Empyre #3 — John Tyler Christopher “Action Figures” Variant Cover (2020)

Empyre #3 is the third issue of Marvel Comics' 2020 Empyre event series, written by Al Ewing and Dan Slott, with artwork by Valerio Schiti and colors by Marte Gracia. The issue continues the massive conflict between the combined Kree/Skrull forces and the Cotati on Earth, with the Avengers and Fantastic Four divided across multiple battlefronts.

This edition features the John Tyler Christopher “Action Figures” Variant Cover, a distinctive variant designed to resemble packaged collectible action figures. John Tyler Christopher is credited with the pencils, inks and colors for the cover. The catalog record specifically identifies Quoi and Swordsman as the cover characters.

The artwork shows Quoi standing on the left and Swordsman on the right inside a large shield-shaped display area. Quoi wears a colorful purple, yellow and green costume with a distinctive wooden-looking mask and feather-like shoulder decorations. Swordsman stands beside him in green armor with a mask, beard, utility straps and a large sword, giving the characters the appearance of detailed collectible figures.

Behind the figures is a bold green, purple, black and white circular graphic design, while the surrounding cover uses a dark grid pattern that reinforces the toy-packaging aesthetic. The oversized distressed EMPYRE logo dominates the upper center, with the Marvel logo above it and #3 in the upper-right corner. The cover is marked Variant Edition, Rated T+, Direct Edition and includes Bonus Digital Edition branding.

The issue's story, “Empyre: Part Three,” follows the escalating Kree/Skrull-Cotati conflict while Mantis attempts to reach her son Quoi. Captain Glory also discovers that Tanalth is actually the Skrull Empress R'klll, grandmother of Hulkling, who has plans of her own.