Next month, Marvel Comics celebrates Black History Month. In addition to Storm: Lifedream, a special one-shot honoring the legacy of Storm, Marvel presents two collections of variant covers: Star Wars Black History Month Variant Covers featuring Black Heroes of the galaxy far, far away and Black History Month Variant Covers spotlighting Marvel super heroes! Today, fans can get their first look at the latter program which sees acclaimed artists Chris Allen, Taurin Clarke, Ken Lashley, and Alitha Martinez stunningly depict some of today’s leading Black heroes including popular icons like Black Panther and Captain America along with fan-favorite and all-new characters.
Here are the 8 heroes spotlighted this year and where to find them.
· Black Panther, legendary super hero and King of Wakanda. T’Challa can currently be seen taking charge in Jed MacKay and Farid Karami’s run of Avengers.
· Captain America (Sam Wilson), whose latest high-flying adventure kicked off last week in Evan Narcisse, Greg Pak, and Eder Messias’ Sam Wilson: Captain America.
· Frenzy, the former villain who now lends her super strength to the government’s officially sanctioned mutant team in Mark Russell and Robert Quinn’s X-Factor.
· Gold Tiger, a mysterious new Wakandan hero who debuted this week in Steve Foxe and Ivan Fiorelli’s New Champions!
· Power Man, or rather a version of him from the far future! Be there when this future Luke Cage and his awe-inspiring array of powers arrives in the modern Marvel Universe next month in Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Bernard Chang’s Power Man: Timeless!
· Spider-Man (Miles Morales), Brooklyn’s own web-slinger who’s currently enjoying a celebrated run by Cody Ziglar, Luigi Zagaria and more where he’ll soon face off against Deadpool for the first time in the upcoming “Pools of Blood” crossover!
· Storm, one of Marvel’s most groundbreaking super heroes. Celebrating 50 years of storytelling this year, the iconic X-Men leader currently stars in both Avengers and her own solo ongoing series by Murewa Ayodele and Lucas Werneck.
· Temper, one of the X-Men’s most promising students. The young temperature-controlling mutant was recently promoted to the flagship X-Men team, following Cyclops’ leadership in Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman’s X-Men.
Meanwhile, in a Galaxy Far, Far, Away, four stunning covers come from some of Marvel’s most acclaimed cover artists: Karen S. Darboe, Ken Lashley, Mateus Manhanini, and Ernanda Souza. The collection represents a wide range of Star Wars media including recent projects like Star Wars: The Acolyte and Star Wars Outlaws, with some characters making their first-ever comic book appearance. The covers also coincide with the 10th anniversary of the return of Star Wars storytelling to Marvel Comics.
· Lando Calrissian, the beloved Rebel hero from the Original Trilogy who returned to fight against the First Order in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
· Mother Aniseya, the leader of a mysterious coven of Force users on the planet Brendok who debuted earlier this year in Star Wars: The Acolyte.
· Osha & Mae, twin sisters with powerful connections to the Force and the stars of Star Wars: The Acolyte, where their conflicting views on the Jedi threatened their bond.
· Vail, a cunning bounty hunter who players met in Star Wars Outlaws, the first-ever open world Star Wars game, available now.
Check out all of the covers now and preorder all Black History Month Variant Covers at your local comic shop today. For more information, visit Marvel.com.
On Sale 2/5
AVENGERS #23 BLACK HISTORY MONTH VARIANT COVER BY ALITHA MARTINEZ
POWER MAN: TIMELESS #1 BLACK HISTORY MONTH VARIANT COVER BY KEN LASHLEY
STAR WARS: THE LEGACY OF VADER #1 BLACK HISTORY MONTH VARIANT COVER BY KAREN S. DARBOE
On Sale 2/12
NEW CHAMPIONS #2 BLACK HISTORY MONTH VARIANT COVER BY ALITHA MARTINEZ
SAM WILSON: CAPTAIN AMERICA #2 BLACK HISTORY MONTH VARIANT COVER BY CHRIS ALLEN
X-MEN #11 BLACK HISTORY MONTH VARIANT COVER BY CHRIS ALLEN
On Sale 2/19
X-FACTOR #7 BLACK HISTORY MONTH VARIANT COVER BY KEN LASHLEY
MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN #30 BLACK HISTORY MONTH VARIANT COVER BY TAURIN CLARKE
STORM #5 BLACK HISTORY MONTH VARIANT COVER BY TAURIN CLARKE
STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC – FEAR OF THE JEDI #1 BLACK HISTORY MONTH VARIANT COVER BY MATEUS MANHANINI
STAR WARS: AHSOKA #8 BLACK HISTORY MONTH VARIANT COVER BY ERNANDA SOUZA
On Sale 2/26
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER ADAPTATION #1 BLACK HISTORY MONTH VARIANT COVER BY KEN LASHLEY
Images via Marvel Comics
Have strong thoughts about this piece you need to share? Or maybe there’s something else on your mind you’re wanting to talk about with fellow Fandomentals? Head on over to our Community server to join in the conversation!
