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50th Anniversay What If…? One-Shots Coming June-August

New York, NY— April 10, 2026 — To celebrate the 50th anniversary of What If?, Marvel Comics is taking a bold leap into the multiverse to discover mythos-shattering new twists on some of its most definitive stories! Announced earlier this year, the series of one-shots kicks off in June with WHAT IF…? UNCANNY X-MEN #1 by Gerry Duggan and Jan Bazaldua and WHAT IF…? THOR #1 by Torunn Grønbekk and Sergio Dávila. Today, fans can check out covers and learn additional story information for the next three WHAT IF…? one-shots hitting stands in July: WHAT IF…? SECRET WARS #1; WHAT IF…? JESSICA JONES #1; and WHAT IF…? SPIDER-MAN #1.

In WHAT IF…? SECRET WARS, Alex Paknadel and Cafu reverse the ending of Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić’s universe-breaking Secret Wars, giving the original Ultimate Universe a chance to live on! Then, Justina Ireland and David Messina introduce an all-new—not-so-friendly—Spider-Girl, A.K.A. Jessica Jones, in WHAT IF…? JESSICA JONES #1. Then, the author of one of the greatest Spider-Man tales of all time, J.M. DeMatteis, returns alongside artist Yildiray Çinar for a bold reimagining of the aftermath of his legendary “Kraven’s Last Hunt” storyline.

WHAT IF…? SECRET WARS #1

Written by ALEX PAKNADEL
Art by CAFU
Cover by LUCAS WERNECK
On Sale 7/1

WHAT IF…THE ULTIMATE UNIVERSE SURVIVED THE SECRET WARS?

Goodbye, Marvel Universe! Starring Peter Parker, our beloved friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, as he is forced to survive in a not-so-friendly neighborhood after losing everything! What becomes of the original Ultimate Universe in a post-Secret Wars landscape? How did they defeat the Beyonder? And who does Spider-Man become after losing everything?

WHAT IF…? JESSICA JONES #1

Written by JUSTINA IRELAND
Art by DAVID MESSINA
Cover by LUCAS WERNECK
On Sale 7/15

WHAT IF…JESSICA JONES WAS BITTEN BY THE RADIOACTIVE SPIDER?

Teenage Super-Hero Sensation Spider-Girl is retired. Surly and eternally miffed bartender Jessica Jones wants nothing more than to leave that part of her life and the traumas that came with it firmly behind her. But when a ghost from her past comes back to haunt her, she finds herself unable to leave well enough alone. Has the Green Goblin returned? And if so, is an out-of-shape ex-superhero enough to stop him?

WHAT IF…? SPIDER-MAN #1

Written by J.M. DEMATTEIS
Art by YILDIRAY ÇINAR
Cover by LUCAS WERNECK
On Sale 7/29

WHAT IF…KRAVEN SURVIVED HIS “LAST HUNT”?

Leaving Spider-Man broken, insane, and vulnerable to the influence of an old enemy…and who better to fill the void left by the spider than Kraven the Hunter?! One way or another, both Kraven and Peter will become something more—and finally settle the score between them!

Additional One-Shots Include:

WHAT IF…? UNCANNY X-MEN #1
Written by GERRY DUGGAN
Art by JAN BAZALDUA
Cover by LUCAS WERNECK
On Sale 6/3

WHAT IF…? THOR #1
Written by TORUNN GRØNBEKK
Art by SERGIO DÁVILA
Cover by LUCAS WERNECK
On Sale 6/17

WHAT IF…? CAPTAIN AMERICA #1
Written by MARC GUGGENHEIM
Art by RON LIM
Cover by LUCAS WERNECK
On Sale 8/5

WHAT IF…? RUNAWAYS #1
Written by RAINBOW ROWELL
Art by ZULEMA LAVINA
Cover by LUCAS WERNECK
On Sale 8/19

WHAT IF…? X-MEN #1
Written by ASHLEY ALLEN
Art by SUMIT KUMAR
Cover by LUCAS WERNECK
On Sale 8/26

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Red Ultramarine by Manuele Fior

What do you get when you tell the story of Daedalus and Icarus, and combine it with a parallel story about a modern architect named Fausto? Does it matter if the architect stays resolutely a secondary character, and makes no deals with any infernal agencies? How about if the whole thing is told in slashing, imagistic hues of black and red? Or if the architect’s girlfriend Silvia is the main character?

