Marvel Announces New All-Ages Titles, Tied into Disney XD's Marvel Block

Just over two years ago, Marvel was announcing that Spider-Man and Super Heroes would headline its new all-ages Marvel Adventures line. With those comics folding soon, an announcement had been expected (and indeed teased by Marvel editors) as to the future of the company's all-ages publishing strategy; today, it's been made. In conjunction with the Marvel Universe programming block on Disney XD, beginning in April, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and Ultimate Spider-Man will both get "Adventures" tacked onto the end of their names and emerge as new comics that same month. "I couldn't be more excited for Marvel Universe," said Marvel's Editor In Chief, Axel Alonso, in a press release. "There is something special about The Avengers and Spider-Man that speaks to fans of all ages, and with the launch of Marvel Universe on Disney XD this April, what better way to connect the two experiences than these new ongoing series?" With character designs and art styles which resemble the animated series that share their name--in fact, the Ultimate Spider-Man Adventures #1 cover appears to be the exact same piece of art that Marvel and Disney XD used in their announcement earlier thismonth--the series will be written by familiar comics-industry names and drawn by artists whose names might not be common knowledge around the comics industry, but who have a long history in marketing, character design, illustration and inking.

Ultimate Spider-Man Adventures #1 will be written by Man of Action, Dan Slott & Ty Templeton. Man of Action is best known for work on Ben 10, while Slott currently writes Amazing Spider-Man and Templeton has a long history in cartooning, including work on comics that represent the DC Animated Universe which seem to make him ideal for the project. The series will be illustrated by Nuno Plati, whose DeviantArt page has plenty of solid examples of how his style can be applied to the Marvel Universe. The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes Adventures #1 features a pair of stories, both told through the eyes of Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg's Marvel Movie Universe character, first seen in Iron Man) and featuring the writing of Chris Yost and Adam Dekraker on art chores. While the choices of titles seem clearly to appeal to a mainstream, bookstore-type audience who might stumble upon a grocery store spinner rack (yes, they still have them--at least at Wegmans) and recognize these characters and titles from this summer's movies The Avengers and The Amazing Spider-Man. Nevertheless, Marvel's description of the books promises "special guest stars," so don't be surprised to see these titles taking on the same role as DC's Batman: The Brave and the Bold, introducing younger readers to some of the more obscure and less movie-friendly characters of the publisher's comics universe.