Uncanny X-Men may have ended — twice — in recent memory, but the original flagship X-book is returning in February 2013, with All-New X-Men writer Brian Michael Bendis and veteran X-artist Chris Bachalo at the helm.

So far, readers know that it stars Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magik, Magneto and some of their new recruits, and Marvel is set to reveal more via their latest “Next Big Thing” conference call. Things are scheduled to start around 4 p.m. eastern time, and we’ll be covering the press conference live, so this page will be continuously updated — keep hitting refresh for the latest.

On the line: Bendis, plus Marvel senior editor Nick Lowe. “Thanks to the daily shipping of All-New X-Men, we’ve been able to lay out exactly what the X-universe is going to look like, at least the foundation of it,” Bendis opens, joking a bit about the rapid initial shipping schedule of All-New X-Men. Bendis explains the team’s motive as “reaching across the world” to find and train new mutants.

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Thought you’d have to wait until the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey this Friday to see the first full Man of Steel trailer? Well, this is the Internet in 2012, where everything happens a little early, and the trailer is now online — completely above board, too, as it’s been posted by Warner Bros. Pictures themselves. But really, this is ultimately just a bunch of stalling, so watch the trailer here:

So, what did you think? Man of Steel, directed by Zack Snyder and starring Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman, is scheduled for release on June 14, 2013.

The latest Marvel NOW! Next Big Thing call is on the future of Uncanny Avengers, and is starting right about — now. This post will be updated continuously, so keep hitting refresh; art from March’s Uncanny Avengers #6 is here.

Writer Rick Remender and series editor Tom Brevoort are both on the line, with Remender describing the upcoming story arc “Ragnarok Now,” starting with Uncanny Avengers #6, as something of a sequel to the “Dark Angel Saga” in Uncanny X-Force, though if you haven’t read that story, it’ll stand on its own. Issue #6, out in March, is also the debut on the book of new series artist Daniel Acuña.

The story picks up on Archangel impregnating Pestilence, and also draws in Kang the Conqueror. Remender also discloses that the story will tie into Jason Aaron’s Thor: God of Thunder series, particularly the axe that young Thor uses in that book.

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The second Marvel NOW! “Next Big Thing” press conference this week is all about the new Young Avengers, from the Phonogram creative team of writer Kieron Gillen and artist Jamie McKelvie. Things are scheduled to start around 3 p.m. eastern — this page will be updated continuously, so keep hitting refresh. New art from January’s first issue is here.

First question, from Marvel marketing’s James Viscardi — what are fans in for when they pick up the first issue? Gillen says it’s one of his “full-on rush of ideas books,” and that he’s not looking to replicate the prior Young Avengers series. “It’s a book about optimism, and how optimism tends to get crushed, and how it’s worth persisting,” the writer continues.

Talk turns to the cast, with Kid Loki up first. “Last time we saw the Young Avengers, they were actually in the ironic situation of being accepted by the Avengers. And at that moment, none of them wanted to do it anymore, which is one of my favorite things about the end of Children’s Crusade,” Gillen says. Kid Loki is the catalyst of getting them together. Exactly why he’s putting the team together is a mystery, initially.

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Newsarama contributor Zack Smith passed along this story to us, about a rare drawing by the late Mike Wieringo. The following words are his.

A few weeks back I went to NC Comicon, where a number of SF-themed vehicles were parked outside for photo and other opportunities — the ’66 Batmobile, a Back to the Future DeLorean used to findraise for the Michael J. Fox Foundation, and most significantly for this story, the Mystery Machine from Scooby-Doo.

The guy touring with the Mystery Machine was Bo Burnham, whose Myst3ry Inc. company does paranormal investigations, videos and of course appearances by the Mystery Machine. He was also selling some pieces from his comic book collection…

…including the very first drawing of Impulse, aka Bart Allen, by Mike Wieringo.

