Bryan Hitch has been counting down to something on his Twitter account, and though that particular revelation is still five days away, he did disclose a couple of intriguing nuggets of information on Thursday.

First, he stated that “In two days time, an amazing decade at Marvel closes for me.” Now, that’s just chronologically accurate — Ultimates #1 shipped in early 2002 — but coupled with heartfelt thanks to the folks he’s worked with at the publisher and the statement “naturally new horizons beckon” just a few tweets later, it’s easy to conclude, as CBR has, that all means that Hitch — who’s worked on two volumes of Ultimates, Fantastic Four and scads of covers in the past 10 years — is leaving Marvel.

So the natural question becomes — what about “Age of Ultron”/”Ultron War,” the long-brewing Avengers storyline he’s been working on with Brian Michael Bendis, that was previewed in both Avengers #12.1 (which is being reprinted as this year’s Free Comic Book Day offering from Marvel) and November’s Point One one-shot, and is one of Newsarama’s 10 series to watch in 2012? Luckily, Hitch answered that on Twitter as well, saying “my end is done!” when asked by a reader.

Over on his message board, Bendis added some insight and confirmed that Hitch is leaving Marvel: “i have known about bryan’s plans for months and tom and i were prepared. bryan has done AMAZING work on ultron war and is leaving marvel on a very high note. he leaves the book with his part of the story completely complete.”

So, to recap: Soon, we’ll know what Hitch’s announcement is. It probably doesn’t involve Marvel. But Ultron War is still happening, and it looks like it’ll possibly involve at least one other artist. We’ll know more in five days, it looks like.

I have to admit, I’m more than a little surprised at the sudden outpouring of outrage online about Marvel Entertainment’s inclusion in the list of companies and corporations supporting the Stop Online Piracy Act, not least of all because the list has been available for more than a week now (I’m guessing that today’s Bleeding Cool post has something to do with it). But, as I’ve said already on Twitter today, why is this surprising? As the list of companies shows, Marvel is far from the only publisher supporting the bill – Hachette, Harper Collins and Random House are all listed – and, more importantly, Marvel is far from the only Disney subsidiary on the list. In fact, with ABC, ESPN, Disney Publishing and Hyperion all on the list in addition to Marvel, it’s actually more surprising that Pixar, say, isn’t there than the fact that Marvel is.

Compare this to Time Warner’s approach, which is to support SOPA as a mass corporate entity instead of individual subsidiaries; that’s potentially smarter from a PR viewpoint, because it allows for the reading that certain parts of TW – DC Comics, say – does not specifically support the Act, but let’s be honest: It’s much more likely that it actually means that all of TW is toeing the line, as opposed to Disney, which isn’t acting as some massive corporate monolith.

That said, does Marvel’s support of SOPA mean that the company is for the more draconian parts of the bill, cracking down on free expression online? Probably not; as much as it’s easy to complain about Marvel preferring to quash expression when it relates to its own IP (Such as helping close down the Scans Daily community on LiveJournal), Marvel has shown itself to be somewhat forward thinking in terms of embracing the potential of the internet, and it’s a company filled with creative people. I suspect that Marvel’s interest in SOPA is purely related to the protection of its own intellectual property, with little thought given to the (many) downsides of the bill.

It’s funny, thinking about the idea of a petition to stop DC publishing Watchmen 2; I’d much rather see people try and convince Marvel to reverse their stance on this subject, and more openly stand in favor of free speech and a less restrictive internet – but Watchmen 2 may, ultimately, be an easier battle to win.

Tom Brevoort has started a Tumblr filled with all sorts of ephemera and artwork from early Marvel Comics, including these amazing pencils from John Buscema for an Avengers pin-up spread. For those who’ve wanted to see original art, the hidden Spider-Man logo or just lots and lots of great stuff, it’s a must-read and something akin to a public service. Now, who can we get to do a similar one for DC…?

As recent years have proven, there are many different ways to break into Marvel. You can get discovered doing creator-owned comics, you can write for a TV show, and, if you can swing it, it doesn’t hurt to be the WWE Champion.

