The page opens on a woman in black and white armor, standing amid the smoldering ruin of an entire reality. Behind her, two Earths bleed into each other like watercolors left out in the rain. She doesn't flinch. She doesn't mourn. She simply says: "I am the Black Swan. And I am the last." That single panel from New Avengers #1 (January 2013) landed with the weight of a collapsing star, and it set the tone for what would become Jonathan Hickman's most ambitious Marvel saga — a story about the end of everything, told through the eyes of a princess who watched her universe die.
But "Marco Checchetto" as a search term pulls double duty in the Marvel fandom. On one side, you have the character conversation — Black Swan, her brutal elegance, her role as both victim and harbinger in the Incursion storyline. On the other, you have Marco Checchetto the artist, an Italian illustrator from the Veneto region who has quietly become one of Marvel's most reliable and visually distinctive pencillers. Both threads matter. Both are worth pulling apart.
The Princess Who Outlived Her Universe
Her real name is Yabbat Ummon Tarru, though most readers know her as "Yana." She was born a princess on Earth-1365, a reality parallel to the mainstream Marvel Earth (Earth-616). In her native dimension, she held the title of Sun Princess — a figure of political importance and, presumably, a life of relative comfort. That life ended the day an Incursion struck.
For those who haven't spent the last decade deep in Hickman's cosmic opus: an Incursion is what happens when the boundaries between two parallel realities collapse. Both Earths drift toward each other, occupying the same spatial coordinates. You get roughly eight hours to make a choice — destroy the other Earth, or both die. Yana's world didn't get that choice in time. Earth-1365 collided with its counterpart, and nearly every living thing on both sides was annihilated.
Yana survived. How exactly remains one of the more haunting ambiguities in Hickman's run, but the prevailing explanation involves her connection to Tiamok the Exterminator, a cosmic entity bound to the mechanics of universal destruction. Tiamok didn't just spare Yana — he imprinted on her, marking her as a vessel for his power. That connection would define everything that followed.
"The Black Swans are not villains in the traditional sense. They are the people who already watched the fire burn and decided they'd never let it catch them off guard again. That makes them dangerous in a way that no megalomaniac with a doomsday device ever could be."
— Character analysis thread, CBR, 2015
Hickman's New Avengers: Where the Swan Landed
Jonathan Hickman took over New Avengers as part of Marvel's NOW! initiative in late 2012, with the first issue shipping in January 2013. The series was positioned as the cosmic chess board for the larger Avengers/New Avengers narrative that would eventually feed into Secret Wars (2015). Where his Avengers title dealt with large-scale superheroics, New Avengers went darker — a clandestine group of the smartest, most powerful heroes on Earth-616 (the Illuminati) trying to solve the Incursion problem in secret.
Black Swan entered this world as a wild card. The Illuminati found her imprisoned by Thanos's forces and brought her into their circle out of sheer necessity: she was the only person alive who had firsthand experience surviving an Incursion. Her knowledge of the multiversal collapse mechanics made her invaluable. Her loyalty, however, was never guaranteed.
The Cabal and the Black Order
As Hickman's story escalated, Black Swan aligned herself with the Cabal — a group that included Thanos, Maximus the Mad, Terrax, Black Order members, and Namor (who drifted between factions with characteristic opportunism). The Cabal's approach to the Incursion crisis was blunt: destroy the opposing Earths preemptively, save your own, repeat as needed. No eight-hour deliberation. No moral hand-wringing.
Black Swan's position within the Black Order — Thanos's personal strike team — was unusual. She wasn't a devoted acolyte in the way that Corvus Glaive or Proxima Midnight were. She was a pragmatist riding the only ship that could keep her alive through the end of all things. That distinction made her one of the more psychologically complex characters in the entire run, and Hickman clearly knew it. He gave her quiet moments of reflection that no other Cabal member received.
Secret Wars: The Swan's Endgame
When Secret Wars finally arrived in May 2015, with art by Esad Ribić, the multiverse had already collapsed. Battleworld — a patchwork planet stitched together from the remnants of dead realities — was ruled by Doctor Doom, who had seized godlike power through the Beyonders. Black Swan survived the transition, finding herself on Battleworld as one of the few beings who remembered what existed before.
Her role in Secret Wars was smaller than her New Avengers arc, but it carried weight. She served as a reminder of what had been lost — a living relic of Earth-1365 navigating a world built from the corpses of infinite others. When the dust settled and the multiverse was restored (more or less), Black Swan's fate remained deliberately open. Hickman never gave her a clean ending, which, given the character's trajectory, felt almost right.
