Being a comic fan can be tough. With so many publishers printing more and more books, canceling titles and starting new ones, it can be daunting when you head to the comic book shop on a Wednesday to know exactly what’s coming out.

The current system of presenting and ordering comics three months ahead of their release as set forth by the sole comics distributor, Diamond Comics, doesn’t make it any easier either. We’re not a fan of that system, we think it’s slowly strangling comics to death, but we realize it’s a harsh reality of how the industry works and we definitely don’t want you to miss out on any of the cool comics being published.

And so, as opposed to regurgitating the list of comics solicited in Previews each month, we present to you some of the highlights of things you probably won’t want to miss out on.

SPOILER WARNING – in order to get people to order comics, the publishers have a funny habit of revealing what’s happening in the books. If you don’t want anything at all to be spoiled, then you’ll probably want to skip this post and take your chances with your pre-orders and/or your shopping.

---

IT’S OVER! IT’S ACTUALLY OVER!

We never thought this day would come, and it still hasn’t, but it’s coming soon. September marks the end of the “biggest” event ever to hit Marvel, Avengers Vs. X-Men.  Issue #12 has got a sweet Jerome Opena variant cover, which if you ask me, should be the main cover.  This art alone makes the wait much more palpable.

AVENGERS VS X-MEN #12 (of 12)
Story by JASON AARON
Art by ADAM KUBERT
Cover by JIM CHEUNG
Variant cover by JEROME OPEñA

AVENGERS TEAM VARIANT ALSO AVAILABLE
KUBERT VARIANT ALSO AVAILABLE
OPEñA SKETCH VARIANT ALSO AVAILABLE
OPEñA VARIANT ALSO AVAILABLE
PROMO VARIANT ALSO AVAILABLE
X-MEN TEAM VARIANT ALSO AVAILABLE

Extra-sized final issue!
• It’s all come down to this! The final battle—as the world burns!

48 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99

ARTIST ALERT!

We’ve come to expect quality artists to join Rick Remender and this lates round of Secret Avengers is no exception. Matteo Scalera is the real deal folks. I’ve seen some pages from this and trust me, Scalera won’t disappoint.

Secret Avengers #31
Story by RICK REMENDER
Art by MATTEO SCALERA
Cover by ARTHUR ADAMS

• The Master of Evil are gathered. An army of villains unlike any ever collected before.
• The Secret Avengers are defeated with no hope of backup. The Shadow Council’s true goal and Max Fury’s ultimate scheme revealed.
• Enter the power of The Abyss!

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

ALAN DAVIS ALERT

 

You know me, I love me some Alan Davis and it seems as if he’s been putting in overtime at Marvel these days. Come September he’ll be gracing not one but two issues of The Mighty Thor and you know what, that may be what it takes to get me to read this title because anything Davis does is worth reading.

THE MIGHTY THOR #19 & 20
Story by MATT FRACTION
Art and Cover by ALAN DAVIS
ISSUE #20 VARIANT COVER BY Stephanie Hans
ISSUE #19 – EVERYTHING BURNS, Part 3

• Surtur’s all-consuming fire rages across the nine worlds as Thor and Loki go on the run!
• Who will lead Asgardia?
• What vile secret hides at the heart of the war between the Asgardians and Vanir?

ISSUE #20 – EVERYTHING BURNS, Part 5
• Surtur’s forces reach Asgardia itself!
• Thor — trapped in the underworld!
• The truth about Loki — finally revealed!

32 PGS. (EACH)/Rated T+ …$3.99 (EACH)

BONUS POINTS FOR A STEVE MARTIN REFERENCE

 

Scott Lang fans can prepare to celebrate as he’s back and in the Defenders! And drawn by Jamie McKelvie no less! But the real star of this issue is that cover by Joe Quinones. Doesn’t that make you want to see more work by him at Marvel, eh?

THE DEFENDERS #10
Story by MATT FRACTION
Art by JAMIE McKELVIE
Cover by Joe Quinones

• LETS’S GET SMALL! The long-awaited arrival of ANT-MAN hits THE DEFENDERS!
• With the nature and purpose of the Concordance engines revealed, the team must act fast to SAVE EVERYTHING!
• How can you save the world when you can’t tell anyone it’s about to end?

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

THINGS CHANGE FOREVER!