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Marvel’s latest “Next Big Thing” press conference is all about the January-debuting new volume of Uncanny X-Force, from writer Sam Humphries and artist Ron Garney. Things are scheduled to start around 3 p.m. — we’re on the line and updating this page continuously, so keep hitting refresh for the latest. In the meantime, brand-new interior pages from issue #1 are here.

Things are getting started now — Humphries and Marvel senior editor Nick Lowe are both on the line.

Humphries starts off by talking about Rick Remender’s Uncanny X-Force, which ends this month. “It’s so good, and so many things happen in that issue,” Humphries says. “The last couple of issues are the equivalent of dropping the microphone and walking off stage.”

“The book has metastized so much, it has to be split into two,” Humphries continues, referring to the Dennis Hopeless and Salvador Larroca Cable and X-Force. “This is not a book where you have Wolverine, and Cyclops, and Nightcrawler,” Humphries says of his book. “This is a new lineup, a bunch of characters who have a complex web of personal interaction together. But they’re really thrown together for the first time, and exploring the dark shadows of the Marvel Universe that don’t get touched on in books like Uncanny Avengers or All-New X-Men. This is a book for characters and readers who don’t necessarily feel comfortable in the light of Uncanny Avengers.” Lowe adds that the book is about the dark underbelly of the Marvel Universe, away from the Jean Grey School or Avengers Tower.

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Josh Medors, a comic book artist with credits including G.I. Joe, Fused and more, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 36.

Known best as a horror artist, Medors worked on multiple G.I. Joe titles while the license was at Devil’s Due, and collaborated with writer Steve Niles on books including 30 Days of Night, Criminal Macabre and Fused. He co-created Willow Creek at Zenescope, and illustrated Frank Frazetta’s Sorcerer and Frank Frazetta’s Swamp Demon at Image Comics.

Medors fought cancer for years, a rare form found in his spinal column. He co-founded Help for Heroes, an organization intended to raise money for comic professionals struggling with the disease. He’s survived by his wife Charlotte and son, Garth.

The seventh consecutive Marvel NOW! “Next Big Thing” conference call is all about the December-debuting new volume of Thunderbolts, with series writer Daniel Way and editor Jordan D. White on the line. This page will be continually updated, so keep hitting refresh. New art from the series is here.

“These are the characters who absolutely do not mind getting their hands dirty,” Daniel Way states, comparing the book to Uncanny X-Force for the rest of the Marvel Universe.

Way says that the cast, as a unit, is more dynamic that he expected. “You definitely catch a glimpse of it in the first issue,” Way continues, saying that every character’s moral compass is different, and leads them on a unique path — sometimes a collision course with another character.

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Age of Ultron has been teased at Marvel Comics in one form or another for more than two years — including the timeline in Avengers #5, Avengers #12.1 (re-released this past Free Comic Book Day), 2011′s Marvel Point One one-shot and just this past Friday with a binary code that translates to “Age Of Ultron.”

It looks like full details of the project — which we know involves writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Bryan Hitch — will be revealed today around 3 p.m., during Marvel’s latest “Next Big Thing” conference call with the comic book press. We’ll be on the line covering the conference live as it happens, and this page will be continually updates with the latest — so keep hitting refresh. For new art from the project, head over here.

On the line: Writer Brian Michael Bendis and executive editor Tom Brevoort. Age of Ultron is a 10-issue limited series, shipping between March and June. Bryan Hitch will be drawing the first five issues, and the second five will be drawn by Brandon Peterson and Carlos Pacheco. “There will be a very cool reason for the artistic shift,” Marvel marketing’s Arune Singh says.

“Age of Ultron is about Ultron finally fulfilling his destiny, accelerating his intelligence and taking the Earth,” Bendis says. “The Marvel Universe has been taken by Ultron. There has been a shocking amount of devastation and casualty.”

