The CW’s Green Arrow TV pilot now has an actor for the DC superhero title role, 30-year-old Canadian actor Stephen Amell, Deadline reports.

Amell’s credits include stints on fellow CW dramas The Vampire Diaries and 90210, with his, ahem, largest part of late on HBO’s Hung, where he played male prostitute Jason.

The pilot — which is currently just called Arrow — was officially ordered earlier this month. Justin Hartley played Green Arrow in Smallville, which ended last year — no word at this point if this new series will have any palpable connection to what’s come before. David Nutter, who directed the Smallville, Supernatural and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles pilots, is helming this one, written by Andrew Kreisberg, Greg Berlanti and comic book veteran Marc Guggenheim — the latter two worked on 2011′s Green Lantern feature, and created the ABC series Eli Stone.

Tomorrow sees the release of Avengers: X-Sanction #3, a series that seems to have (very quickly) befallen the same fate as Avengers: The Children’s Crusade… Namely, the massive event book that people kind of forgot was still coming out. That isn’t to say that either book isn’t selling well – As Paul O’Brien demonstrates, Children’s Crusade has been remarkably steady in terms of sales, even if the book hasn’t stuck to its bi-monthly schedule, and X-Sanction was a top-seller for its first month at least – but there seems to be no real discussion of either book online outside of their hardcore fanbases. Is it just me, or does this seem somewhat surprising, at least in regards to the much-hyped X-Sanction? It’s possible that the announcement for Avengers vs. X-Men took the air of the book’s sails (After all, “X-Man vs. Avengers!” doesn’t seem nearly as interesting once you’ve announced “X-Men vs. Avengers!” as the next round), but… am I missing a lot of people talking about what happened in the second issue and speculating on what’s going to happen in the rest of the storyline, or has the ever-present but what happens next just left this book in the dust while people start thinking about April’s big slugfest?

Here’s a tantalizing “If Only” project… On his (fantastic) Tumblr, The Marvel Age of Comics, Tom Brevoort has shared two unused Jack Kirby Hulk pages from, he suspects, #3 or #4 of the original run, apparently rescued from destruction by Larry Lieber following an argument between Kirby and Stan Lee at some point. This weekend, Kurt Busiek tweeted a truly tempting offer: “@TomBrevoort Do you have enough of that unused Kirby Hulk story to have it finished up and printed? I’ll dialogue it!”

Sadly, reality isn’t in our favor; Brevoort replied that “I’ve got something like six pages of it, but not the opening nor the finale.” Of course, now I’m holding out hope that we’ll instead see an all-new Busiek Hulk project that can include these six pages as some kind of flashback, even if that’s more than likely a victory for optimism over common sense at this point in time…

(Click through to see the Kirby pages under the jump. Oh, and * – This is probably not a factual statement.) (more…)

The long-running legal battle between Neil Gaiman and Todd McFarlane is finally over, with a settlement that apparently closes the door on a case that had already seen Gaiman awarded co-ownership of Medieval Spawn, Angela and Cagliostro way back in 2002, and now co-ownership in Spawn #9 – the first appearance of those characters – as well as Spawn #26 (featuring the return of the Cagliostro character) and the three-issue Angela spin-off miniseries.

Talking to the Washington Post, Gaiman said that he was “delighted with the case… I’m delighted with the decisions. … And I’m delighted to put it behind me.” He went on to say that he thought that “an awful lot of good things have come out of it. I think the various decisions, particularly the [2002 Judge] Posner decision, were huge in terms of what the nature of dual copyright in comics is. What is copyrightable in comics is now something that there is a definite legal precedent for. There were a lot of things that were … misty in copyright [law] that are now much clearer, and it’s of benefit to the creator.”

McFarlane has so far not released any comment.

Director Matthew Vaughn is returning for an X-Men: First Class sequel, Deadline reported Monday.

