Hello? Can Anyone Hear Me?

God, it's been so long, I forgot how to work this thing.

Hi. It’s been awhile.

At least I think it has. Don’t know about you, but I’ve been finding it rather hard to always remember what day it is or how long it’s been since we entered the Twilight Zone or what it’s like to wear pants. I have vague memories of life in the Before Time, the Long Long Ago. A time when you could hug people. When it was generally frowned upon to wear a mask into a liquor store. When people would gather in mysterious and magical places called bars.

And when comic book shops had new comics on their racks.

Well in at least one of those ways, we’re now officially going back to the Old World.

As of today, there are new Marvel comic books out in the world again. And one of them is mine.

AVENGERS #33 is the beginning of our big “Age of Khonshu” arc, featuring a gorgeous cover by Matteo Scalera and the debut of our mighty new series artist Javier Garrón, who’s really killing it on this arc. As I’ve said before, if you've ever wanted to see Moon Knight at his most badass, taking on the most powerful, primordial forces of the Marvel Universe, with all his moon-powered fury, then this is the world-shaking, face-breaking arc for you.

Mummies are rising from their graves. Secret armies march by moonlight, from K’un-Lun to Wakanda to Greenwich Village. A dark god invades Asgard. And the Moon Knight has been unleashed as never before. So begins the Age of Khonshu. So fall the Avengers.

"I'm a ghost now. A spectre of the moon... the moon's knight of vengeance. And I've got work to do."

I’ve been really excited about this one for a long while. A long long while. In my mind, this arc is very much about setting the tone for not just the rest of my AVENGERS run but for everything I want to do in the Marvel Universe going forward. Here now are some preview pages with punching.

Look, I know it’s still an incredibly weird and potentially deadly time out there. And I’m certainly not here to blindly encourage everyone to rush outside and haul ass to the nearest comic book store, touching everyone you meet along the way. But if your local shop is open and selling books, maybe with curbside pickup or even delivery, and you’ve got a mask and feel you can safely support your retailer, then cool, AVENGERS #33 will be there waiting for you. I hope you dig it.

And going forward, you can also look for the return of two of my creator-owned projects later this year, with the next volume of THE GODDAMNED coming in July and the second arc of SEA OF STARS kicking off in August. More on that soon.

It’ll be nice to have new stories coming out again. Like seeing some old friends. I miss all my friends. I’ve missed you too. I’ve been trying to use this time to work as much as I can. Trying but not always succeeding. It’s been hard to focus. Like the gears are gunked up. I hear the same thing from a lot of the other writers I know. What a strange time. And this coming from a guy who’s written some awfully strange shit over the years. I hope we can all get back to that someday soon. To our own usual sort of strangeness. And to the bars and the hugging. Here’s wishing you all a future filled with safe hugs. Until then…

This has been Beard Missives, direct from the masked face of Jason Aaron.

This week’s newsletter has been brought to you by long walks in the park, the Last Dance on ESPN, Swearing Patterns, homemade cocktails, a warm corn bag and wine, lots of wine.

Stay safe out there.

Jason Aaron

KC, May 2020