Announced today in an exclusive interview with Comicbook.com, Taboo of The Black Eyed Peas will be co-writing a new Marvel comic series this April with Benjamin Jackendoff.

The pair previously worked together on a story for MARVEL COMICS 1000 that focused on Red Wolf and will now be teaming up with acclaimed comic artist Scott Eaton on WEREWOLF BY NIGHT. The series will introduce a brand-new Werewolf by Night character to the Marvel Universe in a story set in Arizona. The new Werewolf by Night will be a young man named Jake who will be dealing with the effects of a family curse while trying to protect his people. The events of the story will also be driven by the outcome of March’s OUTLAWED one-shot.

“We’re going through a Native lens because of my Native American heritage,” Taboo told Comicbook.com. “I always liked storytelling from a native perspective. Although I was born in the city of Los Angeles, recently I’ve been really connected to the Indian country or to native communities to be able to be a service and help native youth, inspire them, especially when it comes to health and wellness, and arts and music. So we built our partnership knowing that when we create, we create through a native lens…”

“I think Werewolf by Night is such an interesting character, a cool character. His mythology is really dope, and it was such an exciting opportunity to be able to revamp a new mythology and tie it into Native American storytelling,” Jackendoff added. “That’s really what got us excited because they were like, ‘All right, cool. We can take the Werewolf by Night brand and stay true to the genre of it all, the creatures, the monsters, the big stuff, all that, but tie it into Native American storytelling, into a Native American background and palette, but still make it a fun adventure story about a kid.’” For the full interview, visit Comicbook.com.

When EMPYRE #1 hits stores in April, it will be a culmination of decades worth of Marvel storytelling in an epic sci-fi tapestry that will delight both longtime comic fans and newcomers. Before the debut issue lands, two all-new essential one-shots will pave the way to this grand event: EMPYRE #0: AVENGERS and EMPYRE #0: FANTASTIC FOUR.

This pair of stories will be written by the architects of EMPYRE themselves, Al Ewing and Dan Slott with art by Pepe Larraz and R.B. Silva. Fresh off their work on HOUSE OF X and POWERS OF X, these two superstar artists will once again complement eachother’s skills in mirroring stories.

In Ewing and Larraz’s EMPYRE #0: AVENGERS, old allies have returned and the Avengers are called to the new Green Area of the Moon to help face a terrible enemy. And in Slott and Silva’s EMPYRE #0: FANTASTIC FOUR, the Fantastic Four will witness the final conflict of the Kree/Skrull War and meet a long hidden Elder of the Universe… the mysterious Profiteer. Both one-shots will lay the cosmic groundwork for Marvel’s next incredible saga and feature first appearances of major new players in the Marvel Universe.

“EMPYRE starts with a bang – the Avengers and the Fantastic Four meeting a threat from two sides, with two different strategies – and these #0 issues will let set readers up to see how they got there,” says Ewing. “As the Avengers meet with old friends, and the Fantastic Four run into some brand new ones, both teams face some stark choices and a test of their character as a team. It’s the best way to get inside the heads of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four before the main action begins.” Check out the glorious connecting covers by iconic artist Jim Cheung below, and don’t miss the pivotal start to this legendary event this April in EMPYRE #0: AVENGERS and EMPYRE #0: FANTASTIC FOUR.

Last year, Marvel joined forces with Wacom, a company popular with artists for their state-of-the-art graphic tablets, to conduct a nationwide talent search throughout China. The results of this endeavor will be our upcoming Chinese New Year variant covers, the first of which can be seen below.

“It was a thrill for me to visit art schools and conventions around China last year as part of this massive talent search!” says Editor-in-Chief CB Cebulski. “We reviewed hundreds of submissions and these covers are by the artists whose unique visual styles we felt best captured the Marvel characters. We hope fans love them as much as we do as Marvel continues our global approach to discovering diverse artistic voices!”

First up, we have the talented artist Jie Yuan who takes over your favorite Spider-Man titles with three connecting covers, featuring a who’s who of your favorite Spider-Man characters from Miles Morales to Spider-Gwen to Peter Parker himself. Take a look at these awesome variant covers below and be on the lookout for more cover reveals from other artists who Marvel and Wacom found during this exciting creative initiative.

Today, Marvel released its special edition of THE PULL LIST, unveiling exclusive information for the hottest books coming to comic shops this April.

In this informative webinar, your trusty instructors Ryan “Agent M” Penagos and Tucker Markus announced a slew of new titles including HOW TO READ COMICS THE MARVEL WAY and GIANT-SIZE X-MEN: NIGHTCRAWLER.

Fans of Black Widow will also be happy to hear more about new titles BLACK WIDOW: WIDOW’S STING, TASKMASTER, and WIDOWMAKERS: RED GUARDIAN AND YELENA BELOVA. The Pull List also teased upcoming stories in your favorite ongoing titles such as Deadpool’s visit to Krakoa in DEADPOOL #6 and RUNAWAYS #32, which starts the build up to the series’ milestone 100th issue.

Last week, Marvel announced MARVELS SNAPSHOT, a new series from MARVELS co-creator Kurt Busiek that brings together incredible creative teams to tell new tales showcasing Marvel’s greatest heroes.

The series debuts in March with a golden age romp by Alan Brennert and Jerry Ordway before this epic tour through the Marvel Universe continues later that month with MARVELS SNAPSHOT: FANTASTIC FOUR. This second installment will take readers into the zany silver age, turning the spotlight on the Fantastic Four’s own Human Torch in a story by comic book creators Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer. Known for books like Beasts of Burden as well as writing credits on animated series like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Superman: The Animated Series, this duo feels right at home penning this classic tale rooted in the Marvel mythos.

“I’m still blushing that Kurt chose Sarah Dyer and I to tell one of the MARVELS SNAPSHOT stories, especially this one, because the Fantastic Four was my favorite super hero team book as a kid, and MARVELS did a great job of showing how the larger-than-life Marvel characters affect the average person on the street,” says Dorkin. “We’re trying to do right by both series, packing the story with as much heart, wonder and fun as we can for both older and newer fans to enjoy.”
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ComiXology originals announces In the Flood, an original graphic novel written and illustrated by Ray Fawkes

ComiXology, Amazon’s premier digital comics service, announces In the Flood, a mesmerizing and experimental original graphic novel written and illustrated by Eisner Award nominee, Ray Fawkes, featuring coloring by Lee Loughridge and lettering by Thomas Mauer. In the tradition of films by David Lynch and novels by Haruki Murakami, this strange and compelling graphic novel is full of mystery and symbolism that tells the story of a couple trying to keep their troubled marriage together, while separated by an apocalyptic flood with mysterious properties.

In the Flood debuts December 18th and will be available to read at no additional cost for Amazon Prime, Kindle Unlimited, and comiXology Unlimited members, and will also be available for purchase on Kindle and comiXology.

“In the Flood is a labor of love ­– a project that I was determined to do and I hope readers enjoy the set-up, the mystery, and the payoff,” says Fawkes. “This is a unique and nonlinear book, full of metaphor and symbolism, grounded by a very human, very emotional tale of love and loss.”
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