Here's your checklist for all of Marvel's hip-hop variants, available throughout fall 2015! Stay tuned for updates!

Expression and art form merge between Marvel Comics and the world of hip-hop with a unique line of hip-hop variant covers inspired by some of the most iconic and well received hip-hop and rap albums of all time. 

Available starting in October, and available throughout the fall and into the winter, these more than 50 variant covers pay tribute to iconic albums beloved by comics fans and creators. 

Check out the Marvel hip-hop variants on sale in October. variant availability will differ from retailer to retailer. Be sure to ask your local comic shop for the variants you want!

October 2015’s Marvel Hip-Hop variants

 
And see what some of hip-hop’s legendary artists are saying about this extraordinary collection!

Enjoy the latest episode of the official Marvel podcast, with comics, movies, TV, games, and more!

We’ve got a brand new episode of This Week in Marvel, presented by Loot Crate, to help you kick off the weekend!

Ryan and Ben give you the rundown on this week’s comics hottest releases including LUKE CAGE, GENERATION X, and more! We’ve also got a West Coast news from Marc, Christine, with special guest Tim Hernandez to talk about “LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2” (1:20:16); a Secret Empire update from Alanna Smith (1:06:37); and Unlimited Reading Club featuring INHUMANS (1:27:46)!

Be sure to join our next #TWIMURC where we have both coasts tackle X-Cutioner’s Song Pt. 1! Keep your eyes on Marvel Unlimited and share your thoughts with us using the hashtag #TWIMURC!

Loot Crate has assembled the Marvel Gear and Goods crate for the ultimate Marvel fan. This crate features official Marvel items like collectible home goods, apparel and more every other month! Order your own Marvel Gear and Goods crate by heading to lootcrate.com/MarvelGear and use promo code “MARVELPOD” to save $3 on your subscription today.

Download episode #290 of This Week in Marvel from Marvel.com, check out Marvel Podcast Central, grab the TWiM RSS feed and subscribe to This Week in Marvel on iTunes, so you never miss an episode! We are now also on Soundcloud! Head over now to our new hub to listen to the full run of This Week in Marvel!

This Week in Marvel will focus on delivering all the Marvel info on news and new releases–from comics to video games to toys to TV to film and beyond! New episodes will be released every Thursday (or so) and TWiM is co-hosted by Marvel VP & Executive Editor of Digital Media Ryan “Agent M” Penagos and Marvel Editorial Director of Digital Media Ben Morse, along with Marvel.com Editor Marc Strom, Marvel.com Assistant Editor Christine Dinh, and Manager of Video & Content Production Blake Garris. We also want your feedback, as well as questions for us to answer on future episodes!  Tweet your questions, comments and thoughts about TWiM to @AgentM, @BenJMorse, @chrissypedia or @Marvel with the hashtag #ThisWeekinMarvel!

Cue the montage as Al Ewing’s team battles back from the brink!

In U.S.AVENGERS #6—available now—the tenuous situation of the team quickly descended into outright bad. Divided from each other, under assault, some of their own members being turned against them, this squad of heroes faces if not their darkest hour, the prelude to it, for certain.

But we know that you cannot keep a good group down. That it always seems darkest before the dawn. That rally caps really do work. So we sought out writer Al Ewing to tell us what difficulties his squad must best to cancel their personal apocalypse in U.S.AVENGERS #7, coming June 21.

“It’s very difficult to talk about the exact challenges the team will be facing over the course of the next couple of months, and how they’ll get out of them, without getting deep into spoiler territory,” Ewing admits. “But I’ll do my best to drop some hints.”

ROBERTO DA COSTA – CITIZEN V

“Roberto’s had it relatively easy lately,” argues the writer. “There’s been no challenge he hasn’t been able to overcome. But that was when he was a free agent in total command of his forces. Now A.I.M. is part of S.H.I.E.L.D., and when the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. is secretly HYDRA, that’s bad news. As we saw in #6, Roberto and A.I.M. have lost big—and in the process, Roberto was shot by a treacherous subordinate. Never mind bouncing back, is he even alive?”