The news was tucked into a post on Fox production president Emma Watts sticking with the studio through 2015, along with word that Bryan Singer is returning as producer, and that Simon Kinberg — a First Class producer and co-writer of X-Men: The Last Stand — will write the screenplay. Though no other details are yet available — like possible storylines, actors returning or an estimated start time for production — in the same article Deadline speculates that Chronicle director Josh Trank might be tapped for a Fantastic Four reboot, also at Fox.

X-Men: First Class, released last June, grossed $146.4 million domestically, for a worldwide total of $353.6 million.

Something surprising from Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso’s latest CBR appearance is his explanation for the latest round of Point One issues:

A Point One book is meant to provide an easy entry-point to a monthly series for new readers that is relevant to long-term readers. It counts. Simple as that. If you haven’t read a single issue of Iron Man, here’s a clean, told-on-one sampler. There was a time when the Annuals might have served this purpose, but in recent years retailers and fans lost confidence that they were essential reads. The first wave of Point One books did so well we had to do more. And we’ll continue to do more for any title we think will benefit from it.

The surprising part? That the first wave of Point One books did so well that Marvel “had” to do more… because the direct market estimates tell an entirely different story. Of the twenty Point One books that have already come out that weren’t #0.1 issues, only three were ordered in quantities higher than the previous issue, with sales on the following issues either seeing a small bump that didn’t offset the drop from the .1 issue, or continuing to drop in all but six cases (and in two of those cases, the following issues were Fear Itself tie-ins). Quite how that translates into such a success that the company felt compelled to do more seems a mystery to journey into, some might say; perhaps the collected editions did particularly well, or the digital sales…?

DC is teasing out more details about its Free Comic Book Day offering, with a post on official blog The Source promising preview material from the second wave of ongoing New 52 titles (Batman Incorporated, Dial H, Earth 2, GI Combat, The Ravagers and Worlds’ Finest), “art by legendary illustrator Jim Lee and other top talents” – which sounds, to me, suspiciously like it’ll be either sketchbook material, pages from already released comics or something we’ve already seen in some form – and a brand new story by Geoff Johns, although no artist is listed for that story yet.

The post promises “more surprises to come” about the free book, which’ll make its debut May 5. Will we see more new titles announced between now and then to be previewed in the book? Will the identity of the artist for the new Johns story turn out to be a surprise in and of itself (Any Marvel exclusive artists rumored to be making the jump between publishers anytime soon, I wonder…)? Batteries to power. Speculation Engines to speed.

If you really can’t wait until this summer to see footage from The Amazing Spider-Man, then you’re in luck. Posters started appearing this weekend directing fans to go to TheUntoldStoryBegins, a site that allows you to reserve tickets for sneak footage screenings on February 6 in New York, Los Angeles, Berlin, London, Madrid, Paris, Mexico City, Moscow, Rio, Rome, Seoul, Sydney and Tokyo (Perhaps unsurprisingly, more events are already fully-booked). According to Deadline, those attending the events should expect “other surprises,” but your guess is as good as mine as to what that means.

For everyone who can’t make it to one of those screenings, take some comfort in the fact that, with the event happening a week today, I figure we’re at most two weeks away from the footage making it to YouTube…

Is it wrong to admit I’m a lettering snob? Seeing badly done lettering can absolutely kill my interest in a comic, just as seeing well done lettering can artificially ensure that I’ll be reading for at least a few pages more, no matter how terrible the story (Tom Orzechowski, I kept reading early Spawn for far too long for you, sir). If you think I’m completely crazy, go back and re-read the early days of the Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire Justice League; there’s an issue in there where John Workman – a spectacular letterer, I think everyone would agree – fills in for Bob Lappan, and it just feels like an entirely different book despite everyone else in the creative team being exactly the same.

These days, of course, it’s easier to have continuity in your lettering with shared fonts and the like, which is why I was so interested in Ron Marz’ interview with letterer Troy Peteri, where he talks about the dos and don’ts of lettering, as well as – and this is where my wonk-iness really comes in – choosing the right font for the project, and what makes good lettering important:

I think people commonly believe that as long as the words are in balloons and on the page, it’s as good as done. They’re not taking into account how word balloons should lead the eye to the appropriate reading order in the panels, or how too much/not enough negative space in the balloons themselves can also make things look amateurish. Same goes for sound FX that look like they’re merely words typed out and dropped on the page. I honestly think that good lettering can make an amateurish effort look less so, similar to the way good visual FX in an otherwise low-budget movie can make that movie feel bigger and better.

