Coming in June…
Marvel’s 616 Day is June 16 (get it?) and this year, the House of Ideas will celebrate with a run of Doctor Doom blind bags that will give readers a chance to land three classic Facsimile Editions, with either their original covers or variant covers, plus more goodies, including a Doctor Doom paper mask with art by Jack Kirby.
The initiative is designed to promote Doomquest, the upcoming summer miniseries by Ryan North and Francesco Mobili (and, by extension, the MCU’s Avengers: Doomsday later this year).
Here’s how Marvel outlined it Thursday:
This year, Marvel Comics dedicates 616 Day to its greatest supervillain—DOCTOR DOOM! Doom will take over the celebratory day with 616 DAY MARVEL MYSTERY BAGS, special sealed bags that contain each of the following:
Simone Bianchi
— One exclusive black and white edition of Doomquest #1, the upcoming epic by Ryan North and Francesco Mobili, with an exclusive variant cover by Simone Bianchi OR an ultra-rare, hand-drawn, original sketch cover by a surprise artist.
— One facsimile edition of a classic Doctor Doom story, either with its original cover OR a variant cover by a modern superstar.
— A Doctor Doom paper mask featuring artwork by the legendary Jack Kirby!
Plus, participating retailers will receive a special Thank You Edition 616 DAY MARVEL MYSTERY BAG in advance containing an exclusive Doomquest #1 Black and White Edition Variant Cover by Bryan Hitch OR an original artist sketch cover; one of the aforementioned facsimile editions; and a Foil Edition of Jack Kirby’s Doctor Doom Mask!
Bryan Hitch
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Here are the Facsimile Editions:
THE AVENGERS #25 FACSIMILE EDITION
Written by STAN LEE
Art by DON HECK
Cover by JACK KIRBY
Facsimile Edition Variant Cover by ALESSANDRO CAPPUCCIO
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FANTASTIC FOUR #258 FACSIMILE EDITION
Written by JOHN BYRNE
Art and Cover by JOHN BYRNE
Facsimile Edition Variant Cover by PEACH MOMOKO
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IRON MAN #149 FACSIMILE EDITION
Written by DAVID MICHELINIE & BOB LAYTON
Art and Cover by JOHN ROMITA JR.
Facsimile Edition Variant Cover by DAN PANOSIAN
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Marvel’s announcement did not include a retail price. We’ll update once we get it.
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MORE
— MARVEL to Release FOUR Facsimile Editions in July 2026. Click here.
— 1964’s Landmark AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #14 to Get Facsimile Edition. Click here.
April 23, 2026
Glad I don’t want any of these as I’m not playing the blind bag game. Not to mention I’m sick to death of Doctor Doom.
April 23, 2026
So, what’s everyone’s opinion on this “blind-bag” concept? Any way to frame it OTHER than a cash-grab by the publisher? Aren’t they just trying to take advantage of some poor collectors’ desire to be completionists and get one of each, including one of each cover? Someone better at probabilities than I can compute how many purchases would be necessary reach a 90% chance of getting all 6. But I know it’s a heck of a lot more than making 6 individual purchases of something one knows one is buying.
April 23, 2026
>> So, what’s everyone’s opinion on this “blind-bag” concept?
>>
I hated them in the ‘90s. But the big two publishers have long turned me off to regular monthly readership anyway. They aren’t targeting me. I guess they can justify it if they make a profit for them.
April 23, 2026
I’d get 5 copies each if I can be sure I’m getting the original facsimile editions. I’ve no interest in any new story or covers. So if they won’t sell them outside of the bag concept you can count me out.
April 24, 2026
Let me see if I understand this correctly.
• The facsimiles will ONLY be available in the blind bags.
• You don’t know which of the three facsimiles you’ll be getting in your bag.
• You don’t know if the facsimile you’ll be getting will have the original cover or a variant cover.
No sale. And I’ll tell you why.
• What is someone who wants all three facsimiles, or just one specific facsimile, supposed to do? Keep buying bags until they get lucky and pull the one(s) they want, spending more money than they should have to and acquiring duplicates they may not want?
• I’ve mentioned this a hundred times – a variant cover of a facsimile is not a true facsimile, because it displaces the original cover. The variants may be nice and fun to collect, but don’t pass them off to me as facsimile editions. If I bought a blind bag and the facsimile I pulled had a variant cover, I’d be very upset. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way.
This idea is just as bad as the 2006 facsimile of Fantastic Four #52, which was presented to appear as if it were an actual 40-year-old comic that was showing its age, with dark pages and such.
April 24, 2026
Hopefully Avengers 25 will be released a general release title closer to the movie.
April 24, 2026
For whatever it’s worth, I did the Battle Beast blind bag game which also had two variant reprint books and a pre-print of the second issue. I got all three bonus books and a few variant covers which I was able to sell on eBay to recoup my costs (including a 1:100 variant). I’ll do this and put the spare issues in my Halloween bucket.
April 24, 2026
You will make some kids happy this Halloween. Is Iron Man 149 child happy?
April 24, 2026
It’s a standard 1980s comic, so I think any kid could read it. The big problem is that it ends on a cliffhanger (spoiler: Doom and Tony get sent back in time) and you really need #150 to complete the story. Both stories are pretty good, and the second one specifically accounts for why Iron Man hates magic!
(This story was also heavily homaged in Iron Man #249-250 and…is also not reprinted here.)
April 24, 2026
it’s like an evil lottery…. a scheme worthy of DOOM!!
April 24, 2026
Not a fan of blind bags. I would rather have had a 3 pack bag like Whitman used to do that had one of each in the bag. Not wasting my money trying to get the one facsimile edition I want.
April 24, 2026
I think the bigger tragedy is that we keep getting reprints of Iron Man #149 but not #150. (#149 was also reprinted with a Marvel Legends figure years ago, and was a True Believers reprint more recently.)
April 24, 2026
I’m only interested in the three, original cover facsimiles. I might buy if someone eventually discounts them.