Designing the Swan: Armor, Aesthetic, and Visual Language
Black Swan's character design deserves its own conversation because it does something that very few Marvel cosmic characters manage: it communicates her entire backstory through silhouette alone.
Her primary costume is a study in stark contrast — black bodysuit with white armor plating, accented by angular wing-like extensions at the shoulders and helm. The swan motif is everywhere: the graceful neck line of her collar, the feathered texture of her gauntlets, the way her cape (when present) drapes like folded wings. The color palette is almost entirely monochromatic, which sets her apart in a Marvel cosmic landscape that tends toward saturated neons and primary colors.
Steve Epting, who provided the art for the early New Avengers issues, designed her with a deliberate severity. There's nothing sexualized about the Black Swan's armor — a rarity for female characters introduced in 2013. The plating covers her completely. The helmet obscures her face in most early appearances, treating her more as an idea than a person. When the helmet finally comes off and we see Yana's face, it lands as a genuine reveal: beneath the war machine exterior is a young woman who watched her entire civilization burn.
Later artists who touched the character — including Mike Deodato, who became the primary artist for the middle stretch of Hickman's run — softened the armor slightly, giving her more visible facial features and streamlining the wing elements. But the core design language never changed: black, white, and the suggestion of something avian and predatory.
Powers and Abilities at a Glance
Black Swan's power set is tied directly to her bond with Tiamok and her survival of the Incursion:
- Dark Energy Manipulation — She channels Tiamok's destructive energy, projecting it as concussive blasts, shields, and area-of-effect detonations. The energy manifests as deep violet and black, fitting her color scheme.
- Flight — Self-propelled, often leaving a trail of dark particles in her wake. The visual language here borrows from the swan metaphor — she doesn't rocket through the sky so much as glide with terrifying grace.
- Superhuman Strength and Durability — Standard cosmic-tier enhancement. She can go toe-to-toe with mid-tier powerhouses, though she's not in the Thor/Hulk weight class.
- Multiversal Awareness — Perhaps her most narratively important power. She can sense Incursion points, perceive the boundaries between realities, and navigate the multiverse in ways that even the Illuminati's technology struggled to replicate.
- Telepathy — Limited but functional. She can read surface thoughts and project emotions, which she uses more as an interrogation tool than a communication one.
The Artist Behind the Name: Marco Checchetto's Marvel Career
Now let's shift gears, because the name "Marco Checchetto" carries its own weight in Marvel circles — and it has nothing to do with the Black Swan character directly.
Marco Checchetto is an Italian comic book artist born near Venice. He started working professionally in comics around 2002, initially providing covers for PSM (an Italian PlayStation magazine that occasionally featured comic content). By 2007, he had broken into Marvel USA, which for a European artist is still considered the big leagues.
His early Marvel work was scattered across mid-tier titles — Avenging Spider-Man, various Punisher tie-ins, and one-shots that let editors see what he could do with established characters. What became clear very quickly was that Checchetto had a particular gift for dynamic figure work and cinematic page composition. His panels feel like storyboard frames for a film that hasn't been made yet.
The Daredevil Run That Put Him on the Map
Checchetto's collaboration with writer Chip Zdarsky on Daredevil (2019–2021) is the work that most critics point to as his breakthrough moment. Zdarsky's run was acclaimed for its grounded, character-driven approach to Matt Murdock, and Checchetto's art was a perfect match — gritty enough for Hell's Kitchen street scenes, fluid enough for the acrobatic fight choreography that Daredevil demands.
What sets Checchetto apart from many contemporary Marvel artists is his willingness to let pages breathe. He doesn't crowd every panel with detail. A Checchetto page might have one massive splash panel taking up two-thirds of the real estate, with the remaining third split into two or three tight reaction shots. It's a pacing technique that shows real editorial awareness — he understands that comic art isn't just illustration, it's time management.
Ultimate Spider-Man and Current Projects
As of 2024, Checchetto is the lead artist on Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man relaunch — a high-profile assignment that puts him on one of the company's flagship characters. He's also attached to Punisher: Red Band (2025), a mature-readers take on Frank Castle that lets him lean into the visceral, ink-heavy style that suits the character. In 2026, he's credited on Marvel Zero and the crossover one-shot Spider-Man/Hulk: Fire And Brimstone.
