X-Men of Apocalypse #3
(W) Jeph Loeb (A) Simone Di Meo
INTO THE SAVAGE LAND! The XOA journey to a land before time and Gambit finds the woman he loves on a world he never made — Rogue!
Plus, Sabretooth versus Zabu! Guest-starring Magneto, Ka-Zar, Sauron and Simone Di Meo making magic with dinosaurs!
Marvel Comics and DC Comics’ newest crossover comic is only a few months away! DC’s Superman/Spider-Man #1 hits stands in March, followed by Marvel’s Spider-Man/Superman #1 in April. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man, the first-ever Marvel/DC crossover, each one-shot features team-ups of two of the world’s most beloved super heroes, Spider-Man and Superman, along with backup tales with more mind-blowing Marvel/DC character team-ups. Today, fans can check out the final variant covers for Spider-Man/Superman and score a sneak peek at the lead story by New York Times bestselling author Brad Meltzer and artist Pepe Larraz.
The new variant covers revealed today include:
Following Meltzer and Larraz’s story, fans can look forward to the following bonus tales!
Check out the new covers and preorder Spider-Man/Superman #1 at your local comic shop today!
Marvel Comics and DC Comics join forces again this year with two new Spider-Man/Superman crossover comics celebrating the 50th anniversary of Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man, the first-ever Marvel/DC crossover. DC’s one-shot, Superman/Spider-Man #1, arrives in March, with Marvel’s Spider-Man/Superman #1 following in April. Each will be packed with ALL-NEW stories starring Marvel’s web-slinging wall-crawler and DC’s Man of Tomorrow along with additional stories featuring more history-making Marvel/DC team-ups, including two stories for Marvel’s Spider-Man/Superman #1 revealed! Writer Stephanie Phillips and artist Phil Noto will pair Ghost-Spider and Supergirl while Jeph Loeb and Jim Cheung will deliver an additional Spider-Man/Superman team-up!
Fans can also see new variant covers for the issue including:
The lead story starring Spider-Man and Superman will be written by New York Times bestselling author Brad Meltzer, marking his first full-length Marvel Comics story, and drawn by Pepe Larraz, one of the industry’s most acclaimed talents. The various bonus stories will be brought to the page by a monumental lineup of industry stars, including a few surprises readers will be talking about for the next fifty years!
Here’s what to expect:
Check out the new covers and preorder the Spider-Man/Superman #1 at your local comic shop today!
X-Men of Apocalypse #2
(W) Jeph Loeb (A) Simone Di Meo (L) Richard Starkings
(CA) Simone Di Meo (VCA) Arthur Adams and Meghan Hetrick, Joe Madureira, Joshua “Sway” Swaby, Mark Brooks, Russell Dauterman, Stephen Platt and Marte Gracia
BACK TO WHERE IT BEGAN! The X-Men of Apocalypse have gone back to where it all began in their quest to restore their history! But before they can, it means mixing it up with the original X-Men!
The X-Men of Apocalypse are here in the Marvel Universe – and that’s a very bad thing for the Uncanny X-Men! X-Men of Apocalypse #1 pits the team against the Uncanny X-Men for a series that caters to the hardcore fans.
I’ve read a lot of X-Men and I couldn’t even tell you what the hell is up with the timelines in X-Men of Apocalypse. Written by Jeph Loeb, the series has a team of X-Men from the Age of Apocalypse traveling to the Age of Xavier… for some reason. In short, after the Age of Apocalypse was ended, that timeline never reverted. Now this AoA team of X-Men is traveling to revert it? It’s kind of hard to understand really what the point is and that’s just one of the issues of this series.
After an Alpha issue, X-Men of Apocalypse #1 hits the shelves almost two months exactly from that Alpha release. And, unless you were really excited and invested in that Alpha issue, this first issue adds very little to everything. The AoA X-Men team come across Nate Grey and battle it out with the usual trope that’s yawn inducing at this point and then go into a battle with the X-Men of that time period. And tropes are on the menu as the end teases more of the same with the second issue.
While the art pops, it’s a bit baffling why there’s any fighting at all and for once heroes just explain to the other heroes what they’re doing and why they’re present. It’s a story that feels pointless beyond cool art. And that includes the mission overall. They’re traveling to… erase their timeline which has already been erased? The motivations, and obvious cause of this anomaly, just feels rather odd in presentation and setup.
