AVENGERS: NO SURRENDER!

A 16 week Avengers cross-over event will be dropping this January that sees The AVENGERS, UNCANNY AVENGERS and U.S. AVENGERS team up to take on one of the biggest threats to the Marvel Universe ever!

Check out the press release from Marvel and let us know what you think in the comments below!

New York, NY—September 28, 2017—It’s the end of an Avengers Era as we know it! And in the team’s final days, a change has come to the Marvel Universe in the form of a story that’s filled with so much action and so much drama, Marvel had no choice but to make it a weekly epic!

Beginning this January, Marvel will unleash the epic AVENGERS: NO SURRENDER with AVENGERS #675, a weekly saga that unites the casts and creative teams of three titles into an epic tale of heroic action, jaw-dropping cliffhangers, and drastic adventures! The AVENGERS, UNCANNY AVENGERS and U.S. AVENGERS come together in a powerhouse of an event that will be unleashed in a story as spectacular and epic as the Marvel Universe itself.

Featuring one of Marvel’s biggest collaborations to date, each issue will be co-written by superstar writers Mark Waid, Al Ewing and Jim Zub with art by Pepe Larraz for the first month, Kim Jacinto for the second month, and Paco Medina for the third month. With shocking returns and brand new characters, NO SURRENDER is a book where every character will get their moment…where alliances will be forged…and where the earth will be forever changed!

“The Earth has been stolen! That’s the kickoff to the wildest AVENGERS epic ever put to paper, a widescreen adventure with a massive cast and an unlimited budget,” teased SVP and Executive Editor Tom Brevoort. “Avengers past and present will be called upon to cope with a threat spanning out of the pages of MARVEL LEGACY #1. And like that oversized special, there’s a huge character return or two along the way that fans have been asking for—and one that they didn’t even know they wanted!”

From Falcon to Black Panther to the mysterious Voyager, NO SURRENDER will see an appearance from every current Avenger – those we know and love and those we’ve never heard of. But what happens when Lethal Legion and the Black Order battle their way across the Earth? Most importantly, how will this new incarnation of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes come together to fight one of the biggest threats the world has ever seen? This is just the beginning, but there’s so much more to come.

Don’t miss a truly inclusive celebration of the legacy that is Marvel’s Avengers, when NO SURRENDER hits comic shops this January!

AVENGERS #675

Written by MARK WAID, AL EWING & JIM ZUB

Art by PEPE LARRAZ

Wraparound Lenticular Cover by MARK BROOKS

Thanks for reading,

Tim

Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Storms of Crait #1

StarWars.com has announced the next tie-in comic in the journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Coming from writters Ben Acker and Ben Blacker with art by Mike Mayhew is a special one-shot comic titled Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Storms of Crait #1.

The comic will strive to create a connection between the Original Trilogy and The Last Jedi with the premise setting Luke and Leia in search of a new rebel base on the world of Crait. The era between ANH and ESB is where Marvel has focused the majority of their story telling since the establishment of the new canon and it looks like this comic will continue the narrative in that era. The description places the one-shot during the ‘Galactic Civil War’ but more specifically based off the cover art, it looks to be set before Empire Strikes Back. Luke is wielding the blue lightsaber which places it before the end of ESB, but I am guessing it is actually set before the establishment of the Rebel base on Hoth (0-3 ABY).

Star Wars: The Last Jedi will see the debut of the mineral planet Crait, as it becomes a battleground between the Resistance and First Order.

From the recently released book by Claudia Grey, Leia: Princess of Alderaan, we know that Leia has a history with the planet of Crait and that a Rebel outpost was set up there around 3 BBY. My current theory is that we will learn in this comic that the Rebels choose Hoth over Crait to set up their new base, possibly because of the events that transpire in the comic. Looking closer at the cover, it appears that there may already be an established presence on the planet which leads Luke and Leia to 'take up arms', as revealed in the official description. The events of this comic my provide some insight as to why Leia chooses to set-up a Resistance Base on Crait some 34 years later. 

The one-shot comic will arrive in comic shops on December 27, 2017 just after the debut of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Art by: Marco Checchetto

The familiar pop of red on the cover leads me to believe we may get a little more insight into the red mineral hidden beneath the salt-covered surface of Crait.

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi will see the debut of the mineral planet Crait, as it becomes a battleground between the Resistance and First Order. And a new story coming from Marvel will reveal major elements of its history."

"StarWars.com is excited to announce Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Storms of Crait #1, a special one-shot arriving December 27, written by Ben Acker and Ben Blacker (Star Wars: Join The Resistance) with art by Mike Mayhew (Star Wars, The Star Wars). The comic rewinds to the Galactic Civil War, following Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa as they take up arms on the salt-covered world and search for a new rebel base."

Let us know in the comments below, what you think this comic will be about!

Thank you for reading,

Tim

Star Wars Comic Adaptations

The announcement of the Thrawn comicbook adaption at SDCC 2017 was met with a lukewarm reception across fandom, especially for those hoping for new in-Universe material from Marvel. This will be the first comic adaption of a new canonical novel and will stand alongside adaptions of TFA and Rogue One, but this is far from the first time stories from Star Wars novels or films have been adapted to comics. The entire Legends Thrawn trilogy was put to panels by Darkhorse in 1995, each OT film found an an adaption in the first run of Marvel comics (1977), and the Prequels saw their own comic iterations.

New Canon Marvel Comic Adaptions

Star Wars: Thrawn

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Comicbook adaptations in their simplest form offer a more visual type of storytelling and allow artists to translate written descriptions to the panels. Star Wars has always been a visual experience with a huge part of the story expressed through careful attention to world building details and state-of-the-art special effects. The novels are a fantastic addition to the Universe but I still find I’m craving more cinematically from the stories, and this is where comics come in.

What could be; an image of Ceina Ree drawn for Star Wars Fantasy Flight Game, Armada.

The next step in the the evolution of bringing these stories to life is an artist interpretation of the characters and scenes in the books. How could you not be excited about seeing Lost Stars or Aftermath adapted to comics or a full series worth of artist interpretations of characters like Ciena Ree, Thane Keyrell, Rae Sloane, and Norra Wexley?

With the current run of Dr. Aphra giving fandom the confidence in Marvel to create new and exciting characters in the Star Wars Universe, I understand the angst behind what could be interpreted as hesitation to produce fresh content, and maybe even double dipping. But, I really see this as an opportunity to enrich the novels with the visualizations that add an another layer to the Star Wars stories. I don’t want the adaptions to take the place of other comicbook stories but I fully support them being apart of the new canon and I'm looking forward to more announcements of comicbook adaptations!

To leave you with a tease, images of Norra Wexley and Rae Sloane drawn by Steve Thomas for the Barnes & Nobel release of Empires End give us a little more insight into what could be with more comic adaptions.

Norra Wexley  

Rae Sloane

Marvel's next adaptation, Star Wars: Thrawn will hit shelves in February, 2018 starting with an oversized 30 page issue and will run for 6 issues.

What are your thoughts of Marvel adapting the new novels to comicbooks? Let us know in the comments below!

Tim