As the temperatures have heated up, Marvel has brought out some of its biggest and best stories. And it's not just major crossover events this time, though Marvel is certainly no stranger to those. This time around fans can look forward to some of their favorite characters being featured both in solo and team books.
Some lengthy comic book runs are finally wrapping up, meaning new creative teams are coming to characters, which provides an excellent time to jump on for new readers who might feel like a multi-year run is a bit daunting to jump into. And of course, there's also some star talents working on less popular characters, meaning there really is something for everyone.
10 Black Panther Brings T'Challa Back To Earth For An Espionage Story
Ta-Nehisi Coates has been working on Black Panther for the better part of five years now, spanning fifty issues of storylines and eventually giving the franchise a glimpse into the stars. But in August, Academy Award winner John Ridley takes over Black Panther in a new series that will take him out of space and plunge him into a superhero espionage storyline.
Though a lot of what the story is about is under wraps, this is the best time to dive right back into the King of Wakanda’s adventures for anyone who might have been put off by the idea of a non-space superhero dealing with matters intergalactic.
9 Sinister War Sees Spider-Man Battle Against Two Versions Of The Sinister Six
Nick Spencer gets to write Spider-Man’s classic villains on a mini-series while working with Ultimate Spider-Man artist Mark Bagley in Sinister War. This time around, Spider-Man has to battle against not one, but two different teams, as Doc Ock and Vulture both have their own versions of the Sinister Six— with one being the new Savage Six.
And while the two teams don’t seem to like each other very much, what they hate even more is a certain wall crawler. It's a bi-weekly series that will see Spider-Man try to keep two super-villain teams from laying waste to New York, and is one of Spencer's last stories before the Spider-Man Beyond storyline begins in the fall.
8 Kang the Conqueror Tells The Origin Of Kang
Originally known for their work on the sci-fi series Joyride, Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing hop on to one of the Avengers’ most well-known villains this summer with a mini-series following Kang the Conqueror. The writers are aiming to introduce the character to a modern audience with a story that completely upends the long-time Avengers antagonist’s history.
An older Kang is revealed to be caught in an endless cycle that he’s trying to break with the help of his younger self. This is coming out just in time, as Kang the Conqueror has already been revealed to be a major villain in the upcoming Ant-Man 3 film.
7 Winter Guard Features White Widow & Red Guardian Being Hunted Down By The Winter Guard
It’ll be a few months after the movie, but the Russian super-team the Winter Guard is getting their own mini-series in August. This time, it sees the Red Guardian being hunted down by his own government as he starts learning things about his homeland that his own people would rather he didn’t know.
This leads to Yelena Belova— the White Widow— being dragged into his affairs as well, and the Winter Guard doesn’t plan on being too kind to either of them.
6 Avengers: Tech-On Puts All The Avengers In Iron Man-Esque Armor After They Lose Their Powers
Like Super Sentai? Like giant robots? Avengers: Tech On is something anyone who answered yes to the last two questions should give a shot. The series is partially the idea of Bandai Namco, but it’s being written by Jim Zub (who previously worked on Uncanny Avengers) and drawn by Jeff Cruz (known for his work on Street Fighter and Red Sonja) so this is going to be a great comic even if it isn’t a canon mini-series.
The story is based around Red Skull inventing a weapon that can take away superheroes’ powers, leaving Tony Stark to outfit the Avengers with their own special armor to fight back.
5 Darkhawk Introduces A Brand-New Hero To The Marvel Universe
Kyle Higgins has been doing Power Rangers for years now, even with his own original series. So why not let the guy take over Marvel’s version of the Power Rangers in Darkhawk?
This time around, the focus isn’t on Chris Powell, but instead a young basketball player named Connor Young. Connor discovers the Darkhawk amulet and gains new powers which seem like a gift— but as always seems to be the twist, he’s not yet aware of everything that comes with those powers and some of it might not be good.
4 Amazing Fantasy Gives An Alternate Universe Story Featuring The Iconic Versions Of Classic Marvel Characters
A new mini-series coming out written and drawn by Kaare Andrews, Amazing Fantasy features what Marvel’s calling “the most iconic versions” of some of Marvel’s most popular characters.
Red Room Black Widow, teenage Spider-Man, and World War II Captain America— these three wind up taken from their timelines and placed into an impossible new land. Starting at the end of July, Amazing Fantasy is worth it just to gawk at Kaare Andrews's art alone.
3 X-Men: Trial of Magneto Deals With The Trial That Could Rip Mutantkind Apart
Though Leah Williams’ X-cellently queer X-Factor book has come to an end, that doesn’t mean she’s done with the X-Comics. No, on the contrary, she’s teaming up with Lucas Werneck to work on a major mini-series coming in August that deals with a murder and a trial that could split the nation of Krakoa. This story will spin out of the Hellfire Gala, and promises to have ramifications that could affect all of mutantkind.
2 Defenders Introduces A New Defenders Team To Save All Of Existence
The Defenders has always been a team with a roster that could change on a dime, so this latest roster consisting of new members like Masked Raider along with veteran members like Doctor Strange and Silver Surfer doesn’t feel any more out of place than the others.
This time the team will be dealing with a mission that will involve the nature of reality itself— no pressure. If nothing else, Al Ewing hasn’t missed since he started working with Marvel. This mini-series will delve into the idea that the Marvel Universe isn’t the first reality that ever existed, something that he introduced in his Ultimates run.
1 Marvel's Voices: Identity Focuses On Marvel's Roster Of Asian Heroes
Marvel’s Voices: Identity #1 is a comic featuring some of the most talented Asian creators, and gives a spotlight to some of Marvel’s Asian characters. Stories like these are great because they show the diversity both in the comics and behind the pen of these legendary characters.
But they’re also great because in some cases this is going to be one of the few times anyone gets to see these characters get a spotlight. Characters like Silk and Ms. Marvel are always going to have a place, but when was the last time Jubilee got a one-shot story rather than being a member of a random X-Men team?