Short Box: Marvel Swimsuit Special: Friends, Foes & Rivals
#1A
Adam Hughes Regular
| Release: | Jul 09, 2025 |
| Cover: | Sep 2025 |
Creators
| Writer | Tim Seeley, Tony Fleecs |
| Artist | Ron Lim, Nic Klein, Luciano Vecchio, Nick Bradshaw, Aaron Kuder, David Marquez, Mirka Andolfo, Mahmud Asrar, Marguerite Sauvage, Joshua Cassara, Ryusei Yamada |
| Cover Artist | Adam Hughes |
| Letterer | Travis Lanham |
| Editor | Wil Moss |
| Editor in Chief | C.B. Cebulski |
Back when this was announced, I did an Unbagging of the original Marvel Swimsuit Special, and though I didn’t mention it in the post, I wondered if the pin-ups it contained would match the sheer levels of horniness of the swimsuit issues of the past. I doubted it, and it turns out I was correct.
That’s hardly surprising and it wasn’t exactly a difficult prediction to make, particularly given that it’s something that’s been played around with a bit in the recent past with comparatively mild variant covers – though that’s happened more with Marvel’s Distinguished Competition than with the House of Ideas – and I kind of suspect that’s where many of the pin-ups in this issue are from. I know that at least one of them has been used as a variant cover. (Scroll down to the She-Hulk cover)
The ’90s, after all, were a very different era and changes to styles and tastes mean that the who and how of this kind of pandering are not the same as they were.
Another change is in the format. While the later issues moved away a bit from being full parodies of Sports Illustrated, all of the swimsuit issues retained the magazine format. Not so this special, which is the standard comic size.
Also, rather than having a prose narrative that explains the how and why of seeing a series of images of Marvel characters in skimpier-than-usual outfits, there’s an actual narrative framing told in standard comic book form.
Basically, Roxxon, the corporation that’s even more evil than most, put out an unauthorized swimsuit special featuring the heroes of the Marvel Universe using AI-generated images. Despite print media being dead, the magazine is selling like Aunt May’s wheatcakes, but in addition to that, they’re getting killer ratings on their news network by accusing the heroes of immodesty and immorality.
The heroes decide to try to beat Roxxon at their own game by putting out their own official swimsuit issue, one that strikes the proper balance of salaciousness and modesty.
Which, I mean, I guess? I don’t know that it necessarily makes sense, and some of the people involved as the heroes go around recruiting models question it themselves, and in the end, as a kind of meta-commentary, it’s pointed out that all of it is rather pointless given that the internet exists.
That’s a fair point about the actual issue itself. I’m not going to knock any of the artists, all of whom did a fine – if rather tame, for the most part – job with their pin-ups, but the whole thing just feels kind of lackluster, and more than anything it seems like a demonstration of the limits of nostalgia.
It’s not like the specials of old – it doesn’t even have the fun fake ads – nor could it be, and it isn’t really able to stand as its own thing, apart from having some skins for that Rivals game. Which is fine if, unlike me, you’re into that.
The swimsuit specials of the past were very much of their time, for good or ill, and I don’t know that there’s really a space for a modern equivalent.
But at least all of the different covers were nice.
Born and raised in the sparsely populated Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Jon Maki developed an enduring love for comics at an early age.
