I grew up on Marvel comics. Sure, I read lots of DC, but outside of Batman and Superman, I’ve never quite had the affinity for the Distinguished Competition’s large groups of characters. I don’t think I ever collected any monthly DC books, while I was always grabbing issues of The Amazing Spider-Man and Uncanny X-Men.
For years, Marvel was ahead in notoriety and sales, but over the last few years, DC has lept ahead and significantly, in large part to their Absolute line of comics, which has seen the reinvention of its core characters. I’ve read the Batman and Superman books, both of which have been great, and clearly the line has resonated with audiences.
Now Marvel is trying to play catch-up with its forthcoming Midnight line, which gives Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four a horror twist. While the creators involved, including Phillip Kennedy Johnson and ScieTronc, Benjamin Percy and Kev Walker, and Jonathan Hickman and Matteo Della Font, are all top-notch, we’ve seen Marvel do horror before; in fact, we’ve even seen X-Men as vampires, which is what Midnight: X-Men seems to be focusing on.
Yesterday, a trailer highlighting the Midnight line dropped. You can check it out below and decide if you’ll be heading to comic shops or downloading Midnight X-Men, Midnight Fantastic Four, and Midnight Spider-Man when they drop on October 7.
Here’s the logline: The nightmare-driven new publishing line launches with ‘Midnight Spider-Man’ #1 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and ScieTronc, ‘Midnight Fantastic Four’ #1 by Benjamin Percy and Kev Walker, and ‘Midnight X-Men’ #1 by Jonathan Hickman and Matteo Della Fonte.
Dark. Unpredictable. Unmissable. The Midnight Universe draws in longtime fans and newcomers alike to enter a terrifying new world with shocking twists and chilling transformations. The X-Men no longer fight for acceptance, they hunger for blood. The Fantastic Four venture into the unknown not to save the world—but to unleash terror upon it. And Spider-Man discovers that with great power… comes something monstrous.