Those are some of the elements in Manuele Fior’s graphic novel Red Ultramarine , which I think is his earliest work to be translated into English. The Italian original came out in 2006 – and is the earliest book listed on his website – and this translation, by Jamie Richards, is from 2019.

I don’t think I entirely understood what Fior was trying to do here. Why does King Minos seem to be the same person as the esteemed doctor that Silvia consults about her boyfriend’s obsession? How does that doctor’s assistant, Marta, connect the two worlds – Silvia and Fausto in the modern day, Icarus and the rest in ancient Greece? And why is Marta young and gorgeous – and, notably, naked – in Greece, but older and more settled with the modern doctor?

The story, such as it is, bounces back and forth between the two timelines. Icarus works with his father near the labyrinth, both are eventually thrown into it and have to escape, and do so in the traditional way with the traditional tragic end. Meanwhile, Silvia consults the doctor – who hectors her and rants about Faust for no obvious reason – about her boyfriend’s obsession with perfection and labyrinths, is given a cream by Marta that promises to make the large birthmark on her face “go away,” and uses that cream, which turns her entire body the color of the birthmark and sends her back to the time of Icarus. Silvia consults the doctor – who is somehow also in ancient Greece and has the same face as Minos, but is dressed differently, so maybe they’re not the same person? – and demands that he send her back to her world, and he responds in much the same confusing wordy flood as before, which makes her hysterical.

All of the dialogue in Red Ultramarine talks around things: nothing is stated clearly. No options are laid out cleanly. The connections are symbolic, imagistic, implied. And all of the talk about Faust doesn’t lead anywhere cleanly – it comes across as a red herring.

Speaking of colors, the title is also a bit perplexing. The book is steeped in red – several of the characters, especially in Greece, have dark red skin tones, and red is an element on every page. Ultramarine, though, is entirely absent from the book – that slash of blue on the cover is the only blue in the entire book. The art inside uses black to complement red – black as the base, the core element, red as the embellishment, most of the time.

The art is gorgeous and striking, almost abstract at times in its stark outlines and elegant simplicity. It’s not simple in a cartoony sense, but simple like design, like a mid-century poster. It’s visually stunning throughout, a succession of compelling pages, even as the words confuse and obfuscate.

In the end, I took this as an early work by a creator still figuring out what he wanted to say and how to say it. Possibly also a creator more comfortable with pictures than with the words that partner them – able to make the art say what he wanted but not quite as adept yet with the words.

Reposted from The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

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Was That Normal? by Alex Potts

Philip is about forty. He has one of those jobs you can do from anywhere, on a laptop, so he does it from his apartment, alone. He lives in a British city, probably mid-sized – not very specific, not very special. His apartment is garden-level, which means he looks out his window, while typing on that laptop, below the street. He doesn’t have any long-term friends, or any connections with colleagues that we see – the closest person in his life is his landlady/roommate, an older woman who intermittently tries to engage Philip and be friendly with him.

Philip isn’t all that good at being engaged and friendly. He’s wrapped up too much in his own head, the kind of person who obsessively thinks about what’s he’s doing, what he should be doing, and if there’s anything that he wants to be doing. (There usually isn’t..) He goes out to the pub now and then, because he thinks he should or because he thinks he’ll have a good time this time, but he inevitably ends up drinking too much to be social and pays for it later.

Was That Normal?  is a graphic novel, by British creator Alex Potts . It covers a few months in Philip’s life – how he starts from that point of being stuck, how he’s searching for connection, what happens to him, and where he ends up. There are no major epiphanies, no huge revelations, no amazing transformations – like all of us, Philip is deeply embedded in his own life, and all changes will be gradual and incremental.

But he does want more, want something different. He does try, in his fumbling, uneasy way, to open up to experience, to look for things that would make his life brighter. He gets dragged out to a concert, and is struck by the singer, Gina. He sees her around town, and strikes up a friendship.

He obviously wants more, but things are messy – Gina has a volatile not-quite-ex and doesn’t seem terribly interested in anything more serious than friendship with Alex. But she is friendly, and it looks like it’s been a long time since Philip had a friend.

