Avengers

We recently learned what fans had already suspected, that the character Pom Klementieff is playing in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is none other than Mantis, a character who has been featured prominently in the Guardians comics. But who is Mantis? We still don't know much about what she'll be like in the movie, but she's existed in comics for 43 years, so we know that version of her pretty well. And looking back at her history may give us some insight about what to expect from this new version of the character.

Before Ms. Marvel was a superhero, she was a fan. A superhero fan specifically, writing fanfic for the internet's consumption about the Avengers and other heroes. That's a big reason she was so excited to become a hero, and even more excited when she was asked to join the Avengers at the beginning of All-New All-Different Avengers. Now readers of that series get to dive into that world with her in All-New All-Different Avengers Annual #1. The book features "fan fiction" stories of the Marvel universe written by G. Willow Wilson, Mark Waid, Natasha Allegri, Faith Erin Hicks, Scott Kurtz, and Zac Gorman, and features art by Allegri, Hicks, Kurtz, Mahmud Asrar, Chip Zdarsky, and Jay Fosgitt. It seems like just the relief we all need from the grimness of Civil War II, and it goes on sale August 10.

Yesterday we reported on the leaking of Marvel Comics' Marvel Previews free magazine, unveiling their entire post-Civil War II line-up including comics such as The Unstoppable Wasp, Solo, Foolkiller and Prowler. Today, the magazine has officially been released via comic stores and online, confirming even more titles and creative teams, including a Kate Bishop Hawkeye book and the much awaited Gamora solo title from Guardians of the Galaxy screenwriter Nicole Perlman.

Marvel’s reveal of its Marvel NOW line of comics set for release in the wake of Civil War II has taken the form of a steady drip of announcements over the past week and a half, but now news is flooding in, and not all from official sources. Leaked scans of this week's Marvel NOW Previews magazine revealing the publisher's line-up for October and beyond have hit the internet via sites such as Reddit and 4chan. We’ve rounded up all the information we could find to give you a sense of the new landscape of the Marvel Universe this fall.

John Byrne is a controversial figure in comics, all the more so as he's moved to disavow his work with mainstream publishers, yet his legacy within the industry is undeniable, and his contributions to iconic franchise properties and to early creator-owned independent work are worthy of celebration. Born on this day in 1950, John Byrne moved from England to Canada at the age of eight, and it was here that he first encountered American superhero comics. He enrolled in --- but dropped out of --- the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary, and began contributing to Roger Stern and Bob Layton’s Contemporary Pictoral Literature. Their character Rog-2000 was spotted by Charlton Comics, and the team began contributing back-up stories in the pages of E-Man.

While reviews for Captain America: Civil War were not quite as unanimous as past entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there was one thing we could all agree on: Sony Pictures was very, very smart to let Marvel take a crack at shaping the next series of Spider-Man movies.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from our years on the Internet, it’s that there’s no aspect of comics that can’t be broken down and quantified into a single definitive list, preferably in amounts of five or ten. And since there’s no more definitive authority than ComicsAlliance, we’re taking it upon ourselves to compile Top Five lists of everything you could ever want to know about comics and pop culture. Previously I told you about Marvel's five worst events, but this week, instead of laughing at their failures; I'm going to applaud their greatest storytelling successes! This week we're looking at some of the very best Marvel Comics events!

The verdict is officially in. Captain America: Civil War has dazzled viewers and critics while establishing itself as one of the best superheroes films ever made. The scope of the MCU seems to have doubled overnight, and the superhero throwdown at the heart of the movie has become an instant classic. The movie offers a great range of stylistic touchstones, from the stealth and sleek of the Black Panther to those iconic Spider-Man underoos. Whatever your personal style, we think we have something in our latest Hero Mode collection that you might like.

Attention now turning from Civil War to Avengers: Infinity War (or whatever they end up calling it), time and time again Marvel brass have tempered expectations as to whether the climactic MCU event will finally bridge the gulf between movie and TV. Not likely, it seems, as writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely reveal the “nearly impossible” challenge in logistics.

Stuart Immonen is an artist’s artist. In fact, that’s probably not going far enough. It’s probably more accurate to say that he’s an artist’s artist’s artist. That’s not easy to say, but it’s not easy to have a career like Stuart Immonen, so he’s earned it. With the arrival of the fantasy/science-fiction epic in the making Empress, his new creator-owned book with writer Mark Millar, there’s no better time to take a look back at his incredible body of work with a collection of some of his best covers and splash-pages.