Marvel has announced that they will be teaming with Penguin Classics to publish a new series, the Penguin Classics Marvel Collection, marking the first time that comics have been published by Penguin Classics.
- Marvel and Penguin Random House announced their new partnership back in March.
- The Penguin Classics Marvel Collection will be a collection of carefully curated comic book anthologies.
- The collection presents the original stories and seminal tales of key Marvel characters, and serves as a testament to Marvel’s transformative impact on graphic fiction and icons and stories across popular culture.
- The first three books in the series will be published on June 14, 2022 and will feature:
- Black Panther
- Captain America
- The Amazing Spider-Man
- Each title will be published in black spine paperback as well as a collectible hardcover edition with gold foil stamping, gold top stain edges and endpapers featuring artwork from the comics.
- They each include a foreword by a contemporary young adult author and a detailed scholarly introduction, speaking to the enduring significance of Marvel’s iconic creations.
- The Amazing Spider-Man includes a foreword by Jason Reynolds, the award-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author of many books including Miles Morales: Spider-Man, Look Both Ways and Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You.
- Black Panther includes a foreword by Nnedi Okorafor, the multiple award-winning author of Who Fears Death and the Binti novella trilogy. She has written Black Panther and Wakanda Forever for Marvel Comics.
- Captain America includes a foreword by Gene Luen Yang, the fifth National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, and the author of Shang Chi for Marvel Comics and American Born Chinese.
- Ben Saunders will be the series editor and author of the scholarly introductions for Captain America and The Amazing Spider-Man.
- All three books are available for pre-order now.
- The Penguin Classics Marvel Collection will continue with the release of additional titles to be announced at a later date.
What they’re saying:
- Editor Ben Saunders: “The comics produced at Marvel in the 1960s can be compared to the most enduring popular music of that same tumultuous decade. Working at tremendous speed in what was widely regarded as a low-status commercial medium, the creators at Marvel initiated and participated in an aesthetic revolution. These comics have now influenced writers and artists across all forms of media — from contemporary novelists to hip hop musicians to Hollywood filmmakers. It is not hyperbole but simply a fact: these classic Marvel Comics are foundational documents of our culture.”
- Elda Rotor, Vice President and Publisher of Penguin Classics: “When we talk about what makes a classic, we consider the work’s ability to connect with an audience across time, in both universal and individual ways. Marvel’s sustained and rich engagement with generations of readers, one that also provides a critical social lens, a deeply personal reflection of the human condition, and a shared reading experience of such storytelling and artistic innovation, is a super power. For instance, you can just say, ‘Spider-Man,’ and it opens up a whole world of stories and understanding. To me, that makes a Marvel classic a Penguin Classic. To have this opportunity to place the work of Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby and many other historic Marvel creators on shelves alongside the world’s classics marks a very special chapter in Penguin’s publishing history.”
- Sven Larsen, Vice President of Licensed Publishing at Marvel Entertainment: “From The Odyssey to The Time Machine, the Penguin Classics list not only recognizes the most important works in storytelling but also places them in their important historical and cultural context. Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Captain America have become the bedrock of countless stories across media, and it's a testament to the genius of Marvel's writers and artists that these characters resonate so strongly today. It’s a remarkable honor to have these important chapters in Marvel history join this esteemed series from Penguin Random House. I can't wait for new readers to discover these stories for the first time, and I'm excited for existing fans to be able to read the new introductions, essays and other material that will provide an even deeper appreciation of these seminal works of graphic fiction.”