For anyone who’s stepped away from reading Marvel Comics over the last 5 years or so, you’ve missed a thing or two.

Beginning with Avengers Disassembled in 2004 as many of you know, the Marvel Universe began experiencing annual enemas in the form of huge crossover events, real game changers like House of M, Civil War, Secret Invasion and now Dark Reign, not to mention the titles and events that tie directly into these crossovers like Secret War, 198, X-Men Messiah Complex, Avengers the Initiative, Planet Hulk, World War Hulk, Annihilation, The Secret Warriors… The list goes on.

Though some people may view the above list as an impenetrable firewall keeping them from enjoying the characters and the Universe that they thought they knew, I for one see it as one hell of a ride and some of the most fun I’ve had reading comics over the last 6 years.

But alas, the saga that was sparked by an up and comer named  Brian Michael Bendis (perhaps you’ve heard of him?) better known for his crime comics at the time, is coming to a conclusion in 2010 with the much anticipated “Siege” storyline.  Though few details have been revealed about this arc, the broad strokes consist of Norman Osborn and Loki invading Asgard as part of their plan for a New World Order thereby reuniting the core Avengers team (Captain America, Iron Man & Thor) for the first time in close to a decade. Saying these three hero’s parted ways on hostile terns would be the understatement of the decade, so getting them on the same side will be no small feat and when the dust settles, the Marvel Universe will be changed forever.

I realize that this may sound like nothing more than Marvel spinning out this years new and improved reset button but Bendis has indicated that this is a bookend to what started way back in 04′ with Avenger’s Disassembled, not an arc that leads to yet another epic crossover, but to a new beginning for the Marvel (616) Universe.   As convoluted as it all may sound, I can’ t wait to see how this beautiful  neon clad  clusterfuck of a soap opera ends up.

Click here for a free Preview of Siege courtesy of Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited.
Buy Avengers Disassembled
Buy House of M
Buy Civil War
Buy Secret Invasion

We received the next puzzle section for “The Year of the Spider-Man” and I took the liberty of splicing it in. Looks like I was wrong about Ben Reilly, that is actually Kraven’s daughter. She is currently recruiting villains for what seems to be another Secret Six or something. My money still says the final section will be Mary Jane in a wedding gown.

Does anyone have any other connections or ideas?

We’ve received another piece of the puzzle.

Perhaps 2010 will be a good year for Spider-Man.  Anybody wanna read the tealeaves here and offer any guesses? 

UPDATE: Kill here, I took the liberty of photoshopping these two images together to see if there are any other connections. I also moved the pieces into place.

Due to a clerical error on the part of my comic book store, I missed out on the last 4 issues of the post-Ultimatum relaunch of Ultimate Spider-man.  I read the first issue upon it’s released and it raised some interesting questions but I wasn’t completely impressed.  It was competent, Brian Michael Bendis is always good to read.  David LaFuente was certainly a switch in style and no Stewart Immonen, but the art was serviceable, albeit aimed at a younger audience.

At the close of the Ultimatum story arc, Peter is presumed dead in the flood and a tear-jerking obituary for Spider-Man is written by J. Jonah Jameson.  It seriously almost made me cry.  The advertising leading up to Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 2 was filled with, “Who’s Spider-Man” and “What happened…?” kind of innuendo and I was dying to know what happened.  Was Peter dead?  I’ve been invested emotionally in Ultimate Peter Parker since it’s launch more than a decade ago and Ultimatum, if nothing else, raised the stakes for this particular book and character.

The first issue of Volume 2 opens with Peter working at a fast food restaurant as though nothing has happened.  Six months have passed since Ultimatum and things seem to have gotten back to normal.  Jessica, his clone, who played such a pivotal part in the end of Volume 1 is nowhere to be seen and I thought she would be filling in until we found out what it was exactly that happened to Peter.

Time passed and I’d sort of forgotten about the book.  Like I said, due to an unfortunate clerical error, the title stopped showing up in my hold and it wasn’t until I asked for it back and tracked down all the back issues that I realized that I was 4 issues behind.

I just finished reading them and I have to say, “Wow.”