TONI HO – IRON PATRIOT

“As we’ve seen, Toni’s been building bigger and bigger suits of armor—from something relatively reasonable in issue #1, to the behemoth in issue #3, and in issue #6 we saw it’s gotten completely out of control,” Ewing points out. “Pretty soon, we’re going to see how useful all this big armor actually is. The question is, what happens once it’s taken away? And when she’s in a position where she’s got to rebuild from nothing, will she follow Tony Stark’s path or the road of her late father, Professor Yinsen?”

SAM GUTHRIE – CANNONBALL

“As we saw in #6, Cannonball is absolutely dead,” the writer promises. “Dead, dead, dead. We never even saw the body, so that’s how you know he’s dead. And even if, by some freak accident, he managed to survive…well, he’s probably lost in space and very likely in an extreme form of trouble that we’ll find out about over the course of months before the team has to embark on some kind of ‘Search For Sam’ that takes them into a wild adventure. But what are the chances of that? He’s dead as a doornail.”

GEN. ROBERT L. MAVERICK – RED HULK

“The General’s been chafing against his limited brand of Hulk powers for a little while now; as a government-issue Hulk,’ he’s not quite the powerhouse he thought his ‘Hulk plug-in’ genetic treatment would make him,” says Ewing. “He turns back to human at bad moments, and then has to wait over a day for his next transformation. Fortunately, science just discovered a means of making him a Hulk 24/7. Unfortunately, it’s HYDRA science. What happens when Maverick is forced to stay a Hulk for far, far longer than his body was meant to take?”

AIKKU JOKINEN – ENIGMA

“So far, Aikku’s only ever been part of a team,” the writer reminds. “In fact, as Pod, she was a team of one, bonded to an alien ‘planetary [defense] system’ that died saving her life. She’s always had the rest of the U.S.Avengers to rely on. Even her personal life revolves around the team, as she met her current girlfriend, Toni, from inside the Pod suit. So what happens when she’s torn away from the team—from all her friends, bar Doreen—and flung all the way to Europe, where the international wing of HYDRA is causing havoc on the streets of Paris? Can she go it alone?  Who can she turn to for help?”

DOREEN GREEN – SQUIRREL GIRL

“Squirrel Girl faces the challenge of fighting some bad guys,” Ewing reveals. “Will she beat the bad guys? She usually does, admittedly, but it’s always possible that this is the time she won’t. I mean, we killed off Cannonball.”

Find out who might be next to fall in U.S.AVENGERS #7, brought your way June 21 by Al Ewing and artist Paco Medina!

Horror master R.L. Stine talks his time with Marvel’s swamp monster!

He’s big, he’s slimy, and he’s coming to a silver screen near you—if he doesn’t scare all the kids away first. I’m talking about Man-Thing, the disgusting swamp monster leaving trails of slime in Marvel comics since the early 1970s.

Recently, however, we find this heinous dripping pile of muck in his own limited series penned by one of the great masters of horror, R.L. Stine of “Goosebumps” fame, who felt the time right to inject some humor into the adventures of the misunderstood, reality-hopping creature

As we near the fifth and final issue of MAN-THING on June 21, Stine—a self-proclaimed man without fear—looks back on his intimidating inspirations, helping Sallis find his voice—literally—and the close connection between blood, guts, and laughs.

Marvel.com: We’re two issues away from the finale of this series. How are you gearing up for the conclusion to this MAN-THING saga?

R.L. Stine: Well, I always have to have my ending first so I had an ending in mind from the beginning. The five [issues] are all done, actually. [Issue #4], actually, is the best, I think. I think #4 is the funniest, but I got him in this mess. He’s gone after Oldfather, and so he’s in this thing with all the realities and so I love doing stuff like that because I can do anything. If you can do any reality and have reality changing all the time it’s actually very freeing, you can do all kinds of things.

Marvel.com: Should we, as the readers, be bracing for an epic “Goosebumps”-level twist that will shatter our psyches and chill us to the bone?

R.L. Stine: [Laughs] Well, you know, I tried to make the whole series funnier because he’s such a hideous character. He has to be maybe the ugliest character Marvel has, which is one of the main reasons I picked him when they give me a [list] of characters that they weren’t using and said, “Which one would you like to do?” and I happen to love swamp monsters and he was just so ugly I had to pick him. But yes, there is a major twist at the end. You know, like all “Goosebumps” books there’s a happy ending, they all have happy endings, but then after the happy ending, there’s something pretty terrible [Laughs].

