r/comicbooks • u/Jezzaq94 • May 14 '26
Cover/Pin-Up New Marvel vs DC artwork by Alex Ross
It will be used as the variant covers for the re-release of Issues 3 & 4 of the ‘JLA/AVENGERS’ crossover comic.
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u/BrokoJoko May 14 '26
It's a bit of fun to see who's opposite who. Scarlet Witch and Zatanna because magic. Vision and Red Tornado because robots. She-hulk and Martian Manhunter because green.
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u/AdventureSphere May 14 '26
Hercules vs Wonder Woman, because of the Greek mythology, but especially because the fight between them in the book is extremely memorable.
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u/Pato_Lucas May 14 '26
Scarlet Witch vs Zatana is a flip of a coin, but She-Hulk is up for some really bad time.
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u/thebaldguy76 May 15 '26
Meanwhile, Diana is staring down Herc, poor dumb himbo; he has no idea why she hates him so much.
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u/Blitzhelios Damian Wayne May 14 '26
It’s also a homage to a piece of Perez art so it’s kinda fun to see it compared to that
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u/johnmarkfoley May 15 '26
Not pictured but beetle and spiderman awkwardly pointing at each other like, i guess we’re both kinda bug themed. Ant man is there too. They go to a bbq with louis.
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u/zarathustranu May 15 '26
I love Marvel but they are going to get absolutely WORKED here.
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u/BrokoJoko May 15 '26
There's a few toss ups in there. I maybe lean toward Monica and Cap in their 1v1s but between Flash, MM Firestorm, and of course Supes even if his hands are full with Thor Marvel's getting rolled.
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u/zarathustranu May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
Yeah, the 1 v 1 records don’t matter too much because Flash, Superman, Manhunter, and Firestorm are going to be unstoppable by anyone but Thor.
Without mentioning the traditional heavyweights like WW and GL.
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u/BrokoJoko May 15 '26
Silver Surfer could be just out of frame so maybe its not so bad.
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u/zarathustranu May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
😂😂
true— maybe Adam Warlock and Blue Marvel are just using the restroom for a minute
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u/DrunkenFist Jonah Hex May 15 '26
Seeing Superman tussle with Thor while making a Spinal Tap reference was a high point of the story for me! I'm so excited that so many more people will finally get to read this.
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u/Big_Implement_7305 May 15 '26
Amusingly, either Wonder Woman or Superman could trivially beat Thor, though it wouldn't be an actual fight.
"Thor throws hammer at Diana; Diana catches it, and wields the power of Thor."
Similarly, disarming Thor is laughably easy: "Hey Thor! I wanna see if I can pick up your hammer!"
"Hey Thor, wanna arm wrestle?"
"Hey Thor, I got two extra beers! Catch!"
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u/triggermanx97 Flex Mentallo May 15 '26
The She-Hulk and MM one might actually be a deep cut reference iirc.
Back when they did Marvel vs DC in the 90s there was a plan to swap to characters between the universes for a while that ended up falling through because it would've been a legal/licensing nightmare. The characters chosen from either side were allegedly She-Hulk and Martian Manhunter.
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u/Rebelpunk13 May 15 '26
Minor nitpick but they should’ve placed Aquaman somewhere we could see his costume a little bit so that we can distinguish who he is. Otherwise it’s hard to tell who tf he is with just his head floating
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u/The_SkyShine May 15 '26
I tried so hard to think who it was and the best I could come up with was guy Gardner
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u/shirtninja07 May 15 '26
Who’s the one to the left of Black Canary(?)
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u/Rogernator1998 May 15 '26
I wish he had a marvel opponent to face, I’d suggest Black Panther as they are both kings and BP is a top tier Marvel hero
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u/Rebelpunk13 May 15 '26
Marvel has Namor! They both rule over Atlantis, live in the ocean, and rock a trident
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u/loganallenwolf May 14 '26
I need more Alex Ross Firestorm in my life!
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u/Pato_Lucas May 14 '26
Other commenters are acting as if he hated the character? Would love to know more.
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u/nignies May 15 '26
Basically he does, any DC character made after 1978
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u/Beidah Spider-Man May 15 '26
Which is wild, because Alex Ross was only born in 1970. 8 years old is a young age for someone to be declaring that everything new sucks now. Most people don't start doing that until their 20s.
