A Day Unlike Any Other... Just Like All the Rest
Thoughts on AVENGERS #50 & a very Conan Christmas
Someday soon I think you’ll be able to look back and chart the course. The whole way. From the little 10 page Wolverine back-up I did in 2002 as a Marvel Comics Talent Search winner. To my short-lived GHOST RIDER run in 2008. Through seven or so years of more Wolverine and X-Men stories. Through a couple years of DR. STRANGE and PUNISHER. A hundred or so issues of various Thor series. And now through 50 installments of AVENGERS.
There’ve been a lot of stories in there about faith and flaws and fucked up families. About worthiness and redemption and guys with giant eyeballs for heads. About isolation and insanity. About legacy.
Soon all the through lines will start to glow a little brighter, if some of them aren’t already. And their ultimate destination will begin to dawn, peeking over the horizon a little more every month, casting its light over everything I’ll be doing in the coming year, everything I’m already doing right now.
When that someday comes, we’ll look back to today, to AVENGERS #50 (or #750 when you bring that word Legacy back into the mix), as one of those signposts along the road, the road that is my career at Marvel Comics, a journey that began 20 years ago.
I’m pretty proud of this particular signpost. It’s literally the biggest comic book I’ve ever written. 70 pages of it for my part. All of it one big story, going in a lot of different directions at once, all ultimately leading to the same destination. With roots that go back to all sorts of different beginnings, and branches stretching into the future, all the way to the end.
If you’ve ever read and enjoyed anything by me over the course of those last 20 years, then I think you might like this one too. Even if you’ve never read any of my AVENGERS. If you know my work well, then I think by the end you’ll start to get the picture. And you’ll realize that shit just got serious.
That’s all the sales pitch I’ve got in me this week. Go forth unto your local comic shop to find yourself copies. Or if you want one with something that at least remotely resembles my name scribbled upon the cover, you can buy signed copies in my online store.
We’ve also recently added some THOR and CONAN trades to the shop, alongside the usual selection of all my creator-owned works, so if you’re looking for Christmas gifts for your favorite comic reading cousins or least favorite grandparents, we’ve got you covered.
And because it’s the holidays, every order will include a free signed copy of CONAN THE BARBARIAN #1. Because nothing says “Merry Christmas” like a sullen-eyed Cimmerian in a fur loincloth swinging a big fucking sword while yelling about Crom.
Avengers Forever Trailer
So once you’ve picked up AVENGERS #50 and discovered after just one reading that it’s made you a better kisser and lover and all-around human person, you’re going to want to follow that path of personal growth into the pages of the newly debuting series, AVENGERS FOREVER. Here is a sneak peek at all the wonderful sights awaiting your eye holes and skull innards.
Upcoming Releases
Not sure how firm these are given all the recent printing issues, but these are the release dates for all my stuff as things currently stand.
December 8, 2021 — SEA OF STARS Vol. 2 Trade Paperback
December 22, 2021 — KING CONAN #1
December 22, 2021 — AVENGERS FOREVER #1
December 22, 2021 — AVENGERS #51
January 4, 2022 — AVENGERS Vol. 9: WORLD WAR SHE-HULK Trade Paperback
January 12, 2022 — KING CONAN #2
January 19, 2022 — AVENGERS #52
January 26, 2022 — AVENGERS FOREVER #2
February 1, 2022 — WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN Omnibus (New Printing)
February 8, 2022 — AVENGERS BY JASON AARON Vol. 2 Hardcover
Links and Things and Stuff
Your weekly reminder that Mahmud Asrar is a goddamn beast of an artist. KING CONAN is coming soon to rock your face right the fuck off.
Look, you don’t need me to tell you that WHAT’S THE FURTHEST PLACE FROM HERE by Matt Rosenberg and Tyler Boss is a stellar new series that you should absolutely be checking out, but all the same, this is me telling you.
CM Punk and MJF going at it, mics in hand. How fucking great was this? Maxwell even insulted Punk as a COMIC BOOK WRITER?! Oh hell fucking no. You gotta murder the shit outta this little fuckwad, Punk. Do it for Thor writers everywhere!
This has been Beard Missives, direct from the wrasslin’ lovin’ face of Jason Aaron.
This week’s newsletter has been brought to you by Giffard Banane du Bresil banana liqueur, the Fableist Cabernet Sauvignon, chorizo chili, my mom’s dressing recipe and the Santa coffee mug that just got pulled from the back of the cupboard to the top of the rotation, even in front of the Brian Bolland Prince mug.
Hope your holidays are happy and healthy. Thanks for reading.
Jason Aaron
KC, December 1, 2021
“This music was filled with deep longing, a casually transcendent spirit, mature resignation and… hope… hope for that girl, that moment, that place, that night when everything changes, life reveals itself to you, and you, in turn, are revealed.”
—Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography, Born to Run
Over the last few weeks, I sat down and read every Eternals comic of note. Started by reading the Kirby run (so underrated), then read Roy Thomas's Thor run that merges the Eternals into the Marvel Universe (and honestly, in my opinion, it's a terrible run of comics). I dug the Peter Gillis miniseries (and it's a shame he didn't get to finish it- I think he needed a stronger hand on editing, but he really got the characters, and I loved it), didn't think much of the one-shots flailing to try to make the characters work after that, loved Walt Simonson's use of the Celestials in his 90s work in Avengers and Fantastic Four, and finally understood what Neil Gaiman was going for his Eternals story. I liked the Daniel Knauf series, too.
And then I reread all of your Avengers run, and I finally GOT it. I loved it. I think everyone who claims it's not "Avengers enough" isn't seeing what's really going on. The Avengers are facing massive threats to themselves, the Earth, and the Universe, and dealing the best they can. There's veteran Avengers alongside the rookies. There's the biggest Avengers headquarters ever. The villains are truly awe-inspiring; hell, Mephisto can change the whole universe at the drop of a dime!
And through all of this, the Avengers find a way to prevail. Despite overwhelming odds against them, despite facing an evil Agent Coulson and a misguided Squadron Supreme and the King of Hell and the real power behind the king against them, the Avengers prevail.
I'm totally digging it, and I can't wait to read Avengers 50/750 today, and I can't wait for Avengers Forever. Thanks for doing what you do.
Your journey is one that I started with Ghost Rider, went along with Wolverine and full submerged with Thor. Very stoked to see where it goes and where--if it leads there-- ends. All the best!