He’s uncomfortable with a lot of the day-to-day of life, the kind of person who over-thinks everything and then has trouble just doing even the little bits of social interaction that more thoughtless people never waste a moment on. That might not change – or not entirely. He’s going to stay Philip. But he might be able to be a Philip a little more comfortable in his own skin, a Philip who tries more things, a Philip who spends more time with people and gets better at it. I do say “might” – Potts, again, is not going for epiphanies or transformations here; this is a realistic, grounded story about a real person in a real world, and nothing is guaranteed. 

Potts draws Was That Normal? with a slightly rumpled, indy-esque line – immediate and grounded, with his people not quite as pretty as a reader might expect. His panel borders are hand-drawn, just a bit uneven. The colors feel just a tone or two off from purely realistic – slightly more of a picture than the thing itself, usually in earthy tones, with lots of yellows/tans, browns and dull reds for backgrounds.

Was That Normal? could be a little hard to take, particularly for readers with a lot of Philip in their own makeup – but it’s well-observed and thoughtfully true, and does provide some hope for this Philip…and, by extension, for all of the rest of us.

Reposted from The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

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Rambo: The Complete Collection 4K discs Arrive May 26

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS

Since its debut nearly four decades ago, the Rambo series starring Sylvester Stallone has become one of the most iconic action- movie franchises of all time. An ex-Green Beret haunted by memories of Vietnam, the legendary fighting machine known as Rambo has battled small-town prejudice, freed POWs, rescued his commanding officer from the Soviets, and liberated missionaries in Myanmar. In his final mission, Rambo’s vengeance is unleashed after an old friend’s granddaughter is kidnapped in Mexico.

Special Features on the 4K+ Digital

Bonus Disc (New to this release)

·    Reflections on First Blood with Ted Kotcheff
·    Storyboarding First Blood
·    The Art of Rambo
·    Rambo Auction
·    Poster Gallery

First Blood

·      Audio Commentary with Sylvester Stallone
·      Audio Commentary with Writer David Morrell
·      “An American Hero’s Journey” featurette
·      “A Long Road: 40 Years of First Blood” featurette
·      “The Hunter and the Hunted: Scoring First Blood” featurette
·      “First Blood: A Look Back” featurette
·      “Drawing First Blood: 20 Years Later” featurette
·      “Rambo Takes the 80s Part 1” featurette
·      Alternative Ending
·      Outtake
·      “Saigon Bar” Deleted Scene 
·      “The Real Nam” (“The True Vietnam”) featurette
·      “Forging Heroes” (“America’s Green Berets”) featurette 
·      “How to Become Rambo Part 1” featurette 
·      “Sly vs. Rambo” interview with Sylvester Stallone 
·      5 Trailers
·    TV Edit – Deleted and Extended Scenes

Rambo: First Blood Part II

·   Audio Commentary with Director George P. Cosmatos
·   “We Get to Win This Time: The Rambo Phenomenon” featurette 
·   “Guts and Glory” 
·   “Rambo Takes the 80s Part 2″ featurette
·   Featurettes:
·   – “Preparing For Action” 
·   – “Creating The Reality Of War” 
·   – “Action In The Jungle”
·   – “Behind the Scenes/Behind the Camera”
·   – “Sean Baker: Fulfilling a Dream”
·   – “The Last American P.O.W.” featurette
·   Interview with Sylvester Stallone  
·   Interview with Richard Crenna 
·   3 Trailers
·   TV Spots

Rambo III

·   Audio Commentary with Director Peter MacDonald
·   “Rambo Takes the 80s Part 3” featurette 
·   “Rambo III: Full Circle” featurette 
·   “Afghanistan: Land in Crisis” featurette 
·   -“Suiting Up: Rambo’s Survival Hardware”
·   -“Rambo-nomics” 
·   -“Selling a Hero”
·   “How to Become Rambo Part 3” featurette 
·   “Trautman & Rambo” featurette 
·   “Scope” featurette
·   Behind the Scenes Making Of
·   8 Deleted Scenes  
·   3 Trailers
·   TV Spot
·   “Rambo 3 Film Montage”
·   Behind the Scenes Making Of
·   Trailer – 4K Trilogy   
·   Trailer – DVD Ultimate Edition Trilogy

