Marvel has announced a comics adaptation of the first stories in Wild Cards, a set of science fiction shared-universe stories spread across over 25 novels and 20 short stories. The prose series is edited by Game of Thrones writer George R.R. Martin and writer Melinda Snodgrass, and contributors include Harold Waldrop and Roger Zelazny. 

The adaptation will be a four-issue miniseries, The Drawing of Cards, by writer Paul Cornell and artist Mike Hawthorne and will be accessible to both new readers and longtime fans of the series. The first issue will be released on June 1 and will have a cover by Steve Morris.

In the world of Wild Cards, humans who are infected by the Wild Card virus either die, develop bizarre mutations, or gain superpowers. 

“Wild Cards is still a unique take on super heroes, a creation story that’s influenced everything since, but still maintains its power,” Cornell said in a statement accompanying Marvel’s announcement.

A television adaptation is in the works (see “‘Wild Cards’ to Peacock”).