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Legion, the Noah Hawley (Fargo) developed X-Men spin-off for the FX network has just been picked up for an eight episode order in early 2017. Per a press release from Marvel, here’s how the new series is described: “Legion” introduces the story of David Haller: Since he was a teenager, David has struggled with mental […]

I promise, at some point I'll go back to writing about things that aren't superheroes.  Though that would require Hollywood to stop blasting superhero stories at us in such close succession (I haven't even written anything about the second season of Daredevil, though you can get a sense of the existential despair it plunged me into from the thread starting at this tweet).  Coming at the end of

X-Men ‘92 was one of the hidden gems of Marvel’s Secret Wars event tie-in comics. The creative team for the series, including Chris Sims and Chad Bowers, had a concept so novel that they didn’t have to compete with some of the other offerings in the direct market. In fact, Marvel liked the creators ongoing series so […]

SECRET WARS has finally ended...with a shocking sales twist!

Looking for an off the beaten path superhero comic? The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Volume One just might be the ticket. Squirrel Girl is in the Marvel Universe of comics and was actually first introduced back in 1991. Back then she was fourteen, in high school and crushing on Tony Stark (aka Iron Man), kind of scrawny and looked so 1990s. Thank goodness she has gotten an update! Current Squirrel Girl even comments on her past poor fashion choices.

Now heading off to college Squirrel Girl, also known as Doreen Green, is a full-bodied young woman. Her

Original Squirrel Girl – scary!(credit)

Technically, Squirrel Girl falls into the mutant class of superheroes but doesn’t want to have anything to do with the X-Men. She is half squirrel, half girl which means she has the proportional speed and strength or a squirrel. She also speaks squirrel and she and Tippy-Toe are frequently helped by their squirrel friends when fighting evil.

Doreen is majoring in computer science at college and her first day there doesn’t quite go as planned. her roommate is ok but when they go to orientation Doreen doesn’t get a chance to sign up for a single club because she has to rush out in order to save the earth from being destroyed by Galacticus, Devourer of Worlds.

Squirrel Girl is confident, smart, sassy, and fun. Being part squirrel she kind of acts like one, zipping here and there, never staying still for more than a minute or two and constantly chattering about something. She is strong but she is not the kind of superhero who solves things by throwing punches. She is tricksy and in fact manages to defeat Galacticus by turning him into a friend.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is not a thinker. There are no lessons to be learned. It is nothing but pure frenetic squirrel entertainment. I enjoyed the comic so much that my antipathy for real-life squirrels may have slipped a little. I’m not about to run out to the garden and try to make friends with them, only, perhaps, I can appreciate their daredevil antics a little more than I did before.

Marvel’s 2015 is best boiled down to one core idea that influenced the entire line: Secret Wars. For the most part, the event was successful, and sold gangbusters in spite of production delays.  Several promising concepts from the event and its tie-ins made it into the mainstream Marvel Universe, giving the re-launch a unique flavor that […]

Marvel has finally lifted the curtain on the upcoming X-Men event, entitled The Apocalypse Wars. The publisher provided more details about the story after cryptically announcing it at Comic Con Experience 2015 with nothing to show but a logo. Thankfully, we now have confirmation that the story will spring from Cullen Bunn’s upcoming Uncanny X-Men. The news didn’t stop there, as […]

Your first look at Bryan Singer's latest go-round with the Children of the Atom.

Marvel reportedly announced X-Men: Apocalypse Wars, a brand new crossover event, at Comic Con Experience 2015 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Newsarama originally ran the story and attendees at the show got a first glimpse of the logo for the upcoming 2016 X-Men event. Sources from Newsarama say that Marvel talent manager Ricky Purdin was on the scene.  According to […]

This week we celebrate the artwork of comics legend Paul Smith! The 600th issue of Uncanny X-Men hit the stands this week and I was very pleased to see that Smith contributed one of the variant covers for this landmark issue. X-Men was really the reason I got into comics as a kid. In fact the very first comic I picked up and read(besides the Bob’s Big Boy comics they used to give away when you ordered a kid’s meal..) was Uncanny X-Men #166 with that glorious Paul Smith cover of The X-Men battling the Brood!

A good friend of mine at the time(probably ’83/’84) had an older brother who collected comics and he had an big, old chest full of them(no bags ‘n boards, mind you..). So, when I’d go over there for a sleep-over, I’d get to rummage through his treasure trove of funny-books and then pull a few out for some late-night sleeping bag reading! Those Paul Smith issues of X-Men were truly magical, and always will be to me. There have been many great artists to work with Chris Claremont on his classic X-Men run, including legends like Dave Cockrum, John Byrne, Terry Austin, Bob Wiacek, John Romita Jr, Barry Windsor Smith, Arthur Adams, Alan Davis, Jim Lee, etc. etc, but for me, my favorite X-Men artist will always be Paul Smith. 

