After two years of special Pride Month covers, Marvel is expanding its selection of celebratory covers and now has ones coming up for Black History Month (and even Women’s History Month later)! Artist Mateus Manhanini goes hard on the incredible covers, which you can glimpse below the cut alongside which comic issue they’ll be releasing with, 10 total to enjoy and collect. Elsewhere, Marvel just can’t let Darth Vader die so they’ve announced a new miniseries with the Black, White & Red moniker, based off a series they do for Marvel comics proper, set to launch this April with the return of Jason Aaron, first interior art by Peach Momoko (!!), and more. All the details and covers below!
Early versions of Mateus Manhanini’s Black History Month variant covers leaked in December, but the recent reveal of the final version brought a few new ones and some corrections to the leaks, though there are still three yet to be revealed. I’m glad honoring Black History Month joins the variant cover trend, as the Pride Month ones have been pretty great so far and any chance to expand a focus on diversity is important. But no one talks about these better than Manhanini himself, so here’s his comments:
“Making these covers was an honor, something I could never have imagined I would do! I felt a great responsibility to represent these characters but I transformed this challenge into a thirst to do my best.
“A lot is still discussed about Black representation in the industry and in stories of all media, especially in the science fiction genre. We humans, throughout our existence, we tell stories: that tell us what is right and what is wrong, that empower us, that create legends and cultures, that connect us with other people, that create gods and create monsters and help us deal with our own monsters. Stories feed the soul and increase our hope for a better and promising future, especially for us Black people who live under the effects of a racist structure, and science fiction is perfect for this because it is the genre that sets out to think and experiment with new horizons. So it is extremely valuable to have stories that tell about our life experiences and perspectives, and great works that include us and don’t treat us as mere supporting characters, be it in books, movies, or games.
“I hope that these covers manage to remember and reaffirm the presence of these Black characters within the Star Wars universe and about the importance of their stories being told. The more diversity we have, the more richness, power, and solidity this universe will have, and this will influence the life and experience of many readers.”
Manhanini understood the assignment, and then some, in these amazing covers. So, without further ado, here are the initial 7:
February 1:
Sana Starros #1 with the titular character’s brother Phel Starros on the cover
February 8:
Darth Vader #31 (Vol. 3) with Jannah | Hidden Empire #3 with Finn | The High Republic #5 – Phase II starring Oliviah Zeveron
February 15:
Bounty Hunter #31 has Lt. Jyala Haydenn on it | The Mandalorian #8 with Greef Karga | Star Wars #31 (Vol. 2) stars Lando
February 22:
Mace Windu slashes onto Yoda #4’s cover | Sana Starros has never looked happier on Doctor Aphra #29’s cover
March 1
Keeve Trennis from Phase I rocks out on The Blade #4’s cover!
And now the Sith-sized elephant in the room…another Darth Vader comic. I’m as burnt out as most of you likely reading this are about more comics starring Darth Vader, as while we’ve had some phenomenal series and my favorite character Doctor Aphra spawned from those initial tales, but the current run hasn’t inspired much confidence or desire for more of the helmeted Sith Lord’s adventures. Doubling that feeling is the death-sized hole approaching for Vader, as the current run is heading towards Return of the Jedi and we all know how that ends, so just when I thought we might get a break from MORE Vader content…they announce more anyways.
That all being said, at the very least, this is a more unique way to tell more Vader stories and thankfully isn’t another on-going, so while I might be grumpy about it, there’s a bit of promise here, especially thanks to the talent involved. Starting April 26 is Darth Vader: Black, White & Red, the Star Wars line’s take on Marvel’s superhero Black, White & Blood line, as it tells adventures about the characters in, you guessed it, black, white, and red. While the conceit isn’t enough to get me excited for the series, between the fact this is multiple little stories across all four issues, besides one recurring tale, plus it has an already impressive creative talent for the first issue, I’m intrigued enough I can’t be raving mad about more Vader, but I’m certainly still disappointed and angry they couldn’t choose to focus on…anyone else who might deserve it, maybe like some marginalized characters or something? At least there’s marginalized creatives!
Jason Aaron returns to Star Wars for the only recurring tale across all 4 issues, alongside artist Leonard Kirk’s return too. Aaron previously wrote the mainline Star Wars from 2015-2019, including crossovers like Vader Down and The Screaming Citadel, which I all reviewed for the Manor and then did a retrospective on, while Kirk has previously drawn Han Solo: Imperial Cadet and Age of Resistance – Villains. For issue #1, two other tales come from creatives Peach Momoko and Torunn Grønbekk, giving us a pleasant surprise to see more marginalized writers on a comic than more male writers. Peach Momoko’s artwork has graced several variant covers for Star Wars, but she’ll not only be writing this story, she’ll draw it as well in a first, and I cannot wait to see her beautiful style within these pages! Grønbekk also makes a debut here, and while I’m not familiar with her work, her words to the official site about this announcement reveal how eager she to writing this story:
“Darth Vader has always been my favorite part of Star Wars — make of that what you will! To say that I am excited to make my Star Wars debut writing the most iconic pop culture villain in history would be the understatement of the year. It’s been a joy to create a story that not only gives you a glimpse of the gritty reality of the Star Wars universe but also showcases Vader at his most cunning and violent.”
The excitement is a little infectious and I’m curious to see what other creatives they rope in for the remaining three issues. Look for the first one, and our review, April 26, 2023.
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.