Marvel Previews Benefit Cosmetics' SpyGal

In one of the odder previews we've run in a while, Marvel's custom printing arm, Marvel Custom Solutions, has released a five-page preview of SpyGal, a custom-published one-shot made for Benefit Cosmetics and based on The POREfessional, a popular pore minimizer with a package design that evokes spy themes. We are not making this up. Let's be clear: the press release says that the character's wisecracking persona was based on the product. "The superpowers of our bestselling pore minimizer, the POREfessional, created such an international sensation, we knew it was destined for greatness!," explained Julie Bell, EVP Global Marketing at Benefit Cosmetics in a press release that inexplicably did not come on April 1. "Marvel, the world's top storytellers, helped us bring our action hero SpyGal to life in the first ever beauty-inspired comic book." That writer James Asmus and artist Phil Noto joined forces on the book, which is intended to be female-empowering but which fails to make use of the skills of any female creators in an industry where that has recently become a major issue, seems even sillier. Noto, fresh off Infinite Horizon, will likely draw some eyes, though as his work is more visible now than it has been in years. And nobody seems to fool themselves that this is a work of high art, either. "Marvel and Benefit both know that humor and intelligence can be a heroes' greatest strength, especially when faced with life's modern problems," said Marvel Custom Solutions Editor Bill Rosemann. "SpyGal dispenses justice, beauty tips and witty life advice with an effortless grace, while also grappling with work and dating worries. Can SpyGal ever find Mr. Right…or must she sacrifice romance to the demands of her job helping powerful women spread their influence around the world? Writer James Asmus and artist Phil Noto reveal all in SpyGal #1!" [gallery link="file" order="DESC" columns="2"]