Guardians And X-Men Clash In ‘Black Vortex'; Peggy Carter Returns In ‘Operation S.I.N.'; Next ‘Star Wars’ Comic Unveiled [NYCC]

There was a time when Marvel's cosmic titles felt very detached from the rest of the Marvel Universe. Sure, they had their own epic events, but those events never reached Earth, and they always starred obscure dudes like Star-Lord, Gamora, and Rocket Raccoon. What a difference a huge summer box office smash movie makes, because suddenly the cosmic stuff is important, and tied to the X-Men and the Avengers, and features fan favorite characters like Star-Lord, Gamora, and Rocket Raccoon.

So to ride that annihilation wave of success, Marvel is planning its first big cosmic event since the end of the Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning-penned Annihilation/War of Kings cycle that ran from 2006 to 2010. (Or last year's Infinity, if you count that, but that was all about Earth, so we don't.) Black Vortex will cross over between Guardians of the Galaxy, the space-bound All-New X-Men, Cyclops, Legendary Star-Lord, Nova, Captain Marvel, and more.

Announced at the Cup O' Joe panel at New York Comic-Con on Saturday, Black Vortex will launch in Black Vortex Alpha in February, illustrated by Ed McGuinness. The event is plotted and written by Sam Humphries, Brian Michael Bendis, Kelly Sue DeConnick, and Gerry Duggan.

The titular Black Vortex is an object of unfathomable power that can grant a person their deepest desire. Speaking at the panel, Humphries compared its effect to the Power Cosmic, which transformed the Silver Surfer, or the Phoenix Force, which transformed Jean Grey. Naturally the heroes will try to keep it out of the hands of various villains, including the Brood, Thanos's kid Thane, and Star-Lord's crime boss nemesis Mr Knife -- but they'll also be tempted by the power themselves. So expect the heroes to fight and team up.

We'll have an interview with Humphries later this week.

Also announced at Cup O' Joe; Operation S.I.N., which serves as both a prequel of sorts to the recent Original Sin event and a tie-in to Marvel's Agent Carter TV show. The five issue series launches in January from writer Kathryn Immonen and artist Rich Ellis, and features Peggy Carter, Howard Stark, and "man on the wall" Woodrow McCord as they delve into the pre-history of the modern day Marvel Universe.

We'll have an interview with the Operation S.I.N. creative team this week as well.

The other big announcement at the Cup O' Joe panel was the latest addition to Marvel's Star Wars line; Kanan: The Last Padawan, a five issue mini series also written by Greg Weisman and illustrated by Pepe Larraz, with covers by Mark Brooks. The series focuses on the early years of renegade Jedi Kanan Jarrus, recently introduced as one of the leads in the Star Wars: Rebels animated series. Weisman is a writer and producer on Rebels, so the announcement of this series may be taken as evidence of how tightly bound together the new Marvel/Disney Star Wars continuity will be.