Smith is mostly a self-taught artist. He worked as an animator on Ralph Bakshi’s The Lord of the Rings and American Pop before working at Marvel Comics in the early 1980’s. After establishing himself on titles like X-Men, Doctor Strange, and Marvel Fanfare, Smith would go on to do more independent, critically acclaimed series like Leave It To Chance and The Golden Age, both with writer James Robinson. He continues to work in mainstream comics for special projects, and cover illustrations, while also staying very busy with private commission work.

The best place to get updates on what Paul Martin Smith(PMS) is up to and to see more art is on his website here.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com – Andy Yates

Marvel announced a ton of books this morning. The rumored second Iron Man ongoing just wasn’t enough for the publisher it seems — they also included a new take on the Punisher and ongoings for three obscure heroes; Hyperion, Nighthawk and an X-Man?   First up, the publisher debuted a solo ongoing series for Hyperion, a character that […]

Yesterday, it was announced that Fox, who holds the film rights for the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, struck an agreement with Marvel in order to pursue their long held goal of putting another X-Men television series back on the screen. The last time this occurred in live action, it gave us such works of […]

This weekend turned out to be a very busy one for comics news.  As our chief steward, Heidi MacDonald, takes a well deserved rest this morning following the conclusion of Small Press Expo, let’s take a look at some of the big breaking stories from the last few days. Omega Men Lives When we broke […]

If Fox had a house motto, it would be: “we do not sow. Now let us spit on your Quicksilver, Marvel.”

Bryan Singer loves a few things.  Director’s Cuts, long walks on the beach, and movies centered around Time Travel, to name a few.  Now we can add crossovers to that list as well.  In an interview with Yahoo, Singer confirmed that he’s working with Fox to bring together comics’ first family with comics’ greatest (but maybe not greatest) racial allegory.  How will they meet up, you ask?

Singer says:

“It deals with time. That’s all I’m going to say.”

Of course it does.

Marvel gave a little more context on the recently announced All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe during the Uncanny Inhumans panel (which was also heavy on X-Men news.) In attendance during the panel was a fan dressed up in a Medusa outfit who snagged a picture with Marvel Editor-In-Chief Axel Alonso before he took the stage proper — followed by The Uncanny Inhumans title Charles Soule, who did the same before stepping to the stage. Jeff Lemire graced the stage alongside Cullen Bunn and Humberto Ramos. The panel was moderated by Sales Communication and Event Coordinator Jake Friedfeld.

The first announcement of the panel was Uncanny X-Men #600 slated for October 7th, an important issue that is set to finish off previous writer Brian Michael Bendis’ last issue. A new volume of All-New X-Men is launching this fall with Dennis Hopeless and Mark Bagley, featuring the young mutants trying to find peace in the post-(Cylops getting the phoenix again and making everything terrible)X-Men world.

Extraordinary X-Men #1 is slated for October 14th, as Lemire noted he was really excited about the new direction of the book. Storm is confirmed to lead the team and “carry on the dream of Professor Xavier.” Lemire teased a “a ton of surprises” coming to the book. He also explained that new twists on familiar relationships were established in the relationship forming between Old Man Logan and Jean Grey. Soule stepped in and praised a moment between Colossus and Magik.

Jeff Lemire thought his Old Man Logan series starting this fall will be “pretty cool.” Fans can see the All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe through the “eyes of an outsider” when Old Man Logan debuts later on in the fall. A new cover was shown off for All-New Wolverine by Bengal the comic is being written by Tom Taylor and drawn by David Lopez — the new book is shipping on October 7th.

The brand new Uncanny X-Men comic was given the spotlight from Cullen Bunn and Greg Land. “It’s a dangerous time for mutants” said Bunn noting that he wanted to put a team together to fight off the dangerous world that the team inhabit. The team includes: Mystique, Sabretooth, Psylocke, Fantomex and Magneto. Fans received clarification that Sabretooth is retaining the good alignment.

Then…author Jeff Lemire stated something surprising: “Hey Cullen how does it feel knowing that Magic could kick everyone’s ass on your team.” The panelists shared a laugh, and Cullen Bunn retained a sense of good humor in his response.