CM Punk, the current WWE champ and a proud comic book fan — here he is being interviewed by Marvel.com and comparing himself to Dr. Doom — was pulled into a conversation on Twitter Wednesday that started when Scott Ziloko (whose comics you can check out here) and John M. Coker (art director for Grayhaven Comics, whom we wrote about here) asked noted pro wrestling enthusiast/acclaimed illustrator Jill Thompson (who designed current WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan’s ring gear) if she’d be up for collaborating on a story written by Punk. Thompson was indeed up for it, as was Punk, leading Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso to tweet the (possibly) magical words, “let’s make it happen.”

Of course, a few tweets, as positive as they seem, are still a long way from a comic book being in readers’ hands, but a Punk/Thompson/WWE collaboration looks to be definitely possible at this point. Talk gravitated to the story focusing on The Thing, due to Punk exclaiming Ben Grimm’s catchphrase “It’s clobberin’ time” as a constant part of his ring entrance ritual:

As pointed out by Robot 6, Punk wouldn’t be the first pro wrestler involved in comic books — former ECW champ Raven c0-wrote (with Thompson’s husband Brian Azzarello) an issue of Marvel’s Spider-Man anthology Tangled Web in 2002, and Newsarama talked with hardcore legend/Tori Amos fan Mick Foley about his 12 Gauge series, R.P.M., last September. Of course, there have also been multiple comic books about pro wrestling, including Titan’s truly bizarre recent WWE Heroes series, which involved terrorism, reincarnation and the Mayans; y’know, typical pro wrestling stuff.

Peter David considers the subtext of the Fantastic Four:

The leader of the Fantastic Four is “Mr. Fantastic.” Why, we wonder, does he hang this fairly immodest name upon himself? Well, when one says that a man is “fantastic,” the nature of what we are referring to is fairly obvious. It’s sexual performance. And just how fantastic is Mr. Fantastic? Again, it’s fairly obvious. He can stretch at will, enlarge bodily portions however he wishes. Truly his is a case where size doesn’t matter, because his size can accommodate whatever lustful tastes women might have.

And who is his best friend?

“The Thing.”

The Thing, as in, “Baby, gimme that thing. Baby, you got the thing I want. Lemme have some of that love thing. What is that thing? You call that a thing? I got your thing right here.” And other lustful, smutty phrases that one would hear coming from the lips of today’s hideous youth.

Yes, it should be no surprise that Mr. Fantastic’s best friend is a big hard Thing. Isn’t that always the case with any man who fancies himself a “Mr. Fantastic.

No, he’s not serious. But now I can’t help but think about this accidental subtext when it comes to these characters (David goes on to point out that, of course, Sue Storm is invisible in this team, and in the comments following the post, someone points out that Johnny Storm’s “flame on” clearly refers to his closeted homosexual side). Oh, Stan and Jack, did you know what you were creating…?!?

News that breaks on a Saturday morning already has a tendency to slip through the cracks, but when that Saturday happens to be Christmas Eve, that’s a near-guarantee that a story will be under-reported.

Which is why you may have not heard yet the news that Deadline broke three days ago: Alan Taylor, a veteran of acclaimed TV shows including Mad Men, The Sopranos and Game of Thrones, is now on board to direct 2013′s Thor 2. Taylor is replacing Monster director Patty Jenkins, who left the project earlier this month amid reported “creative differences.” Jenkins herself was to replace Kenneth Branagh, director of the original Thor.

Taylor has prior feature directing experience — 1995′s Palookaville, which had a very limited release but appearances from Frances McDormand, Vincent Gallo and Boardwalk Empire’s William Forsythe. Thor 2, from Marvel Studios and once again starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman and Tom Hiddleston, is scheduled for Nov. 15, 2013.

At the end of his most recent Q&A at CBR, Marvel’s Axel Alonso responded to a question about future projects with Warren Ellis thusly:

Warren is taking a bit of a breather in 2012, but he assures me he intends to write more for us once his schedule frees up. Thus far, he has politely declined my offer to redefine the science of the Marvel Universe in the pages of an all-new “Ant-Man” ongoing series — “Ant-Man is bull$#$,” I think he said — but I haven’t given up hope. Any love for Ant-Man out there?

