First teased last December, Jonathan Hickman's sweeping new cosmic epic, Imperial, finally arrives in comic book stores this June.
Known for his work on Fantastic Four, Avengers, X-Men, and his creation of Marvel's new Ultimate line, the Ultimate Spider-Man writer will team up with artists Federico Vicentini and Iban Coello to "revolutionize" Marvel's galactic canon in this four-part event series.
Imperial finds the galaxies of the Marvel Universe on the brink of major upheaval, following the elimination of several of its most prominent leaders. Nature abhors a vacuum, and empires fall, rulers are overthrown and power is seized in a saga of intrigue, mysteries and war, all taking place against the backdrop of the formation of new galactic order in the Marvel Universe.
It's said that the series will feature groundbreaking developments for Hulks, Black Panthers, Novas, Guardians, and Cosmic Kings and Queens, laying the foundation for an entire new landscape of interconnected space-set stories.
"I’m very excited about this project as I’m obviously a huge fan of all things Marvel Cosmic," Hickman said today. "The goal here is to kind of do what we did with the recent Ultimate line for all of our space titles, except having the setup book be more of an event than a world-building exercise."
"The art team is killing it and we’re all just very excited for what’s happening in this special corner of the Marvel Universe."
Vicentini, best known for his work on Miles Morales: Spider-Man, added, "Working with Hickman is a great challenge. I love his scripts. He writes really brilliant dialogue and puts incredible attention to details when it comes to the story’s setting. I had only knew Hickman as a reader, so it was incredible to be approached to work with him and Iban, who is a phenomenal artist!"
"Being involved in this project is incredible," Venom War artist Coello noted. "Creating all these new characters and costumes is really fun. Working with Hickman is something I never expected to be able to do, and it's both cool and intimidating at the same time because of the magnitude of what he's doing in the scripts. I look forward to being able to rise to the challenge and do a great job!"
It sounds like Marvel Comics wants to take the cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe back to the drawing board for a new era of storytelling. It has been in something of a holding pattern since the highs of Annihilation, so this series will be welcomed by fans.
Check out the main Imperial cover by Ultimate Spider-Man artist Marco Checchetto along with some character designs below.
IMPERIAL #1 (OF 4)
Written by JONATHAN HICKMAN
Art by FEDERICO VICENTINI & IBAN COELLO
Cover by MARCO CHECCHETTO
On Sale 6/4