This Wednesday, WAR OF THE REALMS: NEW AGENTS OF ATLAS #1 finally hit comic book shops, and the response has been absolutely mind-blowing. Thank you so much to everyone who’s bought, reviewed, or spread the word about the book. It means so much.

WOTR: NAOA #1 was written by yours truly, drawn by Gang Hyuk Lim, colored by Federico Blee, lettered by Clayton Cowles, and edited Mark Paniccia and Tom Groneman, with a main cover by Billy Tan. The book tells the story of a pan-Asian group of superheroes who come together to fight Sindr, Queen of Cinders, as she tries to turn the Pacific region into a fiery new Muspelheim. The book features the debut of the Filipina superheroine Wave, co-created by artist Leinil Yu and me, as well as the comics debuts of Luna Snow, Crescent, and Io from the Marvel Future Fight video game and the US comics debut of Aero from the NetEase Chinese Marvel webcomics.

I’m hard pressed to remember seeing so many selfies on social media of folks holding a book I wrote. Multiple people wrote about crying at work when they saw Wave for the first time. The signing for the Wave variant cover drawn by Mico Suayon at the Comic Odyssey comic shop in Manila drew hundreds and earned a big write-up in the local news. And folks all around the US have been telling me the book is sold out in the local shops — even though Marvel overshipped the book as a special promotion to comic shops.

Aaaand here are a few excerpts from the rave reviews:

“…Pak maneuvers the large cast of characters into the conflict against the main villain (while also citing some history for longer term readers). The dialog is snappy, clever and has more than enough familiar moments of “oh, yeah. I definitely had that conversation before.” …. Lim’s artwork is a brilliant complement to the text. Their depiction of the New Agents of Atlas is dynamic and engaging, and the primary set pieces are jaw-droppingly gorgeous staging for the inciting incidents. It’s a wonderful pairing that works on multiple levels.” — Black Nerd Problems

“Pak and Lim raise the bar by providing enough culturally rich moments that readers of any race can enjoy while more than delivering on the superhero action. Giving the often ignored continent a new team to defend it, Pak and Lim have set the stage for a rollicking, action-packed story that makes Asian representation in the Marvel Universe get its overdue expansion.” – CBR

“Having read a bunch of War of the Realms tie-ins, I gotta say this might be my favorite. The action is great, the art (by Gang Hyuk Lim, Federico Blee, and Clayton Cowles) is beautiful, and there’s some really fantastic character work that helps you identify with the characters, even if you (like myself) don’t share their common Asian heritage.” – Rogues Portal

Again, thank you so much. A book like this is only possible because of the support you’ve already given for years for characters like Amadeus Cho. And to see this massive surge of new and old readers alike? Absolutely incredible. Thank you, thank you, and thank you.

(And please do feel free to ask your local comic shop to order the rest of the four issue series for you! And pre-order the AERO and SWORD MASTER books that start in July and feature characters from the series!)