The Entire Comic Book Mythos Bleeds Into Our World With First Look At Donny Cates’ ‘Crossover’

For his new comic book series, Crossover, Donny Cates couldn’t decide which superhero to focus on, so he just chose all of them…and I mean ALL of them. He went full Gary Oldman in Léon: The Professional: “EVERYYYOOONE!” No, seriously — Crossover (whose debut issue goes on sale next month) is the steamy love child of Crisis on Infinite Earths and Secret Wars that was then hit with the growth ray in Honey, I Blew Up the Kid.

The story begins when every single superhero and villain you can think of (Marvel, DC, you name it!) randomly show up in the Denver, Colorado of our reality to start an all-out brawl. The strange event becomes known as “The Crossover,” which is eventually contained when one of the “Supers” gets the bright idea to cast a forcefield around the city.

Now, several years later, no one gets in and no one gets out…or so it would seem. Meanwhile, the world at large has turned against comics and their beloved archetypes as religious zealots insist that God-fearing Americans must “pray the capes away.”

“Crossover is unlike any book I’ve ever worked on. It’s massive in its scope but still very personal and emotional,” Cates (God Country, Thor) said in a statement to Forbes Entertainment. “From new readers to old school fans of the early Image days, I truly think this book has something for everyone. Crossover is a love letter to this industry that we’ve all kind of grown up together in and we can’t wait for you all to go on this journey with us. It’s going to be wild!”

“Crossover is big! Years in the making, it’s a hugely personal story, in scope and scale,” added artist Geoff Shaw (God Country), who shares illustration duties with Dee Cunniffe (Olympia). “As an artist it’s been a dream to work on, and I’m genuinely proud of the work our team has done! Readers are in for a rare treat!”

In anticipation of the book’s early November bow, Image has shared two exclusive retailer covers with Forbes. The first variant was drawn by Rob Guillory and can only be purchased via Big Easy Comics. The second variant hails from Inhyuk Lee and is only available from Glass Cabinet Hobbies.

Take a look:

You may have noticed that that these covers don’t feature any recognizable heroes. Well, that’s because the story isn’t really about them; it’s actually about Ellipses Howell, one of the few humans that still believes in the sanctity of comic books. To underscore her cosplayer convictions, Ellipses wears an Incredibles/Catwoman-esque mask on her face and black gloves over her hands. That said, she’s only one strand of a larger, overarching web of characters that I can’t divulge to you just yet.

“We’ve had a blast bringing you this first issue. We’ve had the opportunity to try out new storytelling devices and techniques, and I think, as a team, we’re coming at you all guns blazing!” said Cunniffe. “Crossover is full of twists and turns, old and new faces, thrills and spills. If you have a fraction of the fun reading it as we did making it, then you’re in for the read of a lifetime.”

“It seems like ages ago that Donny and Geoff started fleshing out the idea for this book, which was right after we finished God Country in 2017,” concluded letterer John J. Hill. “Lots of big, crazy ideas that have been blown up, reassembled and distilled down into what’s now Crossover. We’re all super excited to unleash this thing, and can’t wait to see the reactions to all the crazy twists and turns coming up throughout the series.”

Crossover #1 goes on sale from Image Comics Wednesday, Nov. 4.