Drawing his variant cover for “Action Comics #1000” live on his Twitch stream account on Wednesday night, artist Jim Lee has revealed that his design will feature the new villain being introduced to the Superman mythos.
Set to be introduced by writer Brian Michael Bendis, new villain Rogol Zaar is said to have some connection to Krypton before the planet was destroyed. He will be introduced during Bendis’ six-issue “Man of Steel” miniseries in June.
Lee’s cover will now be inked and colored ahead of the release of “Action Comics #1000” on April 18.
With “Action Comics” speeding toward its landmark 1,000th issue on Superman’s 80th anniversary (April 18), not only will we see a series of variant covers capturing the look and feel of the Man of Steel throughout different eras of his 80-year run, but certain comic book stores will also have their own exclusive variant covers available in limited numbers.
Some of comics’ most prolific artists will be lending their considerable talents to celebrate Superman’s incredible impact on comics, literature and popular culture through these variant covers:
- 1930s by Steve Rude (FUTURE QUEST, FUTURE QUEST PRESENTS
- 1940s by Michael Cho (BATMAN BLACK AND WHITE)
- 1950s by Dave Gibbons (WATCHMEN)
- 1960s by Michael Allred (BUG!: THE ADVENTURES OF FORAGER)
- 1970s by Jim Steranko (CATWOMAN: SELINA’S BIG SCORE)
- 1980s by Joshua Middleton
- 1990s by Dan Jurgens (ACTION COMICS) and Kevin Nowlan (HAWKMAN: FOUND)
- 2000s by Lee Bermejo (LUTHOR)
To date, other exclusive variant covers revealed include:
- Forbidden Planet Exclusive Jock Variant
- Yesteryear Comics Exclusive Jason Fabok Variant
- Third Eye Comics Exclusive Kaare Andrews Variant
- Summit Comics & Games Exclusive George Perez Variant
- Bulletproof Comix Exclusive Gabriele Dell’Otto Variant
- Uncanny Comic Shop Exclusive Tony S. Daniel Variant
- Kings Comics Exclusive Nicola Scott Variant
- BuyMeToys.com Exclusive Artgerm Variant
- Dynamic Forces Exclusive Dan Jurgens Variant
- Exclusive Francesco Mattina Variant
Expect more to be revealed ahead of the release of “Action Comics #1000” on April 18.