J. Jonah Jameson will take the spotlight in the comic, which arrives in August.
Chip Zdarsky and Mark Bagley told the life story of Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Life Story as if he aged in real time, starting in the 1960s. Now they’ll revisit that concept through the lens of a less trustworthy source in Spider-Man: Life Story Annual #1.
“Working on the original Spider-Man: Life Story was a dream come true for me,” Zdarsky told Marvel.com. “But the problem with the miniseries was that I didn’t have the room to properly tell the life story of one of my all-time favorite characters: J. Jonah Jameson! Getting the chance to revisit this universe with Mark again has been an absolute blast!”
The artist returns to the place where he started his career almost 50 years ago.
After almost seven years working for Marvel’s distinguished competition, John Romita Jr. will return to the House of Ideas later this year.
Marvel announced the return on their website today, noting that Romita will begin working in the Marvel Universe again in July.
“I have been very fortunate more than a few times in my life, and now I can add this latest event to that list. I have returned to Marvel, the company that I started my career in, and I couldn’t be more thrilled!” said Romita in a statement. “I am literally, at this very moment, working on my next big Marvel project, and it’s a blast!!! I am JUST as excited as I was when I first started, and I will do my best to let the work show that again. I hope fans will see that too!”
Marvel signs an exclusive distribution deal with the publishing house that begins in October.
Marvel has announced a new agreement with Penguin Random House Publisher Services to distribute their comics and graphic novels to the direct market, beginning Oct. 1.
The deal is “an exclusive worldwide multi-year sales and distribution agreement for Marvel’s newly published and backlist comic books, trade collections and graphic novels to comics shops.”
This effectively replaces Diamond Comics Distributors as Marvel’s route to comic book stores. Diamond, however, will still act as a wholesaler and will receive product through Penguin, so retailers can still choose to order Marvel’s products through them.
Puck, Rick Jones, Titania and more join forces in the new series.
Puck, Titania, Absorbing Man, Doc Sasquatch and Rick Jones will assemble under a familiar name with a clever twist: Gamma Flight. The spinoff from Immortal Hulk will be written by Al Ewing and Crystal Frasier, who have worked together previously on Immortal Hulk, with art by Lan Medina.
“Gamma Flight is an opportunity to explore some of the concepts and plant some of the seeds from Immortal Hulk in their own space, building off the found family that came together in those pages and putting them into action against some strange and ugly doings in the unexplored corners of the gamma world,” Ewing told Marvel.com. “We’ve been ricocheting ideas off each other for a while on this one, and I suspect the result is something that’ll tickle Hulk fans old and new.”
The anthology will feature new stories by Kieron Gillen, Olivier Coipel, Steve Orlando, Anthony Oliveira, Tini Howard, Vita Ayala, Kris Anka, Javier Garrón and more.
Marvel has announced their plans for Pride Month, which include a new issue of their Marvel Voices featuring their “first-ever queer-centered special spotlighting Marvel’s growing tapestry of LGBTQ+ characters.” They also plan to have a series of variant covers drawn by Phil Jimenez.
Contributors to the anthology issue include Allan Heinberg, Jim Cheung, Kieron Gillen, Olivier Coipel, Steve Orlando, Anthony Oliveira, Tini Howard, Vita Ayala, Kris Anka, Javier Garrón and Luciano Vecchio, who provides the issue’s cover.
Check out recent news and announcements from DC, Marvel, IDW, Dark Horse 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.
DC will celebrate milestone years for two characters in 2021, just like they’ve done for Batman, Superman and others over the last few years.
The anthology will feature stories by Mike Grell, Jeff Lemire, Phil Hester, Otto Schmidt, Ben Percy, Tom Taylor, Devin Grayson, Stephanie Phillips, Mariko Tamaki, Ram V, Vita Ayala, Nicola Scott, Chris Mitten, Laura Braga, Max Fiumara and Brandon Thomas, among others. Expect appearances not only by Green Arrow, but also by Black Canary, Speedy, Red Arrow, Connor Hawke, Arsenal and more.
Then in October, Wonder Woman will take the spotlight on, naturally, Wonder Woman Day. DC has announced their plans for Wonder Woman’s 80th anniversary, which will include a 100-Page Super Spectacular of her own. They have not yet revealed details on the contents, but they did share the cover (above) by Yanick Paquette with colors by Nathan Fairbairn. Wonder Woman Day is Oct. 21.
Gerry Duggan and Pepe Larraz create a new special that ties into the ‘Hellfire Gala’ storyline that will run through the X-Men titles.
