Comics: History of the Marvel Universe, Young Animal's Doom Patrol, Old Man Logan's exit

Today’s comic news tackles the backlogs of one of the big two and the fringe-loving future of the other. Marvel and DC both had announcements, just looking opposite directions. Oh, and something interesting finally happens with Old Man Logan.

First, Marvel’s past. According to The Hollywood Reporter, those wooed by superhero cinema will soon be able to brush up on their comic source material thanks to a comprehensive history looking back on 80 years of Marvel. From Mark Waid, Javier Rodriguez, and Alvaro Lopez, the six-part History of The Marvel Universe will be able to address the admittedly complicated cosmic happenings of the mythology, helping unfurl the complex canon.

“We’ve seen Marvel histories and Marvel encyclopedias and Marvel handbooks, and I love that stuff. I absorb them like Galactus absorbs planets,” Waid said in a statement. “This is not that. There’s information here, but there’s also a story. The Marvel Universe is a living thing, it is its own story, and we’re trying to approach it with some degree of heart to find the heart in that story so it doesn’t read like 120 pages of Wikipedia.”

Even if the series takes fans “from the Big Bang to the twilight of existence,” understanding “every significant event [and] every fan’s favorite Marvel stories” won’t be a hassle — at least no more of a hassle than reading a regular Marvel comic. And, since Marvel doesn’t mess around with DC’s fast-and-loose approach to timelines and universes, there should be a way for everything to exist in a continuous timeline that makes sense — all the way back to 1939. “Should” being the operative word there.

Fans can grapple with the rewrites and retcons when the History of the Marvel Universe arrives in July.

Next, news from the world of DC. The comic company’s Young Animal imprint — curated by Umbrella Academy creator, comic writer, and My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way — is returning this summer. With two new comics in July and one later in 2019 (Doom Patrol: Weight of the World, Collapser, and Far Sector) the comic collection focused on the stranger side of superhero-dom getting a new breath of life. Check out their covers below:

Way and Jeremy Lambert’s Doom Patrol: Weight of the World will drop first, on July 3, with art from James Harvey, Doc Shaner, Nick Pitarra, Becky Cloonan, and others as the supergroup known for being the weirdest things on DC Universe “go on an epic road trip around the solar system.” Be on the lookout for fitness-obsessed villains. Then, only a few weeks later on July 17, Collapser launches.

This comic, written by Gerard’s brother Mikey Way alongside Shaun Simon, is about a superpowered DJ named Liam James. James’ story is one of mental health (he’s got terrible anxiety) and interstellar conflict as a mysterious black hole bestows him powers. Art for the book comes from Ilias Kyriazis.

Far Sector, from writer N.K. Jemisin and artist Jamal Campbell, gives fans a new Green Lantern as Sojourner “Jo” Mullein navigates the literally unfeeling City Enduring. The gigantic, peaceful community is going through a bit of a revolution, though, which will inevitably change how it operates and how Jo protects it.

Far Sector drops later this year.

Finally, Old Man Logan is saying goodbye to his place in the Marvel universe.

The old/new Wolverine that's been hanging around seemingly every X-Man comic is finally going home to the Wasteland. In the sixth issue of the twelve-part series Dead Man Logan, the hero has stepped through a portal back to whence he came. That means the back half of the series, the final six issues, will be focused on giving fans some closure for the character on his own terms, in his own world.

Good thing the OG Wolverine has started kicking around, again.

Dead Man Logan #6 is in stores now.