It's summertime, and the comics are busy. Here are three current summer "events" worth noting:
'Heroes Reborn'
This event began on May 5 with "Heroes Reborn" No. 1. That title is the spine of the story, which comes out weekly (along with various related one-shots). The whole megillah wraps on June 23 with "Heroes Return" No. 1. None of the heroes in these titles refer to the actual stars of the series, which are a group called the Squadron Supreme. This alt-universe superhero team has popped up now and again since it was created in the 1970s as an evil parody of the Justice League called the Squadron Sinister.
"Heroes Return" posits a world where the Squadron Supreme existed in the Marvel Universe before the Marvel Universe got going, as the Justice League of America did in the real world. (The JLA formed in 1960, whereas the Marvel Universe didn't properly launch until 1961 with "Fantastic Four" No. 1, and we didn't get the Avengers until 1963.)
And because of the Squadron's existence, history is changed and the Avengers don't assemble. But one person knows something is wrong: Blade. The Daywalker starts reassembling the Avengers. These are the heroes being reborn, and the ones that will return in "Heroes Return" — as the "bad guys," fighting "Earth's Mightiest Heroes." Which means they're the good guys, because as we've seen in the series so far, the Squadron is ultranationalistic and sadistic, but they have really good PR.
We don't know why any of this is happening yet, but honestly, I don't care. Watching Hyperion make short work of Galactus, and Dr. Spectrum (Green Lantern) take out Thanos, well ... that's just fun.
Pride Month
June is Pride Month, which three of the big publishers are acknowledging in some fashion. There are a lot more LGBTQ+ characters in comics to talk about than there used to be. Until Northstar came out as gay in "Alpha Flight" No. 106 (1992), there were hardly any.
DC Comics scored first with "DC Pride" No. 1, an anthology of stories featuring LGBTQ+ characters released June 8. Marvel follows suit on June 23 with "Marvel Voices: Pride" No. 1, a similar anthology starring LGBTQ+ characters. Another new gay character will debut in "The United States of Captain America," a five-issue miniseries launching June 30. Finally, keep an eye out for variant covers from Marvel, DC and Image Comics celebrating the publishers' various LGBTQ+ characters. They're easy to spot, thanks to rainbow or pink color schemes.
Hellfire Gala
I'm saving the best for last, but it's also the one about which we know the least. As X-fans know, respected writer Jonathan Hickman has revamped the X-Men books in a major way. Currently, all mutants live on the sentient mutant island Krakoa, which Magneto and Charles Xavier have established as a new nation. This island is capable of producing miracle drugs to cure diseases like Alzheimer's, which the mutants are exporting to become very, very rich (but still not loved).
To celebrate, the Hellfire Trading Company (which markets the drugs) is holding an elite, invitation-only gala for presidents, CEOs, ambassadors, Avengers, etc. It's a pretty big party, running through five weeks and 14 issues. What we know so far is that something big happens at midnight — we've seen the fallout among various characters, but not the event itself.
