Marvel Comics Announces New Swimsuit Special For First Time In 30 Years, Pin-Up Book To Tease Future ‘Marvel Rivals’ Costumes
In a revival that admittedly seemed completely out of the question given the current social attitudes towards anything that could even remotely be considered sexy, Marvel Comics has shockingly announced that for the first time in three decades – and ostensibly in order to bank off the massive success of the Marvel Rivals hero shooter – this summer will see the release of a brand new Marvel Swimsuit Special.
A staple of early 90s comic book culture, the Marvel Swimsuit Specials were intended as a parody of the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues (so much so that the first such special was actually titled Marvel Illustrated: The Swimsuit Issue) and delivered exactly what they promised on the cover: various swimsuit pin-ups of Marvel’s costumed heroes and villains.
Featuring contributions from a range of artists including such eventual industry superstars as Adam Hughes, Gary Frank, and Dan Panosian, the specials depicted not just the publisher’s female heroes, like Scarlet Witch and Wasp, but also its male ones, including Captain America, Hulk, and the Scarlet Spider.
And though this particular type of ‘cheesecake special’ seemed to have the final nail put into its coffin with the now infamous outrage surrounding Milo Manara’s Spider-Woman Vol. 5 #1 cover, in a surprising twist, Marvel Comics has surprised even their own reader base with the announcement of the Marvel Swimsuit Special: Friends, Foes & Rival.
Sporting a main cover from the aforementioned Hughes and three variants provided by Mark Brooks, Taurin Clarke, and Russell Dauterman respectively, the special will not only present readers with hot new looks at their favorite characters, but do so as part of an original story provided by writers Tim Seeley and Tony Fleecs and artist Nick Bradshaw.
“Roxxon Comics is at it again when they release their own UNAUTHORIZED SWIMSUIT SPECIAL!” reads Marvel Comics’ official issue teaser. “Wasp is on the case and seizes the opportunity for Marvel’s heroes to do their OWN swimwear fashion shoot all over the world! But fear not, True Believers, we know what you’re REALLY here for! This super-sized special features splash page after splash page of gorgeous art, but with a story so you can pretend you’re ‘reading it for the articles’…”
Set to feature pin-ups from a number of artists, with Nic Klein (Incredible Hulk Vol. 4), Marguerite Sauvage (Life of Captain Marvel Vol. 2), and Luciano Vecchio (Venom War: Venomous Vol. 1) being the only thus far confirmed contributors, the special will notably “also include designs for new costumes coming soon to the Marvel Rivals, the mega popular multiplayer video game from Marvel Games and NetEase Games.”
To this end, while it’s unclear just exactly what these new Marvel Rivals suits will look like, considering both the swimsuit-focus of the issue and NetEase Game’s particularly titillating design philosophies, there’s a good chance that their appearance will light the internet absolutely ablaze – Remember the reactions to Malice’s introduction?
Barring any unforeseen publishing or shipping delays, the Marvel Swimsuit Special: Friends, Foes, & Rivals Vol. 1 #1 one-shot is currently scheduled to crash onto shelves on July 9th.
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