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Thought that Cyclops, Beast and Co. were the original X-Men? Think again. Marvel has unveiled their latest five issue series called “The First X-Men”. It tells the early story of the mutant race, with characters like Wolverine and Magneto battling against an oppressive society.

Another X-Team, just what we needed.

First of all, calling this team “The First X-Men” doesn’t make much sense. I don’t need to tell you that the X-Men are Xavier’s creation, and the team didn’t exist before he created it. More importantly, the X-Men aren’t just a stand in for any mutant get-together. They are the followers of Xavier’s dream. That’s what separates an X-Man from something like Magneto’s Brotherhood. The only reason to use the X-Men in the title is to clearly brand this as part of the franchise. As a result it feels derivative and lazy, rather than something fresh and new.

This is a similar problem shared with the series “Avengers 1959”. Yeah, the idea of an old school Nick Fury black ops squad is cool. Very cool in fact. It just has nothing to do with the Avengers legacy. The Avengers were formed when the founding members (Thor, Iron Man, etc) came together to fight a foe no one hero could oppose alone. Since this earlier group had no impact on that event, they just have nothing to do with the Avengers legacy. Just because you say a team is the Avengers or the X-Men doesn’t actually make it true. There are some cases where you can stretch or subvert a title (Dark Avengers is a good example), but it usually doesn’t serve any story purpose.

We also have the issue of making Wolverine the be-all-end-all of the mutant race. Now, Wolverine is awesome, and has proven himself to be one of the most interesting characters in comics. His story also illustrates how governments treated mutants as weapon and experiments, bringing in a rich layer to the mythology of the race. But when you start saying that Wolverine was there since the beginning and has served every function possible, the story of the X-Men starts feeling like the story of Wolverine. Wolverine should be important, but he isn’t the main character of the mutant race. If anyone could claim that title, it would be held by Professor X and Magneto. 

Or possibly Skin, the beloved mutant with 6 feet of extra skin.

I will say that the core concept of the team is a good one. There would certainly have been some kind of mutant activity before Xavier, and I even like the idea of Magneto being involved. I just don’t like the way it’s packaged and the inevitable slew of continuity issues. This book does have potential, but has somewhat of an uphill battle ahead of it.

Axe Cop is one of the biggest success stories from the world of web comics. Who knew that a story told by a 5 year old and illustrated by his 29 year old brother would be so popular? If you are not familiar with Axe Cop, it is a comic series about a cop who uses a fireman’s axe to chop crime to pieces and often rides a tyrannosaurus rex. It is full of the randomness, plot twists, and robot moon battles that you would expect from the mind of a little boy. In other words, it is ridiculously entertaining. Fox agrees and decided that Axe Cop would make the perfect cartoon for Animation Domination HD, a new block of late night cartoons that is supposed to draw viewers away from Adult Swim on Cartoon Network.

Yeah, I think I’d watch this.

Neither Malachai Nicolle, the young writer, or Ethan Nicolle, the artist, aren’t Seth MacFarlane, so it is a little surprising that their work will be on Fox. I thought MacFarlane had some sort of monopoly on animated airtime there. Either way, it will be interesting to see how the sudden twists and turns of Axe Cop will fit into animated airtime. I am especially curious to see how long episodes will be. I feel like 15 minute episodes in the vein of Aqua Teen Hunger Force would be the way to go if the Axe Cop television show stays as random as the comics. That kind of manic story jumping could grow wearisome if it went on for a full 30 minutes every episode, as those longer episodes usually require a bit more of a structured story element to keep the audience interested. Too much structure would rob Axe Cop of its unique charm, so Fox will definitely be walking a fine line with the development of this series.

I also wonder if Fox is scouting other web comics to turn into animated series. The popular web comic Least I Could Do has been working on putting together an animated series for quite a while now, and the adult humor in that strip would certainly fit a late night cartoon block. If I was to choose one web comic to become an ongoing television series, my vote would have to go to Anthony Clark’s Nedroid comics. 15 minute episodes of Beartato and Reginald being random and lovable would be the best thing ever. Basically a grown up Adventure Time without having to grow up.

Go read about Beartato if you like being happy.

Well it’s about damn time. Everyone’s favorite SHIELD agent will be hitting comics in the Battle Scars miniseries. Agent Coulson made his debut in the first Iron Man movie, and since then has been a big part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever since. Now Coulson becomes an official part of comic lore.

Agent Coulson and a guy who totally isn’t Samuel L. Jackson.

In actuality, we’ve already met the character in the miniseries. He’s Marcus Johnson’s wartime buddy nicknamed “Cheese”, and is an army ranger who’s been helping him through the events of Battle Scars.  As a big fan of the character, I’m excited. Writing him in comics might be tricky, since so much of what the guy cool is Clark Gregg’s awesome delivery. Hopefully he’ll be a solid edition to the newest incarnation of SHIELD.

On a separate note, that’s Marcus Johnson in the picture up there, looking an awful lot like Ultimate Nick Fury. Marcus seems like a cool character and all, but it feels a bit forced. Losing an eye was one thing, but shaving his head and getting a beard suddenly? It all feels really inorganic. That being said, I love how they gave him Steve Roger’s recent Super Soldier uniform.

