Update: Marvel have released a graphic revealing more creators on the issue, and intends to announce more before its release in August. Original story is as follows:
After two days of teasing, Marvel have announced at The New York Times “Marvel Comics” #1000, an 80-page one-shot marking the 80th anniversary of the Marvel Universe. Each page, which will “correlate to one year in Marvel history,” has a different creative team, although several are written by Al Ewing, who helped conceive the intricate issue. According to the Times, the issue will introduce an artifact called the Eternity Mask, and reveal “the mystery that propelled the Marvel universe from its inception.”
The book features contributions from industry veterans and newcomers alike, including filmmakers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and rapper Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas. Editor-in-chief C.B. Cebulski said the newcomers were approached based on how often they’d reference Marvel in their work: “Our characters are mentioned in so many different ways and in so many different mediums and we always keep track. Now these distinguished individuals are able to contribute back to the comics they grew up on.” Tom Brevoort, Marvel’s executive editor and senior vice president of publishing, told the Times, “This is by far the most complex and complicated and difficult book I’ve ever had to assemble.”
“Marvel Comics” #1000 will be published in August, 80 years after Marvel’s predecessor Timely Comics published “Marvel Comics” #1 on August 31, 1939. The book featured, among others, the first appearance of Bill Everett’s Namor the Sub-Mariner, and Carl Burgos’s original android Human Torch (Jim Hammond), whose debut story is visible on the cover. The title, which was subsequently retitled “Marvel Mystery Comics” and later “Marvel Tales,” ran for 159 issues until 1957. According to Brevoort, the chosen issue number for the revival was meant to be symbolic rather than literal.