Marvel.com: I’m looking forward to it and I’m glad you brought up your affinity for swamp monsters because you’ve dealt with disgusting, dripping monstrosities in the past with “Monster Blood,” King Jellyjam, “The Blob That Ate Everyone”…

R.L. Stine: I actually did a “Goosebumps” book last year called “Here Comes The Shaggedy” and it was a swamp monster book.

Marvel.com: Well, that kind of segues into my next question, which is did Man-Thing prove to be different from the rest of these creatures and if so, how?

R.L. Stine: Well he did in that he has more of backstory and I felt the backstory was really good. And I think we recapped it in the first [issue] of mine where Ted Sallis, this brilliant scientist, is trying to keep this serum from the army so he injects himself with it and then turns himself into this creature. In the old series, he couldn’t really speak or anything, but I wanted him to be kind of funny and sarcastic about it, about how horrible he looks and he’s so eager trying to get back to human [form] so for most of it, I gave him back his powers of speech.

Marvel.com: Man-Thing, as a character, has influenced writers like Neil Gaiman in the past. Did any other properties play important roles in your writing career or have repercussions on this series?

R.L. Stine: When I was a kid, I was obsessed with the EC horror comics, Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror. I was just obsessed with them and I think they were incredibly influential on what I do because, as you know, they’re horrifying, right? They’re really disgusting, horrifying things and they all have a funny twist ending, every story. That kind of stayed with me so I think they were very important to me. Also, I didn’t really know that much about Man-Thing. I had to learn so I read all the old [ones] that [writer] Steve Gerber did. I really liked those a lot and then that was very helpful to me.

Marvel.com: And other than being a disgusting swamp monster, what attributes do you think make Man-Thing a perfect subject for horror?

R.L. Stine: The fact that he’s an outsider, for one thing. There’s no way he can be accepted anywhere. In the first MAN-THING he says, “Why can’t I have a movie? Every other Marvel character has a movie.” And he tries to have a Hollywood career, but he [screen] tests so terribly because he’s so ugly and he scares the kids. And so, I think being an outsider is part of it and just being so limited in a way in what he can do. I think that’s a real challenge too.

Man-Thing #5 cover by Tyler Crook

Marvel.com: As someone who is comfortable writing within the horror genre, did anything end up scaring you when you were working on this comic?

R.L. Stine: Never.

Marvel.com: [Laughs]

R.L. Stine: It never happens. I wonder if it happens to other writers. I don’t know. There’s something missing in my brain in that horror never scares me. Any horror always makes me laugh. Seriously, the scariest Stephen King, the most disgusting, creepiest…“Pet Sematary,” for example. Those books make me laugh and I’ve never been scared by a movie. People say to me, “Oh, your book was so scary, I was up all night, I had to leave the lights on.” I’ve never had that feeling. I don’t know why, but I’ve just never had it. I think there’s a very close connection between humor and horror, there’s sort of the same visceral reaction. When you jump out at somebody and say, “BOO!” they gasp at first and then they laugh. I think it’s very closely connected. One other reason that I can never get scared from what I’m writing is I plan it all first, I do complete outlines of every book I write so I already know what’s gonna happen [Laughs], I can’t scare myself.

Marvel.com: You brought up your love of Tales from the Crypt. I love the idea of bonus back-up anthology scary stories at the end of each issue.

R.L. Stine: Those were fun for me. Originally, when [editor] Katie Kubert called me and said, “Would you like to do something for Marvel?” and I said, “Yeah! It’s sort of a lifelong dream, I’m finally getting around to it,” and at first, I was going to do just the straight, old fashioned type horror comic with two or three stories like that. But then I thought, “Gee, it’d be a lot more fun to just play with a Marvel character too.” So I got to do both and it was terrific.