I am getting to be an old man. An old man who misses out on awesome jokes spread around the internet. Just in case anybody else had a senior moment, or month as the case may be, here is some news from Skybound. They plan on releasing The Walking Dead: For Kids with kid friendly drawings by Chris Giarrusso. Skybound’s official statement was:

‘“THE WALKING DEAD: FOR KIDS is going to be word-for-word, panel-for-panel like the regular Walking Dead books, with all the violence, all the sex… but for kids!”

Giarrusso added: “It’ll be adorable.”’

Now kids can enjoy Maury Povich-like paternity conundrums and numerous gruesome deaths in the most adorable way imaginable! Except that this was of course an April Fool’s Day prank. Still, we did come away from this with some awesome Chris Giarrusso cover art, so I call it a win.

 I wish this was a real thing.

I would actually love to see some more work from Giarrusso. I miss his Mini Marvels series. It was that series that first introduced me to Hawkeye’s awesomeness, which I am very thankful for. While The Walking Dead: For Kids won’t be happening, there are plenty of other series for Giarrusso to make his own. What would you like to see him work on next?

The Avengers and X-Men both have enormous rosters, and over the years a few fan favorites have emerged. Hawkeye and Gambit are two of them. This August both characters will be breaking out in their own solo series.

Do a good job, Fraction. Please.

Hawkeye’s series will be written by Matt Fraction with art by David Aja.  When Fraction is at his best, he’s an exciting and smart writer. Look at his work on Immortal Iron Fist, early issues of Invincible Iron Man and Casanova for proof. His current stuff though? Inconsistent. Defenders has been meh, Iron Man is kind of floundering, and Fear Itself was a letdown. He can still produce an amazing issue here or there, but it almost seems as if the man is overworked. I’m somewhat doubtful, but with David Aja’s amazing art at least the book will look pretty. As a fan of Hawkeye, I’m nerd-bound to check it out. No has ever really pulled off a long term Hawkeye solo book, so hopefully Fraction can crack the code here. At the very least, we still get to see Barton as team leader on the Secret Avengers.

Everybody loves the guy with the accent.

James Asmus and Clay Mann (this dude is definitely a supervillain) will be taking on Gambit. I’ve never read anything by Asmus, although it’s cool to see Marvel give a neat project to an up and comer. I like the angle of letting him run a heist and returning to the character’s past as a thief. It definitely makes Gambit stand out from other superhero material. This book has a lot of unknowns, but certainly has potential. Gambit hasn’t been doing a whole lot on the X-books, so the timing couldn’t be better.

Out of the two, I have to say I’m more excited for the Gambit book. I love Hawkeye, but I’m skeptical of Fraction and already see the character plenty in Secret Avengers. Gambit is more of an unknown and as a fan of heist stories I can’t say I’m not interested.

So far, the New 52 hasn’t seen a big, company wide crossover.  Instead, the company is going for small mini-events, like the awesome Night of Owls storyline starting up in the Bat-books. Each corner of the DCU has its own big stories and crossovers, and most of these have been really exciting. However, noting has brought all these parts of the New 52 together. Bleeding Cool tells us that such a story is on its way. In 2013 DC will bring us the Trinity War.

DC will kill off everybody except Batman.

Of course, the first thing that pops to mind is DC’s trinity of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Everything else in the story is up for grabs. Is it a battle between the three of them? Possible, although I have no idea how that would happen. Is it the three heroes fighting against something monstrous? Maybe. This early on, there’s only so much speculation we can do.  We don’t even know for sure if this event exists yet.

Only three months stand between us and the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises. I know, I’m giddy, too. I’ve always marveled at the scale in which Chris Nolan shoots his films, and specifically his Batman capers. In a recent interview, Nolan spoke on his use of an IMAX screen as the proper canvas for his upcoming film, and took the opportunity to bash 3D movies. Personally, I’ve always been slightly turned off by the gimmicky nature of 3D movies and felt it doesn’t add much to the movie going experience, so it is really refreshing to hear an all-star of the movie biz speak of the ills of movies-coming-right-out-at-you.

3D is best used for awesome theme parks, not movie theaters.

Nolan said that all films are 3D and that the “stereoscopic” nature of films takes away from the audience experience. He did say it was a good technology for video games and other immersive technology, but his use of 65mm film makes the new soon to be hit “operatic” and in fact reminds him of the pageantry of silent era films. It all seems to be funny way to look at what seems to be a very involved process of photography, and a difficult skill to master, but its wonderful to hear about how and why a director chooses to do what he does. Batman at his core is, after all, a detective who uses his ingenuity above all those gadgets to catch the bad guys. He defines the tech – not the other way around. For the best 3D experience known to man, check out the Spider-Man ride at Universal Studios.

Comic book fans are notorious collectors. I myself collect the comics themselves and tons of merchandise related to comic books. As I have stated before, the most rewarding part of collecting is the hunt, as you spend hours scouring websites, stores, and garage sales for that hard to find item. Out of all these options, garage sales are the most exciting because of their unpredictability. You could come up empty handed, and often will at these kinds of sales, but everyone has heard stories about the guy who found an action comics #1 for $5 at a garage sale, or picked up a rare action figure for pennies on the dollar. Now there is a website built around replicating this experience.

