Last year, Marvel Comics celebrated 100 years of the Walt Disney Company with several variant covers. Each of these reimagined classic Marvel issues with iconic Disney characters. Now, in celebration of 60 years of the Avengers and the X-Men, Marvel is releasing a trio of What If? variants showcasing Mickey Mouse and pals as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and the students at Xavier’s School. Disney characters as Avengers and X-Men? Yes, please. You can check out previews for each issue below, alongside the original covers the issues are paying tribute to:
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #47
The Disney What If? variant cover by Alessandro Pastrovicchio pays homage to Al Milgrom’s West Coast Avengers #1 from 1985. This was the first official spinoff title for the iconic team. It features Donald Duck as Iron Man, Goofy as Hollywood hero Wonder Man, Mickey Mouse as the Avenging Archer known as Hawkeye, Minnie Mouse as his wife Mockingbird, and Daisy Duck as the cat/human (cat/duck?) hybrid hero Tigra. This issue hits comic book stores on April 10.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #49
For Disney What If? variant cover by Giada Perisonotto, the artist recreated X-Men #58 by Neal Adams. This one features the original five X-Men encountering the mutant hero Havok. Goofy stands in for Cyclops/Scott Summers, while Mickey Mouse is Angel/Warren Worthington, Minnie is Marvel Girl/Jean Grey, Daisy Duck is Iceman/Bobby Drake, and Pluto is Beast/Hank McCoy. Appropriately enough, the ever-high energy Donald Duck is Havok/Alex Summers. This X-Men homage issue arrives on May 8.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #51
Put your disco dancin’ shoes on, because this Disney What If? variant cover by Ivan Bigarella homages 1980’s Uncanny X-Men #129 by John Romita Jr. It spotlights the first appearance of the mutant heroine Dazzler and the start of The Dark Phoenix Saga. Minnie Mouse is decked out like Alison Blaire/Dazzler, the mutant pop star who can turn sound into light. Surrounding her in shock are Mickey Mouse as Cyclops/Scott Summers, Daisy Duck as Phoenix/Jean Grey, and Donald Duck as Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner. This truly uncanny issue comes out on June 5.
We expect more What If? Disney Avengers/X-Men variant covers before the year is out. How about 1991’s X-Men #1, Marvel?