The news that Marjorie Liu and Mike Perkins are taking over Astonishing X-Men with #48 raises the obvious question: What happened to Greg Pak and Mike McKone? The Liu/Perkins run is being described as “open-ended,” so this isn’t some kind of revolving creative team situation. It continues a bad run of luck for Pak fans, what with his Alpha Flight and Herc titles with Fred Van Lente being canceled, and his Incredible Hulk run having just ended.

There are two more Marvel Next Big Thing calls set for tomorrow and Wednesday, so there’s every possibility that we’ll find out what Pak is doing next sooner rather than later, but nonetheless: I thought it was DC who was supposed to be having making all the changes to writers on series with little notice these days?

Over at Comics Alliance, Laura Hudson has a great interview with Axel Alonso and Jeanine Schafer about women in comics. Although Alonso may seem like the marquee name there, being EiC at Marvel, the interview is all about Schafer for me; she comes across really well, and much more willing to see past simplistic idea of how to “fix” the problem, but instead seeing things in a more nuanced way:

In following the discourse about women and minorities in comics, the one thing I see brought up so often is the idea that people don’t see gender. “Oh, I don’t see gender,” they say, “I just want good stories.” There’s an idea that actively looking to hire women is counter-intuitive to good stories; the simplified version of this is “hire good writers, regardless of gender.” Of course, I agree that the people we hire need to be good at this, first and foremost. But what this argument misses, in implying (and sometimes outright stating) that actively hiring people with different life-experiences is somehow creatively bereft, is that having a variety of viewpoints is the best way to not only tell better stories, but to grow your market, so that you can continue to tell those stories.

On a totally practical level, being a woman there are things that I will be more attuned to than one of my male colleagues, and vice versa. So I always feel like I’m learning and growing as an editor and as a story-teller the longer I work here, because it forces me out of my head. A room with a group of people who are all passionate about different things with a shared goal of finding the perfect intersection of those passions is my kind of writers’ room!

Not all women are going to agree on what stories they like. Just like not all men will. Or all minorities. But having different voices gives us a well-rounded group of books that speak to a variety of people; without it, it’s akin to someone talking to himself and in this particular economy, that will spell our doom.

Seriously, go and check out the interview. Really worth reading.

How many event comics can you get out of one storyline? I ask because, with yesterday’s announcement of Avengers Vs. X-Men, I found myself wondering one simple thing: What happens after this series?

I ask because, judging from the USA Today and Marvel.com pieces that broke the news, it sounds as if Avengers Vs. X-Men – itself a follow-on from Avengers: X-Sanction, which could now be considered Avengers Vs. An X-Man, I guess – is more about what happens before the Phoenix Force arrives, and who could be the host for the Force this time around (My not entirely serious suggestion? Army Ranger Marcus Jones. Didn’t all the hype from Battle Scars say that he was going to be a major new player in the Marvel Universe?) – which means that we’ll be due for another event book to explain what happens when the Phoenix Force hits Earth, surely.

Avengers Vs. X-Men may be described as “the biggest comic book event in history,” but just how possible is it that we should be expecting an even-bigger comic book event immediately on its heels?

Whoa.

Tucked at the end of an interview on CBR with Brian Michael Bendis about the near future of the Avengers titles is the relatively stunning revelation that he’s leaving the franchise at some point in 2012. The news comes the same day as the announcement of Avengers vs. X-Men, a 12-part 2012 Marvel event co-written by Bendis. Here are words from the man himself:

“I’m going to wrap up ‘Avengers’ and ‘New Avengers.’ At the same time the first storyline of ‘Avengers Assemble’ will be done. It’s a good time to move on to other things. Before I go, though, I’m ending things big. I’m in countdown mode. You know when you’re watching a show like ‘Breaking Bad,’ and every episode feels like the second to last episode? That’s where I’m at. I’ve been on the Avengers longer than anybody in the history of the book. When you take everything into account, I’ve written over 200 issues. I’m very, very proud of that, and what we have coming up this summer gives me the opportunity to go out on a high note. I know enough about showbiz to know that’s a great time to go.”

