Freak Comics

Eight years after its inception, Marvel Knights is re-inventing itself while seeing a return to its roots! Originally meant to shine a light on Marvel’s darker corners and forgotten characters, Knights lead the first wave of Marvel’s renaissance. Now, as Marvel and the rest of the comic book industry continues to see business grow, Marvel Knights has redefined its mission, and plans to unveil upcoming series that will set the industry ablaze once again!

The proud “father” of Marvel Knights, Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada, is thrilled with the continued success and future of the imprint he helped shape. “Marvel Knights is the showcase for ‘evergreen events’ — self-contained limited series that think outside the box, that challenge readers to re-think their favorite Marvel characters and re-evaluate the legends that surround them. In other words, Marvel Knights will be a place for top talent to work without constraints, and deliver the kind of product fans deserve!”

Executive Editor and Marvel Knights’ “god-father” Axel Alonso sheds light on this new development. “These stand alone stories won’t just challenge readers to re-think their favorite Marvel legends. Oftentimes, we’ll focus on characters that are off the beaten path—boiling these archetypes down to their cores. We want to build on the tradition of limited series like Ennis and Crain’s GHOST RIDER, Frank Cho’s SHANNA, THE SHE-DEVIL and Rodi and Ribic’s LOKI — each of which offered very distinct visions for Marvel characters, and each of which — judging by sales numbers — were embraced by fandom.”

The mini-series that will define Marvel Knights for the future include the upcoming FURY: PEACEMAKER (Issue #1 - DEC051990) by Garth Ennis & Darick Robertson, the previously announced SILVER SURFER: REQUEIM by J. Michael Straczynski & Esad Ribic (set for early 2007), and the follow-up to the red-hot GHOST RIDER mini-series SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE by Garth Ennis & Clayton Crain. Also slated for Knight-hood is a chilling tale of Peter Parker’s future entitled THE SPIDER by Kaare Andrews. Look for these and more throughout 2006 and into 2007!

As for the on-going series that currently call Knights their home, they are moving under the Marvel Universe banner. It is important to note that this does not affect these books ratings, creative teams, or story content. The books affected will change with the issues indicated below:

BLACK PANTHER #14 (JAN062011), the first issue of the “Bride of the Panther” arc, which will see the union of Black Panther and the X-Men’s Storm.

DAREDEVIL #82 (DEC051984), which finds Daredevil’s fate at the mercy of some of his most feared villains, and masterfully crafted by Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark!

MOON KNIGHT #1, a new on-going which re-establishes the wildly popular, and unpredictable, character back in the Marvel Universe by crime-fiction author Charlie Huston and David (New Avengers) Finch

SQUADRON SUPREME #1 (JAN062014), will relaunch in March as the team is formed and stands as their Universe’s last line of defense—if they don’t kill each other or their own world first!

The ongoing WOLVERINE series will also change as of issue #42, when Logan welcomes aboard a new creative team and enters the brewing CIVIL WAR

Two books will also see a name change due to their move to the Marvel Universe.
MARVEL KNIGHTS FOUR will become FOUR with issue 28 (JAN0620090).
MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN becomes SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN with issue 23 (DEC051976), as Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Angel Medina take the helm of that title

2006 is the year to watch for the Marvel Universe, and Marvel Knights is no exception. Look for more ground-breaking, buzz-worthy series as the year progresses!