Thursday, July 16, 2015

Fear of a Black Comic Creator: Marvel's Hip-Hop Covers

Today, Marvel Comics takes a step forward toward encouraging more diversity among the voices which present the stories of our favorite heroes and villains on the paneled page...by mining black culture for comic book covers. ....Those wacky marvelites.

Expression and art form merge between Marvel Comics and the world of hip-hop with a unique line of HIP-HOP Variants covers inspired by some of the most iconic and well received hip-hop and rap albums of all time.
Accompanying each all-new #1 from Marvel Comics coming this fall, fans will get the chance to purchase their own Marvel Comics variant cover featuring their favorite Marvel characters paying homage to some of the most well-known and vocal musical artists over the past couple of years.

"For years, Marvel Comics and Hip-Hop culture have been engaged in an ongoing dialog," says Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso.  "Beginning this October, we will shine a spotlight on the seamless relationship between those two unique forces in when we unveil the first of more than fifty variant covers, each of which pays tribute to an iconic album cover from the past 30 years that shaped pop-culture over the past three decades."

Which is to say...yes...black folks read comics and like them and show their fandom, sometimes in lyrics and appearance. This whole project...seems completely out of left field and I honestly have no idea what point it is trying to make, other than "We took some iconic album covers and put Marvel characters into them." Let's not pretend it's any more than that. Is it fun? Sure, why not. Do they look good? See for yourself...









Look for Marvel’s HIP-HOP Variants to grace the covers of these exciting Marvel comics beginning in the month of October:

·         Amazing Spider-Man #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Mike Del Mundo

·         Angela: Queen of Hel #1 - HIP-HOP Variant by Annie Wu

·         The Astonishing Ant-Man #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Mark Brooks

·         Contest of Champions #1 - HIP-HOP Variant by Denys Cowan

·         Doctor Strange #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Juan Doe

·         Extraordinary X-Men #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Sanford Greene

·         Guardians of the Galaxy #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Shawn Crystal

·         Invincible Iron Man #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Brian Stelfreeze

·         The Mighty Thor #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Mike Deodato

·         Sam Wilson, Captain America #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Mahmud Asrar

·         Spider-Gwen #1 – HIP-HOP Variant by Humberto Ramos

·         The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Phil Noto

·         Uncanny Inhumans #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Damian Scott

·         Uncanny Avengers #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Jason Pearson



Look for these additional HIP-HOP Variants coming later this fall:


·         All-New All-Different Avengers #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Jim Cheung

·         All-New Wolverine #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Keron Grant

·         Carnage #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Ariel Olivetti

·         Howard the Duck #1- HIP-HOP Variant Juan Doe

·         Ms. Marvel #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Jenny Frisson

·         Old Man Logan #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Tim Bradstreet

·         Spider-Man #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Adi Granov

·         Spider-Man/Deadpool #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Dave Johnson

·         Squadron Supreme #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Mike Del Mundo

·         Star-Lord #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Tradd Moore

·         The Totally Awesome Hulk #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Mahmud Asrar

·         Web Warriors #1- HIP-HOP Variant by Damian Scott

So....final verdict? Faithful homage or just another cash grab, but this time mining a culture largely overlooked by Marvel on any given day. I'm hoping this opens up a conversation between fans and the big comic book companies, presenting an urgency to represent their readership more completely through a more diverse creator pool...of as many races as possible, from many walks of life, both female and male, showing how fantastic our world can be. Sound off in the comments!

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