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When you’ve got a co-star of the third highest-grossing film of all time hosting your show, you might as well take advantage of it. Thus, the Jeremy Renner-hosted Saturday Night Live last night unsurprisingly featured an Avengers sketch, complete with Jason Sudeikis as a quip-tastic Iron Man, Taran Killam as Captain America, Bill Hader as Thor, Bobby Moynihan as the Hulk, Kate McKinnon as Black Widow, Jay Pharoah as Nick Fury, Vanessa Bayer as Maria Hill, and, yup, Renner reprising, sort of, his role as Hawkeye, justifying his place on the team. Perhaps the most superhero-heavy SNL skit since Superman’s funeral back in 1992 (“Hulk not good with words”).

So, yes, Maria Hill was depicted on Saturday Night live. Not quite “bus stop ads prominently featuring Tomar Re” surreal, but still kinda crazy. Here’s the clip:

Marvel’s final “Next Big Thing” press conference of the week focuses on the January-debuting Morbius, The Living Vampire, with series writer Joe Keatinge and more on the line. We’re covering the call line and this post will be continually updated, so keep refreshing the page. For new art from the series, head over here.

Keatinge starts off the call by reminding the participants that the story actually starts in December’s Amazing Spider-Man #699.1, also written by him, which acts as a prelude to the ongoing series. As far as the series itself, which sees Morbius on the run after escaping from The Raft, Keatinge states that it’ll be something different for Marvel — and examine what kind of horrors exist in the Marvel Universe other than classic monsters.

“He’s not a villain, and he’s not a hero, and he’s continually trying to do right, but it always goes wrong,” Keatinge says, because of the character’s bloodlust. “Things quickly get derailed.”

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Trip City — the Brooklyn-based online “literary arts salon” started by Billy Dogma creator/Emmy-winner Dean Haspiel, Leaping Tall Buildings photographer Seth Kushner, writer/actor Chris Miskiewicz and Americans UK multihyphenate (and my good buddy) Jeffrey Burandt — turned one-year-old as of this week, and the site is celebrating its newfound maturity with new content.

Among the offerings: Suckers, a new monthly “urban noir” comic, written by Eric Skillman and illustrated by Jorge Coelho, about the son of a con man. Plus, Burandt, along with artist ZEES, debuted a new chapter of their superhero-gentrification saga Just Super, “Bibbin’s Bodega;” and Kushner, joined by artist George Schall, faces an ex in the latest installment of his auto-bio comic, Schmuck.

Trip City is regularly updated, and the crew has presented a considerable amount of content over the past year — comics, podcasts (with folks like Bryan Lee O’Malley and Chuck Klosterman), “photocomix,” videos and the singular work that is “Time Fucker” — and it’s free, thus rather low-risk to check out. If you enjoy the experience, but then think — “Hey, what if this was printed on paper?” — your very specific musing comes kind of true in December with Image’s Creator Owned Heroes #7, featuring contributions from all four founding Trip Citizens, including Burandt and Haspiel’s “Blood + Brains.”

It’s just about time for the fourth Marvel NOW! “Next Big Thing” press conference of the week, this one focusing on Cable and X-Force, with series writer Dennis Hopeless and editor Nick Lowe on the line. We’re covering the call live and continuously updating this story, so keep hitting refresh for the latest.

For new interior art from the first two Cable and X-Force issues, click over here.

Marvel’s James Viscardi starts the call by asking what readers can expect when they open up the first issue. “They get dropped in, smack-dab, in the middle of a pretty horrible situation,” Lowe says, with the cast standing around a bunch of dead bodies, in a factory (though Lowe doesn’t want to say what kind of factory). That leads to a confrontation with the Uncanny Avengers.

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The third “Marvel NOW! Next Big Thing” press conference of the week is all about Uncanny Avengers, with writer Rick Remender talking about what’s next for the book, and the new additions coming in issue #5. Things should be getting started very soon, and we’ll be covering it live — this page will be continuously updated, so keep hitting refresh.

While we’re waiting, of note: According to Diamond, Uncanny Avengers #3 has moved released dates from Dec. 19 to Jan. 16, and #4 has moved from Jan. 30 to Feb. 20.

