Marvel Comics Celebrates 75th Birthday With New Year-Long Secret Wars Event

Marvel Comics turns 75 years old this year, kids. To celebrate Marvel announced at Comic Con that Secret Wars is coming back this summer. Marvel Comics announced it will publish a new "Secret Wars" by writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Esad Ribic as a year-long event starting in May 2015.

At an offsite event at Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. in Times Square on Thursday night at New York Comic Con, Marvel announced that the story will begin where the "Avengers" and "New Avengers" storyline is currently running. "Time Runs Out" is Jonathan Hickman's nostalgic event, and it will hit the 'Avengers,' story line just in time for the summer 2015 blockbuster season.

Marvel Comics that Secret Wars is coming from the creative team of Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic, and it's being described as "overwhelmingly huge." In the original "Secret Wars," heroes and villains from all across the Marvel Universe were summoned the Battleworld by a cosmic being known as the Beyonder. The yearlong storyline take us back in time to Marvel's 1984 crossover.

At a New York Comic Con event at Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. in Times Square, Dan Buckley, Marvel Comic's president and publisher of print, TV and digital, said "We've been sitting on this for a very long time. We're going to be extending this in a year-long program into 2016 with our merchandising partners." His partners are of course toy makers Hasbro and Funko, clothing brand Mad Engine and retailer a Hot Topic.

Marvel executive editor Tom Brevoort said "However massive you think this is, let me assure you it is bigger than that. It's by far the craziest thing that I've dealt with." He also promises that, like the original Secret Wars, "people are certainly going to be talking about it thirty years from now." Secret Wars will cross over to digital platforms and includes "new consumer products." That had better mean action figures.

Marvel announced the project with a massive painting from Alex Ross that showed different versions of characters from throughout Marvel's history.

ABC will present "Marvel 75 Years: From Pulp to Pop!," a prime time special celebrating Marvel's 75th anniversary. It will air Tuesday, Nov. 4 in at 9 p.m. when "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." usually plays.  "Marvel 75 Years: From Pulp to Pop!" will be hosted by "Revenge" star Emily VanCamp, who played Agent 13 in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier."