Marvel Comics has revealed G.O.D.S. artist Valerio Schiti‘s new, “street-level human” design for the cosmic entity known as the In-Betweener.
In G.O.D.S., Schiti and writer Jonathan Hickman re-imagine some of the Marvel Universe’s most powerful cosmic figures — such as Chaos, Order, Eternity, Infinity, the Living Tribunal, and more. The first of Schiti’s new designs to be revealed is for the In-Betweener, a character originally created by Jim Starlin. An image released by Marvel prominently features Schiti’s revamped take on the character, with Starlin’s original design looming large in the background.
Check out Valerio Schiti’s new design for the In-Betweener below:
Hickman and Schiti talk the In-Betweener’s new, more human design
“One of the things we wanted to do was to take the universal abstracts and do a more street-level version of the character … That’s the idea behind Valerio’s redesigns. Valerio tweaked the massive god-like aspect of each of these celestial abstracts and then he also made a version of the character that is a more mundane version,” Hickman said during the recent G.O.D.S. retailer conference.
“So I guess in Marvel Universe terms, there’s the Peter Parker version of all these character and then there’s the Spider-Man version of all these characters now,” he continued. “And it’s a very effective storytelling mechanism. It works very well in the way that we’re using it. My belief is that it will make these characters more useable and more frequently appearing in other Marvel books as well.”
“We already saw the Marvel gods a lot of times in the past, no surprises here. Or are there?” Schiti added. “Maybe we saw what they wanted us to see, what our human brains can contain and understand without going insane so maybe there are different, weirder and scarier forms? And if they can change shape and size, what’s stopping them from walking among us, hiding in the crowd, using a human form?”
The In-Betweener in particular first appeared in 1975’s Warlock #9. He is an agent of both Chaos and Order, and acts as the synthesis of all major concepts in the universe. In simpler terms, he is the personification of opposites. The character most recently appeared in 2021’s Iron Man #15.
Marvel’s G.O.D.S. launches this October
G.O.D.S. launches early this coming October. The new series seeks to redefine the cosmology of the Marvel Universe. An official synopsis for issue #1 reads as follows: “The infinite détente between THE-NATURAL-ORDER-OF-THINGS and THE-POWERS-THAT-BE nears an end. Old acquaintances are reunited during a Babylon Event. The Lion of Wolves throws the worst parties. Don’t look under the table. There’s a John Wilkes Booth penny on the ground.”
G.O.D.S. #1 goes on sale Wednesday, October 4 from Marvel Comics. The issue is written by Hickman, illustrated by Schiti, and colored by Marte Gracia. It features a cover by Mateus Manhanini.