But without the smell of the elderly.

Yardsellr advertises itself as an online yard sale, and that is quite the accurate description. There is a ton of crap on this website, and a few shining gems to be found. There is a search function to help narrow down results, but the blocks feature on Yardsellr is pretty awesome as well. The blocks are basically categories, such as Action Figures, Comic Books, and Batman. From there you can scroll through pictures of various items people have put up for sale. I have seen everything from action figures missing various limbs to early issues of Detective Comics. The fun is in the search.

Still better spelling than most yard sales.

Perhaps the coolest feature about things on Yardsellr is the fact that anybody looking at the items can leave comments right there. There have been some long discussions on higher tier items, and they can in fact be quite useful at times. People discuss fair market prices, point out good deals, and often talk about the history of an item. It is also exceptionally easy to contact a seller with any questions and have the answers posted publicly for all to see. All in all, Yardsellr is a great resource for collectors on the search, whether they are looking for something specific or just browsing to see what catches their eye.

It was only a matter of time. From the moment of its inception over a decade ago, we knew that somehow the Ultimate Universe would cross over with the main Marvel continuity. Now it has. As many have guessed, the upcoming Spider-Men mini-series will feature our beloved Peter Parker meeting none other than Miles Morales, the Ultimate Spider-Man.

Miles Morales is the Ultimate Spider-Man who hasn’t died. Yet.

I’m torn about this. On one hand, I always thought the two universes should stay separate. I’m not a fan of the multi-verse angle. While this is a fundamental aspect of DC, it always felt out of place at Marvel. Keeping the Ultimate and main continuities distinct seemed to be the best way of maintaining their integrity.

Still, this actually offers a pretty fun opportunity for a story, mainly from Miles’ point of view. Imagine meeting the deceased hero you’ve just replaced. Our Peter may not have been the same man as the Ultimate version, but they are both Spider-Man. If you look at this story from his perspective, having no knowledge of the main 616-universe, it’s a very fascinating concept. This is bound to be one of the more high profile stories of the year, so expect to hear plenty more about it.

 A comprehensive costume comparison to come!

Most comic book fans I meet have been reading comics for quite a while. It is not often that I find somebody who is just getting into comics, but it is always nice to see when it does happen. This event is usually immediately followed by a request for comic book recommendations. This is flattering, but also involves quite a bit of pressure. You don’t want to recommend a comic that won’t be enjoyed. It would be terrible to be the person who recommended the comic that killed any growing interest in the medium that a friend might have had. You want to suggest they read that comic that makes them start a pull-list at their local comic shop. Here are some pointers for recommending reading material to a comic book newbie.

Find Their Favorite Character

The answer will be Batman 99% of the time.

Many comic book characters are pretty mainstream these days. Chances are that this hypothetical friend saw The Dark Knight and now wants to read about Batman punching guys in their faces. That is why the first thing you should ask is if there are any specific characters that your friend is interested in. This will help to significantly narrow down the comic book field, as you should definitely suggest some comics starring the characters your friend is actually interested in. This is also a chance to see if there are any characters that they aren’t really interested in for future reference. When somebody is just getting into comics, I like to have them read about one character that they are initially interested in at first, and then branching out after that. Once you find out which character your friend would most like to read about, it’s time to get more specific.

Recommend a Story Arc

Every Batman fan should read this.

I think the best way to be introduced to comic books is through an entire story arc, as long as it is a good story arc. The best thing to do is find one that doesn’t reference outside events too much, or at least does a good job explaining them if it does. The purpose of recommending a story arc is to not only give a slightly larger sample size for your friend to read, but also introduce them to the general pacing of comics. There are occasionally standalone issues, but most feature either story progression, an epic battle, or both. Reading through a story arc will help your friend get used to the general pacing of comics.

Focus on Newer Issues

Everyone should recommend this.

It is always good to introduce somebody to the history of a character, but you can’t ignore the current issues that are coming out. If your friend ends up liking the comics, he or she will most likely want to start reading the current issues that are coming out. You don’t want them to have to read through 30 years of back issues to catch up, so it could be nice to recommend a more recent story arc to go along with the older one. This could mean that you just recommend a newer story arc, or you could recommend a classic story and a newer story. It really depends how many comics in total you think your friend will be comfortable in buying at first. These things do cost money after all. Plus you don’t want to intimidate them with a list of a hundred comics before they have succumbed to that sweet paper and ink addiction.

Check In and Offer More Recommendations

This is your chance to introduce lesser known, but equally awesome, characters.

Give your friend some time to actually read the comics before you start pestering them with more questions, but you should follow up and see what they thought of your recommendations. You can use their feedback to recommend new characters they should check out, specific writers, artists, or whatever else you think might catch their attention. They’re your friend after all, you should know what they like! And now you get to see them spread their wings as they go on their own journey of comic book discovery. Few things will feel more fulfilling than that in the world of comic book collecting.