A series of gorgeous new Marvel Comics covers from artist Sean Galloway pays tribute to the beloved era of classic Saturday morning Cartoons, with beautiful covers featuring the X-Men, Venom, and more.
While the concept of Saturday morning cartoons still persists to this day, the peak of this pop culture phenomenon was in the ’80s and ’90s. This is when shows like Masters of the Universe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, X-Men: The Animated Series, and Pokémon reigned supreme, and captured the imagination of children across the United States every weekend.
Marvel recently revealed three of the Saturday morning cartoon variant covers on sale this summer. The series includes covers for X-Men: Days of Future Past – Doomsday #1 and Death of the Venomverse #4 and #5 from artist Sean Galloway. Additionally, the two Venomverse covers combine to create a gorgeous connection cover. Even more variant covers are set to be revealed in the coming weeks.
X-Men: The Animated Series Is Beloved To This Day
Some of Marvel’s biggest media projects outside of comics and before the 2000s introduction of the Marvel Cinematic Universe happened in the early ’80s and ’90s. Cartoons like 1981’s Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, 1994’s Spider-Man: The Animated Series, and 1996’s The Incredible Hulk all ingrained deep in the minds of kids of that era. In particular, 1992’s X-Men: The Animated Series received near universal acclaim, with iconic adaptations of beloved X-Men plots spread over an impressive five seasons. In fact, X-Men: The Animated Series was so well-loved that not only did Marvel Comics recently publish X-Men ’92: House of XCII – an adaptation of 2019’s House of X set in the universe of X-Men: The Animated Series, but a continuation of the original series titled X-Men ’97 is set to debut in the near future.
It is no surprise then that the first Saturday morning cartoon variant covers from character designer and talented illustrator Sean Galloway to be released depicts the iconic X-Men. Inspired by classic TV ads from a bygone era, the cover shows Marvel’s Merry Mutants charging into battle with smiles on their face. Even more perfect, the cover is for X-Men: Days of Future Past – Doomsday #1, Marvel’s upcoming return to the iconic apocalyptic world of 1981’s Days of Future Past, which is one of the X-Men’s most beloved and famous stories from the ’80s. Galloway’s gorgeous X-Men cover features Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Rogue, Wolverine, and Gambit, with Jean Grey wearing her infamous green Phoenix costume.
Spider-Man: The Animated Series Was Venom’s First Cartoon Appearance
Galloway’s other released Saturday morning cartoon variant covers are a set of beautiful connecting covers for Death of the Venomverse #4 and #5, depicting various Venomverse heroes and villains such as Eddie Brock, Knull, Red Goblin, Black Cat, and Scream. Venom’s first animated appearance bonded with Eddie Brock was in 1995’s “The Alien Costume, Part 3” from Spider-Man: The Animated Series. This makes Death of the Venomverse another perfect comic to be accompanied by a Saturday morning cartoons variant. It is a real blast to see a villain like Knull, who is so modern and new, depicted as a cartoon with a real ’90s vibe, in a style that you would never see the former God of the Void nowadays.
For kids raised in the 1980s and ’90s, Saturday morning cartoons were a memorable and beloved part of every week – sometimes the best part of every week. Sean Galloway’s adorable Marvel Comics covers that pay tribute to iconic Saturday morning cartoons are the perfect way to honor the era.
Source: Marvel
X-Men: Days of Future Past – Doomsday #1 will be on sale July 12. Death of the Venomverse #4 will be on sale August 23. Death of the Venomverse #5 will be on sale August 30.
