Legendary comic book artist and former editor-in-chief of Marvel Entertainment Joe Quesada has made a very special contribution to Dynamite‘s Space Ghost comic series. For the first time since his cover for Dynamite’s Painkiller Jane in 2010, Quesada will illustrate the cover for the variant cover of issue #2 of Space Ghost.
Writer David Pepose was over the moon, saying “nobody is more blown away than me.” He said, “From his work on Daredevil to spearheading Marvel Knights, I’ve been a tremendous fan of Joe for years as both an artist, an editor, and as one of comics’ most enthusiastic ambassadors. I truly could not be more excited to have him lend us his extraordinary talents to Space Ghost with this instantly iconic image.”
Quesada became an editor for the Marvel Knights comics line in 1998 where he and his partners worked on series such as Daredevil and Black Panther. Shortly after, in 2000, he became the editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and helped launch two other imprints called MAX and Ultimate. Quesada left his editor-in-chief position in 2011 but would continue to work for Marvel Entertainment with his re-titled role as the executive vice president and creative director. Quesada left Marvel on May 31, 2022 to embark on “an exciting new chapter.” In his statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, Quesada hinted that he had “several insanely cool projects of my own” that fans could look forward to.
Written by award-winning author David Pepose and illustrated by renowned artist Jonathan Lau, Space Ghost was an enormous success with the first issue selling close to 68,000 copies in its first printing. The first issue of Space Ghost ranked at number 13 on the best-selling titles in units in April, according to ICV2 and the 17th best-selling title in dollars in the same month. Andrew Dalhouse is the colorist with Taylor Esposito joining the project as the letterer.
Comprised of 32 pages with cardstock covers, the second issue of Space Ghost releases on June 5, 2024. This will be available exclusively for retailers and fans to order at Final Order Cutoff. In addition to the full colored and dressed version, a black and white edition will also be offered as an open order listing.
Aside from the legendary Quesada, the covers for the second issue will also feature the fantastic covers from artistic prowesses of Francesco Mattina, Jae Lee, Bjorn Barends, and Michael Cho. Check them out below:
Fans can also catch a sneak peek of some select pages of the upcoming second issue of Space Ghost below:
Escaping from the wreckage of Space Colony Omicron, Jan, Jace, Blip, and their rescuer travel to the Ghost Planet – the mysterious headquarters of the even more mysterious Space Ghost. Leaving on an urgent mission, Space Ghost gives explicit orders to the three survivors: STAY. PUT.Two children and a monkey left alone in a secret space hero’s lair – what could possibly go wrong? (Hint: This issues also features an unexpected flight of the Phantom Cruiser!)
The second issue of Space Ghost releases on June 5, 2024.
Source: Dynamite
I’m a fan of Quesada’s work, but I have to admit that this cover isn’t doing it for me. Compared to other illustrations he’s done, it just doesn’t look polished or engaging. Where is the dynamic energy, the dimension? With that said, I am looking forward to issue 2! The first issue was fantastic!