Alex Ross paints 28 portraits of Marvel heroes for new office mural - and "Timeless" variant covers

(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

A second wave of 'Timeless' variant covers by painter Alex Ross for upcoming Marvel books have been released. The 14 new pieces revealed just now add to those previously announced for a total of 28 variants planned by the publisher, which are also being used for a mural in Marvel's new offices they moved into earlier this year.

"Nobody else embodies the term Timeless quite as well as Alex does," Marvel's executive editor Tom Brevoort said previously. "His work makes people relate to these fantastical characters in an entirely new way - they become plausible and real without giving up their larger-than-life qualities in the process. He's also just about the hardest-working guy in the business - his output, given its quality, is truly staggering."

Here's the 14 new variants revealed today, all planned for release in October:

  • Amazing Spider-man #50 (Spider-Man)
  • Daredevil #23 (Daredevil)
  • Excalibur #13 (Nightcrawler)
  • Fantastic Four #25 (Black Bolt)
  • Fantastic Four: Antithesis #3 (Medusa)
  • Hellions #5 (Phoenix)
  • Marauders #13 (Iceman)
  • New Mutants #13 (Colossus)
  • Shang-Chi #2 (Shang-Chi)
  • Spider-Woman #5 (Spider-Woman)
  • Thor #8 (Thor)
  • Wolverine #6 (Wolverine)
  • X-Force #13 (Beast)
  • X-Men #13 (Cyclops)

"These gorgeous covers feature Marvel's greatest heroes brought to life by the iconic art of legendary artist Alex Ross," reads Marvel's press release. "Behold Marvel heroes like Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Jean Grey in painted portraits, depicted in their most classic and beloved costumes."

They join the 14 variants previously announced to arrive in Septembers books. They are:

  • X-Factor #4 (Angel)
  • Iron Man #1 (Iron Man)
  • Empyre Fallout: Fantastic Four #1 (Namor) 
  • Immortal She-Hulk #1 (She-Hulk)
  • Fantastic Four: Antithesis #2 (Silver Surfer)
  • Immortal Hulk #37 (Hulk) 
  • Giant-Size X-Men: Storm #1 (Storm) 
  • Strange Academy #3 (Scarlet Witch)
  • Captain America #23 (Captain America) 
  • Fantastic Four #24 (Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Mr. Fantastic, The Thing)
  • Avengers #36 (Ghost Rider)

Look for Marvel's full October 2020 solicitations and covers later this week on Newsarama.

Chris Arrant

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)