What is Marvel’s Midnight? Kevin Smith is taking on Hulk and Spider-Man in a new one-shot. Jeffrey Brown is taking on AI.
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Episode Transcript:
What is Marvel’s Midnight?
Kevin Smith takes on Hulk and Spider-Man.
Jeffrey Brown takes on AI.
This is Comic Book Club News for May 11, 2026.
Is Midnight Marvel’s Absolute Horror Universe?:
What does Marvel have planned after the end of the Ultimate Universe this June? How about Midnight, an “all-new publishing line” that will debut this Fall.
The short teaser (and image) provided by Marvel don’t give too much more info, but here’s the text: “Marvel Comics presents MIDNIGHT, a terrifying new universe coming this fall. Stay tuned next week for more information on this all-new publishing line, including series and creative team reveals“
While it would be reasonable to think that this would be an off-shoot of the upcoming Queen in Black event, which finds the side of light, led by Knull, fighting the side of dark, led by Hela… This seems to be something else. And in fact, it’s been rumored that this may be more akin to a Marvel Absolute Horror Universe, taking the classic Marvel horror characters and giving them their own, continuity-free world and titles.
Confirmed to be involved are writers Jonathan Hickman and Phillip Kennedy Johnson, while Benjamin Percy is also teasing his involvement. And the name is potentially a nod to Midnight Sons, meaning we could get fresh new takes on Blade, Ghost Rider, and possibly even Dracula or Man-Thing.
Interestingly, this potentially marks the third new universe Hickman has helped launched, after the hyper-successful Ultimate Universe 2.0, and the exponentially less successful relaunch of cosmic Marvel after Imperial — at least sales-wise.
…So what is Midnight? Will it be as big as the Ultimate Universe? We’ll know more later this week.
Kevin Smith Takes On Hulk And Spider-Man:
The Hulk, Spider-Man and Daredevil walk into a church. Not the start of a joke, not an imaginary story… Instead, it’s the plot of the upcoming Marvel Comics one-shot Spider-Man/Hulk: Fire And Brimstone #1.
Written by Kevin Smith and Andy McElfresh, with art by R.B. Silva, the book finds Matt Murdock and Spider-Man assisting Bruce Banner on exorcising the Hulk with the help of the church. On Easter.
Said Smith via press release, “I’ve played with Peter Parker and swung with Spider-Man before, but this is the first time I’m having Hulk issues. Andy and I are dropping two of Marvel’s most well-known scientists into a spiritual story of Biblical proportions as we exorcise the Incredible Hulk – and I’m not talking cross-fit!”
Spider-Man/Hulk: Fire and Brimstone #1 hits stores on August 19, 2026, which I’ll just note is nearly five months after Easter, and leave it at that.
Jeffrey Brown Takes On AI:
Writer and artist Jeffrey Brown is taking a stand against AI, and he has the Kickstarter to prove it.
Per Broken Frontier, the best-selling creator has launched a crowdfunding campaign for CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN: An Argument Against the Use of A.I. in Creative Endeavors, which may give away which way he’s leaning on this whole thing.
The one-pager is being presented as a mini-comic, as well as a variety of prints, as Brown goes to bat for human art. Said Brown, “Using A.I. to make art focuses on an end product. Whatever shortcuts you use skips over what art is really about: the process of making something and how you find meaning in that process.”
The Kickstarter was almost immediately funded, but if you would like to pledge to support a real human artist, you can do so until June 7, 2026.
For Comic Book Club News, I’m Alex Zalben. And maybe Marvel’s Midnight is their regular universe, but enrobed in rich decadent dark chocolate?
Got tips or stories you’d like us to cover? Email us at comicbookclublive@gmail.com.
For more comic book news, reviews, and interviews, check out comicbookclublive.com.
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