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Update: Here's the cover to October's The Dark Ages #2, the second issue of writer Tom Taylor and artist Iban Coello's new alternate universe six-issue Marvel Comics limited series.
As detailed below the series will "introduce a world plunged into darkness after your favorite heroes unite against a new threat – and fail. Fascinating new takes on your favorite heroes and villains await in a saga that asks the question 'who were you when the lights went out?'"
The second issue picks up years after whatever issue #1 inciting incident is that ushers in the end of the age of technology.
"Now it's up to Earth's heroes to bring humanity together in the darkness," reads Marvel's description of The Dark Ages #2. "X-Men and Avengers, vigilantes, and villains all work together to create something better. But something darker than the night is descending on the world and this postapocalyptic world is about to face Apocalypse."
The heroes joining Apocalypse on the new cover include a few from teasers images for the series Marvel released in June, including a Miles Morales seemingly in control of a Venom symbiote, a Steampunk Iron Man, presumably Laura Kinney as Wolverine, a grown-up Valeria Richards, an older (and somewhat sinister-looking if you ask us) Peter Parker (?), and a red-headed young girl seemingly holding Spider-Man's webs. Is this perhaps a return of a May 'Mayday' Parker to the pages of Marvel Comics?
Or is it her sister Annie May Parker AKA Spiderling from the 2015 series Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows which took place on an alternate reality of Earth-18119?
Stay tuned and check out more information about The Dark Ages below.
Original story follows...
"The world outside your window…is about to end," says Marvel Comics ... after 365 days, anyway.
After almost exactly a year since first teasing the storyline and announcing a Fall 2020 release, Marvel has officially announced (again) that writer Tom Taylor and artist Iban Coello's Dark Ages six-issue limited series will debut September 1.
First foreshadowed in 2020's Free Comic Book Day: X-Men offering from Marvel, and teased this week in a series of mysterious images including this one - the limited series will unite superheroes from every corner of the Marvel Universe against a new threat ... but they will "fail."
'What if the superheroes lose?' seems to the calling card/differentiator of this series.
"Their defeat will usher in an exciting new age full of heartbreaking loss and unimaginable stakes," reads Marvel's announcement. "As the world is remade, fans will meet fascinating new versions of their favorite heroes as they fight to overcome insurmountable odds and restore hope to the universe."
Taylor calls Dark Ages "a story unlike any we've told before."
According to the publisher, the story begins with the "shocking revelation" of what the Watcher has been watching for all these years. Adding to new, untold layers to old school continuity in a favored story device at Marvel in recent years.
In this case "a danger older than the Earth threatens everything. And for once, the heroes who have saved the planet time and again find themselves almost completely powerless in the face of it," continues the description. "X-Men and Avengers will assemble. Spider-people and the Fantastic Four will come together. Heroes for Hire will fight alongside Champions. But none of it will be enough. The lights are about to go out... forever."
As mentioned by Marvel, the storyline was first previewed in last year's Free Comic Book Day: X-Men, although it was announced as a fall 2020 release at the time (see above).
In the story preview, Tony Stark and Pepper Potts deal with a mysterious phenomenon that attacks New York City and seems to cause an earthquake, eventually leading to the disruption of all electronic systems in the city – including Tony's Iron Man armor. As Tony tries to reach Pepper while she is stuck in an elevator, his armor fails and he's sucked into a jet engine, falling thousands of feet to the Earth, losing his leg and possibly even his life.
In one of his last acts before his crash and possible death, Tony calls Captain America, saying simply "Avengers Assemble" before being cut off by the loss of electronics. Though there's no indication of what's behind the blackout, a mysterious green energy is seen collecting in the sky over Manhattan leading up to the loss of electronics. Just before he loses consciousness as Pepper stands over his body, Tony says "Dark... It's all gone dark... Forever."
No effects of the blackout outside of New York are shown in the pages, however. But after waiting a year, Marvel readers are just a few months away from figuring out who and/or what will cause the blackout.
In most of Marvel Comics' best stories of all time, the heroes usually win. Maybe Dark Ages will be an exception.
