All of Aaron’s Avengers will collide in ‘Avengers Assemble’

The big event kicks off with ‘Avengers Assemble Alpha’ by Jason Aaron and Bryan Hitch in November.

During their Next Big Thing Panel in San Diego today, Marvel announced that all of the various Avengers titles Jason Aaron has worked on over the past few years — Avengers, Avengers Forever and Avengers of 1,000,000 BC — will come together in one epic crossover, suitably titled Avengers Assemble.

The event will kick off in an “alpha” issue, drawn by Bryan Hitch, that will land on Nov. 30.

“Four years of Avengers stories. Threads from really every major series I’ve worked on throughout my last decade and a half at Marvel, from Ghost Rider to Thor. It all leads to this,” Aaron said. “The biggest Avengers story I could possibly imagine. Featuring a cavalcade of characters from across creation. And I’m so deeply thrilled and honored that it all kicks off with an oversized ALPHA issue that’s being drawn by the legendary Bryan Hitch, who I’m getting to work with here for the very first time.”

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What Are You Reading? | ‘Sins of the Black Flamingo’ is ‘smooth as silk’

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately, including Batman/Catwoman, The Variant s and more.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our look at what the Smash Pages crew has been checking off their “to read” list lately. Today’s reviews include the finale of Batman/Catwoman, the debut of Sins of the Black Flamingo and more.

Let us know what you’ve been reading lately in the comments or on social media.

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Aaron + Walker head back to the past for ‘Avengers: 1,000,000 B.C.’ one-shot

The one-shot promises to reveal more about ‘Thor’s mysterious connection to the Phoenix Force.’

Jason Aaron will continue the story of the prehistoric Avengers in a one-shot this summer titled Avengers: 1,000,000 B.C. He’ll be joined by artist Kev Walker on the story, which promises to reveal more about Thor’s relationship with the Phoenix Force.

“The Prehistoric Avengers have been an important key to my Avengers run since the very beginning,” Aaron told Marvel.com. “They are the earliest versions of some of the earth’s most powerful legacy characters. They’re the heroes who protect the Marvel Universe in its crib. Now, we finally get to see them all in the spotlight in a huge way, in a story that shows how these prehistoric heroes shaped Marvel history in the most profound ways and that will also have big ramifications for the Avengers going forward.”

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Have a nice summer, X-Men

Marvel announces an ‘X-Men: Hellfire Gala’ one-shot and a prelude issue for the upcoming Judgment Day crossover — keeping the X-Men plenty busy this summer.

Although they left their school in Westchester behind for the sunny shores of Krakoa, the gifted youngsters who make up the X-Men are really going to be longing for a summer break this year. In addition to a starring role in Marvel’s upcoming crossover event “A.X.E. Judgment Day” — with the A.X.E. standing for Avengers, X-Men and Eternals — they’ll also be hosting another Hellfire Gala in June.

Unlike last year’s gala, this year’s won’t run through the full line of X-Men comics. Instead, it’ll be a standalone special by Gerry Duggan, Russell Dauterman, Matteo Lolli, C.F. Villa and Kris Anka that Marvel promises will be “loaded with high-stakes drama, shocking character developments, and of course, showstopping Super Hero fashion.” Also: a new team of X-Men, including the winner of the latest fan vote.

“Last summer your host Emma Frost invited you to celebrate Krakoa with some fireworks. This year, it’s about celebrating mutantdom’s friendship with humanity,” Duggan said. “Once again, we have a murderer’s row of talent crafting a one-shot with revelations that will chart the biggest stories in the Marvel Universe. All that, and meet a new team of X-Men.” 

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Judgment Day, Hellfire Gala + Bloodline headline Marvel’s ‘Free Comic Book Day: Avengers/X-Men’

Kieron Gillen, Dustin Weaver, Danny Lore, Gerry Duggan and more contribute to the title, which arrives for free on May 7.

Marvel has released more details on their third Free Comic Book Day title for 2022, Avengers/X-Men, which will feature three stories.

As announced earlier today, the first one will preview the Judgment Day event, in a prelude story by writer Kieron Gillen and artist Dustin Weaver (who drew the preview artwork accompanying the announcement.) The event will feature the Avengers trying to avert a war between the Eternals and the X-Men.

The second story, by Gerry Duggan and artist Matteo Lolli, will serve as the lead-in to this year’s Hellfire Gala. a storyline that’ll take place this summer. Last year’s gala brought a new team of X-Men, the mutant takeover of Mars and the death of the Scarlet Witch — so who knows what will happen this year. Quicksilver, watch your back …

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Marvel officially announces the event series ‘Judgment Day’

Kieron Gillen and Valerio Schiti will bring together the X-Men, Avengers and Eternals for a symphony of destruction.

Marvel will bring together the X-Men, the Eternals and the Avengers for Judgment Day, a crossover series coming this summer from Kieron Gillen and Valerio Schiti.

The story will revolve around conflict between the Eternals and the X-Men, as the latter target Krakoa and the Avengers try to play peacekeeper. With Gillen already writing Eternals and Immortal X-Men on deck, it makes sense that he’d bring them together — and write his first event series for Marvel.

