First Look at BIKER MICE FROM MARS’ Return in Official Cover Art (Exclusive)

Beloved 1990s animated series Biker Mice From Mars is making its comeback thanks to Oni Press and the Nacelle Company, who have committed to resurrecting the cult favorite series as part of the sprawling Nacelleverse multimedia project. Screen Rant is pleased to present an exclusive first look at the covers for Biker Mice From Mars #1, from some of the top artists in the comic book industry.

Biker Mice From Mars #1 – written by Melissa Flores, with art by Francis Portela – arrives this July, and Oni Press is doing the debut in style. The issue will ship with variant covers from artists including Ramon Villalobos and Dustin Weaver, along with a downright gorgeous variant from series artist Portela, which pays homage to the genre-defining anime Akira.

The return of Biker Mice, and the foundation of the Nacelleverse as a whole, are one of the most exciting comic book stories of the year – and the covers for the first issue have significantly ratcheted up anticipation for the first issue to drop.

The Biker Mice Are Back In A Series Of Killer Comic Covers

Biker Mice From Mars – Covers By Dustin Weaver, Juan Gedeon, Ramon Villalobos, & Roger Cruz

Biker Mice From Mars is the latest memorable 1990s property to be revived in comic book form. For those with a deep nostalgic love for the franchise, it is long overdue that the anthropomorphic extraterrestrial mice known as Throttle, Modo, and Vinnie were given a contemporary makeover. Now that the time has arrived, the artistic representation of the characters is as vital to their success as the plot. Every image released for the series so far has been exceptional, with the covers Biker Mice From Mars #1 providing readers with their most in-depth look yet at the series.

The main cover for the issue, from Dustin Weaver, is a classic shot of the trio in all their glory – whipping down the road on their motorcycles, looking like they’re ready for trouble. Variant covers from Juan Gedeon and Ramon Villalobos give further looks at the trio; Gedeon’s image shows them standing tall against the backdrop of their home planet Mars, while Villalobos depicts the three mice in a candid moment. In every case, the art for Biker Mice From Mars appears set not only to capture the essence of the original cartoon, but to take it to the next level.

It is clear that as excited as readers should be for Biker Mice to be rendered on the panel, the creative forces behind the comic are even more thrilled to be making it happen. Even in press release form, the enthusiasm from Brian-Volk-Weiss, founder and CEO of the Nacelle Company, was palpable. He hyped the release of Biker Mice From Mars and its variant cover set by saying:

“We hope you’re ready for alien mice, crime bosses that smell like cheese, and copious amounts of hot dogs! Let’s rock and ride!”

That kind of creative excitement is vital to the success of revival projects like Biker Mice From Mars, and shared continuities like the Nacelleverse, giving fans another reason to expect it will be a hit.

Oni Press’s Biker Mice From Mars Debut Includes An Incredible Akira Tribute

Variant Cover By Francis Portela

Of all the exciting variant covers shipping with the first issue of Biker Mice From Mars, the most eye-catching comes from Francis Portela, the primary artist working on the series. Portela delivered a pitch-perfect recreation of the iconic poster for director Katsuhiro Otomo’s anime Akira, itself an adaptation of the long-running manga series. The image depicts Throttle walking across the desert landscape of Mars toward his motorcycle, mirroring the film poster while also acting as a signifier for the tone readers can perhaps expect from the series.

Beyond just a cool visual reference, Portela’s Akira homage may tease the overall vibe of the new Biker Mice From Mars comic series; or at least, indicate that the film/manga played some inspirational role in their approach to the franchise. The story of Oni Press’ Biker Mice positions them as freedom fighters against an oppressive force, as they become heroes to protect their home:

Best friends Throttle, Modo, and Vinnie, just three anthropomorphic, motorcycle-riding mice who called Mars home…and were always bad to the bone. But when the ruthless Plutarkians stage a mass invasion to strip their planet of its precious resources, [the Biker Mice’s] antiauthoritarian streak is going to turn into a full-blown insurgency. Only the Biker Mice from Mars can prevent the mass destruction of Earth’s nearest planetary neighbor ..and the freedom of our entire solar system may just hang in the balance.

From the sound of it, the series will immediately jump into the kind of ambitious storytelling characteristic of writer Melissa Flores.

Biker Mice From Mars Will Set The Tone For The “Nacelleverse”

Oni Press’s Shared Continuity

Writer Melissa Flores is perhaps best known for her long tenure on Boom! Studios Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, where she has helped reinvent and revolutionize that ’90s franchise in the comic book medium. With Biker Mice From Mars, she will seek to do that again, while laying the groundwork for future Nacelleverse comics. While her Power Rangers stories have diverged from the television canon, they still exist alongside it. Biker Mice presents Flores with an exciting opportunity to flex her creative muscles even further – and to help define an entire continuity beyond that.

As Melissa Flores put it, discussing the upcoming release of Biker Mice #1:

“We’re diving into the Nacelleverse! The Biker Mice are a trio of Martian mice fighting to protect the home they love from being desecrated by an egoistic corporation. They are pushed to the limit and must decide how much of their lives they are willing to give up to save the world they love. Just three planets away, we’re going to show how complicated and nuanced these characters are, even if on the surface, they seem so different!”

With the Nacelleverse, Flores, Oni Press, and the Nacelle Company all seek to replicate the success of Skybound Entertainment’s Energon Universe. Launching last year to immediate critical and commercial acclaim, the Energon Universe combined Transformers and G.I. Joe into a shared continuity, with the expectation that more Hasbro properties will join the burgeoning fictional universe in time. Likewise, the Nacelleverse is designed to merge fan-favorite properties like Biker Mice, Robo Force, and more.

Having written Nacelleverse #0, establishing the shared universe, Melissa Flores will also helm the upcoming Robo Force series, along with Biker Mice From Mars. The Nacelleverse appears set to become very populated, and very active, very quickly, offering readers new and old the opportunity to enjoy a new take on these classics. Biker Mice From Mars in particular has languished for too long, its potential for a great reboot left untested, but now thanks to Oni Press and the Nacelle Company – and the fantastic artists who have helped bring it to life – that potential can be realized.