This August, the Super Hero pets of the Marvel Universe—Lockjaw, Redwing, Throg, Lucky, Bats, Chewie, and their new ally D-Dog—will return this August in a four-issue miniseries Marvel Unleashed, by writer Kyle Starks and artist Jesús Hervás (the rest of the creative team has yet to be announced), to rescue one of their own from Kraven the Hunter. In celebration of the Pet Avengers’ return, Marvel Comics announced variant covers spotlighting the amazing Marvel Super Hero pets, created by the 2023 class of Marvel’s Stormbreakers: Nic Klein, Elena Casagrande, Jan Bazaldua, Chris Allen, Martin Coccolo, Lucas Werneck, Federico Vicentini, and C.F. Villa.
First launched in 2020, Marvel’s Stormbreakers is the next evolution of Marvel’s Young Guns program, which “typically yielded for each class of artists a sketchbook featuring work from each Young Gun, as well as, in more recent years, a series of variant covers spotlighting the artists.” Since launching Young Guns and then Stormbreakers, Marvel has selected 36 up-and-coming artists, including Steve McNiven, Jim Cheung, Sara Pichelli, Ryan Stegman, Natacha Bustos, and Olivier Coipel. These creators bring their incredible talents to your favorite comic series and characters and have gone “on to draw some of Marvel’s greatest events, iconic series, and beyond,” solidifying “their place as luminaries in the industry,” according to Marvel.com.
“There’s a special skill set you need to have in order to draw comics at the highest level,” Joe Quesada told Marvel.com. “Like the finest illustrators, you must be able to draw anything and everything at any given moment, have the keen storytelling eye of a master film director, the ability to convey emotion in characters like the world’s greatest performers, and the imagination of the greatest storytellers in history. But to be a Marvel comic artist, you need all of that as well as the ability to make your characters and stories jump off the page. They need to be larger than life, yet grounded enough that we all see ourselves within them. We’re thrilled to bring together Marvel’s Stormbreakers, a team of super, up-and-coming talents who will continue that legacy.”
For Marvel Unleashed, the 2023 class of Marvel’s Stormbreakers flex their skills with exciting themed variant cover collections.
Read the full press release from Marvel Comics below:
This August, the superhero pets of the Marvel Universe will assemble to rescue one of their own from Kraven the Hunter in MARVEL UNLEASHED! The new limited series by writer Kyle Starks and Jesús Hervás will star Lockjaw, Throg the Frog of Thunder, Redwing the Falcon, Chewie the Cat Flerken, Lucky the Pizza Dog, Bats the Ghost Dog, and their scrappy new ally D-Dog. To celebrate this new era for this extraordinary team of animal heroes, the 2023 class of Marvel’s Stormbreakers have depicted them in action in the latest monthly Stormbreakers variant cover program! Throughout August, see your favorite superheroes alongside a superhero’s best friend as these furry and feathered icons return to save the world once more!
Each month, Marvel’s Stormbreakers bring their incredible talents to your favorite comic series and characters and flex their skills with exciting themed variant cover collections. The current group of artists includes Elena Casagrande, Nic Klein, Jan Bazaldua, Chris Allen, Martin Coccolo, Lucas Werneck, Federico Vicentini, and C.F. Villa. Each of these artists embody the raw talent and creative potential to shatter the limits of visual storytelling in comics today! As the next evolution of the groundbreaking Marvel’s Young Guns program, Marvel’s Stormbreakers continues the tradition of spotlighting and elevating these powerful artists to showcase their abilities, artwork, and prominence in the world of comic books.
Check out all eight covers below and pick them up at your local comic shop this August!
On Sale 8/2
DOCTOR STRANGE #6 STORMBREAKERS VARIANT COVER BY NIC KLEIN – 75960620534900631
X-MEN #25 STORMBREAKERS VARIANT COVER BY C.F. VILLA – 75960609999302561
On Sale 8/9
CAPTAIN MARVEL: DARK TEMPEST #2 STORMBREAKERS VARIANT COVER BY LUCAS WERNECK – 75960620532500231
On Sale 8/23
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #32 STORMBREAKERS VARIANT COVER BY JAN BAZALDUA – 75960620200303241
BLACK PANTHER #3 STORMBREAKERS VARIANT COVER BY CHRIS ALLEN – 75960620503500321
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #9 STORMBREAKERS VARIANT BY MARTÍN CÓCCOLO – 75960620424300921
VENOM #24 STORMBREAKERS VARIANT COVER BY ELENA CASAGRANDE – 75960620191402431
On Sale 8/30
INCREDIBLE HULK #3 STORMBREAKERS VARIANT COVER BY FEDERICO VICENTINI – 75960620663600321
For more information, visit Marvel.com.