“There’s a classic metaphor to describe the Marvel Universe – a toybox, which creators take toys out of, play with and put back. I get it, but it’s never quite how I’ve seen it – I think ‘play’ in another way. I think of a music shop, with all these instruments with their different qualities suggesting different songs, different stories,” Gillen said. “For all the Marvel instruments I’ve played, I’ve never written an event. Writing an event is something different. It’s not like playing an instrument. It’s having all the instruments in the Marvel music shop. That’s not like writing a song. That’s like writing a symphony.”

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Can’t Wait for Comics | Explore the history of the Amazons in ‘Wonder Woman: Historia’

Check out new comics and graphic novels this week by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Phil Jimenez, Victoria Elliot, Joshua Williamson, Dennis Culver, Danny DeVito, Jason Aaron, Mike Mignola, Dav Pilkey, Chuck D and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital this week. And what a week it is.

Things seem to be back to normal at Diamond Comics Distributors this week, or at least normal-er, following a few weeks of recovering from a ransomware attack. Their Previews World site is up and showing this week’s comics as expected, so I’ve added it back to the list of sites you can visit to get the full picture of what’s arriving this week:

Also, as a reminder, things can change and what you find on the above lists may differ from what’s actually arriving in your local shop. So always check with your comics retailer for the final word on availability.

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What Are You Reading? | ‘Human Target’ #1 presents ‘a good union of character and creative team’

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our look at what the Smash Pages crew has been checking off their “to read” list lately. Today’s edition includes thoughts on Dark Knights of Steel, Newburn, Human Target and more.

Let us know what you’ve been reading lately in the comments or on social media.

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Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘Dark Knights of Steel’ draw their swords

New comics arrive this week from Chip Zdarsky, Jacob Phillips, Tom King, Greg Smallwood, Tom Taylor, Mark Millar, Stuart Immonen, Mike Mignola and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital. This week sees the return of the Human Target and the Magic Order, as well as debuts from DC, Image, Vault and more.

You can visit Diamond’s website for this week’s almost complete list of new comics arriving in stores. The Lunar Distribution home page has DC’s releases and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

I should also add that the list of what is actually arriving at your local shop can vary from what’s on anyone’s official website for a myriad of reasons — so always check with your comics retailer for the final word on availability.

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Avengers of the Multiverse will assemble in ‘Avengers Forever’

Jason Aaron and Aaron Kuder send ‘shockwaves across all of reality’ this December.

Marvel is resurrecting the “Avengers Forever” name for a new series from Jason Aaron and Aaron Kuder. While the Kurt Busiek/Carlos Pacheco classic miniseries brought together Avengers from throughout time, this new series will bring together Avengers from throughout the multiverse.

Avengers Forever, one of the eight new tentpole titles coming this winter that Marvel announced last week, will arrive in December. But Aaron says the story actually begins in Avengers #50.

Avengers #50 lights the fire. Avengers Forever is the explosion that follows,” Jason Aaron told Marvel.com. “A slam bang supernova of a megabomb that sends shockwaves across all of reality, to earth after earth that’s been defaced by the new Multiversal Masters of Evil, to the ruins of Asgard at the end of time, to an Avengers Tower that sits atop a bedrock of fallen gods at Infinity’s End. Along the way, we meet some new versions of Avengers we know, as well as witness the return of some dear old friends, in a series that will swing for the fences with each and every issue, as the Mightiest Heroes of all the Earths in the heavens look to assemble as never before.”

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Comics Lowdown | Supply chain issues cause delays for DC Comics

Plus: Free Comic Book Day woes for New York library, Marvel’s vaccination comic, Osamu Tezuka and more.

Newsarama has reported that several titles from DC scheduled to come out over the next few months have been delayed due to supply chain issues.

“DC faces an unprecedented strain on the global supply chain, affecting all of us in the comic industry and beyond,” DC Marketing Manager Albert Ching said in a statement to retailers. “Up to this point, we’ve been able to keep delays and shortages to a minimum, but with recent notifications about COVID-related port closures, international and domestic freight delays, workforce shortages, and a severely allocated paper supply, we are unable to continue to manage this situation without disruption.”

Some Batman Day comics, DC has said, will be allocated to retailers as well due to these same issues, but

Supply chain issues have been in the news recently as manufacturers face raw materials shortages, transportation delays, higher energy costs and of course COVID-related issues. They are expected to continue into next year and will likely be exasperated with the upcoming holiday season.

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Marvel announces plans for milestone ‘Avengers’ #750

The oversized issue will include stories by Jason Aaron, Christopher Ruocchio, Steve McNiven, Carlos Pacheco and more.

Marvel is pulling out the stops on issue #750 of the Avengers, which arrives in November, as the 96-page issue will include multiple stories by current Avengers writer Jason Aaron and artists like Carlos Pacheco, Aaron Kuder, Ed McGuinness and Javier Garrón.

“It’s such an honor to be a part of issue #750 of Avengers, and I’m looking to celebrate the rich history of the title and its iconic characters by using this issue as the gargantuan-sized kick-off for a story that’ll be as wildly sweeping and swing-for-the-fences epic as it can possibly be,” Aaron told Marvel.com. “It’s not just that everything I’ve been doing in the last 50 issues of Avengers has been leading to this, but there are threads feeding into the next year’s worth of stories that stretch back to most every major series I’ve ever written in my 15 years at Marvel Comics.”

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