Marvel’s New Shanghai Superhero Aero Lands in English

It’s been a little over a year since Marvel’s hook up with Chinese internet portal NetEase spawned a new suite of Chinese superheroes. Among them was Aero (气旋 Qi Xuan), a young architect who battles skyscraper monsters in her home city of Shanghai.

But Aero’s turbulent adventures have previously only been available in Chinese — until now. This week, Marvel unveiled an English-language version of Aero, meaning you don’t have to battle with Chinese characters to get to know this Chinese character.

Take to the skies with Shanghai's very own Super Hero with today's release of "Aero" #1! Read about what makes her such a compelling character: https://t.co/eKr9WVOUMw

— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) July 3, 2019

“In AERO #1, Lei Ling hits the ground running,” goes the Marvel blurb. “Some of the buildings that she lovingly designed—one of which was an apartment building she hoped would be a happy home for families—have been transformed into terrifying monsters.

“Imagine fighting malevolent creatures the size of skyscrapers, made out of solid concrete. That’s what Lei Ling is up against.”

Yikes.

The English comic combines a translation of Zhou Liefen’s original Aero story (with artwork by Keng) with a new tale from writer Greg Pak, which introduces Filipina superhero Wave.

Aero will be joined by another creation from the NetEase-Marvel partnership later this month, when fellow War of the Realms: Agents of Atlas character Sword Master gets his own comic on July 24. Again, this will be an English translation of the original story by Shuizhu and Gunji and will also feature “master of kung fu” Shang-Chi, the character who is set to be at the heart of Marvel’s first-ever Asian-led superhero movie.

Cover image: Marvel Comics