On social media, Checchetto is active on X (formerly Twitter) under the handle @MChecC and on Instagram as @mchecc18, where he shares process work, covers, and the occasional sketch that reveals just how much range he has outside of the house style constraints of mainstream superhero comics.
| Title / Issue | Year | Creator Role | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Avengers #1 | 2013 | Hickman (writer), Epting (artist) | First appearance of Black Swan (Yabbat Ummon Tarru) |
| New Avengers #7–12 | 2013–2014 | Hickman (writer), Deodato (artist) | Black Swan integrated into the Cabal; major Incursion arcs |
| New Avengers #13 | 2014 | Hickman (writer), Epting (artist) | Black Swan kicks off chain of events leading to Secret Wars |
| Avengers #34–44 | 2015 | Hickman (writer), various artists | Time Runs Out — Black Swan as Cabal operative during final Incursions |
| Secret Wars #1–9 | 2015–2016 | Hickman (writer), Ribić (artist) | Black Swan on Battleworld; multiverse restoration |
| Daredevil (Vol. 6) #1–30 | 2019–2021 | Zdarsky (writer), Checchetto (artist) | Checchetto's breakout Marvel run; critically acclaimed |
| Ultimate Spider-Man (2024 series) | 2024–present | Hickman (writer), Checchetto (artist) | Checchetto as lead artist on flagship Ultimate Universe title |
| Punisher: Red Band | 2025 | Checchetto (artist) | Mature-readers Punisher; showcases Checchetto's gritty style |
| Avenging Spider-Man | 2012–2013 | Checchetto (artist) | Early Marvel work that established his house style |
The Hickman Connection: Same Writer, Different Canvas
Here's where the two threads of this article tangle in an interesting way: Jonathan Hickman, the writer who created Black Swan, is also the writer currently scripting Ultimate Spider-Man with Checchetto on art. That means the man who gave us the Sun Princess of Earth-1365 is now collaborating directly with the artist whose name often gets conflated with his own creation in search engine results.
It's a coincidence, but a meaningful one. Hickman's writing has always demanded artists who can handle scale — both the cosmic scope of a multiverse collapsing and the intimate scale of a character's face registering grief. Epting delivered that in New Avengers. Deodato brought a darker, more painted quality to the middle chapters. And now Checchetto, working in the Ultimate Universe, brings a kinetic clarity that makes Hickman's dense scripts feel accessible.
If you're a reader who came to "Marco Checchetto" looking for Black Swan content, the connection isn't as thin as it seems. Both sit inside the Hickman ecosystem. Both represent different facets of what Marvel's cosmic storytelling can do when the creative teams are given room to build something genuinely strange.
Collectibles, Figures, and the Merch Gap
Here's the frustrating part of being a Black Swan fan: the merchandise landscape is thin. For a character who played a pivotal role in one of Marvel's most celebrated event stories, the collectible options are surprisingly limited.
Hasbro Marvel Legends has not released a Black Swan figure as of mid-2026, which is a glaring omission given that the line has produced figures for far more obscure characters. Fan campaigns have surfaced periodically on Reddit and social media, but Hasbro's production pipeline moves slowly, and cosmic characters from Hickman's run tend to get lower priority than MCU-adjacent properties.
On the premium end, custom statue makers and small-batch resin artists have filled some of the void. Facebook groups dedicated to comic statue collecting occasionally showcase hand-crafted Black Swan pieces — one notable 60+ cm resin statue made the rounds in collector communities, featuring the character in her signature pose with dark energy effects rendered in translucent purple resin. These pieces typically run $300–$800 depending on the artist and scale.
Comic book collecting is where the real action is for Black Swan fans:
- New Avengers #1 (2013) — First appearance. CGC 9.8 copies typically sell in the $40–$80 range on eBay. Not expensive by key-issue standards, but climbing as Hickman's run continues to gain critical re-evaluation.
- New Avengers #13 (2014) — The issue where Black Swan's actions directly trigger the final arc toward Secret Wars. Undervalued relative to its narrative importance.
- Secret Wars #1 (2015) — Not her first appearance, but a landmark issue. Variant covers by artists like Alex Ross and Skottie Young command premium prices ($100–$300+ graded).
- Trade paperbacks: New Avengers by Jonathan Hickman Omnibus collects the complete run and remains the definitive way to experience Black Swan's full arc. Retail price around $100–$125 for the oversized hardcover edition.
