Slugfest | Simians + superheroes clash in Marvel’s February solicitations

Plus: Moon Knight! Ultraman! Predator! Shadows of Tomorrow! Black Panther! And … Jar Jar Binks?

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. This edition focuses on Marvel’s February 2026 solicitations. Hit the links for more information.

Marvel’s First Family will explore a whole new planet — one filled with apes! — in February, marking the first-ever crossover between the Planet of the Apes franchise and the Marvel Universe. Which seems overdue, given that Marvel’s history with the franchise goes back to the 1970s.

Written by Josh Trujillo with art by Andrea di Vito, the four-issue Planet of the Apes vs. Fantastic Four finds Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny traveling to Ape City, where they’ll encounter Cornelius, Zira, Dr. Zaius — and an array of their own familiar foes. (Like Red Ghost? This seems like a story tailor made for the Red Ghost and his crew).

“I grew up watching Planet of the Apes marathons on Saturday afternoons, so it’s a huge thrill to write for these iconic characters!” Trujillo said. “Having Marvel’s First Family butt heads with Cornelius, Zira and Dr. Zaius is just too much fun, and I can’t believe I’m the one who gets to tell this epic tale. It’s a mash-up decades in the making, and I hope you come along for the ride!”

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NYCC | ‘X-Men: Shadows of Tomorrow’ will follow ‘Age of Revelation’

Marvel has announced yet another X-Men publishing initiative that’ll come in the wake of their current crossover.

X-Men: Age of Revelation is just a little more than a week old, so it must be time to announce what comes next. At the New York Comic Con, Marvel revealed Shadows of Tomorrow, which will include 11 new/returning titles in the X-Men line.

To catch you up: in the wake of the well-regarded Krakoa era of the X-Men, spearheaded by Jonathan Hickman and continuing for a number of years, Marvel launched X-Men: From the Ashes, which was a return to a more traditional approach, where the world once again hated and feared mutants. Rather than living on a mutant paradise island, the characters were scattered, from Alaska to New Orleans, where they tried to pick up their lives again.

Reception has been tepid, at best, to the new line, with several of the launch titles not making it very far itno their runs. Then all of them ended in September to make way for Age of Revelation, a story set 10 years in the future, where Doug Ramsey, the former New Mutant turned Heir of Apocalypse, ruled with an iron fist. That story is just getting started and is set to run through December, a short-term event like Age of Apocalypse, but the nature of comic news, retailing and solicitations means it’s time to turn to January.

If you were a fan of the From the Ashes books, the good news is that several of the creators who worked on them will return to the characters they were working on after Age of Revelation. There are also some new titles coming, with a big focus on solo X-titles/duos vs. team books (although we’ll see those, too). Let’s have a look:

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