Marvel Rivals: Ignite #1

History

The issue grew out of Peach Momoko's direct collaboration with NetEase Games and Marvel Games, for which she designed a wave of new in-game costumes reimagining Marvel heroes through a Japanese aesthetic. Marvel announced the one-shot in March 2025, positioning it as a companion piece to those in-game skin releases timed for June 2025. The editorial team assembled an all-Japanese roster of creators — Momoko herself, Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku manga creator Yuji Kaku, anime screenwriter Mitsuyasu Sakai (known for Promare and Star Wars: Visions 'The Duel'), and artist Ryusei Yamada — making the book an unusually cohesive artistic statement rather than a standard licensed tie-in. Momoko's long-running Demon Days collaborators Zack Davisson (translator) and letterer Ariana Maher also contributed to her segment, grounding the issue in her established creative team.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published June 11, 2025 (cover-dated August 2025) by Marvel Comics as a standalone one-shot.
• The issue contains three stories, each rendered predominantly in black and white with a single accent color per chapter: Peach Momoko's 'Ko-Sute-Iwa' (Sai vs. Venom, red accent); Yuji Kaku's 'Tsuchigumo' (Punisher vs. Peni Parker/SP//dr, blue accent); and Mitsuyasu Sakai & Ryusei Yamada's 'Sounds of Victory' (Luna Snow vs. Hela, green accent).
• The main cover is by Yuji Kaku; variant covers include one by Peach Momoko, one by Rickie Yagawa, a 1:25 Rickie Yagawa ratio variant, a 1:100 Peach Momoko virgin ratio variant, a Stan Sakai variant, a Tokitokoro variant, and numerous convention and webstore exclusives including a J. Scott Campbell Mantis webstore variant.
• Peach Momoko's segment is a direct continuation of her 'Demon Days' / 'Momoko-verse' universe, placing her Marvel Rivals-designed version of Psylocke (named 'Sai') into a demonic confrontation with Venom.
• Yuji Kaku is the creator of the manga Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku; his story features Frank Castle encountering Peni Parker, and notably includes a character beat in which the Punisher refuses to harm a child and turns against his employers.
• The book directly inspired or preceded the announcement of a follow-on series, Sai: Dimensional Rivals, written and illustrated by Peach Momoko and Stan Sakai, spinning Momoko's Marvel Rivals version of Psylocke into her own ongoing story.
• Mantis does not appear in any of the three interior stories; her connection to this issue is through a J. Scott Campbell webstore exclusive variant cover depicting her in her Marvel Rivals character design.
• Marvel Rivals, the video game that spawned this one-shot, is a team-based PVP shooter developed by Marvel Games and NetEase Games, launched December 6, 2024.

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