Rambo

·   Audio Commentary with Director Sylvester Stallone (theatrical cut)
·   “Production Diary: To Hell and Back” documentary
·   – “It’s a Long Road: The Resurrection of an Icon” 
·   – “A Score to Settle: The Music of Rambo”
·  – “The Art of War: Part 1: Editing”
·   – “The Art of War: Part 2: Sound”
·   – “The Weaponry of Rambo”
·   – “A Hero’s Welcome: Release and Reaction” 
·   – “Legacy of Despair: The Real Struggle in Burma” 
·   Deleted scenes
·   2 Trailers 
·   On Set with Stallone

Rambo: Last Blood

·   Drawing Last Blood: Multi Part Production Diary” documentary
·   Theatrical Trailer 
·   Featurettes:

  • Rambo’s Greatest Hits
  • Vengeance

·   3 Trailers 
·   TV & Digital Spots

Directed by: Ted Kotcheff; George P. Cosmatos; Peter MacDonald; Sylvester Stallone; Adrian Grunberg 
Written by: David Morrell, Michael Kozoll, William Sackheim, Art Monterastelli, Sheldon Lettich
Produced by: Buzz Feitshans, Mario Kassar, Avi Lerner, John Thompson, Yariv Lerner, Steven Paul
Cast: Sylvester Stallone

PROGRAM INFORMATION

Year of Production: 1982; 1985; 1988; 2008; 2019

Title Copyright: First Blood © 1982 STUDIOCANAL. Rambo: First Blood Part II © 1985 STUDIOCANAL. Rambo III © 1988 STUDIOCANAL. Rambo® is a Registered Trademark owned by StudioCanal S.A. Rambo © 2007 Equity Pictures Medienfonds GmbH & Co. KG IV. Package Design and Summary: © 2026 Lions Gate Entertainment Inc. Rambo: Last Blood © 2019 Rambo V Productions, Inc. Artwork & Supplementary Materials ®, ™ & © 2026 Lions Gate Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved. 

Closed-Captioned: No

Feature Run Time:

  • First Blood: 93 mins
  • Rambo: First Blood Part II: 95 mins
  • Rambo III: 102 mins
  • Rambo: 91 mins (Theatrical cut) / 99 mins (Extended cut)
  • Rambo: Last Blood: 89 mins (Theatrical cut) / 102 mins (Extended cut) 

Subtitles: English SDH; Spanish Subtitles 
Rating: Rated R
Genre: Action

Technical Specs:

First Blood

Theatrical Cut
2160 UHD Master with Dolby Vision HDR (New/Exclusive to this release)
Dolby Atmos (New/Exclusive to this release)
Dolby TrueHD 5.1
PCM Theatrical Stereo (New/Exclusive to this release)

Rambo: First Blood Part II

Theatrical Cut
2160 UHD Master with Dolby Vision HDR (New/Exclusive to this release)
Dolby Atmos (New/Exclusive to this release)
Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (from the newly discovered 70mm 6-track magnetic soundtrack) (New/Exclusive to this release)
PCM Theatrical Stereo (New/Exclusive to this release)

Rambo III

Theatrical Cut
2160 UHD Master with Dolby Vision HDR (New/Exclusive to this release)
Dolby Atmos (New/Exclusive to this release)
Dolby TrueHD 5.1
PCM Theatrical Stereo (New/Exclusive to this release)

Rambo 

Both the Theatrical and Extended Cuts of the film
2160 UHD Master with Dolby Vision HDR
Dolby Atmos

Rambo: Last Blood

Both the theatrical and Sylvester Stallone’s extended cut (New/Exclusive to this release), Dolby Atmos (New/Exclusive on extended cut to this release)

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Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson, Vol. 3

Credits are always a tricky thing for assembly-line comics. Projects tend to have a particular, clear breakdown of responsibilities – this guy writes, that other guy draws, a third guy inks – but those comics tended to be monthly, and monthly deadlines lead to messiness. (Ask the guy who spent sixteen years in a business that had a minimum of seventeen “months” a year.)

And creators want to work with each other – sometimes the same crew for a while, sometimes a one-off with that idol of theirs or the new guy doing interesting stuff.

When it comes to gather all of that messiness into a book, sometimes the publishers err on the side of simplicity. The first time the “Frank Miller Daredevil” was collected, it was under roughly that title, even though Klaus Janson drew the vast majority of those stories. For the second go-round, Marvel decided they needed to add Janson to the title, which makes a lot of sense.

But it meant that there was a first book with stories mostly written by or with other people, one of them inked by Frank Springer, and most of them drawn by Miller and inked by Janson. And then a second book that really was all Miller/Janson, the core of the run.