Marvel.com: That’s awesome. Where did that idea for these stories come from? It’s a very “Twilight Zone”/Rod Serling/Crypt Keeper sort of thing…

R.L. Stine: Yeah, that’s just what it was supposed to be so I say that’s what we thought first, that would be a good thing to do and then I thought, “Oh, come on! Take one of these characters and put a little story in the back.”

Marvel.com: Are there any other Marvel you’re interested in tackling?

R.L. Stine: I have to think about that one; I would love to do some of the sillier ones like Ant-Man, ones that you could have sort of a satirical view with.

Marvel.com: And any other characters you think are kind of suited for horror or scary stories?

 R.L. Stine: Well actually, they all could be. There [are] elements of horror in a lot of Marvel stuff.

Prepare to be scared with MAN-THING #4—out May 31—and the grand finale, MAN-THING #5—available June 21—both from R.L. Stine and artist German Peralta!

Comics' top creators forge the future of the Marvel Universe this August!

Once upon a time, a kid from New York City picked up a shield and charged into battle…A prodigal son lifted a sacred hammer and proved himself worthy…And an arrogant genius forged an armor that would harness his true potential. Together, they became some of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and ushered in the age of marvels! This August, prepare for Marvel’s GENERATIONS, but…what is the startling secret that ties them all together?

GENERATIONSbrings together Miles Morales and Peter Parker, Laura Kinney and Logan, Amadeus Cho and Bruce Banner, plus more, and illuminates the path that all these heroes will take into the future for a thrilling quest unlike anything seen in the Marvel Universe before.

A colossal collaboration of today’s greatest creators, Marvel’s GENERATIONS continues the evolution of the Marvel Universe as the new class of heroes stand shoulder to shoulder with those who have trail blazed their legacy.

Running August to September, this 10-issue series put to the test in this universe-wide team-up that will shed light on the most pressing questions about the future of the Marvel Universe, and the fate of everyone’s favorite heroes.

August On Sale

GENERATIONS: THE STRONGEST starring Bruce Banner and Amadeus Cho, the Totally Awesome Hulk
Written by Greg Pak
Art by Matteo Buffagni

GENERATIONS: THE PHOENIX starring The Phoenix and Jean Grey
Written by Cullen Bunn
Art by RB Silva

GENERATIONS: THE BEST starring Wolverine and All-New Wolverine
Written by Tom Taylor
Art by Ramon Rosanas

GENERATIONS: THE THUNDER starring The Mighty Thor and The Unworthy Thor
Written by Jason Aaron
Art by Mahmud Asrar

GENERATIONS: THE ARCHERS starring Hawkeyes, Clint Barton and Kate Bishop
Written by Kelly Thompson
Art by Stefano Raffaele

September On Sale

GENERATIONS: THE BRAVEST starring Captain Mar-Vell and Captain Marvel
Written by Margie Stohl
Art by Brent Schoonover

GENERATIONS: THE MARVELS starring Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel
Written by G. Willow Wilson

GENERATIONS: THE IRON starring Iron Man and Ironheart
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Marco Rudy

GENERATIONS: THE SPIDERS starring Peter Parker: Spider-Man and Miles Morales: Spider-Man
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Ramon Perez

GENERATIONS: THE AMERICAS starring Steve Rogers: Captain America and Sam Wilson: Captain America
Written by Nick Spencer
Art by Paul Renaud

She might lead Generation X today, but she got her start in a mall!

Every Friday we use the powers of Marvel Unlimited to look back at the very first appearance of a major character, place or object that made waves this week.

She’s been an X-Man, a New Warrior, a mom, and a vampire, and now Jubilation Lee serves as the leader of a group of mutant misfits in the pages of GENERATION X by Christina Strain and Amilcar Pinna. Before all that, though, she started as a homeless mall rat with mutant powers showing off to small crowds in the pages of UNCANNY X-MEN #244 by Chris Claremont and Marc Silvestri. Unlike some of her fellow mutants, she seemed to know exactly what her mutant ability entailed, namely the power to control “articulate, quasi-animate, transitory plasmoids.”

Not everyone at the Hollywood Mall enjoyed her displays, though, especially the security guards who patrolled the place. She gave them the old razzle-dazzle before announcing her code name and then tumbling her way out. Thanks to interference run by nearby skaters and some more impressive acrobatics, she got away. All of this made the head rent-a-cop so mad that he called in a group of mutant hunters called M Squad.

