Marvel made a bold claim when it promised to “change the comic book industry” on Friday June 23rd with a major Marvel Legacy announcement. Turned out to be just a series of retro homage covers revealed throughout the day. I’ll leave it to you the readers to decide for yourselves whether that promise to change the comics industry was fulfilled. Needless to say, there is still a bit of confusion as to whether these homage covers are in fact the actual main covers for their respective titles or simply another wave of themed variants that Marvel has done with increased frequency in recent years.

Moreover, not much else was provided in the way of specific details such as new or continuing creative teams or what issue numbers these covers corresponded to.

Nevertheless, assuming the covers actually reflect future storylines and are not merely gimmicks, then we may be able to glean some news of worth after all. I won’t go through every title, just some of the most notable.

Here’s a complete list of the Marvel Legacy titles revealed (Via comicbook.com):

ALL-NEW WOLVERINE
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: RENEW YOUR VOWS
AMERICA
ASTONISHING X-MEN
AVENGERS
BEN REILLY: SCARLET SPIDER
BLACK BOLT
BLACK PANTHER
CABLE
CHAMPIONS
DAREDEVIL
DEFENDERS
DESPICABLE DEADPOOL
DOCTOR STRANGE
FALCON
GENERATION X
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
GWENPOOL, THE UNBELIEVABLE
HAWKEYE
ICEMAN
INCREDIBLE HULK
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN
IRON FIST
JEAN GREY
JESSICA JONES
LUKE CAGE
MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE
MIGHTY THOR
MONSTERS UNLEASHED
MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR
MOON KNIGHT
MS. MARVEL
OLD MAN LOGAN
PETER PARKER: THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN
ROYALS
SECRET WARRIORS
SHE-HULK
SPIDER-GWEN
SPIDER-MAN
SPIDER-MAN/DEADPOOL
SPIRITS OF VENGEANCE
THANOS
THE MIGHTY CAPTAIN MARVEL
THE PUNISHER
THE UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL
U.S.AVENGERS
UNCANNY AVENGERS
VENOM
WEAPON X
X-MEN: BLUE
X-MEN: GOLD

 

 

 

 

-Like many I’m sure, I never expected to see a new Spirits of Vengeance title launch as part of Marvel Legacy. But what was most surprising was to see classic Ghost Rider Johnny Blade as part of the team along with what appears to be Daimon Hellstrom, Satana, and Blade as opposed to the current Robbie Reyes incarnation of Ghost Rider. Despite appearing on ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. show, the Robbie Reyes character has struggled to maintain readership with the last comic series ending after only 5 issues.

 

-Sam Wilson hasn’t had the easiest stint as Captain America both within and outside the comic pages since taking on the mantle in 2014. Even with the original Cap Steve Rogers returning, both characters shared the moniker. Before the release of the current Secret Empire event, Sam abandoned both the Cap namesake and iconic shield to his predecessor. Sam’s status post-SE was up in the air, but looks like he’s going back to his original Falcon persona sporting a brand new costume. What this means for Joaquin Torres, a new character who took on the Falcon identity in 2016, remains to be seen.

 

-Readers have known for some time that the Mighty Thor a.k.a. Jane Foster and her battle with cancer would eventually have to be resolved. Jane’s career as Thor may come to an end sooner than fans had hoped. You don’t homage Jim Starlin’s famous Death of Captain Marvel cover without actually delivering on the title.

 

-It’s doubtful the Fantastic Four title will be published again anytime soon, but bringing back Marvel Two-In-One is a nice consolation. The original title was essentially a team-up book with everyone’s favorite Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing and another Marvel hero. It’s a safe bet that the new series will continue the same premise.

 

-The new Totally Awesome Hulk, Amadeus Cho, is taking a trip to space and visiting planet Sakaar or at least someplace similar since the planet was destroyed by Galactus, not that planetary obliteration has ever hindered anything in the world of comics. Not too big a surprise since Sakaar features heavily in the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok film. The original Planet Hulk storyline is a masterpiece, so hopefully this is more than just movie synergy with the MCU.

 

-The Master of Sound, Klaw, presumably will face off against Black Panther. Andy Serkis will be portraying the villain in the Black Panther film this February. Can we expect another classic Panther adversary Erik Killmonger, played by Michael B. Jordan in the movie, to also make a comeback?

 

-The Punisher will get his hands on the War Machine armor and add it to his arsenal for his war on crime. If this is the actual storyline and not just mere homage, then I’m definitely intrigued, not only because I find the basic concept fascinating but also because the late/great Dwayne McDuffie and John Rozum pitched a very similar idea for a limited series where the Punisher steals Iron Man armor, paints it black with a white skull emblem, and goes to town. You can read the actual pitch for Punisher/Iron Man: Killing Machine miniseries.

 

-Shulkie is no longer grey and back in green.

 

-Master of the Mystic Arts vs. the Master of Mischief

 

-Miles Morales facing off against his own iteration of the Sinister Six.

 

-The Guardians of the Galaxy have their hands full with the Infinity Gauntlet. With Avengers: Infinity War on the horizon next summer, it was only a matter of time before someone in the Marvel Universe sought the Infinity Stones/Gems or whatever the correct and current nomenclature is in the comics.

2 COMMENTS

  1. So far there’s not a lot to get excited about when it comes to “Marvel Legacy.” The unveiling of a slew of retro covers is not a industry changing event. Hopefully, when the story line of Legacy will be interesting, but I’m skeptical.

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