I really like the direction Bendis (and Mark Millar in Ultimate Avengers) are taking the Ultimate Universe.  Sure, I’m upset that there’s a lot of characters who are dead, missing or whatever that I would like to see back in this universe, but it’s not the end of the world.  This arc is remaking the world in a way that would have been unthinkable during the books launch and it makes sense that Bendis has made a lot of the choices that he has.  Take Peter’s fast food job, for example.  He has to work fast food because the Daily Bugle has folded.  Where in Volume 1 we would be privy to newspaper headlines catching us up to speed, we’re treated to websites.  The school newspaper that Mary Jane is working for is now just a website and instead of getting the story, the editor is obsessed with “getting the video for the webcast”.  Watching Peter Parker of all people struggle with the changing media landscape is incredibly interesting to watch.  And it’s not forced down your gullet, Bendis is incredibly subtle about it and I like it.

As for a villain, this arc sees Mysterio who, during recent events, killed Wilson Fisk (better known to you ugly mugs as “The Kingpin”) and now wants to take over the world for himself.  Of course the only thing standing in his way is everyone’s favorite neighborhood wall-crawler.  They’re still getting the character on his feet, so there isn’t much depth to him other than the fact that he’s angry and willing to kill, so we’ll see turns out.

The thing I liked the most in this new Ultimate Universe is the way mutants are being treated and that a lot of young super-heroes that were based in New York (which is most of the Marvel U., Ultimate or otherwise) have lost their families, places to stay, etc.  at the end of the first issue, Johnny Storm, in shock from losing his father and the events of Ultimatum, shows up on the Parker’s doorstep looking for a place to stay.  The house is already crowded with Aunt May, Peter and Gwen Stacy (who is his girlfriend at the moment), but they bring him in with open arms.  Things get more complicated when Kitty Pryde brings over another stray.  Already on the verge of getting expelled from school for being a mutant, Kitty Pryde’s mother simply can’t take in another stray mutant and Bobby Drake (Iceman) has no school (since Xavier’s school is as dead as Xavier himself) and his parents are mutant-phobes who have kicked him out of the house.  These young mutants have nowhere to go.  And Kitty brings them to Aunt May’s.  Aunt May has started sort of a half-assed boarding house for wayward mutants and this could prove to be terribly interesting.

The story here is as good as it’s ever been during his tenure on this book and LaFuente is a fine artist, a bit too Eastern-influenced for my tastes, but good.  My point is though, that as I read through these issues, all of the questions I had lingering from Ultimatum were answered with a simple, “Who cares?”  I’m getting Spider-Man stories that I like and are interesting, taking me into some territory I’ve never seen out of Spider-Man before and it’s entertaining the hell out of me.  If they go back and answer some of those questions I had, great, if not, I’m along for the ride.

Issue Six hits stands on January 6th and now that Mysterio has a sample of Peter Parker’s blood to screw with, I’m going to be there with bells on.

You can order all the Ultimate Spider-Man you can shake a fist at on Amazon here.

I hope you’ve all had a happy holiday.

I have no idea what this means, but this image was sent to me with no information other than the headline: “The Year of Spider-Man Is 2010″

Any guesses?

Marvel is proud to unveil your first look at episode 5 of the Astonishing X-Men Motion Comic, on sale now! Based on the acclaimed story by superstars Joss Whedon (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) and John Cassaday (Captain America), the X-Men are faced with a mysterious new villain and a possible cure for the mutant gene! Now Cyclops, Wolverine and all your favorite mutants must face the greatest threats of their lives and, before it’s all done, experience one of the most jaw-dropping moments in Marvel history!

Marvel has given us the opportunity to unveil this video with them and we’re proud to do so.  Be sure to check out the full motion comics. To be sure, this looks a lot better than the other motion comics I’ve seen, there’s actually a bit of animation to it.  Sure, it has a couple of cheesy moments, but that’s the risk you run adapting a static medium into a moving one verbatim.

If you’re into hardcopies, you can get the first trade of Astonishing X-Men on Amazon.

We got this press release from Marvel:

Marvel is pleased to reveal the star studded creative teams behind the all-new back up stories in Avengers Vs. Atlas! As the original Avengers face off against the venerable forces of Atlas in the can’t miss main feature by Jeff Parker and Gabriel Hardman, some of the industry’s most acclaimed creators team up for backup stories spotlighting the most popular members of Atlas, laying the foundation for the future of Marvel’s most enigmatic heroes!

