Marvel

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.

New collections from Marvel, including a storyline which takes place between paragraphs in another book! And the Justice League as zombies! New Titles from DC, including Silver Surfer and Captain America!

If you didn't hear about it, the Ghost Rider sequel film, "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" debuted this weekend. It also didn't finish where the experts thought it would. Initial estimates have it in the #3 slot behind Safe House and The Vow.

Sam Humphries is going to the ultimate ultimate with ULTIMATE COMICS: ULTIMATES. We are really just posting this as a shout out to long time Beat pal Sam Humphries, who will be co-writing the book with Jonathan Hickman starting with issue #10; Luke Ross is the interior artist. Humphries has been at the writing game for a few years, but he's finally about to blow up, with a ton of new assignments.

Well, speak of the devil. As we posted only a few hours ago, Marvel is in a very vulnerable PR position on the Gary Friedrich matter...so much so that they have sent both CCO Joe Quesada and publisher Dan Buckley to clarify and soothe at Comic Book Resources. As they point out, the matter is still under litigation and a settlement is being negotiated. Buckley and Quesada do a good job of trying to handle the negatives—they're pros—especially with this:

Comic books crossing over? The crossover quote of the week goes to Dan Buckley in his Comic Book Resources interview:

Okay, just so we don't forget the OTHER member of the Big Two on this day long to be remembered...Marvel has a new project involving...more than one man tagged Spider. It comes out in June. As you were.

A sequel to the well-received X-MEN: FIRST CLASS has been greenlit with Matthew Vaughn once again to direct, Deadline reports. Simon Kinberg has written a script and Bryan Singer will produce. Everyone expects Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy to reprise their roles as Magneto and Professor X, but no one has officially been signed yet. And given Fassbender's recent roles, maybe we'll get to see little Magneto, too.

Once again, a creator loses a copyright battle against a major comics publisher with a major motion picture soon to screen. The artist is living in poverty, has health problems, and is forgotten by the general public. Sound familiar? Read on... it gets worse.

by Paul O'Brien

-- This month, the slow build to AVENGERS VS X-MEN begins with the AVENGERS: X-SANCTION miniseries; and DEFENDERS is relaunched. Both are wisely given a pretty clear run, without other Marvel launches competing for space. Elsewhere, the X-Men, Hulk and Fantastic Four relaunches continue to bed down. And down at the bottom end of the chart, the cancellations continue to mount up. Normal service is resumed, kind of, as Marvel had the largest share of the north American direct market, albeit by a fairly narrow margin - 39% to 38% in units, 34.4% to 33.7% in dollars. But bear in mind, this was a five-week month where DC more or less sat out week five.