Marvel

As first noted in the comics blogosphere by Graeme McMillan, Marvel's proposed KISS KISS BANG BANG and ROUTE 666 Crossgen revivals have been shelved indefinitely. Word came via Tom Brevoort's rolling press conference, i.e. Formspring. Graeme wrote:

Based on this teaser, one infers that there is a X-men wedding to come in this June's ASTONISHING by Marjorie Liu and Mike Perkins, which has already been hyped as a much talked about issue. So who will tie the knot? We're not up on current X-Men mythology and can't hazard a guess but popular internet speculation is guessing Northstar and Kyle will tie the knot, making this the first blow for marriage equality in the Marvel U. Another gay couple, Hulkling and Wiccan, just kissed, perhaps paving the way.

Marvel is releasing more covers for their epic fisticuffs battle, and here's AVENGERS #27 , written by Brian Michael Bendis with art and cover by Walt Simonson. In this issue, as the battle rages...an Avenger betrays the team!

Just to finish our "digital news Monday," Marvel's recently teased "Infinite" something-or-other will be revealed this Saturday as part of SXSWi's Screenburn video game conference. Despite the gaming setting, it's expected this will have something to do with digital comics, as indicated by the panel description:

With all the chaos and hype going on today, it sometimes comes to pass that not all good books get the attention they deserve. Here's a quick rundown of things you might not be picking up that are worthwhile. (I'm assuming you've already had someone nagging you to pick up Mark Waid's Daredevil run, so we won't get into that here.)

Mark Waid's DAREDEVIL seems to be filling the "superhero comic for people who don't like superheroes" slot with topnotch stories and art. Chris Samnee (THOR: THE MIGHTY AVENGER) is joining the book as a part-time artist in #12, in which busy Matt Murdock makes time for a lady pal, Kirsten McDuffie, who is actually hoping to make time to discover his secret identity.

INCEPTION whoom whoom music? Check.

Avengers Alliance is now live on Facebook. This is basically Mafia Wars with superheroes. You're a SHIELD agent. You recruit superheroes (initially Iron Man, Hawkeye and the Black Widow) to go on missions with you. The story arc involves chasing around Hydra and meteorite fragments as you beat up henchmen and fight bosses like Whiplash and Viper.

New day, new Avengers poster. This time Black Widow is face front and the character in the brokeback pose is....the Hulk? Truly, this is the dawning of a new day.

As cat people, we're not really sold on on the whole "dress your pets" humiliation tool; however, for those who like to dress their doggie, Marvel and Fetch are introducing a line of Marvel-themed pet attire called cool pets!. The line of toys, apparel, and accessories will be available at your local PetSmart.

By Paul O'Brien

Perhaps it's a side effect of the decision to trim the line, but Marvel seem to have gone back to the days when each month had a small number of new launches that they could focus on properly. This month's sole new title is SCARLET SPIDER, and the only major new miniseries is WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN: ALPHA & OMEGA. There's also WOLVERINE #300, and the second issue of the AvX lead-in mini AVENGERS: X-SANCTION. DC's resurgence continued in January, as once again Marvel faced a fight to be the top publisher in the direct market. In terms of market share, it's really too close to call; DC led in units, by 40% to 38%, while Marvel led in dollars, by 36% to 34%. On the other hand, DC swept the top ten with the fifth issues of their regular titles - some of which are selling in a different league from anything in Marvel's range. It's been a long time since AQUAMAN was outselling the entire Marvel line. Thanks as always to ICV2.com for permission to use these figures.

Here's the latest AVENGERS photos, showing Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson feigning interest in mundane supercomputers. And then Hawkeye, Cap, and Black Widow striding confidently into battle.