Robert Kirkman reveals Invincible Universe Battle Beast #1 blind bags. Jeph Loeb returns to Age of Apocalypse. New Dog Man coming in November.
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Episode Transcript:
Robert Kirkman reveals Battle Beast blind bags!
Jeph Loeb returns to Age of Apocalypse.
New Dog Man coming in November.
This is Comic Book Club News for May 13, 2025.
Robert Kirkman Reveals Invincible Universe Battle Beast Blind Bags:
One of the wilder promotional pushes of the past few years, at least when it comes to comic books? Skybound’s Blind Bag program for Invincible Universe Battle Beast #1. The comic, written by Robert Kirkman, with art by Ryan Ottley, returns the duo to the massively best-selling superhero universe. To celebrate, there are blind bags that contain some wild surprises on sale this Wednesday. And Comic Book Club exclusively revealed what those surprises were, so, sorry about that.
What’s in the bags? Along with nine randomly distributed, previously announced variant covers, the blind bags could contain per PR provided to Comic Book Club:
- A new printing of Invincible #19, the first appearance of Battle Beast!
- A special advance edition of Invincible Universe: Battle Beast #2.
- And, in partnership with Marvel Comics, a reprint of Marvel Team-Up #14, the historic first meeting of Invincible and Spider-Man.
Yeah. Seriously. They’re reprinting a Marvel comic, with the Image Comics logo, and selling it on stands on Wednesday, May 14. Wild! Here’s what Kirkman had to said about the program:
“I just want to do things that excite people, and I want to make going into the comic shop a revelatory experience. I want you to be getting things that are unexpected and getting things that excite you. And I want you to have a new experience when you go into the comic shop… Bringing it into comics, it just seemed like a cool thing. On the surface, you could get the one in 1000 cover that your retailer is selling for crazy amounts of money, in the blind bag. You could get the one in 50, you could get various rare covers. And that’s pretty cool.
“But the extra stuff? The foil facsimile edition of Invincible #19, Battle Beast’s first appearance. People aren’t expecting that. That’s in the blind bag. A foil cover advance edition of Battle Beast issue two, completed. That’s my favorite. Totally in the blind bag. I love that, because it’s like, I want to buy Battle Beast #1. I open the bag. I got Battle Beast #2, I go back. I buy Battle Beast #1. I got the first two issues. On the day of launch, I get an advanced look at what’s happening in this series. That’s super awesome. The weirdest one, though… We got the rights to reprint Marvel Team-Up #14, so you can open a Battle Beast #1 blind bag and get Marvel Team-Up #14 with a foil cover with an Image “I” in the top left hand corner. That’s where Invincible and Spider-Man met. Is it related to Battle Beast? Not really. Is it the coolest thing? I’m so excited about this.”
Retailers seem excited, too, having ordered nearly 400,000 copies of the first issue, including those sneaky blind bags. The issue sold out at the distributor level, and a new printing will be coming in June, presumably timed to the release of issue #2 (unless you already got it in a blind bag) with new cover art by Ryan Ottley, Jason Howard, and Ryan Sook. Invincible Universe Battle Beast #1 is in stores on May 14, 2025.
Jeph Loeb Returns To Age Of Apocalypse:
Somehow, the Age of Apocalypse has returned. After a teaser story in Giant-Size X-Men: Age of Apocalypse #1, writer Jeph Loeb and artist Simone Di Meo will kick off a new Marvel miniseries, X-Men of Apocalypse, a direct sequel to the classic event.
Said Loeb via press release, “Thirty years ago, THE X-MEN OF APOCALYPSE took the comics world by storm and I was lucky enough to be part of it. There were new characters! New designs! Heroes who were villains and villains who were heroes! Now, for the 30th anniversary, an all-new, all-different story with spectacular art by Simone Di Meo brings us to this uncanny team that shouldn’t even exist — and they are coming here!”
X-Men of Apocalypse will kick off with an Alpha issue, follow with a four-issue series starting in November, and conclude with X-Men of Apocalypse Omega #1. Oh, and the twist of the series, as Loeb teases? The Apocalypse X-Men are coming to the main, 616 Earth. That includes Gambit, Sabretooth & Wild Child, Blink, Forge and Morph, by the way.
X-Men of Apocalypse Alpha #1 hits stores on September 9, 2025, followed by X-Men of Apocalypse #1 in November.
New Dog Man Coming In November:
The biggest-selling comic in America is back this November. No, not Spider-Man or Batman: Dog Man, the series of graphic novels by Dav Pilkey, will release a new volume this Fall titled Big Jim Believes.
Specifically, per ICv2, the 14th volume of the series will hit bookstores on November 11. Said Pilkey, “The Dog Man series has evolved to become a love letter to my parents. I am grateful to them for believing in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. Their optimism, support, and encouragement have made a tremendous impact in my life.”
Per publisher Scholastic, sales for the series are up 34% this year, versus the same period last year — likely because of the release of the animated movie. And overall, 70 million copies of Dog Man books have been sold to date.
What’s the plot? Who cares! Your kids are going to make you buy it anyway. So, enjoy.
For Comic Book Club News, I’m Alex Zalben. And if you pick up the blind bag for this podcast, you might find… Well, nothing, it’s an audio podcast.
Got tips or stories you’d like us to cover? Email us at comicbookclublive@gmail.com.
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