New Marvel Swimsuit Special Has a Marvel Rivals Tie In

Marvel Rivals made a splash when the super hero team-based PvP shooter hit consoles and PC in December. The hit video game soaked up more than 10 million players in its first 72 hours of availability, and has gone on to reach more than 40 million players with events themed to the Fantastic Four and the X-Men’s Krakoa-era Hellfire Gala. Launched April 11, the ongoing “Flowers of Krakoa” battle pass has brought with it such skins as Cloak & Dagger’s Dance Partner costume, Captain America’s Star Spangled Style, and the Hulk’s grey-skinned, fedora-clad Joe Fixit skin.

Speaking of skin, Marvel heroes and villains will suit up in their swimsuits for the Marvel Swimsuit Special: Friends, Foes & Rivals, the publisher’s first Swimsuit Special since 1995. The one-shot comic from writers Tim Seeley (Rogue: The Savage Land) and Tony Fleecs (The Thing) and artist Nick Bradshaw (Godzilla vs. Spider-Man) stars fashion designer-slash-superhero Janet van Dyne, a.k.a. the Wasp, and features designs for new seasonal costumes coming soon to Marvel Rivals.

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Paying homage to the magazine-style Swimsuit Special that launched in 1991 as Marvel Illustrated: The Swimsuit Issue #1 — a 52-page mag complete with steamy pinups and a series of faux ads — the new Swimsuit Special will include superhero swimwear designs by superstar artists like Luciano Vecchio (Storm), Marguerite Sauvage (Scarlet Witch), Nic Klein (The Incredible Hulk), and more.

Here’s the official synopsis: “Roxxon Comics is at it again when they release their own UNAUTHORIZED SWIMSUIT SPECIAL! Wasp is on the case and seizes the opportunity for Marvel’s heroes to do their OWN swimwear fashion shoot all over the world! But fear not, True Believers, we know what you’re REALLY here for! This super-sized special features splash page after splash page of gorgeous art, but with a story so you can pretend you’re ‘reading it for the articles…’”

A Skimpy History of Marvel’s Swimsuit Specials

1991’s Marvel Illustrated: The Swimsuit Issue #1, edited by Bobbie Chase with a bikini-clad She-Hulk cover by painter, penciller, inker, and colorist Brian Stelfreeze, turned the jungles of the Savage Land into the host setting of the Super Olympics and a swimsuit charity event sponsored by Tony Stark’s Stark Enterprises. Fashion designer Janet van Dyne, who coined that colorful name “the Avengers,” served as swimsuit editor and got her superhero friends to “throw decorum out the window for the most amusing, elegant, and off-beat shots ever displayed in a fashion layout.”

The issue’s swimsuit shots were created by hot talent like Jim Lee (X-Men), Rob Liefeld (New Mutants), John Romita Jr. (Amazing Spider-Man), Rick Leonardi (Spider-Man 2099), Marc Silvestri (Uncanny X-Men), Rick Leonardi (Spider-Man 2099), Walt Simonson (Thor), George Pérez (The Avengers), and more.

Features included “Women’s Bodybuilding” with the sensational She-Hulk, “Surfing” with the tubular Silver Surfer, “Boxing” with Matt Murdock/Daredevil, and “The Boys (and Girls) of Summer,” a gallery featuring superheroes and supervillains in the hottest swimsuits of the 1991 season.

Marvel Comics would publish another four issues of the retitled Marvel Swimsuit Special from 1992 through 1995, set in such iconic locations as Wakanda, the Moon, Monster Island, and Madripoor.

The summer-themed Marvel Swimsuit Special: Friends, Foes & Rivals #1 goes on sale July 9 from Marvel Comics. See the variant covers below.

Marvel Swimsuit Special: Friends, Foes & Rivals #1 Wraparound Variant Cover by Mark Brooks

Marvel Swimsuit Special: Friends, Foes & Rivals #1 Variant Cover by Russell Dauterman

Marvel Swimsuit Special: Friends, Foes & Rivals #1 Variant Cover by Taurin Clarke