But, the art does pop. Simone Di Meo‘s art, especially the colors, look great and feel like a bit of an homage to the original series. Along with Richard Starkings on lettering, the characters and art looks solid with an almost Capcom vs. Marvel feel to the visuals and battles. But, it’s really the art that’s the draw, no pun intended. It’s action, fighting, and characters striking poses, for a story that’s overall thin.
X-Men of Apocalypse #1 is for the hardcore X-Men fans and really for the hardcore that long for the Age of Apocalypse. It’s a weird return to the world, especially with the “Age of Revelation” currently underway and with an ad for that storyline in this issue, it almost makes you think this is tied into that in some way. Who knows where this goes, but, like Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion, it feels like a mini-series whose end results will be more entertaining than what happens getting to them.
Story: Jeph Loeb Art: Simone Di Meo Letterer: Richard Starkings, Comicraft
Story: 7.0 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Pass
Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle
X-Men of Apocalypse #1
(W) Jeph Loeb (A) Simone Di Meo
THE X-MEN OF APOCALYPSE VS. THE UNCANNY X-MEN!
The X-Men of Apocalypse are here in the Marvel Universe — and that’s a very bad thing for the Uncanny X-Men!
Batman #162
(W) Jeph Loeb (A) Jim Lee
Batman versus the Bat-Family! Whose side are you on?
LEGACY #927
Batman #162
(W) Jeph Loeb (A) Jim Lee
Batman versus the Bat-Family! Whose side are you on?
LEGACY #927
Batman: The Long Halloween – The Last Halloween #10
(W) Jeph Loeb (A) Matteo Scalera
It’s all been leading to this — the heart-pounding conclusion to Batman: The Long Halloween: The Last Halloween! Don’t miss it!
Next week is the Baltimore Comic-Con on October 17-19, 2025 at the Inner Harbor’s Baltimore Convention Center. Baltimore Comic-Con has announced the addition of Chris Campana, Jeph Loeb, Brandon Peterson, Rob Retiano, Rafer Roberts, and Stephanie Williams to the 2025 event. Don’t wait in additional lines when you arrive — purchase your tickets online!
Chris Campana has worked with Marvel, DC, Hasbro, IDW, Image, Dynamite, and many others. His work can be seen in Amazing Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Spider-Man 2099, Red Goblin, Daredevil, Masters of the Universe, Green Lantern, GI Joe, TMNT, and many others.
A multi-Ringo Award-nominated writer/artist for his work on the indie comic hit The Adventures of Parker Reef, Chris continues to strive to be a great storyteller in the medium he grew to love as a kid.
Jeph Loeb is known for Batman: The Long Halloween, Superman For All Seasons, Spider-Man Blue, Batman Hush, Red Hulk, and Superman/Batman, as well as many others. In TV, he has written for Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Agents of SHIELD as well as Lost, Smallville, Heroes, and more. In film, he worked on Teen Wolf and Commando, among others.
Brandon Peterson has worked as an illustrator in comics professionally over twenty-five years. He currently works primarily at DC Comics on such titles as Superman, Trinity, Green Lantern, Titans, Flash, and Shazam. He’s previously worked on Marvel books like Inhumans, Age of Ultron, Avengers, Amazing Spider-Man, Ultimates, Ultimate Vision, Ultimate Extinction, Strange, Ultimate X-Men, Astonishing X-Men, Magneto Rex, X-Men, and Uncanny X-Men. And he was also VP of Special Projects and Art Director of the now-defunct CrossGen Comics, where he worked on titles like Mystic and Chimera. He spent a very long time working for Top Cow Productions, where he did runs on comics like Codename: Strykeforce, Cyberforce, Ripclaw, Medieval Spawn/Witchblade, and his own book, Arcanum.
Rob Retiano is an all around artist with a love for comics and works in various creative avenues. Always working to achieve new milestones as a creative and artist, he has worked on various projects as the initial character designer and penciler of Junior High Horrors, as well as a cover artist for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Nightwatcher, Vampirella: Year One, Good Boy, Do You Pooh, Rise of Dracula, Reign of Dracula, Tragedy, Cos & Effect, Upper Deck, musicians, and more.
Rob has been a part of the comic scene for the past 10+ years and continues to work on and pursue working with other creatives, projects, and publishers. You can follow his work on instagram (www.instagram.com/robretiano) and contact him at robretiano@gmail.com.
