George R.R. Martin attends Marvel’s Hellfire gala, but it’s not what you think

A Song of Ice and Fire fans have been waiting a decade now for The Winds of Winter, the long-awaited sixth book in the series. Author George R.R. Martin has taken a lot of flak over his slow writing pace, although he’s reportedly been making more progress lately.

Still, whenever he takes on another project, he gets called out for it. Not long ago, Marvel announced that Martin and his wife Parris would be guests at the Hellfire gala, a swanky event that would also include guests like Patton Oswalt, Conan ‘Brien and Eminem.

And indeed, Martin attended…in the pages of Marauders #21. You see, the Hellfire Gala is an entirely fictional event happening across several issues of Marvel comics. The high fashion event is orchestrated by Emma Frost to reveal the new team of X-Men — Rogue, Sunfire, Wolverine, Synch, Cyclops, Polaris and Jean Grey, for the record — and Marvel is drawing in several celebrities as guests, including Martin and his wife. Can you spot them in the splash below?

If not, here’s a closer look:

Of course there’s a dragon near him.

George R.R. Martin welcomes the new X-Men at the Hellfire Gala

So if you saw that Martin was attending a party and had the instinct to get down on him for slacking on his writing, hold that thought. “[A] big thanks for including me, what an honor being drawn into a Marvel comic book,” the author wrote on his Not a Blog. “I can’t wait to see what we look like and read the issue!”

And for the record, here are all the issues dealing with the Hellfire Gala storyline, if you’re interested in checking them out:

• Hellions #12 — on sale 6/2
• Marauders #21 — on sale 6/2
• X-Force #20 — on sale 6/2
• X-Men #21 — on sale 6/9
• Excalibur #21 — on sale 6/9
• New Mutants #19 — on sale 6/16
• Planet-Size X-Men #1 — on sale 6/16
• X-Corp #2 — on sale 6/16
• S.W.O.R.D. #6 — on sale 6/23
• Wolverine #13 — on sale 6/23
• Way of X #3 — on sale 6/23
• X-Factor #10 — on sale 6/30

Let’s hope the party doesn’t turn into a Red Wedding.

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h/t Gizmodo