George R.R. Martin’s Wild Cards anthology coming to Marvel Comics

Decades before he was a famous author desperate to do anything at all except write The Winds of Winter, George R.R. Martin edited the superhero anthology series Wild Cards. Now, as The Hollywood Reporter notes, those stories are coming to Marvel Comics.

The Wild Cards series is set in an alternate Earth riddled with the alien Wild Card virus. Most die, or “draw the black queen,” and of the survivors, many become deformed, or “jokers.” However, a small number of virus survivors are “aces,” gaining superpowers that they can use for good or evil.

“As my fans may already know, the Wild Cards World holds a special place in my heart,” Martin said. “So to have the privilege of announcing that an industry titan like Marvel is going to produce the narrative from the beginning as a comic book brings me no end of joy.”

The first Wild Card anthology was published in 1987. Martin edited the collection and contributed six short stories, with others being written by Melissa Snodgrass, Roger Zelazny, Howard Waldrop, and more. A total of 28 anthologies have been published in the series and the 29th, Three Kings, is due out March 15th, 2022.

Writer Paul Cornell and artist Mike Hawthorne are adapting the series for Marvel. Wild Cards: The Drawing of the Cards #1 will arrive in comic stores June 1st. Check out the cover art below.

This is but one of the many projects Martin is overseeing while ostensibly finishing the sixth book in his Game of Thrones series. A Broadway play is in the works, the prequel series House of the Dragon just wrapped filming, and three more spinoffs are in development.

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