Marvel

Two primary announcements are coming out of the "Ultimate Marvel" Panel. (That really does sound goofy if you say it out loud, doesn't it?) First off, there's a new Ultimate Comics Iron Man mini-series coming out. Secondly, there's going to be an Event in the Ultimates line called "Divided We Fall."

Six new books from Marvel in October? BUT HOW CAN WE EVER HOPE TO UNRAVEL THEM?!

Some linkage from today's Google News feed! So much stuff, I had to split it in twain! Here's the media stuff, along with some pictures and video!

A few items from Marvel's Next Big Thing panel. Something of a round-up of recent events with some art.

So, what did I find while I waited for Comic-Con to gather up steam for warp speed? LEGOs! Star Trek! Walking Dead! Margaret Atwood!

Fine. You heard about some cancellations. You heard about Marvel Now. There's a few more interesting things in today's Marvel October solicitations. For my money, the most significant non-trumpeted news is the debut of the Dexter comic. Yes, Dexter the serial killer from the long-running Showtime series. And it's written by the novelist who created the character.

Say goodbye to nine of Marvel's titles! Marvel Now! ushers in a new world without the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, or... Rogue/Gambit.

The AVENGERS VS X-MEN crossover continued in May, while NEW MUTANTS and JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY had their own little private event with "Exiled". There's also the launch of the new FURY MAX title, the weekly mini HULK SMASH AVENGERS, more flogging of the undead horse with MARVEL ZOMBIES DESTROY!, and the return of Icon's TAKIO. As usual, Marvel had the largest share of the North American direct market, though by a smaller than usual margin - they led DC by 39% to 37% in unit share, and 35% to 33% in dollar terms.

This morning's Marvel teaser suggests that the new Marvel NOW! relaunch will be tied in with the Point One program which saw various series get a ".1 issue" that was new-reader-friendly. The program did quite well, we're told. Details will be revealed at the Cup O' Joe panel, Friday, July 13th, 3:15 PM PST. This move solidifies the "jump-onable" nature of the Marvel NOW! program.

Axel Alonso and Tom Brevoort gave a fairly wide-reaching interview to Comic Book Resources on the topic of the "Marvel Now" relaunch. It jumps around a bit, but does get some more information out into the public and comes straight from the horses mouth. Let's parse it a little.

Those guys at Marvel are crafty. They've been scheming their way out of bad trends for years now. First it was showing you could successfully raise prices on your bestselling titles (though the gleam may be coming off that one). Then when things started tanking hard, they manufactured AVX and structured it in such a way that it guaranteed huge numbers and hype. Credit where credit is due, AVX _has_ taken off since then, but Marvel's structure built in a failsafe for it. And now, their latest construction: The Neverending Relaunch.

Three new titles. A relaunch/reboot/facelift/makeover for the Marvel Universe. Hickman. Bendis. Remender. Wolverine, Spider-Man, Hulk, Cable and.... Jean Grey? We're going to have to really get in-depth with these new Marvel titles, you guys.