Marvel is bringing back What The–?!, the deliberately unruly comedy anthology that once made a habit of sending up superheroes, comics conventions and the industry’s own self-seriousness. The returning title arrives as a one-shot in January 2027, billed as “The Marvel Mag of Mirth and Mayhem.”
The announcement positions the special as a comic built for parody rather than the sort of continuity-heavy storytelling implied by its stated target: the Midnight Universe. The promotional language is intentionally ridiculous, talking up serious and thought-provoking comics before undercutting itself with jokes about pictures, CMYK printing and spending $4.99, plus tax in New Jersey. That tone is the actual news here. Marvel is not merely borrowing an old logo; it is reviving a format whose point is to make the publisher, its characters and its habits fair game.
A one-shot with a knowingly crowded credits list
The announced writing roster includes Ryan Stegman, Cody Ziglar, Jordan Morris, Daniel Kibblesmith and Eric Glover. Annie Wu and Manix are among the announced artists, with additional contributors promised. Stegman is drawing Cover A, while Kaare Andrews is providing Cover B, described as a Midnight-themed riff. Forbush Man appears prominently on both covers.
One credit is less a creative assignment than part of the gag. The material expressly lists “Not Chip Zdarsky” among the creators and repeatedly promises that Chip Zdarsky will not be writing or drawing the comic. It is a useful signal of what the new What The–?! wants to be: a book willing to spend precious cover-copy real estate on a joke about who is absent. Readers should expect that sensibility to extend to its satire of Marvel’s current branding and publishing language.
For clarity, a one-shot is a self-contained comic issue rather than the start of a regular monthly series or a numbered limited run. That does not tell readers exactly how many stories will be in the book, but the franchise’s history as an anthology makes short, separate comedy pieces a natural fit. An anthology collects multiple stories, often from different creative teams, instead of following a single long plot by one regular team.
What the original series did
The first What The–?! ran from 1988 through 1993. It followed in the footsteps of 1960s satire title Not Brand Echh, another Marvel comic designed to parody superhero storytelling and the culture surrounding it. Its short stories spoofed Marvel characters and tropes, and sometimes took swings at DC characters as well.
That lineage matters because superhero parody is not simply “a funny issue.” A satire comic can exaggerate the familiar machinery readers already recognize: immense crossover stakes, dramatic narration, costume changes, editorial slogans, grim origin stories, celebrity creators, impossibly earnest character speeches and the very idea that every development must be sold as historic. The more recognizable that machinery is, the better the joke can land.
The earlier series also featured artists including Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, Erik Larsen and Whilce Portacio parodying their own work. That is an especially useful precedent for a revival. When creators turn their own visual signatures or superhero conventions into punchlines, the humor is not coming from a distance. It comes from people who know precisely which poses, effects, plot shortcuts and artistic flourishes have become recognizable enough to spoof.
The new one-shot has not laid out its full story contents, so it would be premature to assume which characters, plotlines or Midnight Universe concepts will be mocked. Still, the stated target and the covers establish the broad direction. It is an exercise in Marvel looking at a current initiative and allowing a group of cartoonists and writers to ask whether it can survive being made sillier.
Why the Midnight focus changes the assignment
The Midnight Universe reference gives this revival a present-tense purpose. Nostalgia is part of the appeal of returning to a title associated with late-1980s and early-1990s Marvel comedy, but a successful parody needs something contemporary to prod. A Midnight-themed cover by Andrews suggests the special will aim at a current corner of Marvel’s publishing identity rather than function solely as a retrospective celebration of old jokes.
That distinction may be important for readers deciding what the book is—and is not. Nothing announced suggests that What The–?! #1 is essential reading for following a Midnight story. Comedy anthologies traditionally work best as optional, accessible detours: they rely on enough shared knowledge to make a reference work, but they should not require readers to treat the punchline as homework.
There is also room for more than one kind of reader. Longtime fans may recognize the title’s original identity and Forbush Man’s place in its visual vocabulary. Newer readers may simply find an all-star parody special more inviting than attempting to decode years of crossover chronology. The format gives Marvel a way to acknowledge the enormous weight of superhero “legacy” while refusing, for at least one issue, to behave as though that weight cannot be laughed at.
Forbush Man is a fitting face for the relaunch
Putting Forbush Man at the center of both announced covers is not a neutral design decision. The character has long been connected with Marvel’s comic-strip side rather than conventional heroic grandeur. In a book whose promotional copy asks, “Who says a comic has to be good?”, he represents the anti-prestige impulse built into the concept.
That does not mean the new special is promising careless work. Rather, the joke is aimed at the marketing habit of treating every comic as a monument. What The–?! has room to value craft while resisting the language of cultural destiny. Its pitch is that comics can be made with full professional skill and still be absurd, mischievous and unconcerned with appearing important.
The mock-serious solicitation also uses the phrase “from oblivion,” another clue that the return is self-aware. Revivals often arrive with a grand claim about restoring a treasured legacy. Here, the comic seems prepared to parody the revival pitch while making one. That is a stronger use of an old title than simply reprinting its name on a new cover.
What has been confirmed—and what has not
At this stage, the concrete details are limited but clear:
- Title: What The–?! #1
- Format: a new one-shot
- Release window: January 2027
- Writers announced: Ryan Stegman, Cody Ziglar, Jordan Morris, Daniel Kibblesmith and Eric Glover, among others
- Artists announced: Annie Wu and Manix, among others
- Covers: Ryan Stegman’s Cover A and Kaare Andrews’ Midnight-themed Cover B
- Price named in the promotional copy: $4.99, with the copy joking about applicable tax
What has not been detailed is just as worth noting. There is no full table of contents, no confirmed list of parody targets beyond the broad Midnight Universe angle, and no explanation of whether the book will lead to further What The–?! issues. The announcement calls it a one-shot, so readers should treat it as a single special unless Marvel says otherwise.
That modesty may suit the property. A comedy anthology does not need a gigantic roadmap to justify itself. It needs creators with an instinct for sharp visual and verbal gags, enough familiarity with the subject to make the references specific, and the willingness to let a superhero universe look a little ridiculous. The personnel named so far give the project a range of voices, while the “Not Chip Zdarsky” bit indicates the comic understands that even a credits list can be part of the routine.
A welcome excuse to let superhero comics be weird
Comics announcements frequently frame new series around major threats, decisive turning points and worlds that will never be the same. What The–?! #1 is arriving with the opposite attitude: no one demanded it, and perhaps that is exactly why it should exist. The special’s marketing repeatedly argues for fun over ceremony, even while spoofing the act of making that argument.
There is a broader appeal in that approach. Superhero comics are at their most flexible when they can support horror, action, romance, cosmic melodrama and nonsense without treating one mode as invalidating the others. A parody book is not a break from the medium’s traditions; it is one of the ways those traditions stay lively. For readers looking beyond capes-and-crisis gravity, the recent Metropolis horror mystery built around Marilyn Moonlight is another example of how familiar comic-book worlds can shift genre and tone.
Marvel’s returning satire title has a straightforward challenge now: make its jokes feel as current as its January 2027 release date, while preserving the anarchic spirit that defined the original run. With Forbush Man front and center, a Midnight Universe bullseye and a creative roster built for a multi-voice special, What The–?! is at least making its intentions unmistakable. It is back to cause trouble, preferably on paper, in CMYK.