I may be the only person around here who loves X-Factor, but man has it been great. My fellow X-Book fans can probably agree with me as Peter David has consistently been giving us quality stories with some of the most compelling characters in the X-Family.  And now we get events that WILL CHANGE THE FACE OF X-FACTOR FOREVER. I can’t wait.

X-FACTOR #243 & 244
Story by Peter David
Art by Leonard Kirk
Covers by DAVID YARDIN

• The first of five issues that will CHANGE THE FACE OF X-FACTOR FOREVER.
• PART III: Discovering a long-buried secret from the past, one member of X-Factor will be driven insane.
• PART IV: Devastated by the recent tragedies befalling X-Factor, one member of the team makes a terrible sacrifice in hopes of making things right.

32 PGS./ (EACH) Rated T+ …$2.99 (EACH)

100% OF iFANBOY AGREES

It’s rare, but it’s been known to happen. There can be a book that Josh, Conor and myself agree is quality and as of now, that book is Fury Max. Garth Ennis and Goran Parlov are giving us the Fury book we never knew we wanted. This time around, Fury is attempting to assassinate Castro. DOES IT GET ANY BETTER THAN THAT? Apparently it does once you see Dave Johnson’s amazing cover.

FURY MAX #6
Story by Garth Ennis
Art by Goran Parlov
Cover by DAVE JOHNSON

• Fury and his Castro-assassination team are captured in Cuba.
• Find out just how far Nick Fury will go for his country

32 PGS./Explicit Content …$3.99

THE FIRST TIME WAS AMUSING ENOUGH

Mark Millar has been on roll, if you ask me. I’ve enjoyed the last few mini series he’s rolled out of his Millar World imprint, so this next volume of Nemesis will get my dollars, if anything to see how Millar and McNiven can top the atrocities that occurred in the first volume.

NEMESIS 2 #1
Story by MARK MILLAR
Art and Cover by STEVE MCNIVEN

Who is Nemesis? The first person to take on the name was an electronics billionaire using his fortune to prey on ordinary people from behind a mask. Now, after his death, a new predator will emerge—and this time, readers get a peek behind the curtain for an unflinching look at how it all came to be. From the creative team behind Marvel’s Civil War event.

32 PGS./Mature …$2.99

WELL, THAT WAS QUICK

I know Marvel usually is way better about getting the collections of stories out, but man, this seems to be pretty quick? I mean Avengers Vs. X-Men #12 ends the event in September, and boom, here’s on Omnibus sized hardcover collection of EVERYTHING.  I can’t imagine there will be lots of double dipping on this stuff, so I guess this is for the folks who skipped the event and Marvel wants to make sure they’re prepped for what comes next perhaps?

Also, apparently everyone who works at Marvel worked on this book in some capacity. Look at all those names!

AVENGERS VS. X-MEN HC
CHEUNG COVER

Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS, JASON AARON, ED BRUBAKER, JONATHAN HICKMAN, MATT FRACTION, JEPH LOEB, MARK WAID, KATHRYN IMMONEN, KIERON GILLEN, STEVE MCNIVEN, CHRIS YOST, RICK REMENDER & KAARE ANDREWS

Penciled by FRANK CHO, JOHN ROMITA JR., OLIVIER COIPEL, ADAM KUBERT, ED MCGUINNESS, STUART IMMONEN, SALVADOR LARROCA, STEVE MCNIVEN, TERRY DODSON, BRANDON PETERSON, KAARE ANDREWS, LEINIL YU, YVES BIGEREL & CARLO BARBERI

Covers by JIM CHEUNG & NICK BRADSHAW

The Avengers and the X-Men — the two most popular super-hero teams in history — go to war! This landmark pop-culture event brings together Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Magneto and more in the story that changes them forever! And in AVX: Vs., experience the larger-than-life battles too big for any other comic to contain! Iron Man vs. Magneto! Spider-Man vs. Colossus! Captain America vs. Gambit! And more! Plus: For the first time ever in print, Marvel’s groundbreaking Infinite Comics are collected, revealing key events through the eyes of Marvel’s major players. It’s Marvel’s biggest event ever — but will the Avengers or the X-Men emerge triumphant?

Collecting AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #0-12; AVX: VS. #1-6; AVENGERS VS. X-MEN: INFINITE #1, #6 and #9; and material from POINT ONE.

528 PGS./Rated T+ …$75.00
ISBN: 978-0-7851-6317-6
Trim size: oversized

HOW ABOUT A GOOD EVENT?