That’s followed by two apparently all-new Ant-Man images from some unknown source. So is this some kind of holiday joke, or is Ant-Man getting prepared for a new series at some point in 2012? We know that he’s getting a Season One hardcover next summer, and there is that long-awaited movie that’s being written by Edgar Wright and Adam Cornish that may, one day, actually happen, plus appearances in both Avengers Academy and soon, if rumors are true, Defenders, but still: A new Ant-Man series? Who saw that one coming?

Everyone who was looking forward to Marvel’s Spider-Man: The PSAs collection, here’s some bad news – It’s not going to be happening. In what’s a somewhat surprising product update, Marvel has released the following information to retailers:

SPIDER-MAN PSAS TP will now be titled SPIDER-MAN FIGHTS SUBSTANCE ABUSE TP and will be 200 pages, not the solicited 456 pages. The updated contents are Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #96-#98; Spider-Man, Storm and Power Man; Amazing Spider-Man: Skating on Thin Ice!; Amazing Spider-Man: Double Trouble!; Fast Lane #1-#4; Spectacular Spider-Man #1000. The price will be $24.99, not the solicited $34.99.

Quite why such a massive change remains a mystery, but let’s be honest: The original PSAs collection seemed a bit of a mystery as well, didn’t it? That new title is great, though.

There’s something really odd going on in the Marvel Collections catalog from Hachette that Bleeding Cool has snuck online. I’m not talking about the fact that it lists Marvel collections from May through August of next year, giving you a sneak of what to expect in the next few months of solicits or anything (Although, yes, that), but there’s something strange specifically in the listings for the Season One books.

Announced as original graphic novels – despite Marvel’s continued insistence that the OGN format doesn’t work financially for them – and apparently having some additional revenue source that no-one wants to talk about despite mentioning it in public repeatedly, the Season One books have been subject to all manner of speculation since their announcement… and this Hachette catalog is only going to add to that. According to the catalog, Spider-Man: Season One “collects Spider-Man: Season One 1-5, Avenging Spider-Man 1″. Same with Ant-Man: Season One, which apparently collects Ant-Man: Season One #1-5 (as well as Avengers Academy #1), and Hulk: Season One, which has Hulk: Season One #1-5 along with the most recent Incredible Hulk #1.

So is this a mistake, or are these books going to be serialized before being released? And if so, where? We’ve already seen Daredevil: Season One, Fantastic Four: Season One, Spider-Man: Season One and X-Men: Season One show up in the regular Marvel solicits with no mention of any minis… Should we be waiting for the announcement of the minis as digital first releases any time now, perhaps?

(Also strange: The new Marvel superhero kids-line mentioned yesterday is in this catalog, with the preview art shown for the Avengers title being material that has already seen print in the Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes mini earlier this year. Is it a reformatted reprint?)

For those particularly concerned about what the Sinister Six got up to in this week’s Amazing Spider-Man, writer Dan Slott has some calming words for you. (Spoilers for those clicking through). (more…)

Earlier this week, I noted the cancellation of Spider-Man and Super-Heroes, wondering out loud if that meant the death for Marvel’s all-ages superhero books. Editor Steve Wacker said no, and now Bleeding Cool apparently has the details of the books that will replace those two titles: Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and Ultimate Spider-Man, both spinning out of the animated series of the same names.

Both books are said to debut a new format, “comic reader,” that will be a different size from regular comic books, with Avengers launching in April and the new USM launching in July. If true – and the BC report is so detailed, with images and quotes that I doubt that it isn’t – then this is a smart move by Marvel, giving non-comic readers a hook to pick up the books, especially given the success of the Avengers cartoon (and tie-in comics) already. It’ll be fun to see these books when they debut.

Good news for those (like me) fearful about yesterday’s quiet cancellation of both Spider-Man and Super-Heroes from Stephen Wacker on Twitter:

One of those times where I’m very happy to be proved overly pessimistic. Looking forward to whatever the announcement turns out to be.

There’s something about this question and answer from Tom Brevoort’s Formspring that made me stop short:

Exactly how much interacting do people have with aliens on earth in marvel U and can we as humans use alien tech? X-men use it all the time, yet Iron Man is told he is not allowed to use it. can people set up contact with aliens if they want?
Most folks within the Marvel Universe tend to think of any of the alien stuff that’s gone on as a hoax, or as just superhumans gone wild. There isn’t a widespread belief in the existence of aliens, no more so than in our world.