Marvel has been teasing an upcoming Hellfire Gala, both in the X-Men line of comics and through their own promotional channels — it’s where we’re supposed to learn who will be on the new X-Men team that Cyclops and Jean Grey are putting together, along with the results of the fan vote for one of the members.
This gala will run through 12 of the X-titles — that’s quite a party! — and will also get a special of its own, titled Planet Size X-Men. Gerry Duggan and Pepe Larraz are working on this double-sized issue.
Plus: News from BOOM! Studios, Dark Horse 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.
The first issue of Peach Momoko’s Demon Days arrived last Wednesday, and Marvel took the opportunity to announce the second issue’s title and focus: Demon Days: Mariko.
Mariko is the former fiancée of Wolverine; she was the daughter of a Yakuza boss and eventually took over his duties before dying back in the early 1990s. The issue will also introduce Nightcrawler and Black Widow into this alternate reality Momoko has created.
“The first issue of Demon Days starts off in feudal Japan with Sai (Psylocke)… but the next issue will be completely different. Different timeline, different characters (even the main character is changing), different tone to the story. But it is still a connecting story,” Momoko said.
Plus more news from Marvel, DC, Image, AfterShock, Dark Horse 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.
Last summer the “Infinite Destinies” storyline was supposed to run through several Marvel annuals, including Iron Man, Captain America, Black Cat and Thor, among others. The story revolves around the returning “infinity stones,” those pesky don’t-call-them-infinity-gems MacGuffins that regularly take center stage at Marvel.
Anyway, like with many other things, the COVID pandemic and comics industry shutdown threw a wrench in Marvel’s plans, and those annuals were never released. But now it looks like they are back on the schedule for 2021, with an added prelude comic to kick things off — Black Cat #8 by Jed MacKay and C.F. Villa.
“Felicia Hardy- the Black Cat- gets tangled up with the Infinity Stones, some of the most dangerous prizes in the universe. Felicia may be the most accomplished jewel thief on the planet, but when those jewels hold the power of the cosmos, it’s a whole new ball game. Felicia is in a race against the others who would seek to control the stones for their own ends- like Nick Fury (and a secret someone you won’t see coming!),” MacKay said. “Who can cross the world’s most dangerous men, wrangle a pack of villains hopped up on fragments of infinite power, (hopefully) get the job done and look great all the while? The Black Cat, that’s who!”
The ‘Avengers Academy’ student breaks out into his own miniseries.
As revealed in their May 2021 solicitations, Marvel will put the spotlight on the shape-changing Reptil in a new miniseries by Terry Blas and Enid Balám.
The character first appeared in the pages of Avengers Initiative by Christos Gage and Steve Uy, and went on to appear in Avengers Academy and Avengers Arena. But his breakout moment likely came from his appearances on Marvel’s animated Super Hero SquadShow.
“I’m so excited to be making my Marvel debut with such a fun and complex young character,” Blas said. “He’s Mexican-American, like me, and I’m delighted to bring a story with more of that representation to Marvel. Also, he can turn into dinosaurs and isn’t that every kid’s dream?”
The crossover event starts with an “alpha” issue by Charles Soule and Steve McNiven.
Star Wars’ most notorious bounty hunter, Boba Fett, will take the spotlight in a new crossover event launching in May called War of the Bounty Hunters. The story will kick off with an “alpha” issue by Charles Soule and Steve McNiven, as we learn what Boba Fett was up to between the Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi films.
It sounds like that infamous cargo he was carrying may have gotten lost somewhere between the two films.
“Boba Fett is in possession of Han Solo at the end of Empire Strikes Back, and at the beginning of War of the Bounty Hunters, he is not,” Soule told StarWars.com. “And he is going to do everything he can to get him back, no matter what. No matter who is standing in his way.”
The new series will pit the new leader of the Five Weapons Society against other Marvel heroes.
Gene Luen Yang and Dike Ruan, whose Shang-Chi miniseries recently wrapped up, will continue to tell stories about the Master of Kung Fu. Marvel has announced the two creators will helm a Shang-Chi ongoing series, which starts in May.
Now the leader of the Five Weapons Society — the evil organization once run by his dad — Shang-Chi’s new status quo will put him on a collision course with some of Marvel’s other heroes, including his form Avengers teammates.
“I’m very, very thankful for all the support that we got for the Shang-Chi miniseries. I mean, the first two issues sold out,” Yang told Marvel.com. “I’m thrilled that we get to continue the story of Shang-Chi and his siblings in the Five Weapons Society. We’re going to show how Shang-Chi’s brand-new role affects the rest of the Marvel Universe. We’ll have him interact with old friends and new foes… and even old friends who become new foes. Dike Ruan and I are already hard at work. The stuff I’ve seen from Dike so far has been his best yet.”
