. Spurrier said he enjoyed himself as well:

“Having enjoyed myself a positively indecent amount while writing King in Black: Black Knight, I found that I was even more fascinated by the central character — Dane Whitman — than I’d realized. The surprising new take on him which we present in the one-shot opened so many new doors. Dane and his tangled lore are a treasure trove for anyone fascinated by story, mythology, folklore and psychology — all of which are very much my bag — not to mention the simple thrill of seeing a not-totally-well-adjusted man flying around on a winged warhorse with one of the world’s most devastating magical weapons in his hand,” Spurrier told Marvel.com.

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More ‘Ultraman’ on the way next year from Marvel

Kyle Higgins, Mat Groom and Francesco Manna return for the new miniseries.

Following The Rise of Ultraman, which came out earlier this year, Marvel has announced a second miniseries starring the popular Japanese superhero. The Trials of Ultraman will feature the same creative team as the first series — writers Kyle Higgins and Mat Groom, and artist Francesco Manna.

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Marvel announces ‘Demon Days: X-Men’ by Peach Momoko

The project kicks off in March.

Peach Momoko, who is probably best known these days for her cover work, will write and draw a five-issue series for Marvel, the publisher announced.

Demon Days: X-Men #1 will start a five-part prestige series featuring Wolverine, Psylocke, Venom and others in “Momoko’s one-of-a-kind style.” Each issue of the series will be released once every three months, with reimagined versions of these popular characters.

“The entire series takes place in Japan,” Momoko told Marvel.com. “I will be introducing numerous Marvel characters in a brand-new format. So, I would like everyone to forget about what they are supposed to be in the real Marvel universe. My characters aren’t Super Heroes. Some are samurai, some are oni and other yōkai, some are shamans, some are yojimbos… and many others. I have kept many of their special power, but also tweaked a lot to give it a natural yōkai story power. Again, I pushed a lot of boundaries with all the characters. I hope everyone enjoys the different versions that I created. But I kept enough that I think everyone can still know who each are.”

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Marvel will celebrate Man-Thing’s 50th anniversary next year

Steve Orlando and Francesco Mobili put Man-Thing at the center of a worldwide threat, starting in ‘Avengers: Curse of the Man-Thing #1.’

Marvel will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the debut of Man-Thing next year with three comics featuring the muck monster by Steve Orlando and Francesco Mobili.

Avengers: Curse of the Man-Thing #1 kicks things off, “the start of a three-part Marvel Universe-spanning saga that will redefine one of Marvel’s most unique characters for a new age.” Each issue will focus on a different corner of the Marvel Universe, starting with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

“It’s a huge honor to be asked to make my debut as part of a character’s anniversary. There’s an incredible amount of faith and opportunity there, and it’s something I never take lightly!” Orlando told the website Bloody Disgusting. “It is honestly amazing to be welcomed to Marvel and tell this nailbiter of a story that’s going to remind people just how unique Man-Thing is. He’ll be better positioned than ever to shock and scare readers and villains alike, but first he’ll have to survive an attack that cuts him to his core and sets the Marvel Universe ablaze.”

Man-Thing was created by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway and Gray Morrow. making his first appearance in 1971’s Savage Tales #1. Since then, he’s had his own ongoing title, several miniseries and has appeared in other comics like Avengers and Thunderbolts.

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