I know, it may be hard to believe, but Spider-Island was one of the best self contained stories/events that happened in Marvel Comics in 2011.  Dan Sott and the supporting cast did a stellar job on a massive story that was filled with great moments, twists and turns and was exactly the kind of Spider-Man story you could want.

SPIDER-MAN: SPIDER-ISLAND TPB
Written by DAN SLOTT, RICK REMENDER & CHRISTOS GAGE
Penciled by STEFANO CASELLI, HUMBERTO RAMOS, TOM FOWLER, GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI, BARRY KITSON, LEE GARBETT, EMMA RIOS & MAX FIUMARA

Cover by HUMBERTO RAMOS

Between keeping New York City safe as Spider-Man, being a member of two Avengers teams and the FF, and his day job at Horizon Labs, Peter Parker’s life is as crazy as it’s ever been. And it’s about to get even crazier. Welcome to Spider-Island, where a million New Yorkers suddenly possess Spider-Man’s powers — but none of the responsibility! Can Spidey play world-saving super hero while the Big Apple gets eaten alive from the inside out when he’s suddenly not quite so special? When he’s surrounded by a million people just as powerful as him? When even his girlfriend is web-swinging through the city? And just wait until you meet J. Jonah Jameson, the Spectacular Spider-Mayor!

Collecting THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #666-673 and the “Infested” material from #659-660 and #662-664, VENOM (2011) #6-9, SPIDER-ISLAND: DEADLY FOES, and SPIDER-ISLAND SPOTLIGHT.

376 PGS./Rated T …$34.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-5105-0

CAN’T PRAISE THIS ENOUGH

One of the other best things to come out of Marvel in 2011 was Warren Ellis’ run on Secret Avengers. Now THIS was the Warren Ellis I enjoy, especially when joined by some of the top artistic talents in the industry.  These one and done stories get collected and if you missed it in issues, you absolutely don’t want to miss it this time around. Some damn gine comics here.

SECRET AVENGERS: RUN THE MISSION, DON’T GET SEEN, SAVE THE WORLD TPB
Written by WARREN ELLIS
Penciled by JAMIE MCKELVIE, KEV WALKER, DAVID AJA, MICHAEL LARK, ALEX MALEEV & STUART IMMONEN

Cover by JOHN CASSADAY

One visionary writer. Six superstar artists. Six missions. Six chances to save the world. No time to lose. No margin for error. And no one will ever know — unless they lose.

Collecting SECRET AVENGERS #16-21.

144 PGS./Rated T+ …$19.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-5256-9

MEMORIES OF HAPPIER TIMES

 

The 1990s weren’t totally awful for the X-Men. No, in fact there were a few bright spots and after recovering from the loss of Chris Claremont and Jim Lee, the X-Books recovered nicely and gave us some stories that I remember fondly. Who doesn’t love a wedding? Especially the one that pairs Cyclops with the woman he’s supposed to be with…Jean Grey.  There was a time where Phoenix wasn’t a bad word. This is one of them.

X-MEN: THE WEDDING OF CYCLOPS & PHOENIX TPB
Written by FABIAN NICIEZA, SCOTT LOBDELL, GLENN HERDLING & KURT BUSIEK
Penciled by RICHARD BENNETT, ANDY KUBERT, ARON WIESENFELD, IAN CHURCHILL, MIKE MCKONE, JOHN ROMITA JR., TIM SALE & RON RANDALL

Cover by ANDY KUBERT

These are tense times for the X-Men. The Legacy virus, which has already killed many mutants both friend and foe, threatens to become a worldwide epidemic. Professor X has captured Sabretooth and locked him in the mansion basement, hoping to eventually cure his raging bloodlust. But amid the darkness, a ray of light shines — as longtime lovebirds Cyclops and Phoenix announce their engagement! The X-Men and their extended family come together to celebrate the union of mutantdom’s most star-crossed couple — but will this joyous occasion revitalize the X-Men, and provide them with new hope and a new direction for the future? Or will the looming darkness still consume them all?

Collecting X-MEN (1991) #27-30 and ANNUAL #2, X-MEN UNLIMITED (1993) #3, UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) #308-310 and ANNUAL #18, X-MEN: THE WEDDING ALBUM, and WHAT IF? (1989) #60.

408 PGS./Rated T …$34.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-6290-2