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #244

• Published: May 10, 1989
• Added to Marvel Unlimited: September 17, 2008
• Rating: T+
• Writer: Chris Claremont
• Penciller: Marc Silvestri
• Cover Artist: Marc Silvestri

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What is Marvel Unlimited?

At this time, the X-Men lived in the Australian outback, an arrangement that seemed to grate on more than a few members. To help alleviate the stress of devoting their entire lives to saving a world that hates and fears them, Dazzler, Storm, Rogue, and Psylocke decided to go shopping at the very same establishment that Jubilee previously parlayed her powers thanks to a portal provided by Gateway.

After a bit of shopping fun, the X-Women retired to a joint called Hotbods, which triggered an alarm on the hapless M Squad’s equipment. First, they ran into Jubilee though and fired on her, which drew the attention of our heroines. They made short work of the goons and had Gateway open up another portal home, but Jubilee jumped through to join them in the next issue!

Over the years, Jubilee went from new kid on the block—and Wolverine’s protégé—to the experienced member of the original Generation X team. Since then she’s served on her fair share of X-Squads, but lost her powers on M-Day. After trying to use tech to recreate those abilities, she got turned into a vampire by Xarus instead.

MARXMENCOL1994002025

With some help from her friends she’s gotten the vampirism under control and even adopted a baby named Shogo who will go on to become a great hero, at least in one possible future. Now she’s juggling all that while playing mentor to some of the more fringe students at the Xavier Institute for Mutant Education and Outreach located in New York City’s Central Park.

Flash Forward

Jubilee jumped onto the comic scene in 1989, making her one of the marquee teen characters of the franchise when the “X-Men” animated series launched on Fox in 1992. The show even used her as the point of view character for the audience, basing part of the first two-part episode, “Night of the Sentinels,” around her. Much like in her first comic appearance, she started out in a mall, though this time Sentinels broke in and attacked. Also, the entire X-Men team jumped in to save her. Over the course of the show’s five-season run, Jubilee became an integral part, even mirroring her comic relationship with Wolverine.

The Inhumans set course for the Kree’s shattered planet for a reunion with Ronan!

Hala has been visited by much tragedy over the years. Most recently, the planet became basically uninhabitable leaving only Ronan the Accuser to keep silent watch over his shattered former sphere of residence.

For many that survived Hala’s recent destruction, one group stands out amongst all others as being key in the world’s destruction: the Inhumans. Ronan certainly would count himself amongst those with that opinion.

So just imagine the awkwardness that will ensue when ROYALS #4 hits this June 21, bringing the Inhuman ruling family back to the desolate globe that formerly served as Kree homeworld. And if that might be galling enough to Ronan all on its own, wouldn’t you just know that they have come to ask for a favor?

We found writer Al Ewing hiding in the game room upstairs looking to avoid the squabbles and asked him for the latest Kree-Inhuman gossip.

Marvel.com: The connection between the Inhumans and the Kree is a long-standing “fact” of the Marvel Universe. However, there hasn’t been much of that story told. What is your take on their historic relationship? How are things between them before this issue?

Al Ewing: Things are not great. A short and simple version of the history is that Black Bolt and company came to the Kree Empire, took it over, and then later went off to pursue their own projects, leaving Ronan and Crystal in charge. Ronan resurrected a version of the Supreme Intelligence, The Supremor, who promptly declared war on the Inhumans and the Earth, whereupon Ronan quit to be with Crystal.

Unfortunately, a peace treaty between the Kree and the Inhumans required Ronan to separate from Crystal and go back into the Supremor’s service. Crystal basically agreed to that, out of a sense of duty to both races and over Ronan’s objections. And after that, Hala was destroyed and Supremor with it. And in the same incident, Ronan got cosmic powers from a magic mirror. And here we are.

So, to answer your question…the relationship isn’t all it could be.

Marvel.com: Regardless of the past, Hala is a very “hot spot” especially between the Kree and the Boltagons specifically. Why return to what is, essentially, the scene of the crime?