These days, I think that we’re seeing more good lettering, but less exceptional lettering, if that makes sense; overall, I think the quality has improved dramatically with digital letters, but that medium tends to lose the individual magic of a Workman, Orzechowski or Artie Simek (Here’s a great column from Augie De Blieck about why Orzechowski is one of the greats, for those unconvinced). But maybe I’m looking in the wrong places: Who’s doing the truly great comic book lettering these days?

Mark Millar would like you to know that, despite rumors that his various movie projects are in trouble – with Jane Goldman confirming that she would not write a Kick-Ass sequel, and Nemesis being mentioned as possibly being put on hold for a time – everything is going just fine:

How many times do we need to go through this? [Matthew] Vaughn is producing [Kick-Ass 2] and Jane was taking about this 2 weeks ago in an interview. He’s got a new director and is doing a George Lucas, guiding the whole thing as he and I work on The Secret Service (which we’re writing at the moment). Could we stop with the scare-mongering please?

Also, Nemesis is fine. Fox deal was just signed off shortly before Christmas and there is no story there beyond an idiot with a blog who follows every tweet I write and whoever writes to me. As Joe Carnahan said himself in all the video interviews last week, Nemesis is doing fine.

Wanted 2 and War Heroes both fast-tracked as reported last November by Universal (google it), Supercrooks screenplay done and ready to get moving after Nacho finishes Windows and Vaughn just bought the rights to Superior. All is well.

Elsewhere in the same thread, Millar says that Kick-Ass 2‘s director will also write the screenplay, and that the project is in good hands, adding “Now RELAX. Empire Strikes Back worked out fine.” Reading between the lines, clearly what Millar is actually telling us is that we should expect Kick-Ass 3 to suck and feature Ewoks.

Thinking about Avengers vs. X-Men the other day, I found myself stuck on the fact that the Fantastic Four wouldn’t be taking part in the event. On the one hand, this makes a lot of sense, because (a) adding another super team to the event seems ridiculous given the number of characters already involved given the size of the Avengers and X-Men franchises these days, and (b) it’s called Avengers vs. X-Men, not Avengers And Their Friends vs. X-Men And Their Friends. But on the other hand, “limiting” the event to these two teams feels artificial given the way that the Marvel Universe has always historically worked, with books crossing over and guest stars appearing when you least expect it, and especially so when you consider that the Thing is an Avenger now, or that it’s very likely that Reed Richards would have something to say about the Phoenix Force coming to Earth (Wouldn’t Nova go to the FF before he’d go to the Avengers or the X-Men, considering past adventures, after all…?).

The real reason there’s no Fantastic Four in the title of Avengers Vs. X-Men, of course, is that the F4 isn’t one of Marvel’s core franchises, and so hasn’t earned its way onto that banner. A harsh truth, perhaps, but a truth nonetheless; whereas the Avengers books (top-sellers for Marvel since Disassembled) have led the linewide events since 2006, and the X-Books have been so numerous that they’ve had their own family to have linewide events of suitable size and success for even longer, the Fantastic Four has always seemed to be on the periphery of storylines that affected the direction of the Marvel Universe: They had tie-in issues to Civil War, but Reed’s involvement in the Negative Zone prison aside, they were pretty much removed from the main action; they pretty much skipped World War Hulk in all but cameo appearances, and had a minor Secret Invasion tie-in mini to show for their troubles, with even less involvement in Fear Itself (the Thing aside, but as I’ve already pointed out, he’s an Avenger now).