And this third, concluding volume gets messy again, with Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson, Vol.3  collecting not just the climax of their run together – Daredevil issues 186-191 – but several odder and quirkier things, several of which Janson had nothing to do with. So it’s yes Frank Miller, as before, and some embarrassed shuffling of feet about how much Janson there is.

There are three quirkier things, so I’ll take them first, in the order they appear in the book and in increasing order of importance and strength.

Miller and Janson did an issue of What If…? in 1981, with co-writer Mike W. Barr, asking the comical question “What if Matt Murdock became an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.?” It would be a very standard late-’70s, early-’80s Marvel comic, much like the stories in the first Miller/Janson volume, is what. Talky, obvious, full of cramped panels and way too much narration from that boring bald giant on the moon. This is included, I assume, for completionists.

Miller returned to Daredevil for a one-off issue, #219, in mid-’85 (about a year before the Born Again sequence with David Mazzucchelli), apparently in large part to work with John Buscema. The credits are a bit vague – the splash page credits everything to Miller (with an asterisk), Buscema, and inker Gerry Talaoc – but I assume Miller wrote this story and did layouts that Buscema finished. This is a hardboiled “crooked town” story in twenty-ish pages, with Matt Murdock (out of costume) wandering into this Jersey hellhole and incidentally (and almost accidentally) cleaning it up on his way back out. This story has many of the weaknesses of both Marvel comics of the era and Miller in particular, but it’s a solid piece that works on its own level.

And the last eighty pages or so of this book incorporate the 1986 graphic novel Daredevil: Love & War, written by Miller and drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz, in what ended up being a try-out for their Elektra: Assassin project almost immediately afterward. This is very much a one-off, but it’s glorious and energetic, with Sienkiewicz at the height of his ’80s inventiveness and Miller’s multiple-narrators captions working quite well. Daredevil himself doesn’t actually do a lot in this story, actually – he is necessary to the plot, I’ll admit, but he also sets off for a whole lot of derring-do that fizzles entertainingly.

I’ve left the meat of the book for last: issues 186-191 is the big ninja storyline, the single most important vector for their takeover of American culture (particularly comics culture) later in the ’80s. But we can’t blame Miller and Janson for that. The stories are muscular and taut, with Miller dialing down his wordiness and telling this story visually a lot more than was standard for Marvel at the time. It includes all the greatest hits of the Miller Daredevil: Matt’s mentor Stick and the small band of good-guy ninjas he leads, his dead-but-gets-better global-assassin ex-girlfriend Elektra, the super-evil ninjas of The Hand and their world-domination plots, the Kingpin, and a cameo by currently-paralyzed assassin Bullseye.

Those issues, though, in the best Marvel Manner, actually starts with some hugger-mugger about Matt’s current girlfriend, Heather Glenn, and the family company she supposedly runs that has gotten involved with…gasp! horror!…some kind of munitions work. As usual with Big Two comics of this era, both the legal and the business details are ludicrous and unbelievable to anyone who is not twelve, and all of the characters talk about it in mind-numbing detail that only proves how little any of the creative team involved understood law or business. But, eventually, the Heather subplot ends and we get to the ninjas, who are thankfully much quieter.

My takeaway from this, and the whole mass of Miller/Janson Daredevil stories, is that everything is part of its time and place. The best of this material is as good as any adventure stories in comics form anyone has made over the past century. But a lot of it is dull, cliched and obvious, rolling out wallpaper-like standard plots, themes, and concepts that are third-hand at best and threadbare if you look too closely. The three Daredevil books have nearly a thousand pages of comics: three to four hundred of that is pretty darn good. The rest you need to slog through to get to the high points.

Reposted from The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

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Inevitable Queen in Black Tie-Ins Announced

New York, NY— April 7, 2026 — QUEEN IN BLACK, an upcoming crossover event spinning directly out of Al Ewing and Carlos Gómez’s run of Venom, as well as the new Knull limited series by Ewing, Tom Waltz, and Juanan Ramirez, kicks off this July. The event will be told across a main five-issue series by Ewing and Iban Coello, along with key tie-in limited series and issues. Today, fans can see the cover of QUEEN IN BLACK #2, arriving on July 29, and learn about the recently announced tie-ins.