Al Ewing: Hala contains some buried knowledge—a piece of history pertaining to the Kree and the Inhumans both, a lost secret of Terrigen. Bringing it to the surface will let the Royals know if it’s possible for them to bring the Inhumans back to their former glory, and whether they can atone for their own crimes in the process.

Meanwhile, for Ronan, Hala is a planet-wide graveyard, a sacred place. He doesn’t like visitors at the best of times and especially not these visitors.

Marvel.com: How are dynamics changed by Maximus being present, not Black Bolt?

Al Ewing: If Black Bolt was there, he’d probably be the target of Ronan’s wrath. He’s responsible. He conquered the Kree, he chose to abandon them, and it was his diktat that tore Ronan and Crystal out of their happy place and [sent] Ronan back to serve a monster.

Maximus doesn’t figure so much on [Ronan’s] radar. He was the weaponsmith, the court jester, and the occasional traitor, but in Ronan’s eyes he’s never been the important one. So Ronan will probably leave him on the back burner and concentrate on other targets. Whether Maximus will feel the same, I don’t know. Ronan did play a big part in his parents getting killed.

Royals #4 cover by Jonboy Meyers

Marvel.com: Ronan’s connection with the Inhumans is especially complex. What is his reaction to seeing them again? How does it make Crystal feel to encounter her partner in a failed arranged union?

Al Ewing: Ronan’s not in a very good mental state when he sees them again. He’s angry, he’s sick with grief, he’s looking for someone to blame. His immediate reaction is to get hold of them for a little chat, as only a cosmic-powered Accuser of the Kree can do.

As for him and Crystal, they’ve got a lot to talk about. From Ronan’s point of view, he blames her, because it was her decision to effectively annul their marriage—a marriage that had gone from mutually-agreed convenience without any intimacy, to a full-on actual true-love connection—and he’s bound that up with a lot of other stuff he’s going through.

Crystal’s in a different place. She’s got responsibilities to the Inhumans, to her child from a previous marriage, to her home planet. There’s been just as much running from one crisis to the next for her as for him, but she’s managed to move on in a way that he hasn’t. What that means when they’re in a room together? I don’t know. I guess we’ll all find out.

Marvel.com: This marks the first full issue with Thony Silas on art. What does he bring to the book?

Al Ewing: Thony’s got a good style for these issues—shadowy, a little sinister in places. Plus he does great things with [previous artist Jonboy Meyers’] character designs for the book. I really enjoyed his work on issue #3, and he came up with a layout suggestion for a particular bit in #4 that I’m kicking myself a little for not thinking of [first]. It’s going to be nice to see out this first arc with him.

Marvel.com: Why is this a cannot miss capture in the evolving relationship of the Inhumans to the larger Marvel U?

Al Ewing: There’s a thing readers should understand with this book: we’re not doing business in the normal way. There will be no tie-ins until we get back to Earth. We’re self-contained, telling our own story, beholden to nobody, and we’re on a trip out to the far reaches of Marvel Space, and we’re going to come back changed, and carrying something very special with us.

And then we’re going to see what the other two books have been doing, and what they’re bringing to the party. And we’ll see what happens when we put it all together and shake it around a little.

Maybe it’ll turn to gold. Maybe it’ll explode. I honestly have no idea, but I do know that it’s not the job of the Inhumans to ever be predictable. So…I guess we’ll all find out together.

Al Ewing and Thony Silas reunite Ronan with ROYALS in issue #4 on June 21!

Sina Grace prepares Bobby Drake for a reunion with Kitty Pryde and more!

It may be spring, but there’s a cold front heading your way this June in the all-new series ICEMAN, written by Sina Grace with art by Allessandro Vitti!

To prepare you for the brewing storm we spoke with Grace to find out just what to expect and here’s the deal: The new series follows present day Iceman working through some of the more human aspects of his life that he has never really dealt with, like relationships, sexuality and how to be a successful adult. We understand those feels, Bobby. Oh and let’s not forget there’s a younger Bobby running around town who, according to Grace, slays life; nothing like competing with yourself.

So just who is Bobby Drake?

