Dan Slott, the Eisner-winning writer who has been the guiding force for Spider-Man stories at Marvel Comics for close to 15 years, has gone across the street to DC.
Slott, who has been signed to an exclusive contract with Marvel since the late aughts, will make his DC debut with Superman Unlimited, writing the monthly comic that will be drawn by Rafael Albuquerque, the artist and co-creator of the award-winning horror comic American Vampire. DC announced the news Thursday.
The title will be a driving force in a company-wide initiative named “Summer of Superman” that ties into James Gunn’s Superman film. The inaugural feature from Warner Bros. Discovery arm DC Studios opens July 11.
Superman Unlimited no. 1 will be available at local comic book shops and online retailers on May 21. The new ongoing series will launch with a 10-page prelude by Slott and Albuquerque in DC All In 2025 FCBD Special Edition No. 1 on May 3 as part of DC’s Free Comic Book Day programming.
“He’s the first and the greatest superhero of all-time, and I’ve been waiting my whole life to tell stories about him,” enthused Slott in a statement. “Not just because of all the amazing powers he has, but because of who he is inside.”
The comic will kick off with a hook of cosmic proportions: a Kryptonite asteroid showers Earth with the mineral that weakens the man of Steel, changing the balance of power in criminal empires in Metropolis and the planet. “To survive, Superman will need to forge new alliances, new tech and new tactics if he hopes to carry on his quest for truth, justice and a better tomorrow!” the announcement exclaimed.
“Superman Unlimited will capture the big, fun, high-flying adventures that Superman is known for, while also providing big moments for DC’s Superman-related comics with the introduction of a massive new Kryptonite deposit,” said DC group editor Paul Kaminski. “Imagine a world where Superman is stopping a bank robbery, but every weapon is packed with Kryptonite ammunition and every petty criminal carries a Kryptonite shiv. This is a world of unlimited danger on a level that Superman, and DC’s Superman family of characters, has never faced before.”
At Marvel, Slott wrote titles such as Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer, She-Hulk, Mighty Avengers and Superior Spider-Man.
With Spider-Man, Slott masterminded storylines that saw Spidey switch bodies with Doctor Octopus and fight a Carnage-Green Goblin hybrid. Though they sometimes generated controversy with fans, and even maybe a death threat or two, the comics were among the top sellers of the 2010s and some were influences on Sony Animation’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
