For nearly a century, the superhero-comics industry has been dominated by two New York–based giants: DC Comics and Marvel Comics. But as of this month, there’s only one left in the Big Apple. DC pulled up stakes and has moved its offices to California, but Marvel is sticking it out here in NYC. Not coincidentally, they’ve decided to produce a series of gorgeous New York–themed covers for comics coming out in May — and we’re proud to exclusively debut five of them! Each depicts an iconic Marvel superhero in an iconic New York location, and will be released as so-called “variant” covers (i.e., covers only released on a small number of issues printed).
“Anyone familiar with the Marvel universe will know New York is an integral part of our characters’ lives,” Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso told us. “Peter Parker is from Queens; Daredevil is from Hell’s Kitchen. These are characters that live and breathe in the five boroughs.” He also offered a little bit of light chiding for DC. “Our competitor is moving to the West Coast, and it’s stirred up some of our fans’ anxiety. That’s not the main reason we’re doing the covers, but this is a way of reminding fans that we’re here to stay.” Grab a dollar slice, curse a late subway train, and gaze upon these images of Marvel’s greats in Gotham (y’know, the real one).
