This Saturday, May 4, is Free Comic Book Day 2024! That means you get an extra and extra-special new releases post for Marvel Comics. This post covers Marvel Comics FCBD 2024 releases – explaining the contents and background of every issue. Missed this week’s regular releases? Check out last week’s post covering Marvel Comics May 1 2024 new releases – which will all be available in shops on FCBD 2024!
This year from Marvel Comics FCBD 2024: the first drips of Blood Hunt from Jed MacKay, a preview of Gail Simone’s X-Men, all-new Spider-Man India by Nikesh Shukla, Star Wars & Darth Vader by Soule & Pak, the return of Ultimate Marvel Ultimates by Deniz Camp, and a hint of the final phase of Zeb Wells’s run on Amazing Spider-Man!
This list includes every comic and digital comic out from Marvel this week, plus collected editions in omnibus, hardcover, paperback, and digest-sized formats. I recap and review every new single issue. Plus, for every new release, I’ll point you to the right guide within my Crushing Comics Guide to Marvel Comics to find out how to collect each character in full – and, if a guide is linked from this post, that means it is updated through the present day!
Marvel Comics FCBD 2024 Titles
Saturday May 4 2024 is Free Comic Book Day 2024! Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is a special promotional event for local comic shops that falls on the first Saturday of May. Publishers big and small release promotional comics at low or no cost to stores, which they can give away for free. That draws in a huge crowd of both established fans and curious newbies. It gives stores the chance to throw special events, sell tons of stock, and establish new customers.
Marvel Comics FCBD issues tend to include 2-3 stories each. That usually includes least one unique story that will be excerpted in a collection within the next year. Sometimes books are a pair of unique stories, but they can also include recent reprints or teases of upcoming comics.
Here’s the line-up of Marvel Comics FCBD 2024 issues:
- Free Comic Book Day 2024: Blood Hunt / X-Men #1
- Free Comic Book Day 2024: Marvel Voices #1 [featuring Spider-Man India]
- Free Comic Book Day 2024: Spidey and His Amazing Friends #1
- Free Comic Book Day 2024: Star Wars/Darth Vader #1
- Free Comic Book Day 2024: Ultimate Universe / Spider-Man #1
If there’s a big surprise here for me, it’s the lack of a Deadpool / Wolverine issue! With Deadpool & Wolverine as the only major MCU entry coming in 2024 it seems wild not to capitalize on that excitement. At least for X-Men ’97 there’s a Jubilee story in the Blood Hunt / X-Men issue.
Want to know more about all five of these issues, their stories, and their creators? Keep reading!
Free Comic Book Day 2024: Blood Hunt / X-Men #1
This is probably the biggest Marvel Comics FCBD 2024 issue – not only from Marvel, but in all of comics!
This issue includes a Jed MacKay prologue to the Blood Hunt event with the first full issue hitting the stands tomorrow! Plus, Jubilee stars in the first post-Krakoa X-Men story of the “From The Ashes” era by incoming Uncanny X-Men (2024) creators Gail Simone & David Marquez!
About Marvel Blood Hunt
What is Marvel Blood Hunt?
Blood Hunt is Marvel’s major mid-year line-wide event in 2024. Blood Hunt is structured in the style of many recent Marvel Events, where the main plot is contained in a titular event mini-series, with tie-ins spread between mini-series and tie-in issues of ongoing comics.
What Is Marvel Blood Hunt about?
Blood Hunt will tell the story of all of the vampires of the Marvel Universe united with a common goal. Marvel has been teasing many small vampire plotlines since early in the run of Jason Aaron’s Avengers (2018). Aaron added Blade as a team member and Dracula as an ongoing antagonist as he established his own vampire nation in the shadows of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Over the past six years many other titles have included vampire plots – including Wolverine, Moon Knight, a mini-event called “Unforgiven,” and a recently-concluded Blade series by Bryan E. Hill. Blood Hunt promises to follow up on all of those plot threads.
Who is writing Blood Hunt?
Jed MacKay is writing Blood Hunt. That’s is a big deal. Why? MacKay is currently the smash hit writer of Moon Knight, Doctor Strange, and The Avengers – and, he’ll be writing X-Men (2024) starting in August. No Marvel writer has ever been at the helm of this much of the Marvel Universe while also penning one of its major events – not even Brian Bendis! That means that MacKay will be able to write massive character developments in the event that will continue to his many ongoing titles.
Where will this Marvel Blood Hunt story be collected?
It is likely this prologue story will be collected along with MacKay’s main Blood Hunt series, which is already announced as a paperback releasing later this year.
Want to know more? I’ll be tracking all of the Blood Hunt tie-ins, collections, and reading orders in my Guide to Marvel Universe Events – Blood Hunt.
About X-Men: From The Ashes
What is X-Men: From The Ashes?
