IMPERIAL: Marvel Comics Assembles The New IMPERIAL GUARDIANS In One-Shot By ANNIHILATION Scribe Dan Abnett

IMPERIAL: Marvel Comics Assembles The New IMPERIAL GUARDIANS In One-Shot By ANNIHILATION Scribe Dan Abnett

Legendary Annihilation and Guardians of the Galaxy scribe Dan Abnett is teaming up with Jonathan Hickman (Avengers) for a new Imperial tie-in, Imperial War: Imperial Guardians #1. Read on for details...

By JoshWilding - Jul 14, 2025 04:07 AM EST
Filed Under: Marvel Comics

Imperial, a four-issue event series by Avengers and Fantastic Four writer Jonathan Hickman and artists Iban Coello (Venom War) and Federico Vicentini (Miles Morales: Spider-Man), is reshaping the Marvel cosmos and ushering in a new era of galactic storytelling, starting with five Imperial War one-shots.

Today, you can learn about the last of these one-shots, Imperial War: Imperial Guardians, ahead of its release in comic book stores this October.

Imperial War: Imperial Guardians #1 will be written by Dan Abnett, the influential storyteller behind Marvel space epics like Annihilation and War of the Kings, and illustrated by Cory Smith, the acclaimed artist known for his work on Nova and, more recently, Fantastic Four.

Co-written by Hickman, all five Imperial War one-shots represent key chapters of the overall Imperial narrative and lay the foundation for upcoming series launching in this burgeoning cosmic landscape. In Imperial Guardians, Captain Marvel, Gamora, Darkhawk, and more assemble as a new space-faring super team to take on the many threats emerging from the conflict raging across the stars—beginning with a dark conspiracy at the heart of the Skrull Empire. 

Here's the official description for Imperial War: Imperial Guardians #1:

As the events of Imperial explode in fatal fashion, the Super-Skrull finds himself at the center of a seditious scheme with consequences that will be felt by the entire cosmos! But he’s not the only superpower looking for answers – an unlikely team is on the hunt to avert disaster before galactic order is lost for good!

"It’s great to be back telling cosmic stories as part of the Imperial event," Abnett shared. "My time spent with Nova and the Guardians back in the day was some of the most fun I’ve ever had in comics, and Jonathan’s orchestrating exactly the kind of epic-SF-scale, character-driven and drama-packed epic I love to sink my teeth into."

"This is quite some ride, and the Galaxy - and the Guardians - won’t be the same again! I’d say it’s the best jumping-on point for Marvel Cosmic since the original Annihilation," the writer added.

You can take a closer look at the Imperial War: Imperial Guardians #1 cover by Francesco Mortarino below. Marvel Comics has also promised that more Imperial announcements will be coming our way later this month at the San Diego Comic-Con.

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IMPERIAL WAR: IMPERIAL GUARDIANS #1
Written by DAN ABNETT & JONATHAN HICKMAN
Art by CORY SMITH
Cover by FRANCESCO MORTARINO
On Sale 10/1

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Mrnorth1921
Mrnorth1921 - 7/14/2025, 6:33 AM
He writes the more prominent Horus Hersey and 40k novels.
Malatrova15
Malatrova15 - 7/14/2025, 6:40 AM
Cósmic Book NEWS having a nice day after all
dragon316
dragon316 - 7/14/2025, 8:05 AM
Looks ok nothing special darkhawk fan not fan of others
drgnblitz
drgnblitz - 7/14/2025, 9:10 AM
I enjoyed Imperial #1, so I'm intrigued. This mainly has me because of Darkhawk.
Pathogen
Pathogen - 7/14/2025, 11:48 AM
@drgnblitz - omg when I collected, I had the first few Darkhawk comics and thought they were kinda lame lol
Is he catching on? Wanna buy the ones I have? lmao
plasticman
plasticman - 7/14/2025, 12:38 PM
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this is interesting, only because it involved Darkhawk. I hope they are able to work ROM the Space Knight in somehow, either in this series or future storylines.
RegularPoochie
RegularPoochie - 7/14/2025, 2:53 PM
Is that cosmic ghost rider?

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