A really quick mention of Deadpool was followed up by the big Karnak series from Warren Ellis and Gerardo Zaffino coming on October 7th. Alonso stated that editor Nick Lowe was the Warren “Ellis whisperer” at Marvel — able to get the writer on the title.

The Uncanny Inhumans is launching this fall starring the creative team of author Charles Soule and artist Steve McNiven. “After Death of Wolverine we were sort of looking for the next thing to do” said Soule “and they brought us the Uncanny Inhumans.” With the fallout of the terrigenesis crystals following the events of Infinity, the author noted that the Inhumans could be hiding in this very Comic-Con panel! Also referenced was The Uncanny Inhumans #0 issue will lead into the upcoming Uncanny Inhumans story. A fan asked about the disappearance of Cyclops and Emma Frost. Lemire stated that there is a reason for Cyclops’ absence as one the most prominent missing mutants.

Another fan questioned if Gordon hailing from the Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. television series would return to the comics. Soule stated that while he was excited that the character made the transition into the comics medium, he didn’t have any upcoming plans for the transmedia hero.

Soule teased a new relationship with Johnny Storm and Medusa — which is made more complicated regarding Johnny Storm’s past relationship with Medusa’s sister Crystal. Soule explained that he has written Storm into many upcoming scripts of the title and that he’s excited to script the sequence in which Crystal discovers the new relationship of Medusa and Storm.

A fan questioned where the Fantastic Four characters are in the Marvel Universe not including Storm. “Don’t believe everything you hear on the internet” stated Alonso.

With author Brian Michael Bendis leaving the X-Men franchise via Uncanny X-Men #600, Marvel fans have been waiting for the announcement of the next creative team on the title. Now, the wait is over as the House of Ideas has revealed writer Jeff Lemire, penciller Humberto Ramos and colorist Edgar Delgado as the next team for the upcoming All-New, All-Different X-Men title: The Extraordinary X-Men. We asked Lemire about the prospects of writing the X-Men just last week in our exclusive interview with the creator — read what he had to say.

Many of the plot details in the comic are shrouded in mystery surrounding of Secret Wars. However, Lemire revealed that the story is spinning a stronger relationship between the X-Men and Inhumans — the Terrigen Mists will play a role in the story. Also, Cyclops and many of the main cast members appear to be missing from the traditional X-Men roster.

The new line-up sees a team without the more traditional versions Wolverine or Cyclops — that’s where Old Man Logan comes in with the eXtra eXperience. Storm is leading the Extraordinary X-Men in the place of the absent Wolverine. The All-New X-Men of the time displaced future are still represented in the title through Jean Grey. The adult Ice Man is gracing the team alongside the traditional versions of Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Magik. CBR announced the news and shared an exclusive interview with Lemire.

Here’s Lemire talking to CBR about the origins of the phrase “Extraordinary”:

We wanted something new that hadn’t been used before and “Extraordinary” almost felt like one of those ones where we couldn’t believe no one had done a book called “Extraordinary X-Men” before.

The author chimed in on how he feels about his past work intercut with this current feelings on the X-Men franchise:

I think in the past I got too focused on plot and lost characters a bit in the other team books. There’s a tendency to have plot plot plot, insert character moment here. For the X-Men, I’m approaching it much more where the whole book is a character moment with action stuff interspersed, kind of the reverse of that.

No release date has been announced for the title. Stay tuned to The Beat, as more Marvel information is set to be revealed this week.

20th Century Fox has brought on Rupert Wyatt as the director for the Gambit film adaptation.

The movie studio has set the release date for October 07, 2016. Channing Tatum will play the titular role and serve as a producer on this project.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Gambit (a.k.a. Remy Etienne LeBeau) “has the ability to charge objects with energy (his favorite being playing cards), rendering them explosive.” This mutant character originates from the X-Men comic books. (via The Indiewire Blog)

‘What’s going on with the X-Men and the Fantastic Four comics’ is the question ringing in the ears of astute comic book fans. Since Marvel owns the films rights to many of their own characters, they continue to publish comics for most of their marquee characters. Unfortunately, Marvel does not own the film rights to the Fantastic Four and X-Men. With the House of Ideas getting ready to prime a massive new Avengers team announced far in advance of the roster taking shape in current continuity, fans are wondering about the current slate of publishing announcements regarding the X-Men and Fantastic Four characters. Nearly a year ago today, Marvel Executive Editor and Senior Vice President of Publishing Tom Brevoort chimed in on the with the X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises coming to an end with this quote from his Formspring blog:

We are publishing FANTASTIC FOUR. Next month, we will be publishing FANTASTIC FOUR. A year from now, assuming that it’s still selling well, we will be publishing FANTASTIC FOUR. Given enough time, anything can happen—we went a couple of years, for example, without a THOR series, as well as a year and a half with FF, AVENGERS, CAP and IRON MAN not being a part of the Marvel Universe. So anything can happen. But it probably won’t.