Maybe it’s me being old-fashioned and sentimental, but this seems sad, considering the importance of the Fantastic Four to the Marvel Universe both internally and externally; this was the book that started it all, after all, and even within the fictional universe, this is the team that saved the world from Galactus, the ones who discovered the Negative Zone (and Unstable Molecules, which have saved many a Marvel hero from unfortunate accidental nudity at times) and the Microverse, the greatest scientific adventurers around, and so on… These characters should be at the center of every big Marvel event, surely.

And all of this got me to thinking: What’s wrong with the Fantastic Four? Historically, it’s not been a massive seller since… what, John Byrne’s era (although it seems to be holding its own quite well right now, thanks to Jonathan Hickman’s efforts)… but why? Is there something inherently less interesting to readers about the Fantastic Four than there is the Avengers or the X-Men, and if so, what?

Certainly, as a long-running series, it’s arguably the longest-running Marvel title with the least amount of creative peaks (Lee/Kirby, obviously, but then it’s a fallow period until Byrne, and then relatively dull until Walter Simonson’s short-but-still-underrated run, and afterwards a number of well-meaning-but-again-dull efforts until Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo, and then… Hickman? Have I missed anyone truly exceptional out in there? Over 50+ years, that feels low, especially compared to the X-Books or Avengers… Am I misremembering?), so is that the problem: That getting the F4 “right” is just harder than it is for other books, and the failed attempts put people off…? Or is it just that the core appeal of the Fantastic Four – A family who love each other who have dedicated their lives to discovering the unknown – doesn’t have the same appeal as existing in a world in which you’re feared and hated, or being the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?

I have no answers; I’m not even sure if I’m asking the right questions. But there’s something about the Fantastic Four that, in my mind, makes them the core of the entire Marvel Universe, and seeing them treated as something out on the outliers because the market doesn’t seem to want that much more from them, seems like a far, far sadder fate than they deserve.

Reading recent collections of New Mutants Classic, as the logo describes it, I found myself remembering how difficult I found the Bill Sienkiewicz-illustrated issues when they were were first coming out. For the most part, it was the art, which was simultaneously more realistic and less grounded in ideas of a physical reality than what my 10 year old brain was used to at the time – I found it attractive but difficult to parse, to understand exactly what it all meant, sometimes – but Chris Claremont’s writing shifted to match what he was seeing, it seemed, with the stories becoming darker in tone (Professor Xavier has an illegitimate son with multiple personalities! Dani is being terrorized by an unstoppable monster! Cloak and Dagger have appeared and there’re drugs and addiction metaphors!) and less straight-ahead in execution. Re-reading it all now, it feels like bold stuff, a step forward from the Bob McLeod-illustrated issues and an important evolution not only for the book and its characters, but for Claremont as a writer and the X-Men franchise in general, but at the time… these were unsettling comics.

(When Jackson Guice and Kyle Baker came on as the regular art team, a year or so later, that was my era of true New Mutants love; I don’t know if it’s because I was at the right age, or that I could deal better with the more traditional art style.)

Remembering all this made me think about earlier prejudices I’d had about comics and artists in particular that seem ridiculous to me now: I remember thinking that Don Heck was boring, or that Jack Kirby was old-fashioned, for example, as well as being convinced that no-one could draw Guy Gardner as well as John Byrne had in Legends (This isn’t to be confused with my still-existing theory that no-one can draw Captain Britain as well as Alan Davis, although I’m looking forward to Gabriel Hardman proving me wrong in Secret Avengers). It’s embarrassing and weirdly reassuring to remember all of these ideas I had about what worked and didn’t work in comics back then, in part because oh man was I wrong about a lot of stuff, but also, it’s good to see myself learning and getting over snobbery and the like as I get older; I hope that, twenty years from now, I can look back on things I didn’t like and laugh at myself for my appalling taste.

That said, I’m wondering what comic prejudices and phobias you’ve had (and recovered from), dear readers. What used to turn you off, but you hate to admit it these days?

