Alex Ross Reveals the Subversive Vision Behind His New Book ‘Marvel Dimensions’

Cover art for ‘Marvel Dimensions’

Courtesy of Marvel/Abrams Books

Alex Ross’s Marvel Dimensions resists easy categorization.

The opening forty or so pages revisit the origin stories of Marvel’s most iconic heroes, villains, and teams, rendered in Ross’s celebrated painted style, before the book takes an unexpected turn.

“Essentially, I combined two separate project ideas into a single volume,” Ross shared during a recent Zoom conversation. “However, the product is deliberately deceptive. If the cover brings to mind other work of mine, that is entirely intentional.”

“You present audiences with what they expect, or believe they expect, and then the work transforms into something altogether different,” added Charles Kochman, the editor of Dimensions. “This book is full of unexpected twists, structural subversions, and shifts in perspective. Alex constructed this entire universe and then brought it together in a way that is coherent yet surprising from the outset. During a meeting with the broader Marvel team, one executive remarked that a project of this caliber appears only once a decade.”

The cover of Marvel Dimensions is specifically designed to recall Ross and Paul Dini’s JLA: Secret Origins, which examined the backstories of DC’s Justice League of America members. Following that approach, Ross skillfully condenses each character into just a few panels.

“My goal was to step back and present the most essential elements of these characters,” the writer and illustrator explained. “I avoided rewriting established histories. Instead, I highlighted details that are frequently overlooked but remain crucial to understanding who these characters are.”

In a notable creative choice, Ross avoids purely objective retellings. The narratives for Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, and Doctor Strange are filtered through the perspectives of J. Jonah Jameson, General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, and the Ancient One, respectively. “I aimed to revive perspectives that existed previously but have since faded from these characters’ stories,” Ross noted. “I sought to return to origins while offering a slightly skeptical viewpoint without altering established history.”

Ross also intentionally limited the scope of the book, meaning more recent additions to the Marvel roster, such as Deadpool, do not appear.

“I have no dislike for Deadpool, but he is a product of the 1990s,” Ross observed. “Given my age, the era of the 1960s and 1970s feels contemporary. These newer characters fall outside my purview. I am representing the Marvel that shaped my youth, primarily conceived during the 1960s and 1970s, which informs my perspective here.”

While JLA: Secret Origins remained strictly focused on origins, Marvel Dimensions pushes further by including a thirty-two-page comic, drawn in pen and ink, set in what may be the bleakest, most morally repugnant, yet compelling interpretation of the Marvel Universe.

“I was given considerable creative latitude,” Ross remarked. “Plenty of rope to potentially undermine my own efforts.”

If the main continuity resembles a tall glass of chilled milk, then his parallel dimension, cleverly named “The In-Verse,” resembles a sickening puddle of spoiled curds and whey.

Ross admitted to having “immense enjoyment” crafting this nightmarish mirror of the Marvel Universe, employing exaggerated caricatures “as commentary on the characters themselves or on the world we inhabit,” he said. “We are at a peculiar juncture in history, questioning what we now define as ‘bad’ given contemporary norms. The corruption of power is a recurring theme that this examination of these characters brings to light.”

He continued, “I prefer to engage in a space where the artistic medium serves as a vehicle for genuine reflection on the human condition. A commentary on superhumanity is closely related to a commentary on humanity as a whole.”

Ross currently has no concrete plans to write another “In-Verse” narrative, though he remains receptive to the possibility if audiences respond favorably to Dimensions.

“My work on DC’s Kingdom Come continues to be referenced within discussions of their various universes and character futures,” he reflected. “I hope this project receives similar recognition and longevity.”

If encountering a comic book embedded within another volume feels disorienting, that reaction is precisely what Ross intended.

“Readers are essentially required to engage with it,” he emphasized. “Skipping it would render the rest incomprehensible. The shift in artistic style and format midway through is designed to be destabilizing, prompting the question, ‘What exactly am I experiencing?’ We hope audiences will follow us down this particular rabbit hole.”

Kochman added, “It is intended to evoke that Sixth Sense realization, where you must reevaluate everything preceding it and recognize the narrator, characters, and underlying motives have fundamentally changed.”

The book’s varied components are unified through a framing narrative centered on X-51 (also known as Machine Man), the android who assumed the role of Earth’s Watcher following Uatu in Ross and Jim Krueger’s Earth X limited series.

“Rather than relying on the omniscient alien perspective of The Watcher, a character I find unappealing and would not wish to listen to, the humanistic manner in which this artificial intelligence engages with us reflects how profoundly human he is while observing these events. Naturally, he becomes a direct voice for the author,” Ross explained.

On a broader scale, Marvel Dimensions exemplifies the core mission of Ross’s Marvel Arts line, developed in collaboration with Abrams ComicArts, to produce “original graphic novels by visionaries.”

“Our aim was to identify exceptional talent and provide a platform for them to craft longer-form narratives that do not need to conform to miniseries formats or fit within Marvel’s overarching mythology and chronology,” Ross elaborated. “These stories can stand independently. They can be set in different eras or present entirely alternate universe interpretations of these properties. We have numerous projects in development with outstanding artists and writers who will be able to explore concepts they might not have the opportunity to pursue within mainstream continuity.”

Although Marvel Arts is not exclusively reserved for creatives capable of both writing and illustrating, securing such talent is certainly a priority.

“Our focus is on individuals with a unified creative vision,” Kochman concluded. “When a writer and artist collaborate separately, aligning their visions requires considerable effort. I appreciate that this line, with few exceptions, emphasizes the writer-artist model. This results in a purer narrative, a purer comic book experience shaped by a single creator’s vision, and we are committed to celebrating those creators.”

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