X-Men: From The Ashes is a new publishing era for the entire line of X-Men comics books launching in July 2024. Marvel is currently wrapping up the prior era, The Age of Krakoa, which began five years ago in July 2019 with Jonathan Hickman’s House of X / Powers of X.
What is X-Men: From The Ashes about?
The vast majority of Earth’s mutants have been living in their own separatist nation for the past five years, led by Charles Xavier and a ruling Quiet Council of prominent mutants. That nation is Krakoa – the same living island that battled the X-Men back in Giant-Size X-Men (1974)!
As part of the living island, any mutant who died could be resurrected in a new body with all of their memories and powers. However, in 2023 the population of Krakoan mutants was massacred by Nimrod, Dr. Statis, and other agents of the Human/AI alliance called Orchis.
Right now, we’re seeing the endgame of Mutants vs. Orchis vs. a machine mind outside of time and space called a “Dominion.” While we don’t know that that will all end, we do know that Krakoa and Xavier’s leadership will be no more as of July – sending mutants back out into the world.
Who is writing X-Men: From The Ashes?
X-Men: From The Ashes will bring back the classic set-up of two X-Men flagship titles – Uncanny X-Men (2024) by Gail Simone & David Marquez and “adjectiveless” X-Men (2024) by Jed MacKay & Ryan Stegman.
Gail Simone’s team will include Rogue, Gambit, Nightcrawler, Jubilee, and Wolverine. Jed MacKay’s team will include Cyclops, Magneto, Magik, Juggernaut, and Quentin Quire. Plus, there will be more than six additional X-Men titles launching as part of this new era – including a book focused entirely on Kitty Pryde & Emma Frost called Exceptional X-Men (2024) by Dr. Eve Ewing & Carmen Carnero.
Where will this X-Men: From The Ashes story be collected?
It is likely this prologue story will be collected along with Simone’s first volume of Uncanny X-Men, which should be out in paperback early in 2025.
Want to know more? I’ll be tracking all of X-Men: From the Ashes across my many X-Men Guides, but every series will be listed and linked from my Guide t0 X-Men – From The Ashes. Want to catch up on the incredible past five years of X-Men? Check out out my comprehensive Guide to X-Men – Age of Krakoa.
Free Comic Book Day 2024: Marvel Voices #1
Based on the solicit text, I think this Marvel Comics FCBD 2024 issue contains all reprint material from recent Marvel’s Voices and Edge of Spider-Verse anthology books, except for one new story featuring Pavitr Prabhakar, Spider-Man India, by Nikesh Shukla.
About Marvel’s Voices & Spider-Man India
What is Marvel’s Voices?
Marvel’s Voices is a publishing umbrella that covers all of Marvel’s special celebrations of the identities of their characters and creators. Over the past few years, we’ve seen Voices anthology one-shots to celebrate identities including black and African American heritages, Latino heritages, Indigenous heritages, and LGBTQA Pride. These one-shot specials usually include six or more stories by both established comic creators, up-and-coming talents, and notable writers and artists from other fields.
Who is Spider-Man India?
Spider-Man India is Pavitr Prabhakar, one of many multiverse version of Peter Parker. Pavitr was introduced a decade before the modern Spider-Verse, back in the Spider-Man: India (2004) mini-series. He returned last year as part of the extended Spider-Verse as written by Nikesh Shukla, who returns to write this Marvel FCBD 2024 story.
What is Edge of Spider-Verse?
Beginning with the 2014 “Spider-Verse” event that inspired the film, Marvel has used anthology series titled “Edge of Spider-Verse” to introduce alternate version of Spider-People in short stories by a wide range of creators. That’s where we first met Spider-Gwen! Since the success of the Spider-Verse films, Edge of Spider-Verse has become a perennial series introducing new Spider-People and revisiting old favorites.
Where will this Spider-Man India story be collected?
Spider-Man India does not currently have an ongoing series, so we could see this in one of three places. It could be collected along with a subsequent Spider-Man India mini-series. It could be included in the next Edge of Spider-Verse collected edition. Or, it could be included in on of Marvel’s periodic Marvel’s Voices collected editions that combine several of their anthology issues into one paperback.
Want to know more? You can follow the releases from most Spider-Man characters in my Guide to Spider-Man – Peter Parker (2018 – Present), but many major Spider-folks have their own guides – including Guide to Spider-Man – Miles Morales, Guide to Spider-Gwen, Guide to Spider-Woman, Guide to Spider-Man 2099, and Guide to Spider-Ham!
Free Comic Book Day 2024: Spidey and His Amazing Friends #1
This Marvel Comics FCBD 2024 all-ages issue is meant to appeal to fans of the delightful Disney show of the same name (with music from Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy!).
Based on the solicited text, I don’t think this contains any original material – just already-released all-ages comic stories.
Free Comic Book Day 2024: Star Wars/Darth Vader #1
This Marvel Comics FCBD 2024 issue features win stories from the writers of the two remaining ongoing Skywalker-era titles in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, written by Charles Soule and Greg Pak.
