In a cryptic new teaser, Marvel Comics offers readers a glimpse of Eternity.
The latest teaser is framed around a body, which appears to be a chalk outline with some graffiti reading "2faced" and a warped Hala star. Jessica Jones and a black-masked Daredevil appear on either side of the body. Below, the Masked Rider -- wearing his Eternity Mask -- takes aim at an as-yet unseen assailant.
The Eternity Mask, an ancient relic that gives its wearer theoretically unlimited power, was reintroduced in Marvel Comics #1000. After being used in several historical uprisings like the American Revolution, the dark mask has been worn by several surprising heroes with deep ties to Marvel's eight-decade history.
The Masked Raider is one of Marvel's oldest heroes in more ways than one. Created by Al Anders, this cowboy hero debuted alongside the original Human Torch in 1939's Marvel Comics #1. Wearing a mask that covered his head, Jim Gardley protected "the poor and the oppressed" in the Wild West from the 1840s until 1880. The death of this long-forgotten hero is revealed in Marvel Comics #1000, in which Dr. Matthew Masters -- who takes up the mask and becomes the Black Rider -- tends to his wounds from a gunfight.
In the final pages of Marvel Comics #1000, a seemingly new character called the Masked Raider is introduced as the Eternity Mask's current owner. While the Masked Raider's identity is unknown, they have a cowboy hat, two revolvers and a domino mask that all seemingly reference Marvel's Western heroes.
Under the tagline, the teaser boasts a large logo that cries, "Incoming!" Another Incoming! teaser dropped last month, which showed an unknown figure wielding a sword He-Man style, with ominous-looking eyes in the background and the tag, "One will unite them!" In an Incoming! teaser released yesterday, the original Fantastic Four and several Avengers find themselves with a mysterious murder on their hands.
"This really sets the course of what you'll see in the Marvel Universe in the years to come," Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski said of the August teaser.
This latest teaser touts a release date of December 26, like the one released yesterday.