Walmart Leaks Avengers: Season One

Both Marvel and DC are always searching for new ways to attract fans of their respective movies and convert them into comic readers. This year, Marvel has focused a significant amount of attention on the Season One line of graphic novels. These standalone hardcovers offer streamlined, contemporary versions of early Silver Age adventures. So far, the Fantastic Four, Daredevil, X-Men, Spider-Man, Ant-Man, and Hulk have all received the Season One treatment, with Doctor Strange next in line.

Oddly, there is one strange omission in that lineup. What about the Avengers? Especially considering they just had an extremely popular movie, one would think Earth's Mightiest Heroes would be a natural fit for the Season One line. As it turns out, there is an Avengers: Season One in the works, and it's coming sooner than fans might expect.

Walmart's website revealed the book's existence over the weekend. It turns out that the retailer will be selling a special bundle that includes the Avengers Blu-ray and the Season One graphic novel. The set is listed with a $39.99 MSRP and is currently available for pre-order for $25 on the site. The release date in September 25, the same as the regular DVD/Blu-ray release.

Initially, the question was whether Avengers: Season One would actually offer an original story lie the others, or merely provide reprints of older Avengers material. But Peter David soon set the record straight on his blog:

Bleeding Cool announced yesterday that Marvel is releasing a special edition through Walmart of The Avengers on Blu-Ray and DVD, packaged with an all new, original “Avengers” graphic novel. But who (they wondered), WHO could possibly have been involved with the creation of it?

Yeah, uh, that would be me. One hundred page original Avengers graphic novel. I’ll let you find out the artist(s) on your own, but the entire story is by yours truly.

That still leaves a number of other questions, not least of which the identities of the art team. The cover illustration was rendered by Adi Granov, but did he also provide the interior art?Also unclear is the exact size and format of the graphic novel. Will it be a standard-trim hardcover like the rest of the Season One line, or will it be a smaller, cheaper volume with dimensions similar to the Blu-ray case? Will the book eventually be made available at other retailers or digitally? We expect that Marvel will have an official announcement forthcoming.

Thanks to Bleeding Cool for the original tip-off on this story.

Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and IGN Movies. He can't wait until he's old enough to feel ways about stuff. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.

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