So maybe Marvel is listening to us small people in the hobby about irrelevant cover art for their titles. Seems the Battle Lines Theme is actually sticking to characters on the cover that actually play a part in such book.
So here are some of the upcoming solicitations of the Battle Lines Variants I think have some great looking covers.
Doctor Strange #14 (Nexon Marvel Battle Lines Variant)
Clea is back! Doctor Strange’s ex-wife finds him at one of the most horrifying points of his life, with GALACTUS AT HIS BACK! Can the two find a way to save countless lives?
Great looking cover of Doctor Strange.
It definitely has the Battle Lines game feel to it.
These could be great as virgin or with lettering.
Black Widow #5 (K Lee Marvel Battle Lines Variant)
ENDGAME! No Restraints Play isn’t playing anymore. As the field of play shifts underneath Black Widow’s feet, the true enemy is revealed. Lines are crossed. There is no turning back.
I have a feeling most of these will have that coming at you poster feel but that’s what it’s all about right?
Black Widow is one of my favorite Marvel characters since Avengers debuted in the MCU. Can’t wait until we get a Black Widow movie with Scarlet Johannson.
Amazing Spider-Man #21 (Sujin Jo Marvel Battle Lines Variant)
THE CLIMACTIC CONCLUSION OF ‘HUNTED’ IS HERE! Spidey faces an impossible situation that will push him as far as he’s ever been pushed. Who lives and who dies when the hunters become the prey?
This is a pretty sweet cover of Black Cat.
I’m also interested to see what comes out of this Hunted story arc with Kraven that starts in Amazing Spider-Man #17 which has a pretty decent ratio variant but also has a Blank Variant. When Blanks are introduced outside a #1 issue (or other big issue like #100 or such), it’s a possible sign the publisher is hinting at something big.
Asgardians of the Galaxy #9 (Maxx Lim Marvel Battle Lines Variant)
WAR OF THE REALMS TIE-IN! New York City is overrun with Malekith’s invasion forces. Earth is inches from falling to the Dark Elf King. And with Thor missing in Jotunheim, All-Father Odin injured and All-Mother Freyja about to embark on a mission of her own, Valkyrie is one of the few gods left to face the onslaught. But her fate is intertwined with another. What of Annabelle Riggs, the mortal girl who shares the body of a god? THE RIDE OF THE VALKYRIE begins here!
This is one of my favorites of the Battle Lines variants. Just a sweet sweet cover by Maxx Lim of Hela.
Venom #14 (Maxx Lim Marvel Battle Lines Variant)
WAR OF THE REALMS TIE-IN! Chaos reigns as Malekith’s campaign to take over the Nine Realms sweeps through Manhattan. With desperate battles raging all around them to quell Malekith’s horde, Venom has teamed up with an unlikely group to try to stop Malekith… …or die trying.
My other favorite.
Just a sweet looking cover done again by Maxx Lim. I think we need more Maxx Lim doing covers. These are great.
Magnificent Ms Marvel #3 (Sujin Jo Marvel Battle Lines Variant)
A group of aliens are sure that Ms. Marvel is the chosen one they’ve been waiting for. But IS she? Something seems fishy with these aliens, and to get to the bottom of it, Kamala will embark on her first big space adventure! You’ll never guess who she’s bringing along as backup!
Ms Marvel is popular but I don’t think we’re even warming up yet with this character.
Once she makes it to MCU, her stuff is going to blow up, particularly her first appearances. Buy now while you can, it’s a good gamble I think.
Shuri #8 (Heejin Jeon Marvel Battle Lines Variant)
SHURI TAKES UP THE BLACK PANTHER MANTLE ONCE AGAIN! Nnedi Okorafor returns alongside rising star artist Rachael Stott with a brand-new arc! But this is a Black Panther you’ve never seen before – one who will change Wakanda forever. Something has stolen pieces of the Djalia, the plane of Wakandan memory, and it’s up to the Princess of Wakanda to save it. But for every piece of the Djalia lost, a piece of Shuri disappears as well. Will a new suit be enough to save herself and her nation?
I like Shuri. I wish she was getting more love. But I really like this cover.
Immortal Hulk #18 (Jongju Kim Marvel Battle Lines Variant)
Bruce Banner is trapped inside Shadow Base Site A – powerless and hunted by their top assassin. He can’t run forever. He can’t change form. He can’t survive…without THE IMMORTAL HULK. But not the one you think.
One of the hottest titles out right now. And who doesn’t love the Hulk Buster Armor. Great cover on a great title everyone should be picking up not only because of the heat but due to the great story telling.
Old Man Quill #5 (of 12) (Yoon Lee Marvel Battle Lines Variant)
GLADIATOR CLOSES IN! PETER QUILL and the GUARDIANS’ good deeds across the Wastelands are starting to gain them a following… …which isn’t as good as it sounds as GLADIATOR and his advance team from the UNIVERSAL CHURCH OF TRUTH close in! But it’ll all be for nothing if Quill can’t escape from the MADROX gang!
I really dig Yoon Lee’s style.
They got a few more Battle Line covers coming down the pipeline which are pretty awesome.
Miles Morales Spider-Man #6 Yoon Lee Marvel Battle Lines
Who is STARLING?! …And is she single? Er, we mean, is she going to help stop Tombstone, or is she about to make the .45-thousand-caliber war for Brooklyn even deadlier? The last thing he needs is another complication at school. Good thing high school is, like, a very chill, logical place – oh wait.
I love Mysterio when done right.