Hela has seized Knull’s throne and commands a legion of deadly symbiotes as the QUEEN IN BLACK! Meanwhile, Knull has conquered the Lightforce Dimension, claiming a new power and army as the GOD OF THE VOID! Two of the most powerful evils in the galaxy are at war, and Earth is the final prize!

In QUEEN IN BLACK #2, Tony Stark races against time, assembling powerful twin teams—Defenders of Light and Defenders of Dark—to battle Hela and Knull amidst the cosmic void. As their clash shakes the stars, Hela unleashes her devastating assault on Earth, forcing the Avengers into action for humanity’s survival. But chaos doesn’t end there: the monstrous Symbiote Intelligence descends upon New York City, igniting a fierce confrontation as Venom and the Fantastic Four leap into battle! Will heroes unite and overcome the tide of darkness threatening the universe?

“One of the joys of QUEEN IN BLACK is going big and weird with symbiotes and aliens…and they don’t come much bigger and weirder than the Symbiote Intelligence!” Ewing teased.

Essential event tie-ins include QUEEN IN BLACK: DEFENDERS OF LIGHT AND DARK, a limited series following two groups of heroes specifically assembled by Iron Man and Beta Ray Bill to take down Hela and Knull; QUEEN IN BLACK: HELA and QUEEN IN BLACK: THOR, dual one-shots centered around Asgard that reveal how Hela overthrew Knull and bring Thor into the battle; QUEEN IN BLACK: VENOM UNCHAINED, a limited series starring Eddie Brock who must escape prison before joining the fight against Hela; and upcoming issues of VENOM, packed with key insights into the developments Venom, Dylan Brock and Mary Jane will undergo in the saga and prepare them for an uncertain future…

QUEEN IN BLACK: HELA #1
Written by AL EWING
Art by CARLOS MAGNO

THE QUEEN TAKES HER THRONE!

All the secrets of the Queen in Black—revealed! Why were Hela and Tyr in Midgard when the Rainbow Bridge fell? How did she cage Knull, God of the Void? And which Thor tried to stop her? Balder the Brave seeks the answers from Karnilla of the Norns…but will he live to tell anyone else?

QUEEN IN BLACK: THOR #1
Written by AL EWING
Art by SERGIO DAVILA

A TRUE KING RISES

As Beta Ray Bill battles Hela at the edge of space, he considers his role as the heir of Thor’s story… little dreaming that the story continues with Sigurd Jarlson or that the Death-Goddess has plans for the Mortal Thor. Somewhere in the city, a man with a hammer is about to face the ultimate test.

VENOM #260
Written by AL EWING
Art by CARLOS GÓMEZ

THE LEGACY OF THE LETHAL PROTECTOR REVEALED

Months ago, Dylan Brock was killed by Carnage—and granted an audience with the Eventuality, the ultimate iteration of his father. He asked five questions and was given five answers – a hint of a dark future waiting for him. Now that future is here…

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Walt Disney’s Donald Duck: Donald’s Happiest Adventures by Lewis Trondheim and Nicolas Keramidas

About a decade ago, writer Lewis Trondheim and artist Nicolas Keramidas made a bande dessinée for Éditions Glénat, the French arm of the global Disney octopus, about Mickey Mouse. It was called Mickey’s Craziest Adventures  and pretended to be rediscovered pages from an obscure (probably American) 1960s comic, telling a long, convoluted and all-adventure story on its big pages. It didn’t entirely make sense, but that was the point: it was supposedly roughly half of the pages of a decade-long story that was all cliffhangers and hairsbreadth escapes to begin with.

A few years later, they did it again, though in a slightly less breathless register: Donald’s Happiest Adventures  similarly pretends to be a serial from an incredibly obscure ’60s comic. But, this time, they happily state that they found the whole thing, and can present the full story of how Donald was tasked by his Uncle Scrooge with finding the secret of happiness. Happiest was published by Glénat in 2018, and an American edition followed in 2023, translated by David Gerstein.

The structure is the same as the Mickey story: Trondheim and Keramidas pretend that each page stood alone as a monthly installment of the story, so the story leaps forward regularly, with each page being a moment or a thought or a particular place. Trondheim’s Donald has the standard irascibility, though he doesn’t break into full-fledged tantrums here as he sometimes does in stories by other hands. He’s also more philosophical than Donald often is, a lot like other bird-coded characters in other Trondheim stories, like Ralph Azham or Herbert from Dungeon or Trondheim’s self-portrait in Little Nothings .

