There’d been a planned new take on Marvel’s Swimsuit Specials from 1991-95 about 6 years ago, but it was cancelled at the time out of highly probable PC. Now, as Superhero Hype’s announcing, it looks like Marvel’s got a new swimsuit special scheduled for release this summer, but with a certain catch.
First:
Throughout the 1990s, Marvel parodied the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue with their own Marvel Swimsuit Special. Marvel Comics is reviving the annual for Summer 2025. However, this year’s special will be more than a collection of pin-up artwork.
The one-shot comic, titled Marvel Swimsuit Special: Friends, Foes & Rivals #1 boasts an impressive creative team. The story will be provided by Tim Seeley and Tony Fleecs. The full artist roster has yet to be announced. However, it will include Nick Bradshaw, Marguerite Sauvage, Nic Klein, and Luciano Vecchio. Additionally, the comic will feature variant covers by Adam Hughes, Mark Brooks, Taurin Clarke, and Russell Dauterman.
Umm, that’s an awkward description, since it was only within 4-5 years they published 5 specials, which, at the time, were impressive in terms of art talent, if anything. Whether this new special will live up to talent and competency remains to be seen. And until that can be fully determined, here’s the drawback:
What makes the new Marvel Swimsuit Special notable is its story, which will tie into recent events in the Immortal Thor comic. There, the sinister Roxxon Corporation has been depicted publishing unlicensed comics based on the adventures of Thor. Their version of Thor is a shameless shill for the company’s products. However, there is little the Odinson can do legally as a public figure and deity who is, essentially, in the public domain.
Gee, that’s not very encouraging to connect this upcoming special even remotely to what ongoing series they’ve been turning out of recent. Especially if it was written by leftist social justice advocate Al Ewing, one of many talentless writers being hired only if their political leanings are considered acceptable to the woke editors at Marvel/DC. Newsarama also noted where they’re drawing an idea from:
Marvel’s really not shying away from the basest appeal of superheroes in swimsuits there. But the publisher is hiding it in a veneer of satire thanks to its mention of Roxxon Comics.
For those who may have missed it, in 2024, Marvel “relaunched” Thor as an extremely satirical corporate superhero named Chad Hammer as part of a storyline in which the fictional Marvel Comics of the Marvel Universe was bought by evil megacorporation Roxxon.
It was pretty silly stuff, and now Marvel is returning to that well to put a humorous spin on the swimsuit special in a framing story from writers Tim Seeley and Tony Fleecs, and artist Nick Bradshaw, which may be exactly what the new version needs to separate it from the well-worn cheesecake of the ’90s edition.
I think even the original swimsuit specials had a plot or two, but they were stand-alone, and that’s why they can hold up better than what Marvel’s going by now. But to say the appeal is “base”? Well that certainly hints what politics Newsarama’s writer is going by. And why they’re an otherwise irrelevant news site at this point. Mainly because their sex-negative bias is showing through, with the part about being “well-worn”. Maybe they should consider their own PC viewpoints.
While it’s disappointing if Marvel’s tying this to a recent story from the tatters of their universe, The Gamer notes that this project appears to be influenced by the Marvel Rivals game, which is supposed to be a 3rd person perspective adventure:
Marvel Rivals has breathed new life into a host of lesser known Marvel characters as fans flock to the hero shooter to test out characters of all shapes and sizes (but mostly leggy and blonde), dealing with the ever evolving meta. However, there’s no doubt that the designs themselves have been a huge factor in the game’s success, and now we’re seeing that influence the comics.
After being retired in 1995, Marvel’s Swimsuit Edition (in the style of Sports Illustrated) is returning soon, with the skins being primed for Marvel Rivals too. Described by Marvel as a “tongue-in-cheek” comic book, the magazine-style issue depicts the various heroes chilling at the beach or by the pool. And, soon, they’ll also be chilling in Shin-Shibuya.
[…] There’s also a wrap-around cover featuring Captain Marvel, Rogue, She-Hulk, Mary-Jane, and Black Widow posing in swimsuits by surfboards, though not all of these characters are in Rivals at the moment. Though we don’t know which ones will make it into the game yet, the press release confirms that several outfits included in the editon will feature in Marvel Rivals too.