Now, I’ll admit that I’m not completely obsessively immersed in Marvel continuity, but… How can regular people in the Marvel Universe not believe in the existence of aliens after something like Secret Invasion, or any of the time Galactus has come to Earth, or even having the Asgardians live on Oklahoma (The Asgardians have been firmly retconned by aliens by now, right?)?

This is one of those threads in longform fiction like superhero comics that you just can’t pull on for fear of unraveling the whole thing, I know; for the general populace of the Marvel Universe to believe in aliens would remove them far too much from the “world outside your window” theory that’s central to the MU even today. But at the same time, for them not to believe in the existence of aliens after all this time, with all of the evidence that has appeared in front of their very eyes across many years, means that regular folk in the Marvel Universe are either very, very cynical or very, very stupid. I guess which one of those you choose to go for depends on how you’re feeling that day, but it makes me wonder: Short of retconning things away or creating some kind of magical amnesia plot device, is there a way to keep the “Once you know aliens are real, culture would change in ways you can’t even imagine” genie in its bottle short of ignoring the whole thing?

Update: When reached for comment by Newsarama on the apparent end of the Marvel Adventures line, a representative said, “We remain committed to our all ages books and have some exciting plans you’ll be hearing more about shortly.” — Albert Ching

Original story: It just might be the end of an era: As the new Marvel solicits show, the cost-cutting measures at the House of Ideas that have so far claimed such series as Daken: Dark Wolverine, X-23, Ghost Rider, Herc and Alpha Flight have seemingly claimed another victim: the all-ages line. Solicitations for both Spider-Man and Super-Heroes come with the dreaded “Final Issue!” tag, ending both books’ two-year run.

While it’s possible that the books will get relaunched with next month’s solicits – What has been known at various times as the all-ages, Marvel Age or Marvel Adventures line has gone through multiple relaunches since it launched in 2003, after all – considering not only Marvel’s current attitude towards low-selling titles but also the fact that the launch of a new Toy Story title in March (following all the recent Disney/Pixar reprint books) might be pointing towards a shift in attitude regarding how to lure younger readers, that does seem a little unlikely. Despite the low direct market sales for the line, this cancellation still comes as a surprise, as the all-ages books had previously been considered to be facing a different financial metric than the Marvel Universe books, with more sales in digest form outside of the Direct Market.

It’s a sad end for a line that has continually offered a lot of great stories, as well as been home to a number of wonderful creators throughout its eight-year run; both Jeff Parker and Fred Van Lente had lengthy runs on books in the line, and Paul Tobin has been coming up with some really great Spider-Man stories for a number of years now. Maybe it won’t be missed by as many people as, say, Bendis’ Avengers will be, but it will be missed.

Well, this is certainly disturbing: How one line in a recap text page can retroactively turn Wolverine into a potential statutory rapist:

The description of Squirrel Girl as a teenage heroine is a new one, as far as I can determine. In a previous issue’s synopsis, Squirrel Girl is referred to as an “arboreal hero,” not a teenage hero. Even taking the most liberal definition of “teenager,” that would make Squirrel Girl, in continuity as it stands now, 19 years of age at the most. To be realistic, though, most people wouldn’t refer to a 19-year-old as a teenage girl. So we’re faced with the prospect of Squirrel Girl being in her mid-teens. And judging from the tone of the first scene pictured above, it’s been some time since Squirrel Girl and Wolverine have crossed paths.

Go read the whole thing for the full explanation. To be fair, all of the Wolverine/Squirrel Girl relationship material is implied instead of outright stated – Although it’s hardly subtle – but nonetheless, Don MacPherson is very, very right: Ewww.

