Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Blade, and Spider-Woman - that's the initial line-up of All-Out Avengers, the new ongoing series debuting in September that will "launch readers directly into the thrilling missions of Earth's Mightiest Heroes." An all-new cover released June 15 shows the initial lineup all assembled and ready for action, and Marvel has also released a bit more information about the plot.
And this past weekend at Comic-Con International: San Diego, the publisher showed off a new trailer (see above) and Tuesday Marvel released two All-Out Avengers #1 Anniversary variant covers by J. Scott Campbell.
The covers celebrate the 60th anniversary of Ant-Man and pay homage to Bob Layton's Marvel Premiere #47 cover. The Campbell image will also be available in a retro version and as a 'virgin' cover (meaning no trade dress).
All-Out Avengers will be the publisher's fourth ongoing Avengers series - and as the new set of teaser images points out, it is definitively in continuity with the main Avengers series.
Check out the teaser images for All-Out Avengers, featuring the heroes of that initial line-up in combat with what appears to be a corrupted Carol Danvers and new villainess Queen Arrok. Read on after the gallery for more info on the new title:
Written by novelist and Captain America & Iron Man writer Derek Landy and illustrated by veteran Greg Land along with Jay Leisten and Frank D'Armata, according to Marvel the series will throw readers into the middle of Avengers adventures with "no setup, no explanations, and no time for questions!"
"Beware of whiplash as you discover more with the flip of each explosive page!" warns the publisher.
The first All-Out Avengers line-up will 'assemble' to combat an alien attack from an Empress Queen Arrok who transforms an entire city population into terrible creatures loyal only to her. A piece of wormhole tech is also missing, and to make everything that much worse, Captain Marvel seems hellbent on murdering her fellow Avengers.
It also appears that the title will feature other Avengers in the future, as confirmed by Land: "After reading Derek's script for #1, I knew it was going to be a fun and challenging project. All of the scripts so far have been full of interesting and cool scenes for our changing roster of Avengers."
One Avenger who may join the line-up in the future is She-Hulk, who is pictured in the teasers from April but otherwise hasn't been mentioned in any PR materials for the new series.
"When Tom Brevoort approached me with this concept, I thought it was an inspired idea, a slice of creative genius, and also totally unworkable...!" says Landy in Marvel's full announcement. "But the chance to launch a new Avengers title, and the chance to write any character who'd ever been an Avenger, was impossible for this particular Marvel fanboy to resist. Add in the fact that Tom wanted to get Greg Land on art and my fate was pretty much sealed.
"The trick was to work within the confines inherent in the concept, but also to find a way to deliver what everyone would expect: a continuity of ideas and the development of an overarching storyline. I needed to find the hook that drags the reader from issue to issue, and I figured the best way to do that was to put the Avengers in the exact same situation as the reader: they are aware that this is happening, but they don't know why…"
As previously mentioned, All-Out Avengers will be the fourth title in the growing Avengers line, joining the core Avengers ongoing series; the Multiverse-focused Avengers Forever; and Savage Avengers which includes Conan the Barbarian on the team.
"Having just finished up a nice run on the awesome Symbiote Spider-Man series of books, I wasn't sure what would be next. Getting All-Out sounded like it would be good but I got really excited when I read the synopsis," Land says. "Hitting each issue in the middle of the action is a terrific story vehicle and gets us off running from the start. I hope everyone can see the excitement in the artwork and all-out action (pun intended). Along with my very talented buddies Jay Leisten and Frank D'Armata, we hope to give readers something to enjoy!"
There is no word yet if All-Out Avengers will affect the line-up of the current main Avengers series and if members like Captain America and Iron Man will just pull double duty or if the 'All-Out' team will even be considered a distinct squad.
In past years, especially following the blockbuster success of 2012's Avengers movie, the Avengers comic book line has included numerous concurrent titles. Since Jason Aaron's 2018 Avengers relaunch, the line has primarily consisted of the main title and a rotating series of spin-offs and tie-ins - however, that seems to be changing, as indicated by the still-expanding line.
It appears with the inclusion of Spider-Man, Marvel might be courting the return of the crossover dynamic between two of its core franchises when Spidey became an Avenger for the first time in 2005's New Avengers.
All-Out Avengers #1 hits shelves September 7.
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