Marvel

For people who liked the historical setting for X-MEN FIRST CLASS, Marvel is rolling out some similar treats in comics form. When it comes to retro comics that capture the feeling of past decades, Howard Chaykin is one of your go-to guys, and he's been tapped to write and draw AVENGERS 1959 which will feature Sabretooth, Kraven the Hunter and Namora. The book spins out of Avengers continuity and features a historical superteam trotting the globe for adventures.

Well, you didn't have to have a degree in forensics to figure out that a storyline called "The Death Of Spider-Man" might involve....the death of Spider-Man. Hoping to jump on the same rampaging death-wagon that led to huge sales for the deaths of Johnny Storm and Captain America, Marvel allowed MASSSSSSSIIIIVVVVVVE spoilers in THREE mainstream media stories that broke this morning for TOMORROW's issue of ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #160: The Associated Press, USA Today, and the the NY Post which had a story title so incendiary we're putting it in spoiler text!

When alt-comix superstar Brian Chippendale reviews mainstream comics, the result illuminates us all this episode he examines the X-men, the new UNCANNY #1, and fanboy style, suggests that consecutive numbering didn't hurt X-MEN #94:

When the Captain America movie was in the planning stages, there was some anxiety over whether the "America" in the title would be off-putting to foreign lands, where so much movie money is made these days. Well, there's one place that Cap fits right in and it's Wal*Mart, which has a whole Captain America store, including a link to CAPTAIN AMERICA: FIRST VENGEANCE #1 a digital comic byFred Ven Lente, Luke Ross, and Richard Isanove that you can read right now for free via Marvel's DCU interface. The comic has been up for a while, but it's interesting to see Wal*Mart getting into the game.

It turns out there will soon be a comic book called UNCANNY X-MEN for sale after all! It's coming back in October with a new #1 as part of an X-men eventish thing called "X-men Regenesis" which will find the mutants splitting into two teams (yes kinda like Blue and Gold back in the day.) One will appear in UNCANNY X-MEN, to be written again by Kieron Gillen with art by Chris Bacahlo and anther called WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN, also debuting in October, to be written by Jason Aaron, with art by Carlos Pacheco & Greg Land.

Artist Paolo Rivera was commissioned to create a special poster as a gift for the CAPTAIN AMERICA movie's cast and crew. This is the result:

Thanks to his "pack-ratty" mother, Jim Shooter's two Merry Marvel Marching Society kits from the '60s are intact and in mint condition. The first one included the record with the amazing Bullpen greetings from Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Flo Steinberg, and so on.

For a movie about mutants, X-MEN FIRST CLASS has led to a lot of interesting discussion. Set in the '60s -- a time of great social change and timeless fashions -- filmmakers Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman had more on their mind than just fighting.

by Paul O'Brien

Event season is upon us again. FEAR ITSELF launched in April, together with its spin-off anthology FEAR ITSELF: THE HOME FRONT. Further down the charts, "Death of Spider-Man" and "Age of X" are also underway. April also sees the relaunches of THOR and HERC, as well the de facto launch of a new series, JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY, continuing from THOR's previous numbering.

It's also worth noting Marvel's increasing trend towards shipping extra issues of ongoing titles, apparently in place of low-selling miniseries. Now that the hordes of Captain America and Thor minis which were used to generate movie tie-in material are out of the way, it's actually thinning out quite a bit at the lower end of the chart.

As usual, Marvel had the largest share of the North American direct market, leading DC by 40% to 27% in dollars and 48% to 27% in units. Of course, FLASHPOINT doesn't start until next month, so you'd expect the gap to be larger than normal in April.

You've probably already thought of most of these, but Funny or Die has put them all in one place.

Ah... Memorial Day approaches, and with it, summer vacation. Day after day of nothing which must be done, but full of possibilities! Maybe an escape to the air-conditioned refuge of your local library. Perhaps a day spent on the porch, sipping something cold and sinful (I prefer Brown Cows, served in a large ice tea glass). Or maybe hiding away up in a hayloft, or deep in a cool root cellar, where no one can find you. Whatever your preference, there's nothing like a good book to make you forget the world around you. Below are some suggestions for your summer reading pleasures. (And if you need a nap to avoid the afternoon heat, give your kids something to read. It'll keep them quiet long enough for you to recharge your batteries.)

Marvel editor Steve Wacker was tweeting some art earlier in the day, including rather nice page by Emma Rios on the Cloak & Dagger Spider-Island tie-in. Clickee for largee!