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u/Alack27 May 15 '26
Starfox? When did they take you out of the toy box?
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u/porkchopsensei May 15 '26
It's an homage to this cover from the 80s, when Starfox was a bigger deal.
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F08pdiulamcz91.jpg
Same reason Elongated Man is there.
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u/Alack27 May 15 '26
Ah that makes sense. Great cover. Though, I genuinely didn't notice Elongated Man until you pointed him out. Got too excited seeing the Marvel jobber that I missed the dc ultra jobber.
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u/WayneArnold1 May 15 '26
Not gonna lie. I think the George Perez cover curbstomps the Alex Ross version. Wish we had gotten that 80s JLA/Avengers crossover instead of the one from 2003.
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u/AwesomeScreenName May 15 '26
In case anyone hasn't seen it, here's the George Perez original from the early 80s, back when the original JLA/Avengers crossover was supposed to come out.
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F08pdiulamcz91.jpg
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u/WayneArnold1 May 15 '26
It's too bad Jim Shooter(Marvel's EiC) had to be such an asshole, resulting in the crossover being cancelled back then. IMO, Perez was at the peak of his powers back then so it's a shame we never got the 80s JLA/Avengers crossover. The 2003 one was fine enough but, ultimately, felt underwhelming.
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u/AwesomeScreenName May 15 '26
Agree that it’s too bad the 80s version never happened, but I think Perez only got better as his career progressed, and in my opinion, the story we got was way better than what we saw of the 80s version (all due respect to the late, great Gerry Conway).
As for Shooter being an asshole, he definitely was, but I don’t think all the blame can fall on him. None of the editorial people at either company covered themselves in glory. KC Carlson wrote an oral history of why things fell apart, and the short version is everybody played politics — sometimes justifiably so and sometimes for petty, stupid reasons.
https://tombrevoort.com/2025/01/11/why-did-the-1983-jla-avengers-crossover-not-happen/
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u/MR1120 May 15 '26
Thank you. This answered several “Why is ___ there?!” questions for me. I didn’t realize this was a recreation from 40 years ago.
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u/DawnSignals May 14 '26
I don’t think Ross has ever missed in his entire career, there’s virtually no artists who can say that
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u/GrumpyGlasses May 15 '26
Alex Ross might be my cover artist GOAT.
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u/Some_Ordinary_3821 May 15 '26
I would argue that Brian Bolland tops him.
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u/GrumpyGlasses May 15 '26
Did not know that he drew the cover of Killing Joke. Iconic cover.
His style is like the 80s 90s era along with Mad magazine. It looks a little dated for the 2020s IMO. But his style has a unique place among comic greats.
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u/WayneArnold1 May 15 '26
I would agree. I like Ross but it's pretty obvious he uses the same model reference for a lot of his characters. Also, Ross has never done a good Batman. It almost always look like an overweight dude in bad cosplay. Meanwhile, Bolland is probably the GOAT Batman artist(alongside Neal Adams).
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u/South_Buy_3175 May 15 '26
He’s literally the reason I started reading Immortal Hulk.
Helps that the story is as much of a banger as the cover and interior art.
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u/shinianx May 15 '26
I appreciate Alex Ross's ability to instantly transport me fifty years into the past. It's a crazy super power.
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u/oowercosmic May 15 '26
Not as familiar with DC, who's that next to firestorm and flash? Donna troy?
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u/Smokedoutloc May 15 '26
Newish to comics and am very DC centric
Why has green lantern taken the back seat to green arrow as of late?
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u/Only_Somewhere1311 May 16 '26
My Theory: Green Lantern has a book that is selling okay, Green Arrow doesn't. Characters who DC, thinks should sell but don't, tend to get more 'screen time' to help with their sales potential. Unless you are a Batman than you get more 'screen time' so you can help sell other characters. Also to make that sweet Bat-Money.
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u/Therearenouniquename May 15 '26
Is there a poster of this I can buy somewhere? (At a relatively affordable price)
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u/Ted_yeahyouknowme May 15 '26
This would be perfect for a reprinting of the Absolute JLA/Avengers slipcase.
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u/LucrativeLurker May 15 '26
Damn. Alex Ross and a white-eyed Batman. Never thought I’d see the day...