About Marvel’s Star Wars Expanded Universe
What is the Star Wars Expanded Universe?
The ongoing continuity of Star Wars isn’t contained to just films and television shows! The vast majority of Star Wars canon is explored through novels and an ongoing line of comic books from Marvel!
Star Wars Expanded Universe comics don’t just focus on the periods of the films – they also explore the past of the universe, as we’re about to see in live action for the first time in The Acolyte
What are Marvel Star Wars comics about?
Since 2015, Marvel has published a primary “Star Wars” comic that follows Luke Skywalker. From 2015 to 2019 it focused on the period after A New Hope leading up to Empire Strikes Back, bridging the gap between the two movies with stories explaining the status quo at the beginning of Empire.
Starting in 2020, a relaunched title by Charles Soule focused on Luke and The Resistance in the period following Empire Strikes Back leading to Return of the Jedi. A sibling title by Greg Pak focuses on Darth Vader’s journey after realizing that Luke is his son as Vader begins to rebel against Emperor Palpatine.
Marvel also publishes many other ongoing titles and mini-series, including a line of High Republic comics focused on the past of the universe, as well a comics set during the Prequel and Sequel Eras.
Where will these Star Wars stories be collected?
These stories will likely be in the collected editions of Star Wars (2020) and Star Wars: Darth Vader (2020) releasing later this year.
Want to know more? My Guide to Star Wars Expanded Universe comics covers every Star Wars comic from Marvel, breaking them up by their era in the Star Wars timeline.
Free Comic Book Day 2024: Ultimate Universe / Spider-Man #1
This Marvel Comics FCBD 2024 issue includes a pair of unrelated stories from two different universes! Contains a Deniz Camp story as a prelude to his Ultimates as well as a Zeb Wells story about the main 616-Marvel Peter Parker that leads into Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #50.
About Marvel Ultimate Universe and The Ultimates
What is Marvel Ultimate Universe?
Marvel first launched Ultimate Marvel in the year 2000 during a challenging period for the comic industry. Beginning with Brian Bendis & Mark Bagely on Ultimate Spider-Man (2000), Marvel curated an entire new universe that reimagined all of their major heroes for the modern day. Marvel Ultimate Universe was a more grounded and mature line of comics with superstar artists that has been referenced heavily by the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
What happened to Ultimate Marvel?
The popularity of Marvel’s Ultimate Universe waned in the early 10s as many of the themes of Marvel Ultimate crept into the main Marvel 616 Universe. That lead to Marvel concluding Ultimate continuity in 2015 as part of Jonathan Hickman’s Secret Wars. However, a few characters escaped to the main Marvel Universe – including Miles Morales and Reed Richards, now known as the insane and villainous “The Maker.”
What is The Ultimates about?
In 2023, Jonathan Hickman had The Maker break out of his Marvel 616 confinement and escape into the multiverse.
The Maker’s goal? To recreate his Ultimate Universe without all of the pesky variables introduced by its heroes. The Maker started by preventing several heroes from encountering their origin stories – like capturing the spider that was destined to bite Peter Parker!
That created a wildly divergent timeline that set the stage for the new Ultimate Marvel. In this new version of the universe, Tony Stark figured out what The Maker did and began to recruit other heroes to oppose him. Tony sent an adult Peter Parker his long-lost irradiated spider. Then, Tony recruited two heroes who The Maker could do nothing to change: Thor the Odinson and the frozen Captain America! Marvel’s classic trio of Avengers form the core of this reimagined version of The Ultimates.
Where will this Ultimates story be collected?
This story will surely be collected with the first volume of Camp’s Ultimates, which will also include Ultimate Universe (2023) #1.
Want to know more? My Guide to Ultimate Marvels covers every Ultimate Marvel Comic from 2000 to the present day, including all of the new Ultimate Universe series – Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Black Panther, and the upcoming launch of The Ultimates.
About Amazing Spider-Man by Zeb Wells
What is Amazing Spider-Man by Zeb Wells about?
Author Zeb Wells launched a new volume of Amazing Spider-Man in 2022. This series ships multiple times a month and focuses on Peter Parker being an outsider amongst his friends and other heroes. It began with him being blamed for a major disaster, separated him from Mary Jane in a seemingly permanent way, and has him fighting off villainous influences on his life and personality.
When will Zeb Well’s run on Amazing Spider-Man end?
The letters pages of Amazing Spider-Man have mentioned that Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #50 is the big kickoff to the third and final phase of this Zeb Wells run. That means we’re likely in for at least 20 more issues – which would take us through the middle of 2025.
Want to follow every issue of Spider-Man by Zeb Wells? Or, do you want to read all of the current Peter Parker comics not by Zeb Wells? My Guide to Spider-Man – Peter Parker (2018 – Present) tracks every in-continuity Peter Parker story.
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