In Avengers Vs. Atlas #1, Parker and artist Takeshi Miyazawa take a dive with Namora! Meanwhile, PVP’s Scott Kurtz and fan favorite Zach Howard delve deeper into the mysteries behind Jimmy Woo in Avengers Vs. Atlas #2! Then, Venus takes center stage in Avengers Vs. Atlas #3 as the acclaimed creative team of Paul Cornell and Leonard Kirk reunite! Finally, red-hot writer Jason Aaron and former Atlas penciller Carlo Pagulayan team up for a story of Gorilla Man in the final thrilling issue!

Marvel urges retailers to check their orders on Avengers Vs. Atlas, as the work of Jeff Parker and Gabriel Hardman continues to draw rave reviews! Plus, download an exclusive Mighty Marvel Podcast with Jeff Parker right here: http://marvel.com/news/comicstories.10732

My only complaint is that Humberto Ramos is only doing the cover.  That guy needs to draw more books.

Jump to bottom of article for update!

IESB is reporting that due to yet another disagreement between the studio and Sam Raimi production on Spider-Man 4 has been put on hold indefinitely until they can work things out. Apparently, Raimi wants the Vulture as the villain in the fourth installment but the studio doesn’t. Here’s what IESB has heard from their “inside source”:

An inside source working on the project tells IESB that there are some major issues director Sam Raimi is dealing with that include an incomplete script. And why is the script incomplete? Looks like Raimi and the studio heads at Sony Pictures can’t agree upon a villain for the film.

Raimi is pushing hard for the Vulture to be the big baddie, something he also pushed for in the third film to star alongside the Sandman but didn’t get and we all know how that one turned out. Vulture was to do his evil deeds alongside the new Goblin and Sandman. A single concept art sketch can be seen in “The Art of Spider-Man 3” book. Vulture and Flint Marko would have been cellmates who escaped together, with Vulture pressuring the more passive Marko into committing crimes.

On the flip side, who does the studio want to be the villain? Our source says they seem to only be interested in featuring which ever character is selling books right now but basically they have no idea, just not the Vulture.

As far as sources go, I am apt to believe IESB, they are pretty credible. But I certainly hope that maybe this little spat has been blown out of proportion. Of course, production was probably going to take a break due to the holidays anyway, so maybe the studio and Raimi can come to an agreement shortly after and get things rolling again.

Frankly, I don’t think Sony is in any position to be debating the villain in a movie they would like to have a positive turn around on from their last one. For Spider-Man 3, Sony and Raimi butted heads over villains -with Sony wanting Venom and Raimi wanting the Vulture. Of course, we all know Sony won and they turned out less than pleasing for most fans out there. Why Sony is again doubting Raimi’s ability to pick a good villain to fit the story again is beyond me, but they best pull their heads out of their arses or Spider-Man 4 could be even worse that Spider-Man 3, then the fans will be really mad.

Update:

Super Hero Hype is now reporting that their source at Sony is saying that production of Spider-Man 4 is simply on hiatus for the holidays:

Our studio source tells us this is not true. They are simply on hiatus for the holidays and production will resume in the new year. This is a very common practice on films, and not really surprising.

Okay, this makes sense. Of course films will stop production over the holidays to allow cast and crew to be with their families and what-not. But, it still wouldn’t surprise me if their is still a little tension between Sony and Raimi -granted, probably not as tremultuous as believed.

Last night was the LA premiere of 20th Century Fox’s anticiptated film, Avatar. One of the people there was Bryan Singer, who is associated with the movie company via his work on X-Men and X2, and MySpace had a camera crew there to talk to him. You can check out his full interview over at MySpace, but around the 27-minute mark or so, Singer tells the crew:

“I’m ramping up to do a movie called ‘Jack the Giant Killer’ at Warner Bros, and I just yesterday signed a deal to do an ‘X-Men: First Class Origins’ picture, which is kind of cool. I’m very excited.”

He didn’t seem to be joking, nor did he hesitate in just blurting this news out.

This is awesome news considering the first two X-Men films were pretty solid and represented everyone’s favorite mutants on screen pretty well. It wasn’t until Singer left and Ratner stepped in that the franchise took a turn for the worst with The Last Stand. Which was, let’s face it, just pretty bad in my opinion.

It sounds like Singer has another project lined up at Warner Bros. first, but then perhaps after that we will start hearing some more news about X-Men: First Class in the coming year!

Okay, this is just another promo for Entertainment Tonight who will be showing some exclusive Iron Man 2 footage TONIGHT, but at the end of this promo, we see a few seconds of War Machine!

Enjoy!