Bendis first took over the book in 2004 with Avengers #500, the first part of “Avengers: Disassembled,” a status quo-shaking storyline that led to the demise of the original Avengers volume and the beginning of the New Avengers era. Since then, Bendis has also written Mighty Avengers, the 2010 relaunch of Avengers, plus the new title Avengers Assemble, set to launch in spring 2012 to coincide with the release of the Joss Whedon-directed film.

Of course, this brings up a ton of questions, none of which have readily available answers at this point — who’s taking over Avengers? What becomes of Avengers Assemble? Will New Avengers, clearly a book defined up to this point by Bendis’ signature writing style, continue? And does this mean Bendis will be taking on something new in the Marvel Universe (not that he doesn’t still have a ton of projects in a variety of media that he’s working on)?

Either way, there’s no doubt the impact that Bendis’ historic run on Avengers has had. Polarizing at times, he’s taken book to new heights and helped make it into one of Marvel’s most bustling franchises, one that’s depicted in a hit Disney XD cartoon and the focus of a hugely anticipated live-action feature film this coming May.

The full interview, in which Bendis also discusses matters including Norman Osborn “wielding a power that you’ve never seen him wield before,” is here.

Well, now we apparently know what’s coming. Marvel.com has just revealed details of the 12-issue Avengers Vs. X-Men series, written by Brian Michael Bendis, Jason Aaron, Jonathan Hickman, Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction with art by John Romita Jr., Olivier Coipel and Adam Kubert:

The Avengers and X-Men have learned that the all-powerful embodiment of both death and rebirth known as the Phoenix Force is on a crash course for Earth…and it needs a new host to unleash its immeasurable power. But what is the shocking decision tied to the Phoenix’s return that will pit the Avengers against the X-Men? And when good friends become bitter enemies, what does this mean for the future of the Marvel Universe?

The book will ship twice monthly for its six month run, and according to Editor in Chief Axel Alonso, it’s “the biggest story we’ve ever told,” as well as one that will have a “a profound effect on every character involved—and [reshape] the Marvel Universe in its wake.”

Expect more details during tomorrow’s live event.

The news that Marvel’s It’s Coming teases will finally lead to some kind of revelation with tomorrow’s “Live Event” means that we’ll finally stand a good chance of finding out what is coming, why it takes five writers to act as midwife to its arrival, and most importantly of all, what is so important about Marvel in 1976. What’s that, you say? Why should we care about Marvel in 1976? Because of this teaser for the Point One oneshot: (more…)

This is an absolutely fascinating – and, seemingly, financially insane – idea on how to drive the “new” digital comics audience into direct market comic stores:

Marvel Comics is launching a Digital Coupon scheme with their digital comics, redeemable for Marvel print comics. Buy a comic through the Marvel App and you will be emailed a link to download a $5 coupon with a link to their nearest comic shop. One per customer.

Retailers can then redeem the coupon code on the phone, and will receive a $5 credit from Marvel.

Yes, that’s right; $5 in print store credit – presumably only for use on Marvel products – in exchange for buying one digital comic, which could cost as little as 99 cents. I’m sure that there are all manner of catches that have yet to be revealed (If nothing else, $5 in credit for 99 cents spent doesn’t feel like it’s a metric that’s really going to stick around for that long before the cost-conscious Marvel decides to change it), but in theory, file it under “It’s just so crazy, it could work.” I really, really would like to see this being put into effect, even for a short trial period, just to see if it bumps up print sales – and then, if it does, watch to see what other publishers follow suit.

Marvel has been teasing “It’s Coming” since Oct. 5, and after revealing the scantiest of details at New York Comic Con — namely, that Jason Aaron, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Olivier Copiel, Matt Fraction, Jonathan Hickman, Adam Kubert and John Romita Jr. are all involved — appear to be ready to spill at least some of the beans this coming Wednesday, Dec. 7.