Rafer Roberts is the writer and co-creator of The Rock Gods of Jackson, Tennessee and Grumble (both with Mike Norton) and Modern Fantasy (with Kristen Gudsnuk). He’s written young-adult comics for Minecraft anthologies, mature-reader comics for heavy metal anthologies, and the occasional Rick & Morty comic for everyone. Rafer has worked for Image, Oni, Valiant, Dark Horse, and a few dozen others. Rafer’s artwork appeared in the Eisner- and Harvey-winning anthology Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream, and he was founding editor of the Washington, D.C. comics newspaper, Magic Bullet. His self-published works include Plastic Farm and Nightmare the Rat, both recently concluded. Rafer lives in Baltimore as far as you know.
Stephanie Williams‘ journey from a University of Illinois at Chicago alum to a trailblazing force in the comic book world is nothing short of inspiring. Ditching the lab coat for a pen, this mom-turned-comic-book-creator has been dazzling readers with her imaginative storytelling. Her portfolio boasts an impressive array of titles, including the empowering Nubia and the Amazons, the regal Nubia: Queen of the Amazon, and the action-packed Wakanda #1. She’s also lent her voice to Marvel’s Voices, The Family Snikt, and Moon Girl, delved into the mystical world with Magic: Planeswalkers Noble #1, and put her research skills to use in her latest book, Strange and Unsung All-Stars of the DC Universe. Stephanie is done, though; she has upcoming eagerly awaited releases: a middle-grade graphic novel, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: Wreck N’ Roll, Alien: Red, White, & Blood #2, and her first light novel Apple Black: Origins. With every page, Stephanie continues to redefine the comic book landscape.
Stephanie is appearing courtesy of Ignition Press.
This year’s confirmed guests for the show include: Arthur Adams (Longshot), Joel Adams (Ms. Mystic), Zeea Adams (Deadman), Kaare Andrews (Spider-Man: REIGN 2), Jeremy Bastian (Cursed Pirate Girl), John Beatty (Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars), Rose Besch (Miles Morales: Spider-Man), Josh Blaylock (Mercy Sparx, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Russ Braun (The Boys), Mark Buckingham (Fables), Jacen Burrows (Crossed), Jim Calafiore (NED, Lord of the Pit), Richard Case (Doom Patrol), Donny Cates (Venom), Keith Champagne (Stranger Things), Howard Chaykin (Time Squared), Jo Chen (Runaways), Sean Chen (Evermind), Jim Cheung (Young Avengers), Mark Chiarello (Wednesday Comics), Frank Cho (Harley Quinn), Michael Cho (The Avengers and the Veracity Trap), Amy Chu (Emma Frost: The White Queen), Chris Claremont (X-Men), Matthew Clark (Adventures of Superman, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Becky Cloonan (Somna), Michael W. Conrad (Manowar: Invictus), Denys Cowan (The Question), Paris Cullins (Blue Beetle), Dani (Sensational Wonder Woman), Alan Davis (Excalibur), Deans Family Productions (Crass Fed), Jeff Dekal (Something is Killing the Children), Francine Delgado (Gatchaman), Kevin Delgado (Tuff Stuff, courtesy of Comics and Collectibles R Us), Todd Dezago (The Perhapanauts), Ryan Dunlavey (Action Philosophers), Garth Ennis (The Boys, Saturday and Sunday only), Viktor Farro (Invincible Universe: Battle Beast), David Finch (Moon Knight), Tony Fleecs (Stray Dogs), Trish Forstner (Feral), Franco (Deadman Tells the Spooky Tales), Barbara Friedlander (Swing with Scooter), Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (DC Nation), Ron Garney (BRZRKR), Chris Giarrusso (Mini Marvels), Dan Goldman (Unfinished Business), Randy Green (Witchblade). Mike Grell (Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters), Torunn Grønbekk (Catwoman), Gavin Guidry (Action Comics), Brian Haberlin (Spawn, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Bob