“He’s the funny guy who shoots ice out of his hands and says one-liners,” states Grace. “So instead of working around that I said, no, he’s very compartmentalized. And so we are looking at what comes after the laughter.” But let’s be clear: there will not be a shortage of one-liners. “I like the jokes I write for him,” the writer clarifies. “They aren’t jokes I could say, but when Bobby cuts them they work.”

And when ICEMAN #2 hits on June 21, you can bet several of these jokes poke fun at the weird, ex-girlfriend-but-still-fellow X-Man dynamic he has cooking with Kitty Pryde. “Awkward is an understatement,” muses Grace. “But Bobby and Kitty are both very responsible super heroes so they’ll never let what they haven’t worked out get in the way of helping people, or the world.” So when a new mutant’s powers emerge, the two former lovebirds set out to give him ye ol’ X-Men spiel, but things start to get a little slippery. “The situation definitely exacerbates what’s been left unspoken,” teases Grace.

Iceman #2 cover by Kevin Wada

Kitty has to deal with the fact that her ex-boyfriend is gay, and Bobby still isn’t exactly the, “Hey girl, let’s sit down and talk this through,” type. Luckily, his walls might be melting just a tad though. “He’s admitting that there is stuff to talk about and it can’t just be swept under the rug with a joke,” confirms Grace. So while they do progress it may take a few more awkwardly tense encounters before they can really put behind their history together to a copacetic friendzone future.

Oh and as an added bonus I’ll let you guys in on a little inside secret: Turns out Grace really likes “Sex and the City,” go figure, so artist Vitti decided to run with that, pretty literally, by giving Iceman a whole line of slick kicks that even Carrie Bradshaw would envy. Probably lost you at the “Sex and the City” reference, but hey at least you can say you know what it’s like behind the scenes!

Be sure to catch all the action, adulting progress, and cool shoes in ICEMAN #1 out June 7, and ICEMAN #2 out June 21!

Writer Chip Zdarsky takes us downtown for the brand-new Spidey series!

The Webhead in the Big Apple! The Wall-Crawler in The City That Never Sleeps! The kid that lives with his aunt in the place that has really good bagels!

Spider-Man in New York City!

On June 21, Spidey returns to his Friendly Neighborhood roots with the brand-new series PETER PARKER: SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN! Led by the all-star creative team of writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Adam Kubert, this Spidey story returns to where it all began: a high school kid living—and fighting crime—in New York, New York.

We spoke with Chip about the Spider-Man books that he read growing up, the dynamic that New York contributes to a story, and the real-life inspirations for this new take on an old favorite.

Marvel.com: Hey Chip! Tell us, what are a few of your favorite Spider-Man runs? Have you drawn inspiration from any of them for the new series?

Chip Zdarsky: I don’t want to play favorites with Spider-Man runs! They’re all precious children to me, beautiful in their own way. I will say that the period that imprinted on me the most was when I first got into comics: the mystery of the Hobgoblin’s identity! I loved it so much, especially that it featured a Peter very much down on his luck, trying to make ends meet, which felt so different to me as a kid, thinking that adults all had it together. The feel of those issues really imprinted on me, I think.

I followed Spidey after that, through his marriage to MJ, all the way to the infamous Clone Saga, before I went to college and ran out of money, never actually finding out who ended up being the actual clone—don’t tell me! But a few years after college ended I got sucked right back into the books.

So, it’s hard to pinpoint direct inspirations, really. There have been so many great runs, including now with [writer] Dan Slott on [AMAZING SPIDER-MAN], that you can’t help but be inspired by all the takes on the character.

Marvel.com: Do you have a favorite Spidey story that takes place in New York? What’s the most enjoyable part of the dynamic that NYC brings to a classic Peter Parker/Spider-Man story?

Chip Zdarsky: It’s the smaller moments in comics featuring New York that stick with me, really. His interactions with its jaded citizens, half of whom see him as a hero, half of whom see him as an annoyance.

Peter Parker: Spectacular Spider-Man #1 cover by Adam Kubert

I love the stories where he’s up against an unbeatable foe, trying to save the city and himself simultaneously. Two notable ones for me are his encounter with Firelord in the mid-80s, which has Spider-Man up against a herald of Galactus! He enlists help from citizens, saves citizens, uses the city against Firelord, and then manages to eke out a win just barely, proving himself to be a force to be reckoned with.

