Marvel Comics has announced Imperial, a four-issue event series kicking off in June by writer Jonathan Hickman, and artists Federico Vicentini (Miles Morales: Spider-Man) and Iban Coello (Venom War). A cosmic saga, the series will redefine the status quo for the Hulk Family, Black Panther, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and more for the foreseeable future.
IMPERIAL finds the galaxies of the Marvel Universe on the brink of major upheaval, following the elimination of several of its most prominent leaders. Nature abhors a vacuum, and empires fall, rulers are overthrown and power is seized in a saga of intrigue, mysteries and war, all taking place against the backdrop of the formation of new galactic order in the Marvel Universe. With groundbreaking developments for HULKS, BLACK PANTHERS, NOVAS, GUARDIANS and COSMIC KINGS and QUEENS, IMPERIAL lays the foundation for an entire new landscape of interconnected space-set stories, making it the must-read comic book of the summer!
Hickman, who’s no stranger to Cosmic Marvel events, having penned 2013’s Infinity and 2015’s Secret Wars, says, “The goal here is to kind of do what we did with the recent Ultimate line for all of our space titles, except having the setup book (Imperial) be more of an event than a world building exercise (like Ultimate Invasion). The art team is killing it, and we’re all just very excited for what’s happening in this special corner of the Marvel Universe.”
Vicentini, who is one of Marvel’s Stormbreaker artists, says, “Working with Hickman is a great challenge. I love his scripts. He writes really brilliant dialogue and puts incredible attention to details when it comes to the story’s setting. I only knew Hickman as a reader, so it was incredible to be approached to work with him and Iban, who is a phenomenal artist! I’m working hard to produce my best work, and I’m certainly having a lot of fun!”
Coello, who’s also a Stormbreaker, adds, “Being involved in this project is incredible. Creating all these new characters and costumes is really fun. Working with Hickman is something I never expected to be able to do, and it’s both cool and intimidating at the same time because of the magnitude of what he’s doing in the scripts. I look forward to being able to rise to the challenge and do a great job!”
Imperial #1 will be released on June 4. In the meantime, you can check out the artists’ concepts for the Hulk Family and Star-Lord in the series below, while the oversized Incredible Hulk #25, which will seemingly conclude Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Nic Klein‘s horror-themed run, will be released on May 21.