The publisher has scheduled an event on Livestream for 3 p.m. eastern on Wednesday, with no further information readily available at this time. Keep in mind, though, that it was just about this time a year ago that Marvel announced Fear Itself (following a similar round of teasers) — both the concept and the creative team — so it seems like a sound bet that we’ll have a much clearer picture of this Phoenix-related event after Wednesday.

Of course, Newsarama will have every detail for you as things develop, so keep it here at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

So, courtesy of Tom Brevoort’s Formspring, here’s a little more detail about that Fantastic Four self-cover format:

We’re [going to be "cheapening" the cover stock but] also going to be bettering the paper stock on the interior, so it’s kind of a zero sum game. This is the same format that most Image titles use, and nobody has complained or even noticed.

Still no hint at whether this is a trial for a future format change across the entire line or a one-off experiment for design reasons, mind you, but I can’t say that I’ve picked up an Image comic and thought “Wow, this paper stock is terrible,” so perhaps worst case scenarios can take a break for awhile.

(I admit, I have fond memories of the all-newsprint-including-the-cover issues of 2000AD when I was a kid, so this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing to me from the get-go.)

Seeing this tweet from Brian Michael Bendis yesterday -

- made me think about how the landscape of comics has really changed over the last few years. Timeliness of books, with the one-two punch of digital release dates and greater competition for marketshare, has become far much more important than it used to be, to the point where high-profile launches like Uncanny X-Men, Incredible Hulk and Action Comics have multiple artists working on the book as early as the second issue to ensure ship dates, and the idea of a “regular” artist who draws every page of every issue in a series (Hell, in a particular story-arc) seems to be becoming more and more of a thing of the past; look at the artistic musical chairs going on in the New 52 books from DC, for example. (more…)

After seeing that more than 5,000 people voted in a poll about whether or not Spider-Man should have stayed married – a retcon that happened four years ago now – I started wondering: Why don’t people care about Superman’s marriage?

I mean, Superman got forcibly divorced from Lois just a few months ago with nary a peep, or not the kind of reaction that would have 5,000 people voicing their opinions four years later, at least. Is it that no-one cares about Superman, period? Not that many people liked his marriage to Lois in the first place? Or is there something particularly objectionable about the way that the Spider-Man marriage was undone that keeps the fires burning for that particular subject?

(For my part, while I think that the idea that Peter Parker being married limits interest or potential in the character is ridiculous, I also think that Amazing Spider-Man has been so much more enjoyable since Brand New Day, with the book’s renewed focus on its supporting cast and a tone more similar to “classic” Spidey stories than what the book had featured for almost a decade up to that point, that I find myself not that bothered by the undoing of the marriage; the book’s better – to me – as a result of all of the changes that happened at that time, so I’m happy.)

Clearly, John Byrne is thinking about the original X-Men uniforms if these two recent sketches are anything to go by:

(Sketches from here and here; click each image for a full-sized version.)

I really miss the original X-Men uniforms; they’re right up there with Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern costume (the revised Gil Kane version from #35 onwards, thank you very much, and yes, I know how bad that makes me sound) for me as the most wonderfully simple and elegant designs for superheroes. Yes, the Fantastic Four’s costumes have generally been simpler, but more dull, as well; the X-Men and GL costumes have a great visual balance between light and dark that works really well on even in uncolored linework, something that’s relatively rare in superhero costumes. I know that the X-Men as a concept have moved past this kind of uniform look – although the New Mutants have pretty much resurrected it – but… I wish we could see a return to it for awhile, hoods and all.

We’ve learned by now that news often comes from the strangest of sources, and in the tradition of the full “New 52″ Justice League lineup — which still hasn’t been seen in actual comic books — being revealed via a drinking glass company, today we have our first look at The Amazing Spider-Man‘s Lizard, courtesy of a PEZ dispenser:

Of course, there’s some inevitable degree of translation between plastic PEZ dispenser and CGi creature in a big-budget live-action film, but that should at least give us an idea of the overall Lizard visual; the parts that don’t involve arms, legs and a lower torso, of course. Kudos to ComicBookMovie for sniffing this one out.