This is an awesome cover of him just in time for the new Spider-Man movie coming out that has him debuting in the MCU.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #6 Nexon Marvel Battle Line
The neighborhood, and the planet, is doomed. Spider-Man is powerless to stop the end of the world. Only Earth’s Newest and Mightiest Hero, Spider-Bite, can save the day. Wait, WHAT?!
Another great looking Mysterio cover for Battle Lines.
I like the Yoon one better but this one really brings out the evil in Mysterio.
Again, really refreshing the characters on the cover at least relate to the title.
Champions #5 (Maxx Lim Marvel Battle Lines Variant)
WAR OF THE REALMS TIE-IN! The War of the Realms rages across Midgard, bringing together heroes from across the globe to fight for our world against mythic evil. In the midst of this chaos, the Champions need…Scott Summers? Cyclops reunites with the Champions, all grown up!
Another great Maxx Lim cover of Vision.
I’m a big Vision fan, I just wish they’d do more with him, particularly in the movies. He was such a bad ass in Ultron but kind of weak in Infinity War.
Spider-Gwen Ghost Spider #8 (Nexon Marvel Battle Lines Variant)
Making a dent in the criminal underworld has painted a target on Spider-Woman’s back – and with her secret identity revealed, Gwen Stacy will find the people she cares about most in the crosshairs! But even if she can save her loved ones from the criminals of Earth-65, Gwen will still be a target herself!
I love a good Goblin cover. This one has my attention.
the ones that stuck for me were venom and asgardians of the galaxy covers. i passed on everything else
Yeah, those too are my favorites as well. Maxx Lim nailed those.
There is no mention of Kamala in Captain Marvel film. They do hint at Photon as she’s a kid in this movie and it’s eerily similar to some of the Cassie Lang dialogues in Antman and the Wasp about wanting to be a super hero so probably another Young Avenger cast. All that past Kamala hype for this movie did not pan out.
She’s coming eventually to MCU.
I’m all over the carnage venom cover. That is sick! I was thinking of skipping venoms 13 & 14, but this cover sucks me back in.
May have to grab a hulkbuster cover too, the Ross cover for 18 doesn’t do it for me.
Check out the solit for IM18:
” He can’t change form. He can’t survive…without THE IMMORTAL HULK. But not the one you think.”
I’m thinking they are referring to the Immortal SHE Hulk. But will issue 14 be the one to grab, or will she make a full appearance in 15 and that be the hot book?
Stay tuned!
I love the Hulkbuster! That was one of the best scenes in Age of Ultron when Stark busted out that armor.
All I have to say about Venom #14 Maxx Lim Variant is just wow!! I love that F*&%en cover. WOW just WOW. To bad it will have the trade dress once it’s in my hands. It would be sweet to have a virgin cover for that one.
I think Maxx Lim just became my new artist crush lol…
The previous Battle Lines variants were virgins. Hopefully, they’ll do the same with this new batch.
Does anyone know if shops need to,do anything special to qualify for these? Or are they like a basic variant and they can order as many as they want?
These have no qualifier – shops can order all they want.
I really like most of these, especially Dr. Strange, Venom, and Champions. Not so much Black Widow (weird pose IMO) or Friendly Neighborhood Spidey. And do we really need two covers featuring Mysterio? I acknowledge he’s in the upcoming movie, but I think the Miles Morales cover is sufficient (and much better).
So, I also have to share that I could not find any Ziggy Piggy Silly Seal secret variants at 4 shops on Wednesday. Thought my reg. LCS would have rec’d at least one, but nope. So I figured that’s it, they’re gone for sure in my search area. Yesterday, I popped into another alternative LCS, saw from afar that there was only one cover A on the rack, and figured it had to be the reg. cover version. Picked it up, looked at it closer, and started grinning from ear to ear when I saw the word “Creek”. I could not believe no one grabbed this book in the past 2 days! Score!
At that point, I was blissfully unaware that my luck was about to get even better. I start looking for Naomi and Die #1’s and Old Lady Harley #5’s…none. Then back issues of Immortal Hulk…nothing. Then Venom’s…pulled out the stack…started flipping through…some were beat up…oh, here’s a #7…rough shape…oh another #7…what’s that?…a red tongue?…OMG, it’s a red tongue!! And it’s in good shape. And it’s cover price (actually 20% discount b/c I have a subscriber card). YES!! Thank You Comic Gods!…b/c I was unable to get this variant when it first came out.
I think either the store (recently?) pulled it out of a subscriber folder and put it back on the shelf or the subcriber decided he didn’t want it and put it back (because inside the cover was a note…easily removed…leading me to believe it had been on hold). It’s an understatement to say I was beyond thrilled.
Ironically, this same store was my first stop the day this book was released. And I was annoyed because there was no one there at opening time (and this is a mall store) to open up. I waited a bit, but then took off not knowing when anybody would show up. When I failed to find the tongue variant elsewhere that day, I called this store back to see if they had it. The guy who answered said someone had just bought it off the rack. Uugghh! While this same guy did apologize for not arriving on time and opening an hour later than usual, my luck had run dry at that point. But yesterday made up for that…2 secret variants on the same day! It pays to keep looking! And the thrill of the find is glorious! Good luck to all those searching.
Glad to hear luck is on your side. I picked up 4 Die #1s last week off the shelf. Sold them all for $75 total. Holding my Naomi’s…bigger days are ahead.
That’s a decent profit. And I think Naomi has room to heat up further. Sounds like you are well positioned for further gain.
I like a lot of these, black cat and hela really stand out to me