Aaron Reese

Spider-Man stands at the pinnacle of Marvel's heroes. The story of Peter Parker is a universal narrative, one that encapsulates teenage woes and the burdens of responsibility and heroism. Readers have come to know Peter Parker very well, but one of the interesting distinctions about Spider-Man is that it could be anyone under that mask. That's the fact that allowed for the debut of biracial, Brooklyn raised, Miles Morales on this day in 2011 in Ultimate Comics: Fallout #4; a young man who would later become the Ultimate Universe's --- and the Marvel Universe's --- Spider-Man.

When you think of the term superhero, what instinctively comes to mind? Is it a straight white man with bulging muscles and a scarlet cape? Or a brooding vigilante with an aggressive streak and a heart of gold? Whatever your thoughts on mainstream superheroes, Kamala Khan, otherwise known as Ms. Marvel, effortlessly dismantles them. Debuting on this day in 2013 in a cameo in the pages of Captain Marvel, the Pakistani American Muslim teenager quickly became one of the most honest and relatable heroes in the Marvel pantheon.

Wytches is a horror comic from writer Scott Snyder and artist Jock, with colors by Matt Hollingsworth, published by Image and debuting in October 2014. The series follows a family that relocates to escape the trauma of a troubling past, only to discover that there's something far more sinister lurking in the woods by their new home.

When Marvel announced the Black Panther film slated for a 2018 release, with Chadwick Boseman playing the titular character, a lot of fans lost their cool. Black Panther, an Avengers alum since 1967, represents more than the Marvel Studios movie machine’s first foray into a leading super hero of color. Hailing from the fictional African nation of Wakanda, Black Panther and his scientifically superior homeland are an example of a sub-genre of fiction in which Africans (and African Americans) display a prowess and understanding of technological and scientific advancement. Some called this Black Sci-Fi, but this fiction is perhaps more commonly called Afrofuturism.

Period piece comics can be precarious if not handled with care, but when done properly they make for inventive narratives drawing from a rich historical backdrop. Enter Strange Fruit, the upcoming Boom Studios series from the heavyweight creative team of J.G Jones and Mark Waid. Set in the fictional town of Chatterlee, Mississippi, issue #1 of Strange Fruit begins with the arrival of the Mississippi Flood of 1927, one of the most destructive natural disasters in US history. Heralding a much more significant anomaly, the flood plays as a secondary plot device to brewing racial and classist tensions in what appears to be a former plantation town.