There’s a similar feeling when he encounters Morlun in the early 2000s. A truly unstoppable being who has one goal: to feed off of Spider-Man. A desperate Spidey is my favorite Spidey as Morlun lays waste to New York City, endangering people in order to get what he wants. It’s so big and crazy and beautiful, especially thanks to John Romita Jr.’s art, that it feels like the damage to New York is damage to Spider-Man and vice-versa.

Marvel.com: Are there elements of your own life that have inspired you with this new series? High school Chip? Newspaperman Chip?

Chip Zdarsky: I think everyone, when writing Spider-Man, taps into their own sense of guilt and responsibility. And in the [Free Comic Book Day] issue I tapped into my relationship with my ex, who’s my best friend in the whole world, to write Peter and MJ. Besides that, my dozen years working for a national newspaper is coming in handy when writing “Daily Bugle“ scenes, and especially J. Jonah Jameson! He’s one of the greatest fictional creations of all time as far as I’m concerned.

PETER PARKER: SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #1 by Chip Zdarsky and artist Adam Kubert, goes on sale in your neighborhood on June 21!

Before Clint and Natasha go their separate ways, see how they first got together!

Each week, we use our super sleuth skills to dig into the histories of the characters fighting on both sides of Secret Empire!

This week’s installment of SECRET EMPIRE by Nick Spencer and Andrea Sorrentino not only established Captain America’s potentially wavering relationship with Hydra and equipped the heroes with the information they need to find the Cosmic Cube pieces, but also drove an enormous, and possibly permanent, wedge between longtime friends—and more—Black Widow and Hawkeye.

Way back in TALES OF SUSPENSE #57, Hawkeye—who decided to go from expert circus performer to masked hero after seeing Iron Man in action—got wrongfully accused of a crime. Russian spy Black Widow then appeared to save him, filled his quill with fancy arrows, and set him against Shellhead, dangling the potential for love like a carrot before the archer’s nose.

The duo continued to work together in the pages of TALES OF SUSPENSE #60 and #64, but eventually Hawkeye’s patriotism overcame his lust for the espionage expert and he went straight, joining Earth’s Mightiest Heroes along with the rest of Cap’s Kookie Quartet in AVENGERS #16.

Even though she too intended to defect to the States, Natasha found herself brainwashed and battling her former beau and his new allies in AVENGERS #29 and #30. However, she admitted that her love for Hawkeye helped break her from the mind control. The pair tried to make it work for a while, but ultimately, they went their separate ways.

Tales of Suspense (1959) #57

• Published: September 10, 1964
• Added to Marvel Unlimited: April 28, 2007
• Penciller: Larry Lieber
• Writer: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber
• Cover Artist: Don Heck

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Natasha eventually became a full-fledged member of the Avengers herself and even led the team for a while. She also co-headlined the DAREDEVIL series for a time. Hawkeye moved on with Mockingbird, but still showed up in DAREDEVIL #99 to try and win the Widow back!

After enough time passed, Hawkeye and Black Widow figured out how to work together as friends and teammates. Most recently, Hawkeye came under fire during CIVIL WAR II for killing Bruce Banner at the doctor’s own orders. He then moved on to OCCUPY AVENGERS. Black Widow herself starred in her own acclaimed eponymous series.

So, what could cause such a rift between these two? A very clear split in ideology. Black Widow wants to assassinate Captain America for all he’s done, especially after the resistance lost so much ground trying to figure out if he was a clone or a Skrull or something else. Hawkeye, however, wants to wait and see if this Cosmic Cube plan can come together and fix his friend. In SECRET EMPIRE #2, Natasha made her position clear as she cold-clocked Clint and made off with her own agenda.

The Empire Strikes Back

If any two characters could understand the possibilities of a second chance, it’s Clint and Natasha. As you can tell from the above history lesson, both characters worked on either side of the law before becoming Avengers. A major reason they both got accepted into that organization’s hallowed halls lies with Captain America having faith in them. As Avengers and even agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., both have been able to at least try and make up for the bad they’ve done, which makes Natasha’s stance all the more troubling.