Marvel Shares Gorgeous AAPI Month Celebration Covers
With Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month quickly approaching in May, Marvel Comics has released 6 gorgeous variant covers celebrating the occasion by artists Dike Ruan and Neeraj Menon. The circular portraits depict stunning profiles of the popular Ms. Marvel, Wong, and Shang-Chi, as well as the less visible but still beloved Wave, Mondo, and Sunfire, all AAPI characters who deserve more attention.
Folks from the AAPI community have been an integral part of the fabric of the United States for centuries, and while the community should be celebrated year round, it is nice that there is a specific month to celebrate the achievements, history, and future of AAPI folks throughout the world. This is not the first year that Marvel has released celebratory AAPI Heritage Month variant covers, with talented Korean artist InHyuk Lee combining classic AAPI heroes costumes with beautiful streetwear designs in 2021, and a special Marvel Voices: Identity one-shot comic being released to celebrate AAPI Marvel heroes as well.
This year's variant covers were created by Dike Ruan - with coloring by Neeraj Menon (Iron Fist, Darth Vader) - who is best known for the gorgeous penciling of the most recent Shang-Chi (2021) series written by Gene Luen Yang. The stunning covers, which feature truly wonderful representation portraits of 6 AAPI heroes, are variants for the ongoing Immortal X-Men, Moon Knight, Shang-Chi, Black Panther, X-Men Red, and The Amazing Spider-Man, and are set to debut during the month of May. While the characters Shang-Chi, Ms. Marvel, and Wong are all well known in popular culture, mainly because of their roles in the MCU, the characters of Sunfire, Wave, and Mondo are less well known, and it is lovely to see Dike Ruan be able to feature them to centrally on the covers of popular books. In Marvel Comics' announcement of the AAPI Heritage Month variant covers, they had this to say:
This May, Marvel Comics is proud to honor Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with variant covers highlighting some of its most prominent Asian and AAPI characters!
The AAPI Heritage Variant Covers will be drawn by acclaimed artist Dike Ruan, known for his incredible work on SHANG-CHI, and colored by artist Neeraj Menon. Adorning the covers of Marvel’s hottest ongoing series, these stunning pieces are bursting with energy, showcasing Shang-Chi, Ms. Marvel, and more iconic heroes using their extraordinary gifts in stunning circular portraits!
Sunfire, the Japanese mutant Shiro Yoshida, was first introduced in 1970 and was a fairly popular character for many years before fading into the background, but has recently experienced a resurgence in popularity as a member of Krakoa's first iteration of the official X-Men team. Meanwhile, Wave is a fairly new Cebuano character with aquatic powers who debuted in 2019 as a protector of the Philippines until she joined the Agents of Atlas led by Jimmy Woo. Rounding out the 6 featured characters is Mondo, a Samoan mutant introduced as a member of Generation X in 1994 who has the power of organic matter absorption, and has not often been highlighted in the comics. While it is wonderful that Marvel has hired AAPI artists to create these gorgeous variant covers, especially the ones that feature lesser known AAPI heroes, the fact that they are variants of comics that are almost entirely led by non-AAPI characters seems to point to Marvel's lack of AAPI-led series, something that should definitely change in 2022 and beyond.
With Marvel recently publishing Death of Doctor Strange: White Fox, putting out a Silk series, finally making the Immortal Iron Fist an Asian man, and giving a big platform to the up and coming artist Peach Momoko, it seems like Marvel really is committing to highlighting and centering the voices of Asian and Pacific Island characters and creators. Dike Ruan's AAPI Heritage Month covers are absolutely gorgeous, and hopefully Marvel Comics will continue to uplift artists like Ruan in the coming months and years. Happy almost AAPI Heritage Month!
Source: Marvel