It’s not just DC Comics that’s getting a new lick of logo paint for 2012, it seems; now Oni Press has redesigned its logo, as revealed in Publishers’ Weekly. According to editor James Lucas Jones, the change comes as a result of the publisher’s own evolution:

We’re not the same company we were in 1997, and Art Director Keith Wood has continually raised the bar in terms of our books’ design and packaging. It was time to let him loose on the company’s core iconography. Throughout 2011, Keith worked with Cory Casoni (Director of Sales & Marketing), Joe Nozemack (Publisher), and myself to narrow down the pool of potential designs and refine his initial concepts into the modern, versatile, and downright awesome logo that will soon adorn all of our new comics.

I have to say, I really like the new logo; I’ve been a fan of Wood’s design work for awhile anyway, but I think this logo manages to retain enough of the original Dave Gibbons’ design while seeming more contemporary and, well, stylish. Here’s how it’ll look on covers:

The logo debuts with the first issue of The Secret History of DB Cooper, in March.

I think everyone has noticed that Marvel has started publishing a number of their books more than once a month. They’ve been ramping up on this for a while, and it’s something I’ve kind of shook my head at, because it’s a desperate ploy to gain marketshare that doesn’t promote sustainability on any level. It’s a cash grab, pure and simple, and when you couple that with the fact so many of their books are creeping up on $3.99, I shudder to think of the long-term effects.

And I can hear you shaking your own head now. Okay, maybe I can’t hear you doing that, but I can imagine the chuckling: “Desperate? Marvel is the number one publisher in comics!” – but I’ll stand by my words. When DC launched their new 52 last September, Marvel didn’t fight back with awesome. They fought back with the only real tool in their shed: more. They’re not increasing the frequency of their books out of generosity, they’re doing it to dominate the market. And in the absence of anything even resembling new, all we get is more.

That’s Image Comics’ Eric Stephenson, writing about Marvel’s recent moves and – worryingly, perhaps, for Marvel fans – making a lot of sense. He goes on to point out the similarity in recent Marvel storylines (“Other characters get the Hulk’s powers. Other characters get Spider-Man’s powers. Other characters get hammers like Thor. Now, if that recent Iron Fist image from an upcoming issue of New Avengers is any indication, a bunch of characters will be imbued with the Phoenix Force. I know DC went green by using recycled paper, but maybe Marvel’s trying to recycle in other ways”) and event structures (“Civil War, House of M, World War Hulk, Secret Invasion, Shadowland, Ultimatum, Fear Itself, Spider-Island, X-Men: Schism, and now, Avengers Vs. X-Men. It’s all-out hero on hero action in the mighty Marvel manner, again and again and again”), and it makes for pretty depressing reading. “These are not serious creative statements,” he says, “It’s more like a bored child reaching into the toy box trying to find new ways to wring some meager enjoyment out of faded old playthings.”

The same argument can be made for DC’s New 52 initiative – especially in the second wave, which removed titles like Mr. Terrific and OMAC which, if not entirely original, were at least something different from the DC norm, in favor of another Batman book and the return of Earth-2 as an ongoing concern, something we haven’t for more than quarter of a century. Less immediate repetition than Marvel, perhaps, but also less room for defending the work with a “This Is What They Want.” Because, as Stephenson admits, Avengers Vs. X-Men may be filled with ideas and characters we’ve seen countless ways already, but it’ll sell, and in far greater numbers that more “deserving” books like Fatale, The Manhattan Projects or Casanova, even though those books all have the same writers as AvX. Is the problem with the comic industry’s obsession with familiarity not the creators – who are doing new work, for the most part – or the publishers – which are, after all, businesses which exist solely to make money – but the readers, who not only indulge in the endless nostalgia and everything-we’ve-seen-before, but do so in such volume that it drowns out other, more original comics that need the attention to survive?