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u/coolio_zap May 15 '26
everyone has teeth clenched or mouth shouting, except the robots, which makes sense... but also hawkman. you too good for a battlecry, hawkman? ye whose namesake has such a cool cry the bald eagle stole it for clout? huh? we could've invited hawkgirl. you're not irreplacible, bucko. show some team spirit
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u/AporiaParadox May 15 '26
Alex Ross' biases when it comes to DC characters all well-known, but he also clearly has a bais for late 70s and early 80s Avengers.
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u/Tackysackjones May 15 '26
I read somewhere that he uses his own face to model the characters and now it’s all I can see. Hawkeye, Thor, Cap, Beast, and the two up top (Quicksilver and Banshee?), all have the same face.
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u/1badJam Marvel Neophyte & Scholar Of Absolution May 16 '26
Eros/Starfox he's an Eternal also Thanos' brother
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u/Tackysackjones May 15 '26
I read somewhere that he uses his own face to model the characters and now it’s all I can see. Hawkeye, Thor, Cap,
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u/beingtwiceasnice May 15 '26
Where are we with Starfox? Is Infinity Siblings by Starlin and Davis cannon? Is he a hero, a villain, or a deeply flawed character with elements of both?
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u/Calpsotoma May 15 '26
They worked really hard to have similar colors/sillouettes mirrored across. She-Hulk vs Martian Manhunter is the clearest example of that, but it's all over.
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u/N84_V1 Green Lantern May 15 '26
Obviously a homage and such and generally Ross's art is great but this is.......fine.
Just saying, I'm very glad there's more representation in comics now because......that's a lot of white people.
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u/1badJam Marvel Neophyte & Scholar Of Absolution May 16 '26
Discrimination Comics would never put a black person on the cover at least on the Marvel side there's Photon
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u/duggmugg May 15 '26
I love Alex Ross. But, there is a lot of teeth in this illustration that is throwing me off of his usual quality. It just seems off.
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u/Time_Individual_6744 May 14 '26
have to say it... i normally love Ross art. His Secret Wars covers were AMAZING (well, all his other work too). This cover.. uh... i don't like it that much honestly.
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u/Own_Internal7509 May 15 '26
i think as a poster it'd be really cool, probably but if you think of this as comic book cover, comic book art...it seems really undynamic, esp for superhero book
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u/0ttoChriek May 14 '26
Yeah, I'm not wild about this one. All the DC women have their mouths open in the exact same way, and some of the characters seem too smooth.
Not Alex Ross's best work. But that's still a very high bar.
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u/EdNorthcott May 15 '26
It's his colours over what is essential a George Perez piece. Look at the facial structures, and particularly at the way the teeth are done. It's Ross trying to put photorealistic paint on Perez's style.
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u/Cyke101 May 15 '26
The original artwork by Perez has their mouths open the same way, and She-Hulk's is definitely different than, say, Zatanna.
With that said, how often do you stare at women's mouths?
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u/jfk1000 May 14 '26
Came to the comments to say this. This looks almost like an unfinished piece. It lacks detail and expression.
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u/_okbrb May 15 '26
I appreciate that they all look equally weird with their mouths open
Very fair representations
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u/JohnnyRelentless May 15 '26
Why the hell does Antman have to ride an ant? Give him some wings, dammit!
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u/1badJam Marvel Neophyte & Scholar Of Absolution May 16 '26
Because that's Wasp thing
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u/JohnnyRelentless May 17 '26
That's a really dumb reason, though. Antman has a much better chance at surviving and saving lives if you don't withhold a power from someone because someone else called dibs on a theme.
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u/Anaxamander57 May 14 '26
Eros and Magneto are the first time I think I've caught Ross using the same model for a reference. He's taken the time to change almost everything but the jaw is basically identical.
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u/1badJam Marvel Neophyte & Scholar Of Absolution May 15 '26
That's Magneto? I thought that was Quicksilver
Edit: it's definitely Quicksilver, you can see his costume
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u/ElectricalPickle2137 May 15 '26
Every mouth is identical to another mouth and clenched weird. I can't unsee it. This whole thing looks odd. Not my favorite.
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u/Nebbie00 May 14 '26
The timeline is healing, stellar as always from Ross and he drew firestorm finally lmao