Marvel Has Its Best-Selling Comic in Years Thanks to Robert Downey Jr.
Things get meta and full circle for Marvel with the 'Ultimate Endgame' event.
Later this year, Robert Downey Jr. returns to the MCU as Doctor Doom for Avengers: Doomsday. But right now, he’s all over the comics—or rather, his artwork is.
On New Year’s Eve, Marvel Comics released Ultimate Endgame #1, the first of a five-part miniseries telling the final tale of its relaunched Ultimate Universe. To help sell the event, the publisher launched a True Believers Blind Bag program, where readers can buy a bagged-up physical copy that could have one of the book’s variant covers or 500 hand-drawn sketches by major Marvel artists like Pepe Larraz or Peach Momoko. Two of those artists are Downey and Kevin Feige. No, really, and Downey’s drawn four, two each for his former and future turns as Iron Man and Doctor Doom with signed and unsigned versions.
© Robert Downey Jr./Marvel Comics
© Robert Downey Jr./Marvel Comics
© Robert Downey Jr./Marvel Comics
© Robert Downey Jr./Marvel Comics
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Downey’s drawings have led to Ultimate Endgame #1 potentially becoming Marvel’s top-selling comic in years. At the time of writing, it’s unclear what that means, since there are no hard sales numbers like DC recently gave for its Absolute books, but it’s a notable milestone regardless.
It’s also a fun bit of fate: Endgame is being written by Deniz Camp, who also writes Ultimates, and for that book’s fourth issue—which focused on that world’s Doom, evil Reed Richards (the Maker), and the lack of the Fantastic Four. In the lead-up to that issue, he joked it’s the book to grab “if you want to understand Robert Downey Jr. as Doom.”
Marvel’s already looking to expand its blind bag program with the upcoming Daredevil relaunch in March. Meanwhile, Downey will take on Doom in Avengers: Doomsday on December 18, and Ultimate Endgame continues with its second issue on February 4.
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