New York Comic Con is now sadly behind us, supposedly topping the attendance by the former big daddy of Comic-Cons in San Diego with 151,000 attendees. With all the attention NYCC is getting, it’s now wonder that all the major publishers used the opportunity to announce several new projects for the next several months and beyond. Marvel especially used NYCC to their advantage, so without further ado, here are some of the biggest announcements from Marvel, DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics, and others that you might have missed.
New Ongoing Series for the Spider-Girls Announced For 2015
Marvel used New York Comic Con to make a ton of announcements for new series coming in 2015. Although having only been officially around for a month, Spider-Gwen, the alternate universe version of Gwen Stacy (who, in her world, was bitten by the radioactive spider instead of Peter Parker, who ended up being the one to die tragically) is getting her own series written by Jason LaTour and drawn by Robbi Rodriguez in February 2015.
But that’s not the only female-led Spider-verse book making its debut next year, as another new character, Silk, is also getting her own ongoing series February. So just who is Silk? She’s Cindy Moon, the other teenager bitten by the same radioactive spider that bit Peter Parker, in a nice bit of classic comic book-style retconning. Silk will be coming to you from the creative team of Robbie Thompson and artist Stacey Lee in February 2015. These two books are joining the already announced Spider-Woman series. You remember…the one with that cover (that now doesn’t have that cover). That makes Marvel perfectly gender-split in the Spider-verse titles: Peter Parker, Miles Morales and Spider-Man 2099, and then Spider-Woman, Spider-Gwen and Silk. Nice job, Marvel.
But it’s not just the Spider-ladies who are getting some attention; Gamora will be joining her teammates Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon in her own new ongoing series, written by Guardians of the Galaxy screenwriter Nicole Perlman, and drawn by an as-yet unnamed artist. The book is set to launch in the Spring 2015. Marvel provided a cover image for the first issue though, which looks pretty bad-ass.
The End of the Fantastic Four Confirmed, and Get Ready for an All-New Ant-Man Series
Current Fantastic Four writer James Robinson confirmed for fans what many already knew: the book will end with issue #645 (having reverted to its original numbering) in a story title “The End Is FOURever” and then will be “going away for awhile.” Just how long is awhile? Marvel hasn’t not had a Fantastic Four title in regular publication since 1961, so this is a big deal. Â It’s not a question of “if”, but “when” they return…but one thing’s for sure: they won’t have a new comic on the stands when their latest movie reboot from Fox hits theaters on August 7, 2015.
While Fantastic Four might be ending, Ant-Man will just be getting started. Debuting in an all-new ongoing series in January from Nick Spencer and artist Ramon Rosanas, the new Ant-Man series will focus on the second Ant-Man, Scott Lang, who just so happens to be the same Ant-Man from next summer’s movie. Corporate synergy at its finest, folks.
No More Mutants…Again?
Speaking of corporate synergy, Marvel teased a picture of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch with the now infamous tagline “No More Mutants.” Are the mutants leaving the Marvel universe again? Nope…but it looks like Wanda and Pietro Maximoff could be getting de-mutanted. And just in time for Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Guardians of the Galaxy and the X-Men Team Up In The Black Vortex
Summer 2014’s two biggest cinematic super teams are coming together for a cosmic crossover event in February 2015: Guardians of the Galaxy & The X-Men: The Black Vortex by writer Sam Humphries. The story will play out in a big, old school cosmic crossover event that begins and ends in two bookend issues featuring artwork by Ed McGuinness, and will run through Guardians of the Galaxy, Legendary Star-Lord, All-New X-Men, Nova, Cyclops, Captain Marvel and several other titles that have yet to be announced. So just what is the Black Vortex? According to writer Sam Humphries, “The Black Vortex is an ancient artifact with the power to unlock the cosmic potential within yourself. Imagine the metamorphosis that turned Norrin Radd into the Silver Surfer — or Jean Grey into Dark Phoenix — available to you. This is an artifact with the ability to change any character, or alter the Marvel Universe forever.”
Dark Horse Comics
Announced at the Dark Horse “Powered by Creators” panel, writer Brian Wood (Star Wars, X-Men) is jumping into CCP Games’ EVE Online video game universe for a new miniseries called EVE: Valkyrie. Captain Midnight penciler Eduardo Francisco is joining the project as artist on this adaption of the immersive MMORPG’s spinoff series. According to the press release, “‘EVE: Valkyrie’ is a multiplayer dogfighting shooter set in the EVE universe that uses virtual reality to give players the sense of being real pilots in EVE Online spaceships. It is based on the EVE-VR tech demo that won several major awards at E3 2013.” If you want to know more, check out Dan Casey’s impressions of the game when he tried it at EVE Fanfest 2014.
Also announced by Dark Horse is the the next miniseries from Eric Powell featuring his creation The Goon, which is celebrating its 15th Anniversary this year. The new book is called “Once Upon A Hard Time”, and according to the press release issued by Dark Horse, this new miniseries “has major consequences for the Goon and his supporting cast” and takes place “after the tragic events of ‘Occasion of Revenge’. The witch coven believes that control of the unnamed town will soon be in their grasp and the Goon’s tragic soul will contribute to the curse that increases their power. But has their plot destroyed the Goon or created a monster too savage for them to withstand?”
DC Entertainment
DC Comics announced at NYCC they’ll be adding three new digital-first series starting in December with Wonder Woman ’77, starring the iconic Lynda Carter version of Wonder Woman, having adventures in the show’s original time period. Writer Marc Andreyko said (via Newsarama), “This is gonna be Lyle Wagner and Lynda Carter in the ’70’s. I have a trip planned to Studio 54. I also have permission to use villains from the comics, cause if you’ve seen the show, you know the only villains are Nazis and gangsters.” Nicola Scott will be the cover artist, and no interior artists have been named, but the comic will debut as a six-part weekly series in December with print editions to follow. Andreyko also added that “maybe, somewhere between Batman ’66 and Wonder Woman ’77, maybe we can do a crossover.” Someone at DC, please make that happen.
DC also took the opportunity to announce the very first Vertigo digital first series, Fables: The Wolf Among Us, based on the game series from Telltale Games licensed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, and which itself is a prequel to Bill Willingham’s beloved series Fables. The story will be written by Matthew Sturges and Dave Justus with art by Steve Sadowski, Travis Moore, and Shawn McManus. The cover artist for the series is Chrissie Zullo. Fables: The Wolf Among Us will be a weekly Digital First series and is set to debut in December 2014 with print collections following in the new year.
Finally, Mortal Kombat X, is the next installment in the critically acclaimed game franchise which continues 25 years after the events of 2011’s Mortal Kombat. The new comic book series of the same name will serve as a prequel to the game and will feature many favorite characters and the next generation of Kombatants. The series is being written by Shawn Kittelsen with interior art by Dexter Soy and covers by Ivan Reis. The series will debut in January 2015.
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What NYCC announcement had you most excited? Let us know in the comments below!
Images: Marvel, Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics
