Marvel NOW! is progressing nicely overall with some solid titles, mostly The Avengers by Jonathan Hickman but the new Fantastic Four is also quite good. Coming in April Brian Michael Bendis and Frazer Irving bring Uncanny X-Men into the NOW! with an all-new story starting with issue #5 that follows the mission of Marvel NOW! completely. The idea is that books in this initiative will start new stories and directions for characters so that lapsed readers can jump back in but current readers will still appreciate the story because it still exists within current continuity.

Uncanny X-Men #5 finds Cyclops deep in the caverns of the old Weapon X facility training the next great generation of Mutantkind in the Charles Xavier School for Mutants! With new mutants popping up all across the Marvel Universe, Cyclops and his team must race to recruit. Cyclops has a new team and a new master plan and it all begins to unfold in April when Uncanny X-Men #5 hits comic book shops and digital apps.

Check out the cover for Uncanny X-Men #5 here below.

Marvel Comics’ next big thing, well other than Marvel NOW!, was teased last year at Free Comic Book Day when Marvel first let it be known that there would be an Age of Ultron. Now, the new story begins in March from Brian Michael Bendis (All New X-Men, Avengers VS. X-Men) and Bryan Hitch (Ultimates, Fantastic Four).

Ultron, a creation of Avenger Hank Pym, has gone mad and began a plot to reach his ultimate goal: the utter destruction of humanity. In this story, a rag tag group of superheroes including Wolverine, Emma Frost, Invisible Woman, Taskmaster, Beast, She-Hulk, Luke Cage, Spider-Man, and Moon Knight are all to stand in the way of the robot revolution.

This is an odd grouping of super beings that should make for an interesting almost post-apocalyptic story. We have some images from Age of Ultron #1 for your perusal! Check it out here below.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #18
Story by Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils/Inks by David Marquez
Colors by Justin Ponsor
Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99

Happy 2013, Ultimate Spider-fans.

I’m pairing the latest issues of Ultimate Spider-Man together, having given us Marvel 616-Universe fans some time to mourn for Peter Parker (or Peter Parker’s… life… force?). The transition from Amazing to Superior Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #700 went better than the previous transition from Peter Parker to Ben Reilly after the ‘Clone Saga’, but wasn’t as elegant an exit as Brian Michael Bendis‘ one for Ultimate Peter Parker. Dying in Aunt May’s arms after saving his loved ones is better than dying in the body of an enemy and just giving up and moving to the west coast. The change of primary universe status quo, plus some extra time and the issuing of Ultimate Spider-Man #19 didn’t go well for issue #18.

I’ve already blew my wad about how Miles Morales didn’t belong in the ‘Divided We Fall’ event because I thought we were going to get away from all that and discover what Spider-Woman had to tell Miles about their relationship. However, for some reason I can’t put my finger on, we get one more installment in the crossover with Miles wandering around empty fields and fighting a Giant Woman.

Every holiday season, “He’s a mean one, Mr.” Henchman21 and “Cindy Lou” MK2Fac3 give a lot of comics. Seriously, you guys, a lot of comics. Maybe too many comics? I mean, it is possible.. theoretically. Naturally, they look forward to some gifts more than others. I mean, who doesn’t? So, let’s take a look into the depths of their Santa bags, grab some comics, and they’ll let YOU know what the top books to buy for this holiday season. Hardcovers and trades, they’re all here.

What’s this? What’s this!? Hunter’s writing again. What’s this? He’s writing in a pair. What’s this, I can’t believe my eyes, I must be dreaming, wake up, Hench, this isn’t fair! What’s this!? What’s this? What’s this? There’s something very wrong. What’s this? There are people singing songs. What’s this? The streets are lined with little creatures laughing. Everybody seems so happy, have I possibly gone daffy? What is this? The GoD List. Holiday Edition.

So, Brian Michael Bendis finally left The Avengers to take on the daunting task of making a good X-Men book, something that hasn’t happened in years, even with Matt Fraction’s best efforts. We all knew that wasn’t all he’s up to right? Well with the announcement of Age of Ultron we now have a better idea of why he had to leave all of those Avengers books. The Age of Ultron appears to be another of his Marvel Universe sweeping epic story arcs. It all starts in March with a little help from Bryan Hitch (Ultimates, Fantastic Four), Carlos Pacheco (Uncanny X-Men), and Brandon Peterson (AvX: VS).

In this 10-issue story, Ultron, a powerful robot created by Hank Pym, has devastated the world and taken control of nearly all of Earth’s heroes. An eclectic group of “resistance fighters” is all that’s left to try and defeat Ultron and save the day including Invisible Woman, Taskmaster, Beast, Emma Frost, She-Hulk, Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Moon Knight. Marvel of course promises that “the reverberations will be felt in every corner of the Marvel Universe, leaving no hero or villain unscathed.”