90s X-Men fans, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that influential artist Joe Madureira returns to once again draw the characters that made him a fan favorite, the X-Men! The bad news is that it’s only variant covers for the upcoming mini-series X-Men of Apocalypse, no interiors for now. Still, the return of Madureira—affectionately known to his fans as Joe Mad—to the X-Men in any capacity should generate a certain level of excitement and nostalgia for fans. The X-Men of Apocalypse miniseries will also see the return of Jeph Loeb, scribe of X-Man, to the popular Age of Apocalypse alternate universe (kicking off with a short in GIANT SIZE AGE OF APOCALYPSE). Each issue will receive a variant by Madureira alongside regular covers by series artist Simone Di Meo.
It’s guaranteed that there will be a lot of excitement for Madureira’s return to X-Men, no matter in what capacity. His legendary run on the book during the 1990s brought a Japanese-influenced look to the team. His style took inspiration from artists as disparate as Ghost in the Shell author Masamune Shirow to Capcom character designers Bengus and Akira “Akiman” Yasuda. In fact, the visual similarity between his work and the look of the X-Men in multiple Capcom fighting games certainly helped cement his legacy in a way that’s similar to Jim Lee and X-Men The Animated Series. While he wasn’t the first artist to bring a Japanese influence to the American comics scene, he was certainly one of the most high-profile at the time. It’s pretty easy to say in the mind of many fans that his run on X-Men is as important as that of Lee in the ’90s.
After finishing his run, he worked on the creator-owned Battle Chasers and eventually transitioned into work in the gaming industry, famously the Darksiders series. He’s come back from time to do interiors, including working with Loeb on Ultimates 3, but his work on video games means it’s harder for him to do interiors. Even the most recent run on his comic Battle Chasers featured interiors by artist Ludo Lullabi. He hasn’t done much comic book work in the last decade outside of a few covers. One can hope this is a sign he can carve out time in his schedule to complete some comics.
For more information, check out Marvel’s press release below
The Age of Apocalypse, the revolutionary ‘90s X-Men crossover, is reborn this September in X-MEN OF APOCALYPSE, a six-part event series by legendary scribe Jeph Loeb, a writer behind the original event, and Eisner nominated artist Simone Di Meo. Today, Marvel Comics is thrilled to announce that Joe Madureira, another superstar creator who brought Age of Apocalypse to life, will draw a variant cover for each issue.
Madureira transformed the look of the X-Books throughout the ‘90s with his distinct and innovative art style. Now, this highly influential artist returns to the franchise for the first time in decades with glorious depictions of the very characters he defined—the iconic X-Men of the Age of Apocalypse!
“I am beyond excited to be dipping back into this corner of the X-Men universe,” Madureira said. “I was literally a kid when I drew the Astonishing X-Men—it feels like several lifetimes ago, and I want to bring something new to these characters on my covers. Hopefully I can do justice to Simone’s incredible, explosive pages!”
“I met Joe Mad during the original 1995 Age of Apocalypse,” Loeb shared. “His style and storytelling brought a revolutionary look that is still influential today. When Marvel and I first started talking about this project there was no way we couldn’t ask Joe to do his distinctive, incredible covers (pencils, inks, colors) to the book. We were so thrilled when he said ‘Yes!’ I should point out that despite our friendship/partnership and overlooking his role in designing these characters, his real reason for joining was he’s a huge fan of Simone Di Meo! Uncanny!”
THE X-MEN OF APOCALYPSE CRASH INTO THE MAIN MARVEL UNIVERSE!
A dystopian future created when Charles Xavier was killed in a tragic time-travel accident, AGE OF APOCALYPSE is home to a wartorn group of X-Men led by Magneto. In order to free their Earth from Apocalypse’s cruel reign, they were willing to sacrifice their very existence—or so they thought! The main timeline was restored, Apocalypse was defeated, but their world lived on!
Taking place in the direct aftermath of the original crossover’s explosive finale, X-MEN OF APOCALYPSE reignites the mission of this iconic reality’s X-Men as they journey here to ensure their universe’s survival. This desperate mission will take them into the main Marvel Universe, where they will come into conflict with their classic counterparts, forever impacting both team’s destinies!
Mirroring the first AGE OF APOCALYPSE saga, X-MEN OF APOCALYPSE will kick off in X-MEN OF APOCALYPSE ALPHA #1, continue through X-MEN OF APOCALYPSE #1-4 starting in November, and conclude in X-MEN OF APOCALYPSE OMEGA #1. Check out Joe Madureira’s variant cover for X-MEN OF APOCALYPSE ALPHA #1 and be on the lookout for the rest to be revealed in the months ahead! For more information, visitMarvel.com.
X-Men of Apocalypse Alphaarrives on 9/3!
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