But if you’re going to have a story about Donald Duck searching for the meaning of happiness, you need to have a version of Donald who is capable of finding happiness and of talking about it coherently – not always a guarantee in every version of Donald.

Like the Mickey story, this one ranges widely – Donald is summoned by Scrooge to go retrieve a fabulously valuable artifact from an obscure corner of the world, but unwisely questions Scrooge’s motivations and finds himself instead sent to find the secret of happiness. In particular, the secret of making Scrooge happy, which is even more difficult than doing so for Donald. (Donald has moments of happiness throughout the book, as a careful reader will notice – but he’s not happy all the time, which is what he thinks he’s looking for.)

Donald meets and talks with a vast array of other characters – the fabulously lucky Gladstone Gander, the down-to-earth Grandma Duck, the genius Ludwig von Drake, and so on – as he asks each of them in turn what happiness is. Along the way, he gets into adventures that span the globe, including a stint in a nasty totalitarian country where, luckily, the shackles are all made of cardboard. He also runs across Mickey several times, helping capture Pegleg Pete each time and getting a reward from the police forces who pop up, always right after the hard work is done.

It’s a fairly talky story, because it’s about finding happiness, and Donald needs to talk to nearly every character about it. (He doesn’t have any conversations with Pete, which is a possible miss, since Pete has always seemed quite content with his lot in life, despite having all of his schemes fail miserably.)

As he must, Donald does eventually make it back home to Duckburg, and has an answer for Scrooge that makes the old miser happy, at least for that moment. It’s not the secret of happiness, but that of course is Trondheim’s point: there’s no such thing. Along the way, Happiest is thoughtful and adventurous in equal proportions, a good story for people who are willing to do a little thinking during their Donald Duck adventures.

As in the Mickey book, Keramidas draws it in a style that I can’t quite call off-model but doesn’t quite look right. (Though I mean that as a compliment: purely on-model is boring.) His characters are energetic in that cartoony way and his pages crisply laid out to accommodate all of Trondheim’s long speeches – and to look as if each one could have been a full entry of this serial. 

Some reviews of this book have missed the fact that the ’60s origin is…how do I put this delicately?…not actually true. But you, my dear readers, are smarter and more perspicacious than that, so I’m sure the metafiction here will be no trouble for you. If you’re looking for a combination of philosophy and Disney adventure – and why not? it’s a fun mix – Donald’s Happiest Adventures will provide a lot of enjoyment.

Reposted from The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

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Exclusive Magic: The Gathering card Accompanies Avengers: Armageddon #1

New York, NY— April 1, 2026 — This June, AVENGERS: ARMAGEDDON #1, the debut issue of the upcoming event series by Chip Zdarsky, Delio Diaz & Frank Alpizar, will include an exclusive Magic: The Gathering promo card to celebrate Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes, available June 26. Each copy of the first printing, including variant covers, will be sold in a special polybag containing both the issue and the exclusive “Warstorm Surge” card. The promo, with artwork that will not be found in any other Magic: The Gathering set, spotlights superstar artist Ryan Stegman’s artwork from Armageddon/X-Men #1 CGD 2026 and will also be used as a variant cover on the issue.

A dramatic turning point in Avengers history, AVENGERS: ARMAGEDDON promises to change the face of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in a way not seen since Avengers Disassembled and leads directly into a new era of Avengers kicking off later this year. With Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes, players can add the Avengers and other Marvel heroes to their deck with cards that feature unique artwork inspired by the pages of Marvel Comics. AVENGERS: ARMAGEDDON #1 celebrates both exciting launches with a bonus card insert, creating a can’t-miss collectible for both comic readers and Magic: The Gathering players to find right at their local comic shop!

Since last year, Marvel and Magic: The Gathering’s epic collaboration has delivered Marvel-themed sets like Magic: The Gathering | Marvel’s Spider-Man and the upcoming Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes as well as recently announced comic book variant covers. Fans can look forward to more from this collaboration in the months ahead, including more Magic: The Gathering variant covers coming this June on your favorite titles.