Right off the bat, Marvel’s James Viscardi asks Remender about the new members of the team: As pictured, Wonder Man, Wasp and Sunfire, bringing the total to nine. “Obviously, I’m not going to have all nine in every issue,” Remender says.

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Avengers Arena is already one of the most discussed and controversial Marvel NOW! launch titles, with the hook — Arcade forcing Marvel teen heroes to fight to the death — attracting a wide variety of debate and responses.

It’s also the subject of the latest “Next Big Thing” conference call with the comic book press, set to start at around 3 p.m. eastern, with series writer Dennis Hopeless and more on the line. We’re covering it live, and this page will be continuously updated — so keep hitting refresh. For new art and covers from the series, click here.

“Fifteen of your favorite Marvel teen heroes, and Darkhawk, who has been made very clear to me is not a teenager, wake up on an island, and are told, ‘Only one of you will come out of this alive,’” Hopeless says, detailing the series premise.

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Marvel is set for another week of “Next Big Thing” conference calls with the comic book press, discussing upcoming releases from their Marvel NOW! slate.

First up: Iron Man. Issue #1 just went on sale last week, but, based on the cover to #6 released to the press by Marvel, it looks like details on the second arc will be revealed, Things will get started right around 3 p.m. — we’ll keep you continually updated, so keep refreshing this page.

On the line: Marvel’s James Viscardi and series writer Kieron Gillen, plus a bunch of reporters.

Gillen’s second Iron Man arc starts in February, “Godkiller.” It’s set in space, and is essentially what happens “in between” Gillen’s first story on the book, and Tony Stark joining the Guardians of the Galaxy.

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The first two installments of Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome — the non-Caprica Battlestar prequel — are now online. The series focuses on a young William Adama (the character played by Edward James Olmos in the 2003-2009 series, natch) and will debut as a 10-part online series at Machinima, before airing in 2013 as a TV movie on SyFy.

Here’s episode one:

And hey, here’s episode two:

Happen to be in or around Southern California? The fourth annual Long Beach Comic & Horror Con is happening this weekend, Nov. 3-4, at the Long Beach Convention Center. Those who will be in attendance include Joshua Hale Fialkov, Jim McCann, Sam Humphries, Mike McKone, Brian Buccellatto, Scott Lobdell, Barbara Kesel, Howard Chaykin, Neal Adams, Marv Wolfman and more.

Programming includes an “intensive” three-hour writing workshop from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday hosted by Fialkov, joined by McCann, Buccellatto, Humphries and Rob Levin. It’s limited to 30 people, with a separate $100 entrance fee.

And hey! This year’s con will also feature a generous Newsarama presence, with Albert Ching (er, me), moderating the “Graphic Horror” panel at 11 a.m Saturday with Jesse Blaze Snider, Steve Niles and Bernie Wrightson; and Newsarama contributor Rick Marshall hosting live talk show “The Marshall Report” throughout the show.

The first bit of the animated Axe Cop — scheduled as part of Fox’s upcoming “ADHD” block — has arrived, with Nick Offerman (yes, Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation) voicing the title character, and a distinctly seasonally appropriate theme. The description of the video calls it a “test,” meaning that the show may very well look and sound different by the time it premieres on Fox Saturday nights “next year,” but it’s pretty accurate at this point to Malachai and Ethan Nicolle’s web (and sometimes print) comic.

Hey, here’s the clip:

Eager to know more about [SPOILER]‘s nefarious plans involving [SPOILER]‘s [SPOILER] from the last page of Uncanny Avengers #1? Well, you’ll have to wait a fortnight longer. According to Diamond’s latest shipping update, the Marvel NOW! book, by Rick Remender and John Cassaday, has moved release dates from Nov. 14 to Nov. 28.

Also on the move: Red She-Hulk #59, also an early part of Marvel NOW!, shifts from Nov. 7 to Nov. 14; as do Powers Bureau #1, Brilliant #5 and Scarlet #6 (so it’ll be a big day for Brian Michael Bendis-written Icon books). Full update here.