Marvel Releases Free Comic Book Compiling Hip-Hop Variant Covers

[news]

[news]

Behind every good hip-hop album there's usually some dope album art to accompany it. It's not a secret that some of hip-hop's greatest rappers are inspired by comic books ( MF DOOM, Ghostface Killah, Killer Mike etc.). When the good people at Marvel announced that they will be releasing a free comic book that will include a variety of comic art based on hip-hop albums, fans rejoiced. Who are we to thank for this? Marvel and probably Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels started a comic project in 2015 which was incredibly well received by fans and Marvel.

If you have ever watched a Boondocks episode you can remember hearing tracks from MF DOOM and if you're a fan of either you see how effortlessly they pair together. Rappers and comic books go together like peanut butter and jelly; the art of storytelling mixed with animated visuals influenced with an urban imagination - I am officially turnt up.

This release is great timing for Marvel too, with Deadpool being highly anticipated and the trailers already depicting Deadpool as someone who appreciates hip-hop (the trailer includes snippets from DMX and Salt-N-Pepa), Marvel is doing a great job of continuing to bridge diversity in not just their comics but their audience too.



Over the past few months, Marvel Comics have been paying homage to hip-hop through a series of variant covers inspired by beloved albums from Run the Jewels, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Lauryn Hill, De La Soul, DOOM, Wu-Tang Clan, A Tribe Called Quest, Tyler the Creator, Jay Z, Missy Elliott, 2Pac, Eminem, and many, many more.



The company has announced a free, 32-page book featuring reprints of 14 of these covers, The New York Times reports. "The hip-hop variants were a really special initiative that caught fire in the outside world," Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso told the Times. "We thought this was a great opportunity to highlight that and make it available to fans for free." The comic will be available in participating stores January 6.



Update (01/06, 7:18 p.m. EST): Killer Mike wrote the introduction to the comic, which details his history with comics. Read an excerpt below and find the whole thing over at Fuse.

I have two dads, both of whom played a significant role in raising me: my biological father -- a conservative, pro-gun cop -- and my mom's husband -- my "dad," a liberal man of the arts with an amazing collection of records and comics. He was the one that introduced me to comics. I still remember when he gave me first copy of Uncanny X-Men. Seeing Storm for the first time -- a beautiful, powerful, dark-skinned woman that looked like my mother with a Mohawk -- I was instantly drawn to her.

Image credit: Fuse, Pitchfork and NY Times. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.












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