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Queen in Black One-Shots Announced

New York, NY— April 2, 2026 — Hela and Knull’s cosmic collision unleashes HEL ON EARTH in QUEEN IN BLACK, a new crossover event from Venom writer Al Ewing and superstar artist Iban Coello. Kicking off in July, the event will be told across a five-issue main series as well key tie-ins like the recently announced QUEEN IN BLACK: DEFENDERS OF LIGHT AND DARK limited series and two one-shots from Ewing himself: QUEEN IN BLACK: HELA #1 and QUEEN IN BLACK: THOR #1.

Representing Asgard’s role in the event, the two one-shots will deliver pivotal chapters for the overall QUEEN IN BLACK saga and significantly impact Ewing’s current Thor run. With art by Carlos Magno, QUEEN IN BLACK: HELA #1 will reveal just how Hela rose to the throne, including her vicious takedown of Knull that led to the current Knull limited series. The one-shot takes place during the Immortal Thor era of Ewing’s run, while QUEEN IN BLACK: THOR #1, drawn by artist Sergio Davila, takes place in the present Mortal Thor era and sees Hela target the mysterious mortal Sigurd Jarlson, who may be the one hero worthy of ending her reign…

THE QUEEN TAKES HER THRONE!

All the secrets of the Queen in Black – revealed in QUEEN IN BLACK: HELA! Why were Hela and Tyr in Midgard when the Rainbow Bridge fell? How did she cage Knull, God of the Void? And which Thor tried to stop her? Balder the Brave seeks the answers from Karnilla of the Norns… but will he live to tell anyone else?

Then in QUEEN IN BLACK: THOR, as Beta Ray Bill battles Hela at the edge of space, he considers his role as the heir of Thor’s story… little dreaming that the story continues with Sigurd Jarlson or that the Death-Goddess has plans for the Mortal Thor. Somewhere in the city, a man with a hammer is about to face the ultimate test.

QUEEN IN BLACK: HELA #1
Written by AL EWING
Art by CARLOS MAGNO
Cover by PASQUAL FERRY
On Sale 7/8

QUEEN IN BLACK: THOR #1
Written by AL EWING
Art by SERGIO DAVILA
Cover by PASQUAL FERRY
On Sale 8/5

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Kiosco by Juan Berrio

I didn’t know this was wordless going into it. Wordless books pose a challenge to the critic, for all the usual dancing-about-architecture reasons, but this is sweet and lovely and expressive, so let’s see what words I can dig up that Juan Berrio didn’t need.

Kiosco  is a horizontally-formatted graphic novel, generally one big wide panel to a page, originally published in Spain by DIBBUKS in 2014 and published in this edition for the US market by Europe Comics in 2017. It doesn’t credit a translator; it didn’t need one. Someone wrote the descriptive copy in English, but then I bet someone wrote descriptive copy for this in Spanish, French, and German earlier, and we don’t credit those people, either. (No offense: I’ve written descriptive copy for books, back in my misspent youth. It’s a skill, and a necessary function, and I didn’t get credited, either.)

The main character is a young man. We see painting apparatus in his apartment, and him working at it, so we think he’s an artist. But the way he makes his living, we think, is by running a little coffee-and-pastry stand in a local park, in whatever city this is he lives in. A kiosk, we might say in English. I gather “Kiosco” is the Spanish equivalent.

This is the story of one day. He gets up, gets ready, pokes at a painting briefly, and then sets off on his bicycle to work with a tray of croissants. He opens the shop, the sun rises, and he’s ready to greet the day.

But though the park is full of people passing through, no one is spending money at the kiosk. Berrio shows time passing, with some wonderfully expressive pages in soft earth tones – I’m not sure if it’s watercolor or colored pencils. He goes back and forth between the hubbub of the passing crowd – different every time, a fascinating array of different faces and body language and gesture, all going somewhere else to do something else – and our main character, standing and fidgeting and cleaning the stand and tables yet again to keep himself busy.

There are a few scenes of someone almost shopping at the stand, but no one actually does. It even rains, to make this a comprehensively bad day.

Eventually, though, he does have a customer. I won’t spoil it. It’s lovely and bright and happy, and that ends his day in the kiosk and, soon afterward, the book.

I don’t know if Berrio typically works wordlessly; I found this book randomly and the only other Berrio book I see available in North America is similarly wordless, for kids. (But he has a long list of previous works on his Spanish site , and wordless comics famously travel the most easily.) This is a sweet little book in a lovely cartoony style, and I’d love to see more of Berrio’s work make it over to my side of the Atlantic.

Reposted from The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

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