The Amazing Spider-Man, starring Rhys Ifans as the Lizard and Andrew Garfield in the title role, is scheduled for release (in 3D, natch) on July 3, 2012.

Something that’s jumped out at me from recent product updates is this line from Marvel:

FANTASTIC FOUR #601 will be printed in a self-cover format, where the paper stock on the cover and the interior are similar.

It’s appeared in the last couple of shipping updates from the House of Ideas, unusually (Normally, such updates appear once, especially for something as minor as paper stock changes), but that’s not what’s interesting me; no, I’m more curious about why the book is being printed in “self-cover format.”

The cynical answer is probably something along the lines of “They’re changing the cover stock to something cheaper in an attempt to save money,” and that might be true, but the announcement doesn’t necessarily say that it’s the cover stock that’s changing; what if the stock for the interiors is being upgraded (or, more likely, both stocks are being bumped simultaneously)? And more importantly, why?

There’s something about this that reminds me of the fifth issue of Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles, way back when; that issue was released with four “de-enhanced” variant covers, each offering abstract images printed in red and black ink on brown cardstock as part-design statement, part-flipping the bird at the variant craze that was engulfing comics at the time (This was back in 1995). F4 writer Jonathan Hickman is known for his design sense, so what’re the possibilities that “self-cover format” relates to some design decision (I would love it if it were an issue made up entirely of covers that tell a story, but I doubt that’s the case, somehow)?

(Admittedly, the book having three variant covers might put an end to this kind of speculation. Guess we’ll see on December 21st…)

For those of us who’ve been interested in the strangely-dwindling fortunes of Marvel’s diversity when it comes to solo titles, editor-in-chief Axel Alonso kind of addresses that over at CBR:

I think you’ll see our commitment to diversity is apparent across the line, and has been for some time. Black Panther has anchored a monthly title on and off for the past 8 years, and is certain to be back in the mix in 2012, Luke Cage has been a central character in [Brian] Bendis’ Avengers, and Shang Chi’s role in “Spider-Island” is a taste of things to come — and those are just three characters off the top of my head… It’s not like we’ve stopped trying, either. Besides Miles Morales in the Ultimate Universe, we’ve introduced a wide variety of multicultural characters in the Marvel Universe: the super-powered bounty hunter team, the Zapata Brothers, from “Moon Knight” and “Deadpool Team-Up”; Reptil from “Avengers Academy”; Coldmoon and Dragonfire from “Point One”; Raizo Todo from “Fear Itself: Hulk”; and “Battle Scars” Sergeant Marcus Johnson, who is a character you’ll definitely want to keep your eye on — I mean, eyes. Also, Striker just came out of the closet in “Avengers Academy,” and Wiccan and Hulkling continue to play a huge role in “Young Avengers/Avengers: Children’s Crusade.” I feel like I’m just getting started.

He later goes on to say something unexpected: “Creating any character with the intention of having them anchor an ongoing title is probably the fastest way for them not to catch on.” While that’s probably just good business sense in today’s market, especially for Marvel, there’s something very… I don’t know, pessimistic about both creators’ ability to come up with compelling new characters and readers’ willingness to stick with books featuring new ideas in that point of view; it feels as if it dooms Marvel’s ongoing series output to spin-offs and revamps for the foreseeable future for some reason, although I can’t believe that was his intent.

Looking over Marc Olivier Frisch’s comments on the second month sales of DC’s New 52, I noticed that sales increased on Wonder Woman, Batwoman, Catwoman and Supergirl, all of which are in the top 40 (Wonder Woman and Batwoman are both in the top 20, in fact), and it made me think about the fact that Marvel’s only two female-led solo books have just been canceled for low sales. The success of these DC female-led books stands in sharp contrast to the fates of their Marvel equivalent, which made me wonder: Why? (more…)

If you’re concerned about the amount of double-shipping seen in February’s Marvel solicits, there’s an upside – it’s not necessarily going to be a regular thing, but Marvel titles are upping their frequency, according to Tom Brevoort via his Formspring:

In most cases, [2012 ongoing Marvel titles will release] more than 12 issues, though it’ll vary from title to title and creative team to creative team.

