As you would expect, there is a lot of news coming out of NYCC today so let’s try to get it all covered, shall we? Thanks to CBR and their coverage of the Amazing X-Men And The Marvel Universe panel because I will mostly be summing the announcements from it. So, without much more waffling, let’s see what 2014 has in store for the X-Books, shall we?
First up, probably the most interesting thing mentioned to me is that two of Bendis’ books will be crossing over. Yes, “All New X-Men” and “Guardians Of The Galaxy” will both be taking part in the ‘Trial Of Jean Grey’ story arc that will be spinning out of ‘Battle Of The Atom’. Which nicely answers the question of whether or not the Original Five X-Men will be sticking around after the event. Written, obviously, by Bendis and illustrated by both Stuart Immonen and Sara Pichelli, the crossover will cover three issues from each series and will deal with the Guardians Of The Galaxy and the All New X-Men having to rescue Jean Grey from space. Nick Lowe also said that threads from as far back as “Avengers Vs. X-Men” will addressed. The All New X-Men also seem to sporting snazzy new uniforms designed by Stuart Immonen.
Speaking of ‘Battle Of The Atom’, the futures of the rest of the titles involved was addressed. It was revealed that Brian Wood and Terry and Rachel Dodson will be taking the “X-Men” into a fight with an all new Lady Deathstrike as well as bringing Monet St. Croix onto the team. Meanwhile, it seems that “Wolverine And The X-Men” will be dealing with both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Sentinel problems, much like the “Uncanny X-Men” were before the crossover. Speaking of “Uncanny X-Men”, after a one-issue epilogue to the event the series will be moving on to deal with the upcoming “Inhumanity”. “Amazing X-Men” was mentioned, but little was revealed other than it will definitely be the most swashbuckling X-Men book there is.
For a book that, I thought, had a very unsettling start, it seems that “Savage Wolverine” has definitely found it’s footing. Specifically dealing with one-arc stories from a variety of creators, the book looks to the explore vastly different sides to the Wolverine. The panel showed off an upcoming two-issue arc written and drawn by Phil Jimenez. Jimenez will be taking Logan back to the familiar lands of Madripoor that is promising to be a Wolverine story unlike any other. After Jock’s take on the character, though, that might be hard to top.
Charles Soule was on hand at the panel to talk about the upcoming “She-Hulk” solo series and introduce a familiar face to the “Thunderbolts”. The Spirit Of Vengeance is back, baby! “Thunderbolts” #20.NOW will introduce the Ghost Rider to the team with his very own specialised mission that only the “Thunderbolts” can take care of. There’s also an extensive interview with Soule about the inclusion of Ghost Rider to the team over at Newsarama, which is definitely worth checking out. While, sadly, not much new was revealed about “She-Hulk”, the fact that it’s happening is cause enough for celebration.
Ok, time for quick-fire wrap up time because this is getting too long as it is and there’s still more stuff to cover.
- “All New X-Factor” got announced, but you already knew that.
- “Cable And X-Force” and “Uncanny X-Force” will finally be crossing over in January in an arc called ‘Vendetta’. The crossover will take place over two issues of each series and will feature Stryfe as the villain.
- “Deadpool” is still surprisingly well written and #19 will wrap up the current arc and will be the last issue of Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire. #20 will feature art by Scott Koblish and seems to be an intermission between arcs.
- The Deadpool Annual, however, will be written by Ben Blacker and Ben Acker with art from Evan Shaner (’bout time he got a Marvel gig) and will answer the question of the missing captions.
- “X-Men Legacy” may or may not be cancelled, but Si Spurrier wanted to bring an announcement to the panel and couldn’t so…? Continued below
- Paul Cornell’s ‘Killable’ arc of “Wolverine” ends in December and promises an end you won’t see coming.
And that about covers it. For more information on the panel and it’s goings on, be sure to head to CBR’s coverage.