Marvel could very well be close to the announcement of a brand new comic published with the Fantastic Four or X-Men, but at the moment, we only know that these two titles are in limbo. Author Brian Michael Bendis is leaving the X-Men titles, which means much of the line will cease publication following the monumental issue #600 (as far as we know.) The Fantastic Four main title has concluded as well, even though key characters (from that slate of properties) are involved in Marvel’s Secret Wars. A fan asked Tom Brevoort about the state of the X-Men currently, this is what he had to say almost a year after the previous statement:

If you had two things, and on one you earned 100% of the revenues from the efforts that you put into making it, and the other you earned a much smaller percentage for the same amount of time and effort, you’d be more likely to concentrate more heavily on the first, wouldn’t you?

As noted by Business Insider, Marvel did kill Wolverine — even if they are still publishing the Old Man Logan title — the main Wolverine character is not alive (for now in 616 continuity.) Amazon also shared a listing from a poster with Marvel characters updated for this calendar year of publishing.

Marvel has also replaced the Secret Wars characters from the following two shirts removing the X-Men and Fantastic Four characters from classic covers. We took this image listing from Amazon, which features the Human Torch notably absent in the red flame streak burning in the background of the cover.

This shirt has Iron Fist and Luke Cage front and center (among others) instead of including the marquee heroes first involved in the event all those years ago. The Secret Wars branding is off of the t-shirt, but the art is repurposed from the original cover.

The Fantastic Four and X-Men are noticeably absent. I would like to rephrase the question asked a year ago involving this piece stating: what would Ben Grimm do?

Comics artist Steve “The Dude” Rude(note: he was The Dude before Jeff Bridges’ infamous character was..) graduated from the Milwaukee School of Art and Design, before co-creating one of the 80’s most iconic independent sci-fi/fantasy comics Nexus. Rude drew most of the 100 or so issues of the Mike Baron written series, which spanned from 1981 to 2009. Rude has proven himself to be one of the modern masters of comics illustration and I hope to see his work in a future “indy” comic, although for what he can make drawing popular comic book characters, he doesn’t really need to do that.

Steve Rude has also worked for many of the major comics publishers including a Batman/Superman World’s Finest mini series in 1990 for DC and Spider-Man: Lifeline mini series for Marvel, just to name a couple.

Rude won the Russ Manning Outstanding Newcomer Award in 1984 and is a rare recipient of all 3 of the following awards: an Eisner, a Kirby, and a Harvey for Best Artist.

You can get the latest updates and see more of Steve Rude’s artwork on his website here.

For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com – Andy Yates

Marvel’s Spider-Man is the top grossing movie franchise based on a comic book, according to 24/7 Wall Street. The franchise has grossed $3.96 billion in worldwide sales across its five movies.

DC Comics’ Batman ranked at No. 2 on the list with $3.8 billion in gross earnings worldwide and Marvel’s X-Men ranked at No. 3 on the list with $3.05 billion in gross earnings worldwide.

Follow this link to check out the top 10 list.

Marvel welcomed artist Andrea Sorrentino to the Bendis-verse with Uncanny X-Men Annual #1. The penciller is continuing his work with author Brian Michael Bendis and Marvel with the upcoming All-New X-Men #38 and his exclusive Marvel contract. The comic is the fourth entry into the Black Vortex crossover with the X-Men and the Guardians of the Galaxy characters. Comics Beat recently covered the announcement that saw Sorrentino move with Bendis on the upcoming Old Man Logan #1 launching in May which takes place during Secret Wars.

“I’m very, very excited about this new chapter of my career,” said Sorrentino. “I’ve always been a huge fan of Marvel characters and I’m thrilled at what is coming in the next couple years now that I’ve joined the family full-time.”

The artist first dazzled the critics during the Big Two with I Vampire alongside author Joshua Hail Fialkov, turning the comic into a fan favorite New 52 launch title. He once again delighted the press with his run on Green Arrow with Jeff Lemire. CBR ran the press release and announced the news this afternoon.

And we were just talking about Deadpool yesterday…

Former mixed martial artist and Haywire star Gina Carano has signed on to the Ryan Reynolds starring X-Men spin-off. THR has relayed that she’ll be playing a character named Angel Dust, and while my X-Men universe knowledge is deplorable, I understand she’s a part of the Morlocks.

