With Disney owning both Marvel and The Muppets for years, it’s a surprise that this crossover hasn’t properly happened before. Sure, we’ve had Muppet-themed covers and Muppet comic books (weirdly, they’ve often been handed over to other, non-Marvel publishers), but this is the first time there’s been a proper crossover of the two universes, to my knowledge. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Muppet Show, let’s take a look at The Muppets Take the Marvel Universe!

With this being an anthology, there’s six different stories included, starting with a feature length adventure called The Greatest Show on Earth. Rowlf is kidnapped by Mojo, leading the Muppets to embark on an interdimensional quest to find superheroes who can aid them in their rescue mission, and put on the biggest show in the multiverse. There’s some brilliant combinations of characters here; Emma Frost’s first interaction with Miss Piggy is sublime, for example, but Gonzo and Deadpool’s collaboration is pretty inspired too. The artwork is superb; there’s a surprising number of big, splashy, action-packed panels here which are simply gorgeous.

Next up: A Terrible Invention. As you may expect from the title, this shorter story stars Bunsen and Beaker, alongside Bruce Banner and Hank Pym. Naturally, big hijinks ensue!

The Muppet Show’s Star Trek parody, Pigs in Space, follows, with the story named Pigs of the Galaxy. No surprises for guessing which cosmic team of ne’er-do-wells they happen to bump into!

Bad Man sees Wolverine being picked up by The Electric Mayhem’s tour bus after a motorcycle mishap, in a mostly dialogue-free short story.

In Just What the Chef Ordered, Doctor Strange tracks down the Swedish Chef to make a healing bowl of soup for a sickly Clea. It answers this question: is there a competent Swedish Chef somewhere out there in the multiverse?

Finally, Muppets Assemble sees the Avengers recruiting for a new member. Enter: the Muppets!

The lead story is a huge amount of fun, as are the shorts that follow. My only criticism is that a few of them feel far too short, and could have done with some breathing room to really shine.

That said, the level of craft and care here is admirably high, with gorgeous art and fun, witty writing throughout from a great cast of creators.

This is a great way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Muppets, and hopefully it isn’t the last we see of the bizarre menagerie in the Marvel Universe!

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