Which in itself might be more appealing, but again, the whole notion of connecting their premise directly to the series titled Immortal Thor is uncalled for. All they had to do was make it a story about Janet Van Dyne being offered a big fashion designing job, and inviting plenty of MCU casts to participate. Or, more precisely, they could’ve made it a more stand-alone premise. From what’s been told so far, that doesn’t sound like the case.
Here’s Forbes’ comment:
As is somewhat common with a lot of hero shooter games, there is going to be a slate of “summer themed” skins for Marvel Rivals, and we’ve seen this sort of thing everywhere from Overwatch to The First Descendant.
The interesting twist here is that Marvel Comics, in its effort to continue supporting Marvel Rivals, which it seems to believe is the most successful thing the brand is doing in cross-media outside the MCU, is bringing back the fabled Marvel Swimsuit Special, a comic event that has not existed in thirty years, leaning in to Rivals’ “sexy” aesthetic for its male and female heroes (I mean, let’s be real, mostly female). […]
Umm, I hope that doesn’t mean he’s got an issue with how they illustrated the babes? Hope not, because sex-negative propaganda is getting tiresome already, and the less hints at complaints, the better. What I do find objectionable other than tying it into Ewing’s Immortal Thor is that one of the covers bases its take on Jean Grey on the stupefyingly overused Phoenix plotline, when it shows her hair looking like there’s flame in it, and even her bikini bottom has such a symbol on it. Why do we keep having Chris Claremont’s questionably prepared storyline shoved down our throats instead of left in the past where it belongs? It’s time for writers to stop constantly harkening back to that tale from the Bronze Age, mainly because at this point, they’re not even trying to make a serious statement the original story ostensibly did, that “power corrupts”.
I also noticed a feminist writer for left-wing Vice, who admits she’s a lesbian, writing about the comic special, and she lectured everybody with the following:
I expect Marvel Rivals to get similarly attractive swimwear attire when the summer skins drop later this year. Hopefully, that means some diversity in sexy attire. As I mentioned in my article on Emma Frost’s reveal, I’ve seen many female fans express disappointment in the game’s intense sexualization of women. And yes, I may be a lesbian pervert, but I’m also a feminist lesbian pervert. I don’t want to play Marvel Rivals just to watch women breast boobily while bouncing their buxom butts. If sex appeal is such a core part of this game, at least add a little something for the players who like boys. You know what I mean, NetEase. Give Spider-Man that nice, fat Spider-Bulge.
Gee, if you feel even remotely negative about the game’s female sex appeal, why even play it at all? Just vote with your wallet for a different game that actually does meet your bizarre standards or develop your own. But stop acting like you know what’s good for the stuff Stan Lee originally helped develop in his time, and stop acting like all mainstream is your political property, and all that matters. Did you know there’s mothers out there who love wearing sexy swimwear? One more reason these SJWs would do well to stop obscuring their voices in the whole matter. Besides, just like the originals, even this special looks like it’ll have men spending time on the beach shirtless. But if that part about what she thinks Spidey should be seen with is what I think it is, that’s very crude even for a woman. Anybody using that kind of vulgar allusion to the body has no business weighing in on the subject of escapism at all.
Gizmodo says:
Why bring it back? Well, it probably has something to do with DC’s recent streak of summer variants and a little thing by the name of Marvel Rivals, which is giving swimsuit skins to some of its heroes during its current second season. The comic will feature designs from the game, so if you’re a fan of someone’s look in one medium, you might be as big (or more) of one in the other.
Yes, DC of recent published their own variation on what Marvel did in the early 90s (which unfortunately had the catch of pandering to PC standards), so maybe they decided it was time to develop some more followups to their original 90s classics once again. But they sure have a very questionable way of doing it, and that dampens the impact of what could’ve been seen as a worthy way to mend fences after all the damage caused since Joe Quesada, Bill Jemas and Axel Alonso were originally in charge. Also note that so far, while Peter Parker appears in an illustration with Psylocke, there’s no telling if there’s any drawings of Spidey alongside Mary Jane Watson, and if they’re kept separate from each other here, that’s saying quite a bit about where Marvel under C.B. Cebulski still stands.
Originally published here.
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