Marvel

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.

Marvel is going all cosmic in the movie world, and Thanos, a character created by Jim Starlin, is at the heart of it. The evidence is unavoidable. First it was the Thanos cameo at the end of the Avengers—supposedly thrown in because director Joss Whedon was a fan of the character and a cosmic storyline is integral to keeping him on board for Avengers 2.

While EW is rolling out Marvel comics secrets, it's also revealing the true multimedia triumph of Marvel these days: the way that studio head Kevin Feige and crew have truly been able to replicate the continuity obsession of the comics into a major motion picture environment. And now they're using short films as a kind of "Marvel Showcase" for the movies.

The other shoe has finally dropped at Marvel, where talk of a reboot or relaunch has been circulating for a while—it's more a soft relaunch and retitling of a number of key titles than a reboot. Probably because Marvel fans just wouldn't allow it. Details are dropped in EW's Hobbit-covered Comic-Con Preview issue, which presumably has a few copies floating around the office. The relaunch will run from October to February, starting in October with Uncanny Avengers #1 by Rick Remender and John Cassaday, making his return to regular comics pencilling. New titles will roll out every week, featuring new costumes, new back stories, and so on. According to MTV Geek, which has the most confident version of events.

Marvel's newest teaser suggests that Jean Grey is coming back! That's right -- AGAIN

What might be coming soon to a theater near you? Or a toy store? A quick search at the United States Patent and Trademark Office finds some interesting trademark registrations for Marvel Comics!

Marvel's final war teaser reveals that the Punisher is involved. Damn. Occam's razor and all that.

All the signs have been pointing to Guardians of the Galaxy as the mystery 2014 Marvel Movie...and guess what! It is!