Two forms inside one book
Marvel Dimensions begins with two-page painted spreads that revisit Marvel origin stories in chronological range, starting with the original robotic Human Torch and extending through Jean Grey's transformation into Phoenix. Halfway through, the hardcover changes modes: a 32-page narrative comic, drawn by Ross in pen and ink, is physically inserted into the larger volume. Ross and Abrams ComicArts editorial director Charles Kochman told Publishers Weekly that the shift grew from combining two ideas rather than from adding a conventional supplement.
Why the insert matters
The team initially considered keeping the smaller comic a surprise. Kochman, who previously worked at Mad magazine, connected the construction to old Mad Super Specials that bound a separate comic into a larger publication. Marketing ultimately disclosed the feature, but Ross and Kochman are still withholding its narrative purpose. That boundary matters: the interview confirms that the object and the story are linked, but it does not reveal the twist or prove how the final printing will feel in a reader's hands.
A deliberate look backward
Ross also frames the painted section as a return to the characters' earliest published foundations rather than a synthesis of later retcons or Marvel Cinematic Universe revisions. The Silver Surfer receives two versions because Jack Kirby and Stan Lee established sharply different origins, while the Hulk returns to the atomic-bomb context Ross considers central to the character. For fans, the result promises two kinds of engagement at once: a survey of how Marvel heroes began and a new narrative that questions those foundations through a format Ross rarely uses. The September release will show whether the physical transition carries the intended dramatic force.