Hall (West Coast Avengers), Cully Hamner (Blue Beetle), Scott Hanna (Amazing Spider-Man), Dean Haspiel (The Red Hook), Jeremy Haun (The Red Mother, courtesy of Ignition Press), Mike Hawthorne (Deadpool), Marc Hempel (Sandman), Jamal Igle (Superman, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Klaus Janson (Daredevil), Nikkol Jelenic (Dreadstar), Dave Johnson (100 Bullets), Phillip Kennedy Johnson (Incredible Hulk), J.G. Jones (Wanted), Chris Kemple (Artist Alley Comics), Chip Kidd (The Avengers in the Veracity Trap), Derek Kirk Kim (The Last Mermaid), Tom King (Wonder Woman), Adam Kubert (Wolverine), Jae Lee (Inhumans), Rick Leonardi (Spider-Man 2099), Rachta Lin (Justice League Unlimited), Jeph Loeb (Batman: The Long Halloween), Tula Lotay (Barnstormers), Nate Lovett (Dungeons & Dragons), Kevin Maguire (Justice League), Alex Maleev (Star Wars: Boba Fett – Black White and Red), Anthony Marques (The Green Hornet), Laura Martin (Nubia: Queen of the Amazons), Shawn Martinbrough (Red Hood: The Hill), Ron Marz (Green Lantern), Jose Marzan Jr. (Y: The Last Man), Justin Mason (Spider-Punk), Charlie McElvy (Spider-Squirrel), Mike McKone (Red Goblin), Bob McLeod (New Mutants), Carla Speed McNeil (Finder), Adriana Melo (Action Comics), Josh Middleton (Aquaman), Al Milgrom (Spectacular Spider-Man), Mark Morales (Thor), Trevor Mueller (Albert the Alien), Sarah Myers (TMNT Saturday Morning Adventures), Tom Nguyen (The Switch), Mike Norton (Battlepug, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Kevin Nowlan (Batman: Sword of Azrael), Patrick Olliffe (Untold Tales of Spider-Man), Dan Parent (Sabrina the Teenage Witch), John J. Pearson (In Bloom), Andrew Pepoy (Simone & Ajax), Barbara Perez Marquez (The Cardboard Kingdom), David Petersen (Mouse Guard), Rafer Roberts (Grumble), Brandon Peterson (Uncanny X-Men), Khoi Pham (Star Wars: Darth Vader), Paul Pope (THB), Joe Pruett (Savage Sword of Conan), Tom Raney (Green Lantern), Amy Reeder (Power Girl), Rod Reis (COWL), Rob Retiano (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Nightwatcher), Esad Ribic (Conan the Barbarian), Afua Richardson (Kahhori: Reshaper of Worlds), Andrew Robinson (Halo), James Robinson (Starman), Craig Rousseau (Herculoids), Stephane Roux (Void Rivals), Jim Rugg (Street Angel), Andy Runton (Owly), Stuart Sayger (Conan the Barbarian), Joseph Schmalke (Seven Years in Darkness, courtesy of Groundbreaking Comics), Bart Sears (Deathstroke), Declan Shalvey (Old Dog), Asia Simone (Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: Wreck and Roll), Louise Simonson (The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special), Walter Simonson (Thor), Don Simpson (Megaton Man), Jeff Smith (Bone), John K. Snyder III (Suicide Squad), Mark Sparacio (Chelsea Dagger and the Women of Excalibur), Joe Staton (Dick Tracy), Brian Stelfreeze (Black Panther), Paul D. Storrie (Storm Kids: Stanley’s Ghost), Karl Story (The Mandalorian), Zoe Thorogood (It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Universe), John Timms (Superman: Son of Kal-El), Peter Tomasi (The Rocketfellers), Billy Tucci (Shi), Fred Van Lente (Action Philosophers), Brian K. Vaughan (Spectators, Friday and Saturday only), Gus Vazquez (Sunfire and Big Hero Six), Charles Vess (Stardust), Wade Von Grawbadger (Justice League), Mark Waid (Justice League Unlimited), David F. Walker (Big Jim and the White Boy, Saturday and Sunday only), Dan Watters (Nightwing), Lee Weeks (Batman/Catwoman Special), Mark Wheatley (Breathtaker), Matt Wieringo (Stargate Atlantis: Gateways), Keith Williams (Web of Spider-Man), Stephanie Williams (Nubia: Queen of the Amazons, courtesy of Ignition Press), Ron Wilson (Marvel Two-In-One), Rich Woodall (Electric Black), John Workman (Wild Things), Kelly Yates (Doctor Who), and Thom Zahler (Love and Capes).