For Checchetto-specific collecting, original art pages from his Daredevil run have started appearing at auction houses and comic art dealers. A standard interior page from his DD run typically sells for $400–$1,200 depending on the content (splash pages and cover art go higher). His Ultimate Spider-Man original art is likely to appreciate given the title's profile and Hickman's involvement.
Where Black Swan Fits in Marvel's Current Cosmic Landscape
Marvel's cosmic side has gone through several identity shifts since Secret Wars wrapped in early 2016. Donny Cates took the cosmic horror baton with Thanos and Silver Surfer: Black. Al Ewing rebuilt the cosmic mythology around the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Galactic Council. More recently, the X-Men's Krakoan era and the various "Destiny of X" titles pulled gravity away from the purely cosmic.
Black Swan hasn't had a significant appearance since the post-Secret Wars landscape settled. She exists in that liminal space that many Hickman characters occupy — fondly remembered, frequently cited in "best of" lists, but not actively deployed by current creative teams. Whether that changes depends on Marvel's appetite for revisiting the Incursion mythology, which, given the MCU's own multiverse phase, feels like an inevitability rather than a possibility.
If Marvel Studios ever adapts the Incursion storyline for film or Disney+ — and the groundwork has been laid in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), which explicitly featured an Incursion event — Black Swan would be a natural addition to the screen. A character with a tragic origin, striking visual design, and direct ties to both Thanos and the multiverse is exactly the kind of property that adaptation teams gravitate toward. The question isn't whether she'll show up. It's when.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who created the Black Swan character?
Black Swan (Yabbat Ummon Tarru) was created by writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Steve Epting. She first appeared in New Avengers #1, published in January 2013 as part of Marvel's NOW! relaunch.
Is Marco Checchetto related to the Black Swan character?
No. Marco Checchetto is an Italian comic book artist who works for Marvel. He has not drawn Black Swan in any published comic. The connection between the two is purely coincidental — they share a keyword in search engines. However, Checchetto currently works with Hickman (Black Swan's creator) on Ultimate Spider-Man, which creates an indirect creative link.
What are Black Swan's powers?
Her abilities stem from her bond with Tiamok the Exterminator, a cosmic entity tied to universal destruction. She can manipulate dark energy, fly at high speeds, possesses superhuman strength and durability, has multiversal awareness (the ability to sense and navigate Incursion points), and limited telepathy. Her power level is solidly in the cosmic tier, though she's below entities like Thanos or the Celestials.
What is Marco Checchetto's most acclaimed Marvel work?
His collaboration with Chip Zdarsky on Daredevil (2019–2021) is widely regarded as his defining Marvel run. The series received critical acclaim for both its writing and art, and Checchetto's dynamic page layouts and cinematic fight choreography were frequently highlighted in reviews. His current work on Ultimate Spider-Man is his highest-profile assignment.
Is Black Swan a villain or a hero?
Neither, cleanly. She's a survivor who aligned with the Cabal (a group that included Thanos) out of pragmatic necessity rather than ideological agreement. Hickman wrote her as a morally gray character — someone willing to destroy parallel Earths to preserve her own existence, but haunted by the cost of that choice. She's closer to an anti-villain than a traditional antagonist.
Will Black Swan appear in the MCU?
As of mid-2026, there has been no official announcement of Black Swan appearing in any Marvel Studios project. However, the MCU's ongoing multiverse saga — which has already introduced Incursions in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — makes the character a strong candidate for future adaptation. The Black Order has already been partially introduced (in Avengers: Infinity War), and Black Swan's comic ties to that group would make her a logical addition.
Where should I start reading to get the full Black Swan story?
The complete Black Swan arc runs through Hickman's New Avengers (2013) #1–33, Avengers (2012) #1–44 (the "Time Runs Out" arc), and Secret Wars (2015) #1–9. The most efficient way to read it is the New Avengers by Jonathan Hickman Omnibus, which collects the core run. Supplement with the Avengers issues for the full Illuminati/Cabal dynamic.
Sources and further reading: Marvel.com character database (Black Swan / Yabbat Ummon Tarru entry); Marvel Database Fandom Wiki (Black Swans, Multiverse); Marvel.com creator bibliography (Marco Checchetto); Lambiek Comiclopedia (Marco Checchetto profile); CBR — "Black Swan: How the Marvel Comics Villain Kicked Off Secret Wars" (2022); Hickman, J. & Epting, S., New Avengers Vol. 1–6 (Marvel, 2013–2015); Hickman, J. & Ribić, E., Secret Wars (Marvel, 2015–2016).