I don’t know. It could be a circular argument (If only more original work was pushed more, more people would know about it, so it would sell better, so more people could afford to do it, so it could be more popular, which would mean it would be talked about more and pushed more, because the ad dollars would see more return on investment, and so on) that leads nowhere. But the more I think about it, the more I think there’s a missing piece in the argument that the Big Two are only interested in maintaining existing intellectual property versus creating some new stuff…

It’s well worth reading David Brothers’ response to Joshua Hale Fialkov’s recent blogpost about comics piracy and the downfall of the comic industry, if you haven’t already done so; if nothing else, it’s a great analysis of what’s really hurting the direct market today (and it’s not just piracy):

To put forth the idea that piracy on the part of consumers is “singly responsible” for anything, especially when piracy by its very nature is impossible to nail down in terms of concrete numbers and cause & effect is dishonest. Bootlegs have always existed, whether in barbershops or art galleries. They’ve been here, and they aren’t going away. Do they cause harm? Any idiot knows the answer to that question is “yes.”

But for my money, the thing that killed comic books is “everything else.” We’re living in an all-new status quo, and I keep seeing people, especially comics people, acting like piracy is the sole cause of all their ills. When no, that isn’t true, and a half glance at the world will tell you so.

I don’t even have to leave my house to be flooded with things to do. I can have food delivered, songs and movies I buy (or download, whatever) appear on my hard drive or PlayStation like magic, video games can be bought and played without ever touching a physical disc… we’re living in the future, and that’s without even going outside. Outside, I can go to the movies, check out stand-up open mics, hang out with friends, drink Starbucks, eat donuts, play board games, go to bars…

There is so much to do, and when you tell me my choice is between (in this instance) a comic that averages out to being just okay and costs three to four dollars to read for five to ten minutes and doing anything else, I’m going to choose anything else, nine times out of ten, with exceptions made for creators I enjoy or books that might have a good hook that I’m curious about.

Hey, publishers: THIS. If someone who likes comic books so much that he devotes part of his life to writing about them online believes this – and people like me agree – then imagine how non-comic readers feel about the prospect of picking up the habit. Seriously, go read Brothers’ post (and Fialkov’s, too, for that matter – I don’t necessarily agree with the emphasis he puts on comics piracy as the singular downfall of the industry, as well as his estimate of the size of the modern comic market – How many copies has Justice League #1 sold by this point? I don’t think that’s all speculation – but there’s something to his notion of moral responsibility in regards to piracy, nonetheless); it’s great stuff.

In the tradition of Erica Durance appearing in a Wonder Woman costume on an episode of Harry’s Law earlier this month, here we present, apropos of mostly nothing, supermodel Miranda Kerr appearing in a Wonder Woman costume on the cover of Grazia in her home county of Australia, and wearing shoes definitely not suitable for fighting crime:

According to the accompanying text, it’s not just an excuse to put a Victoria’s Secret model into a one-piece, it’s thematically appropriate, too. “We’re taking a risk – because Wonder Woman is a globally recognised icon and not just anyone could pull it off,” said Grazia fashion director Thelma McQuillan (the anglicized spelling hers, not ours). “But Miranda is an Australian icon herself. She’s the star who, time and time again, our readers say they most admire; a businesswoman, a wife, a mum. She is our wonder woman. And she has the presence to pull this recreation off.”

Besides, Kerr has a good amount of geek culture cred her own self — she’s married to Orlando “Legolas” Bloom, who’s reprising that role in this December’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Something caught my eye in this Marvel.com story about the unveiling of “Asgardia,” the new city designed by Tony Stark for the Earth-bound former inhabitants of the World Tree that’ll debut in next month’s Mighty Thor. Namely, this Matt Fraction quote:

Since we’ve fixed the World Tree on Earth, we’ve created a capitol city where denizens of all nine realms may reside… Everyone’s in it together now, and the cast and flavor of the book is all the more diverse and varied for it. The Nine Worlds aren’t a ladder anymore but a wheel, with no top and no bottom, no paradise and no hell—and Asgardia is its hub.

The Nine Worlds are a wheel? Like… a wheel where gods live? Wouldn’t that make it a Godwheel?

