When Marvel craft comics about heroes you usually think of the super-powered variety. You know, the kind that can flyer or have incredible strength. Although, in this instance, they’ve focused on heroes of the sporting persuasion – international soccer superstars. This has been done as part of a partnership with ESPN as part of their coverage for the 2018 Soccer World Cup kicking off this week in Russia.
Made specifically for the ESPN website, these webcomics act as the perfect primer for the World Cup. In a way, you could consider these short comics as the clips that are played before a sports match to get you excited about what’s to come. They’re also a crash course on the players and teams you should be looking out for during the competition. These are perfect for those who know nothing about soccer, but avid fans of the world game will also get a kick of them too.
The comics cover players such as Lionel Messi (Argentina), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), and Neymar (Brazil) and explore their past World Cup performances and paints a picture of what they’re trying to achieve. It’s not only about the players, but also the teams who have and have not qualified. They explore the dominance of the German team, but also Italy’s shame of not qualifying too.
So who is responsible for creating these comics? Penning them are Deadpool co-creator Fabian Nicieza and is joined by penciler by Diego Bernard (X-Men: Gold), inker J.P. Mayer (Superman, Birds of Prey), colourist Andrew Crossley, and VC’s Joe Sabino on letters.
The team has created comics that are easy to read whether you’re on your desktop or mobile. They’re made to be read vertically and fit snug into the screen of your phone, making them great to read at home or on the go.
Overall, if whether you’re a fan of the world game or simply curious, these comics will get you excited for the World Cup in an easy to digest format.
You can read all of the 2018 World Cup Comics on the ESPN website.
Have Your Say!
Have these comics gotten you excited about the World Cup? Let me know in the comments below or via Facebook or Twitter.
Thanks for pointing this out! I’ve never really paid close attention to soccer/football before, but my daughter and I have really gotten into it this year and just finished watching pretty much every game in the the Group Stage. We’re still learning about the whole World Cup process and its storied history, so these comics are a great little primer.