28 years after his original debut, Marvel villain Maestro is finally getting an origin story. And who better to tell that story than Maestro co-creator and seminal Incredible Hulk writer Peter David?
Marvel revealed a new Maestro limited series written by David and drawn by Dale Keown (Incredible Hulk) and Germán Peralta (Thanos), with Keown also providing covers. You can check out Keown’s cover to Maestro #1 below:
In another treat for Maestro fans, co-creator George Pérez is also drawing a variant cover to issue #1, despite having retired from comics in 2019 due to health issues. Here’s Pérez’s variant:
Maestro is among the most popular characters introduced during David’s long tenure on Incredible Hulk in the ’80s and ’90s. Basically an evil, super-charged version of Hulk from a future timeline, the villain originally debuted in the 1992 limited series Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect. Future Imperfect hints at Maestro’s origin story, revealing that this version of Hulk absorbed the radioactive fallout from a nuclear war, growing stronger and smarter but also more malevolent. Maestro rules his Earth with an iron grip, having killed most of the world’s heroes and villains and lined his trophy room with relics of their battles.
Though Maestro was seemingly killed after battling Hulk in Future Imperfect, the character has continued to play a role in later Marvel stories. David previously revisited the character in 2015’s Secret Wars: Future Imperfect series, and a version of Maestro served as a recurring villain in the recently concluded Old Man Logan series. Maestro is also a central character in the mobile game Marvel’s Contest of Champions.
While Future Imperfect established the basics of Maestro’s origin story, this new series will finally explore that story in greater depth and show fans how Hulk became warped and corrupted.
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“I had no idea that when I first created the Maestro for Future Imperfect, that he would have the kind of popularity and staying power he has now,” said David in Marvel’s press release. “Until now, I’ve only been able to allude to his origins, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to explore them in this series, and I can’t wait for fans to see all the artwork that’s been coming in!”
Marvel Comics editor-in-chief C.B. Cebulski also sought to reassure readers starved for new Marvel content during the Diamond Comic Distributors shutdown, saying “We couldn’t be more excited that we’re resuming distribution of Marvel Comics to the best fans in the world. As we’ve announced, we will be observing a balanced release schedule over the next few weeks as the industry returns to normal – but we’re hard at work on many more new stories like this one, and we can’t wait to tell you all more about them! Expect more announcements very soon.”
Maestro #1 is slated to hit stores in August 2020, barring any further COVID-19-related delays. Let us know in the comments below if you’re excited for this iconic Marvel villain’s return.
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And for more great Hulk reading, find out why Immortal Hulk is a terrifyingly good comic and where that book ranked in our picks for the best comic book series of 2019.
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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
Source: IGN.com Maestro Hulk Returns: Marvel Finally Reveals This Villain's Origin