George R.R. Martin's superhero epic Wild Cards revived by Marvel Comics

gamesradar.com:

The epic superhero universe Wild Cards, originally created by George R.R. Martin and Melinda M. Snodgrass, is being revived as a new series from Marvel Comics.

"As my fans may already know, the Wild Cards World holds a special place in my heart, so to have the privilege of announcing that an industry titan like Marvel is going to produce the narrative from the beginning as a comic book brings me no end of joy," Martin says in the announcement.

And well, both Wild Cards and Martin have a long history with Marvel Comics (more on that in a bit).

Wild Cards is a superhero universe conceived by Martin and Snodgrass that played out as a series of prose novels and short stories by the duo, along with other contributors such as Roger Zelazny and Harold Waldrop. The overall conceit is that an alien virus known as 'Wild Card' has infiltrated Earth society, and those that are affected by it are dealt, seemingly, at random, different abilities that fall into three classes: 'Joker' as in physical mutations; 'Ace' as in straight-up superpowers; or 'Black Queen' which means they'll suddenly die from the virus.

Writer Paul Cornell and artist Mike Hawthorne will be adapting the early days of the Wild Cards prose stories into a cohesive limited series titled Wild Cards: The Drawing of Cards.

"Wild Cards is still a unique take on superheroes, a creation story that's influenced everything since, but still maintains its power," Cornell says in the announcement. "It's an honor and a pleasure to bring all these wonderful stories to their natural home at Marvel, and I hope to give George, Melinda, and the rest of the Wild Cards Collective the credit they deserve for making the superhero myth new again. Plus: just look at that art!"

In 1990,