There’s every chance that Fraction’s comment has absolutely nothing to do with the Malibu Ultraverse concept of a “cosmic artifact of tremendous size [that] contains many realms at the same time,” but considering that Thor was the first Marvel character to appear in an Ultraverse title, and that that title was the Godwheel series, that’s a particularly weird, unlikely coincidence, don’t you think?

Marvel has shied away from using Ultraverse characters and concepts since the line died out in the late 1990s, with the reason usually given that there are contractual complications in Marvel’s ownership of the line that prevent anything from the one-time successful line being used these days, so this wheel of gods likely has nothing to do with Malibu’s Godwheel.

But… if Marvel has quietly wrinkled out all the problems with licenses and contracts and whatever, this would be a nice and unexpected thing to reintroduce to the Marvel Universe once the dust settles from Avengers vs. X-Men, wouldn’t it? Never mind “No More Mutants,” what if the combined Phoenix Force and Scarlet Witch hex power can conjure up a new life for the Ultraverse?

…Nah, it’s probably just a coincidence. Right?

Looks like the lack of Generation Hope in the recent Marvel solicits wasn’t a one-time thing, as writer James Asmus confirms the book’s cancellation in an interview over at CBR:

Yes, the book is ending with issue #17.  I will say (as I did a month ago) that these were the five issues I planned from the beginning.  You can read all the old interviews where I promised to get to the betrayal, and I knew I had to do it before “Avengers vs. X-Men.”  The book was already under 20K copies when I took over, so while I figured there was a chance to tie into “AvX,” the way the market and the event developed, a “Generation Hope” tie-in doesn’t make sense… When Marvel first asked me to hop on the book last summer, I was told that they wanted me to take the book up to “AvX”.  Sales were already below the 20K copy mark, so there was the expectation that unless a market-miracle happened, the book probably wouldn’t keep going after the first five issues.

I guess the question now becomes “Just how much of the remainder of the book’s run is going to be run-up to Avengers vs. X-Men?” Maybe Avengers: X-Sanction isn’t the only prelude book for that event after all…

It’s possibly just me, but there’s something particularly spoilery about the new Marvel solicits, officially released today, in regards to the upcoming Avengers Vs. X-Men event. Thanks to the solicits for the main book and titles like Avengers, Secret Avengers and Wolverine and The X-Men, we now have a pretty good idea of the beginning of the conflict: The X-Men are in favor of the return of the Phoenix Force, because they suspect it’ll restart the mutant race (I thought this had already happened, at the end of Second Coming?), and this brings them into conflict with the Avengers and specifically Captain America, who declares war on the mutants and leads an invasion of Utopia. Oh, and Wolverine is forced to pick sides, as is mentioned in three different solicits.

Here’s the thing: This sounds like a classic “When Titans Clash!” set-up for this kind of story, simultaneously dumb enough and believable enough that I can buy into it easily as the flashpoint that sets the whole thing off. But it also feels like too much detail to know three months before the story actually begins, to me, at least. I get that solicits are supposed to give some idea of what’s happening in the books, and that there are those for whom “It’s Avengers! Fighting X-Men! And there’s Phoenix!” isn’t enough of a hook to actually check out the series, but I’m not sure that what’s been revealed will turn anyone around on a negative opinion, but may turn some people off buying the first issue. Am I being paranoid? Did everyone else see these solicits and think “No, that’s just enough information for me, my mind is now made up?”

The good: Marvel is now offering digital versions of their collected editions through ComiXology. The bad: Pricing on the collections is all over the place, ranging from $6.99 for the 105 pages of Avengers Disassembled to $10.99 for the 135 pages of Daredevil: Yellow, with some collections as much as $24.99 (the 330 page Planet Hulk). The potentially ugly: The prices are nonetheless cheaper than the print editions of each book, which could mean that we’re about to see another protest from direct market retailers (understandably) upset about being undercut on what may be a core part of their business. On the upside, a lot of the material being offered by ComiXology isn’t necessarily in print anymore – yes, I know, that’s an odd choice of “upside” – so it’s not direct competition as such, but nonetheless, it’ll be interesting to see (if any) fallout could follow this product launch.