This summer, DC Comics and Marvel Comics are rereleasing the historic 2003/2004 JLA/Avengers crossover by Kurt Busiek and George Pérez as a series of facsimile edition comic books.
Today, DC has revealed Alex Ross' jaw-dropping variant cover for Avengers/JLA #4. Marvel Comics will publish JLA/Avengers #1 (May) and #3 (July) while DC Comics will publish Avengers/JLA #2 (June) and #4 (August).
The new Ross cover art is part of a two-piece connecting image created exclusively for these new facsimile editions, and it pays homage to George Pérez's cover for 1983's Comics Interview Special Edition #6. Marvel Comics will publish the first half of the piece on JLA/Avengers #3 in July, featuring the Avengers, and DC will publish the other half on Avengers/JLA #4, featuring the Justice League.
Together, the two covers connect to form a face-off between the iconic teams, and we're sure you'll agree this is a piece of artwork worthy of being displayed on the wall, not just as a still-admittedly gorgeous variant cover.
For those of you unfamiliar with this event—it has been out of print for some time now—here's the official description:
It’s the grandest Marvel and DC comics crossover of them all and an icon-packed event decades in the making! After years of anticipation, JLA/Avengers reunited acclaimed writer Kurt Busiek (Marvels) with his Avengers collaborator George Pérez—an artistic legend for both companies—to assemble every single member of Earth’s Mightiest and the World’s Greatest in one blockbuster book! Universes collide as the Justice League fights the towering Terminus and the Avengers face the awesome menace of Starro! Each team must undertake an epic quest on the other’s world, with the fate of both realities in the balance!
DC and Marvel will faithfully reproduce the original four-issue saga with classic trade dress, original wraparound card stock covers, and the full story as it appeared in 2003 and 2004. According to DC, readers can preorder the issues now at their local comics shop and request all four facsimile editions to complete the set.
For those of you who haven't read the series, it's definitely worth checking out, as the story features iconic moments like Captain America squaring off with Batman, The Flash racing Quicksilver, and Superman wielding Mjolnir.
Check out the connecting covers below, and stay tuned for more on the JLA/Avengers and Avengers/JLA reprints as we have them. There's currently no word on a hardcover or paperback reprint, but we're sure it's coming.