Update, 3:15 p.m. eastern: Add another Season One book to the list — Doctor Strange: Season One, by writer Greg Pak and artist Emma Rios, recently of the Spider-Island: Cloak & Dagger miniseries. The graphic novel is scheduled for September, and as pointed out by Graeme below, it’s another instance of an established Marvel writer — Pak’s worked on everything from Incredible Hulk to Alpha Flight to Astonishing X-Men — working on the Season One line. Covers for all three follow after the jump. — Albert Ching

Original story: Looks like Marvel’s happy with the reception the announcement of its first Season One books has gotten, with two new books having been announced for the line today: Hulk: Season One by Fred Van Lente and Tom Fowler and Ant-Man: Season One by Tom DeFalco and Horacio Domingues. Ant-Man is due out in July and Hulk is scheduled for August, and both continue the line’s mission to refresh the origins and early adventures of some of Marvel’s big names (Well, and Ant-Man). VanLente and DeFalco’s selections as writer are something of a surprise considering that earlier books in the line have used more up-and-coming talent instead of creators so firmly established at Marvel, but as long as the stories are good, who cares where they come from…?

(more…)

Though this trailer is only 25 seconds longer than the original Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance trailer, this one counts as the  “Theatrical Trailer” while the other one was just a “Teaser.” And what a tease it was, ending with a shot of Ghost Rider gleefully urinating fire. The tone of this one is far more serious and plot-heavy, with barely a hint of the over-the-top humor seen in the teaser — but what it lacks in that, it makes up in Idris Elba.

Here’s the trailer:

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance — the sequel to 2007′s Ghost Rider and once again starring Nicolas Cage in the title role — is scheduled to debut in theaters on Feb. 17, 2012.

We always undo what we did. It’s what we do. We do it every 20 pages. We do it every 30 days. Everything resets. But the point of the story was rather than “nine months later, Norman Osborn’s back in prison” was to undo it all as part of a complete thought of the story itself. Maybe it worked, maybe it didn’t work, maybe crossovers need to be punches and explosions and the black guy dies and a woman loses her powers and we all persevere into the next bold morning. I don’t know. I think event comics can be more than that formula.

That’s Matt Fraction, talking about the fact that Fear Itself undid itself in three epilogue issues released the month after its completion in an interview with Albert on the front page last week. Later in the same interview, he said “I am sorry, we did not kill a black guy, and a woman didn’t lose her powers. That did not happen. Guilty as charged,” just in case you missed the dismissal of previous crossovers’ long-lasting effects as “killing a black guy and a woman losing her powers” earlier.

This is a page from Avengers: X-Sanction #1, that came out yesterday, with your pre-requisite spoiler warning if you click through: (more…)

Well, now we know the final issue of Daken: Dark Wolverine. Marvel’s website has an early look at the X-books for March, including this solicit:

DAKEN: DARK WOLVERINE #22 & #23
WRITER: Rob Williams
ARTIST: Alessandro Vitti
Covers By Giuseppe Camuncoli
Series Finale!
• Daken’s Terminal Disease Is In Its Final Stages. What Choices Will He Makes When Finally Faced With Death? Will He Die Here And What Will His Final Actions Be?
• The Final Confrontation Between Daken And His Father, Wolverine
32 Pgs. (Each) /Parental Advisory …$2.99 (Each)

The same month also sees the final issue of X-23, #21.

Something that I’m genuinely curious about from the most recent Diamond sales charts: What happened to Fear Itself: The Fearless? As a bi-weekly book, there are two issues in the new chart, but while #2 shows almost no drop-off in orders from the debut (57,794 estimated orders, according to ICv2, against #1′s 59,464 estimate), #3 – solicited at the same time as #2 – was ordered significantly lower (36,044 orders according to ICv2 estimates; that’s just 62% of #2′s orders). Why? Did retailers assume that 38% of the audience was going to jump off the book between #2 and #3 in the same month? Was Fearless #2 either overshipped, a la Point One, or part of some order-matching scheme in order for retailers to earn a variant edition or something similar? It’s such a large drop for seemingly no reason otherwise.

I remember reading someone – Dan Slott, I think, but I could be wrong – advance the theory once that books that ship more than once every month traditionally have heavier orders for the first issue of that month, which might account for some drop off, but 21,000 orders? That seems a bit much of a drop, surely.

Seriously, if retailers out there can help with this, I’d love to know if this is an entirely random steep drop, or if there’s something that helps explain it.