ESPN College Football Tweets New Year’s Six Cover!
In a Tweet sent on Thursday, December 30th, 2021, the official Twitter account for ESPN College Football shared a pair of pictures. On the right is the cover of Secret Wars (1984) #1 by Jim Shooter, Michael Zeck, John Beatty, Joe Rosen, and Christie Scheele, and on the left is a brand-new cover for the New Year’s Six which pays homage to the Secret Wars cover!
No other way to bring in the New Year.
All on ESPN 🎉 pic.twitter.com/TyEfciYBOX
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) December 30, 2021
New Year’s Six
Secret Wars #1. Photo Credit: Marvel Comics.
The New Year’s Six cover features the mascots of the college football teams posing in the same positions as the Marvel Comics super heroes are holding on the cover of Secret Wars #1. This is a common format for variant covers, and the practice is sometimes documented by having the artist behind the new cover sign the piece, “By [new artist] after [old artist].” You see this all the time with homages to the cover of Amazing Fantasy #15 by Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, one of the most oft-homaged covers in comics.
You will see a lot of homages to this cover, Marvel Blog True Believers. Photo Credit: Marvel Comics.
Sadly, there does not seem to be an artist credited on the New Year’s Six cover.
Who is the artist on this New Year’s Six cover? Photo Credit: ESPN.
This is not the first time in 2021 that we’ve seen synergy between Marvel and ESPN! First, back in May, ESPN and Marvel teamed up for a special “Arena of Heroes” telecast. This special simulcast version of an NBA game pitting the Golden State Warriors against the New Orleans Pelicans. It had digital graphics featuring Marvel Comics characters and included commentary by Angélique Roché, who also hosts the Marvel’s Voices podcast.
Delay of Game. Five yard penalty. From Secret Wars #1. Photo Credit: Marvel Comics.
Furthermore, this is far from the first time ESPN has celebrated sports stars using cover homages to Marvel Comics! Back in June 2021, I ran down seven Marvel + ESPN team-ups, which feature many professional athletes posing like some of the most famous Marvel Comics covers of all time!
Airing on ESPN This Weekend
This does remind me of a sports arena… From Secret Wars #1. Photo Credit: Marvel Comics.
Will you be spending your weekend watching college football games with the New Year’s Six on ESPN? We want to hear all about how you’ll be ringing in the New Year! Share your thoughts with us in the comment section.