I’ve been surprised by the negativity I’ve been seeing online from Marvel fans about the double-ship method, I admit; I honestly would’ve expected a lot more “Twice as many issues of a book I like!” than complaints about cost or concern about the publisher cannibalizing its own audience (There are plenty of people with the former attitude, admittedly; I’m just surprised by the greater volume of the latter within the Marvel fanbase). (more…)

Update, 1:45 p.m. eastern: Brilliant is not just a five-issue miniseries, writer Brian Michael Bendis has said on Twitter.

“BRILLIANT is NOT a 5 issue min. the first story isn’t even a five issue story. not sure why that is there,” Bendis wrote. More on this as it develops. — Albert Ching

Original story: For those wondering how next year’s Avengers Assemble series by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley was going to affect their creator-owned series Brilliant, well, it’s not a typo in the February solicits: Marvel announced late last week that Brilliant was now a 5-issue mini-series.

Brilliant has had a particularly troubled history; announced in March this year as a bi-monthly “maxiseries” (“This is a long miniseries so I guess the technical term is maxiseries. But it’s really something in between,” explained Bendis at the time) to launch in July, the series was bumped to an August launch in the last week of July because of a switch from pencils-only to a traditional pencil-and-ink look. The launch then slipped again to the end of September, with the bi-monthly schedule apparently impacted by Bendis and Bagley’s other commitments, as #2 now isn’t expected until December 21st. #3 and 4 were originally solicited for November and January releases, and the current schedule sees #3 released a week after #2 (December 28th), and then the book getting back on track with #4, apparently headed for a January 11th in-store date. #5 is scheduled to appear a month later, finishing the book’s run.

Avengers Assemble is scheduled for a March 2012 launch.

Never mind images of the Phoenix, hints that something is coming or Point One special issues, Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso has offered probably the most speculation-inducing comment about the House of Ideas’ big 2012 event yet in his latest CBR interview:

[T]he first phase of a publishing plan is determining what your tent-poles will be — what projects will drive people into stores and get people buzzing about the year ahead. A few weeks ago, we released a little teaser that got people buzzing… Very soon, we’re going to reveal all. Three simple words that speak to the hardcore Marvel fan and the guy or gal on the street who’s seen one or two super hero movies.

“Three simple words that speak to the hardcore Marvel fan and the guy or gal on the street who’s seen one or two super-hero movies”? What three words would fit that bill? “The Phoenix Returns,” maybe, if those super-hero movies were the X-Men ones? “The Avengers Die?” Nah, they wouldn’t go that far. But… Well, the Point One teaser story featuring Nova made a point – no pun intended – of showing that the Phoenix Force didn’t only destroy a planet, but created new life. So what if the three words end up being some variation on “Marvel Universe Reborn”?

So, February will see the final issues of  Black Panther, X-23, Ghost Rider and PunisherMAX, following on from the recent cancellations/endings of Alpha Flight, Herc, Iron Man 2.0, All-Winners Squad, Victor Von Doom and never-solicited Destroyers mini. And, considering that the full Marvel solicitations haven’t been released yet, there may be even more books ending that we don’t know about. It really does look like, as iFanboy have decided to call it, a Cancelpocalypse, but here’s my obvious question:

What is going to replace all of these books?

I can’t be the only one who’s thinking that we’re months (at most) away from a swath of all-new monthlies replacing these titles, New 52-style, in an attempt to regain market share and find new homes for the talents behind the disappeared books, right? We already know that Marjorie Liu is working on something for Marvel, and isn’t Ghost Rider‘s Rob Williams a Marvel exclusive? He’ll need a new book; similarly, I can’t believe that Francesco Francavilla isn’t going to show up elsewhere at the House of Ideas sometime soon. Things are looking amazingly grim for Marvel right now, but I can’t help but wonder what’s going to happen next.