It was only a matter of time before one of these superhero flicks picked up Carano, whose action chops are impeccable.

Additionally they report that T.J. Miller (Silicon Valley) is in place for a comic relief role, and that Colossus will also be returning for the picture. There’s no indication whether or not Daniel Cudmore will still be playing him, but fans of the character have to be a little excited that there’s a chance he’ll get some of the spotlight finally.

Here’s their description of the film, directed by Tim Miller and scheduled to open on February 12, 2016:

Reynolds is an assassin who is dying of cancer who undergoes a procedure that is supposed to cure him but ends up twisted and scarred while also imbued with super-powers.

This afternoon saw a pretty massive shift in the state of Marvel Comics as author Brian Michael Bendis announced his departure from the X-Men franchise. The author first started his run with All-New X-Men #1 in 2012, and is closing out his time with the X-Men in the upcoming Uncanny X-Men #600 in May. While long runs with 90 issues are rare at Marvel Comics, Bendis planted his roots within the DNA of the X-Men team. This made readers think he was going to stay on the books longer. The upcoming Uncanny X-Men #600 see’s the last installment of the current X-Men run. CBR broke the news and conducted an exit interview with the writer. The interview contains essential information about the last issue. First off Bendis talks about departing from the series:

Over the course of the last few years, I will have written almost 90 issues of X-Men. That’s a good run! One of the best parts about being on X-Men was that I knew I was never going to hit Chris Claremont’s X-Men record, so I was free of whatever that is that drives such a thing.

Bendis also explains that the departure ties-in with the upcoming Secret Wars.

Then it was just like, what better place than “Secret Wars” to wrap things up on X-Men? You started with “Avengers Vs. X-Men,” and you wrap it up with “Secret Wars.” This is going to serve as a great launching pad for the next things that I wanted to do, which I really, really want to do. And as much as I really, really want to write X-Men I really want to do these things, too!

There are multiple artists for the upcoming issue:

Stuart Immonen is in. Chris Bachalo is in. Kris Anka is in, and Mahmud Asrar is also in. There are a couple more we’re waiting to hear back on, but Stuart, Chris, Kris and Mahmud were the major forces.

Bendis confirmed that the story is going to be a hefty comic:

So this is like a giant, 100-page book. It’s really cool.

Is Brian Michael Bendis leaving the X-Men to early? Or do you think his run is coming to a natural end with the upcoming Secret Wars. Let us know.

In an interview with EW, X-Men: Apocalypse writer Simon Kinberg confirmed Rose Bryne will be returning for the X-Men: First Class sequel to reprise her role as Moira MacTaggert.

“We ended First Class with Charles having wiped portions of her memory of her experience with the X-Men. They are, essentially, strangers to her when she meets them,” he told EW.

Byrne will join returning co-stars Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Michael Fassbender, and James McAvoy. She will also join recently-introduced Oscar Isaac, who will be playing a central villain, and Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan and Alexandra Shipp, who will be playing younger versions of Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Storm, respectively.

The sequel is set in the 1980s, which means the time period will jump forward by about 20 years – Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are said not to be reprising their roles, and we’re guessing the rest of the cast will have just aged very gracefully?

X-Men: Apocalypse releases May 27, 2016

How many superhero television shows can launch before our brains collectively X-plode? Fox is challenging our expectations by confirming the company is actively looking into making an X-Men television show a reality. TV Insider broke the news and shared quotes from Fox Entertainment Chairman, Gary Newman, who announced the info to the outlet at the Television Critics Association Press Tour. As Newman states, the show cannot debut before the upcoming 2016 – 2017 television season.

He shared the following quote:

It’s in negotiations…We’re cautiously optimistic, we had a good meeting with them. That will not be on a fast track creatively. This is just the deal, now we have to find the creative.

Does anyone else care to run down a few superhero shows entering their second and third seasons?:

Arrow

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

What about a couple comic book shows in the middle of their first season?:

The Flash

Constantine

Marvel’s Agent Carter

Gotham

Plus, just a few of the television shows currently in development or about to debut:

Supergirl

The Marvel Netflix shows (Daredevil, AKA Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders)

Vixen

Powers

Titans

In addition, there are an assortment of X-Men films coming to the screen as well:

Deadpool (2017)

Gambit (2017)

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

Long-live the failed Generation X show and every other comic book series we forgot to mention on this list. TV Insider stated that Fox still needs the blessing from Marvel, so the road to an X-Men show is going to be a long one.