Xtract: Wolverine & the X-Men #2 Snap Recap!

Today I present to you the Wolverine & the X-Men #2 issue in 5 pages! Check it out HERE by ComicBookNerdsAreHot.com's Tim Barklay!


I quite often feel guilty that I don't post enough "comics" news out here on the blog & since I'd like to think that this blog encompasses all the various media of the X-Universe I think I need to start getting you guys more info on this front...

The thing is I'm based in Mumbai, India- comics aren't as big here as in the US & there is no concept of a "comic book store" AT ALL out here! If you do happen to chance upon any comics in a bookstore, they will most probably be older issues...To get our fix of comics, most of us guys have to download em off the Net. Yes, it's wrong I'm aware, but we don't have a choice do we??

Enter Xtract! I don't have the time these days to actually download the comics & read em so I get whatever current news I have from the Net- news sites like ComicBookMovie.com are part of my daily fix. And then I have my 2 trusty Facebook groups that I go to- X-Men & Comic Book Nerds Are Hot! The latter is linked with the website that features today's xtract (you guys should totally check it out some time!). That's what Xtract is about- I get the stories that these Xperts put out on the Net to you guys!

But back to the issue at hand! Lotsa exciting happenings in W&TXM #2- someone gets kissed, Iceman has a new (more powerful) avatar & Wolverine...? Well he does what he ALONE can do best! LOL Hope you enjoy it...And expect more posts like these in the future, keeping you up-to-date on what's happenin' in the X-verse!

Oh & if you wanna meet loads of X-nerds & comic afficiondos you can joing the 2 FB groups I've posted about above! But don't forget to let 'em know where you came from! ;P

Xcavate: What went down at the NYCC 2011...

Well I know it's late- it's been more than a month now since all this was announced (no thanks to my computer's hard disk failing)...but what the hell- I promised you the news so you get it! :P To read more on the developments of your other Marvel heroes head onto the Marvel NYCC 2011 Liveblog Central...

________________________COMICS_________________________

On the comics news front I think it would be all a little stale...

 The Ultimate Comics Universe Reborn Panel discussed mostly about Ultimate Spidey (what with all the hype around Miles Morales, this isn't surprising) & the only thing touched upon with regards to the  Ultimate X-Men was that:

*Ultimate Comics Hawkeye books will act as a link between what occurs in The Ultimates and Ultimate X-Men.

*With the Fantastic 4's Johnny Storm making his entrance in the UXM, it brings up the question about what is a mutant. But the fiery Johnny is doing well with the Ultimate X-Men & he & Bobby (Iceman) have become buddies...

The Cup O' Joe Panel was more forthcoming though (as always) & made some pretty cool X-announcements:

*Jeph Loeb & Simone Bianchi, will be resurrecting Sabretooth after writing his death years ago. Apparently there always intended to be more story- the stage had been set for Sabretooth’s return all along & it's not a last minute rewrite. You get your first look in Wolverine #300.

*The “It’s Coming” teaser that I told you guys about before has got all us X-fans excited (well, at least us Jean Grey fans anyway) cos it seems hint at the return of the Phoenix! 
*Lotsa clues for this & other future storylines are being revealed this month in Point One.  

The one comics panel that had A LOT of X-news to offer was the X-Men Regenesis Panel! It has SO much info packed in it but I'll just serve some of the interesting tidbits though:
*A mind-wiped Sebastian Shaw enters Generation Hope (#15)

*In Wolverine & The X-Men, Logan starts the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning where he's Principal (I found this unbelievable when I first read this!). The new Westchester mansion has a new Danger room, new classes & newer characters.

*Wolverine & The X-Men Omega sees Wolverine face off with Quentin Quire.
*Rogue goes off to the East Coast with Wolverine...So what happens between her & Magneto? Gambit enters to further complicate things!

*Havok & Polaris return from outer space in X-Factor!

*Uncanny X-Force will tell the Dark Angel saga which will result in a new ongoing series from March 2012- Age of Apocaplypse!
*In Daken: Dark Wolverine Daken moves to LA to become a crime kingpin out there...Runaways guest-star.
*Deadpool finds a way to kill himself (in 2012)...

*Chamber gets his powers back...

_________________________GAMES__________________________

Instead of elaborating about the Marvel Video Games Panel, I think I'll just let the trailers do the talking...Note I've posted the updated trailers for some of the games rather than the dated ones shown at the NYCC '11...

Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet


Super Hero Squad: Comic Combat 


Super Hero Squad Online



Marvel Pinball: Vengeance and Virtue
 Below is the trailer for the X-Men Marvel Pinball table...


Marvel Universe
MMMSociety has revealed your first look at your fave Marvel characters in this MMO game! Check out Wolverine, Deadpool & Cable below...Stay tuned for more images as more X-characters are revealed!


Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3

Xstatic! X-Men First Class movie gets it's own comic book!

LOADS of First Class hype rising just at the point of the movie's DVD/Bluray release today!

First all the updates I posted about in my last post & now this! Just saw a new cover for a X-Men First Class movie-tie in comic! Check out the cover for the first issue on the right.

Yup! I said "first" issue!! From the cover it seems that this isn't gonna be a one-shot. Also it doesn't appear to simply be an adaptation of the movie (like was released for X1 & X2, I'm not sure about X3 & X-Men Origins:Wolverine) but rather another chapter in the whole First Class saga.

In X-Men First Class: The High Hand #1, you'll learn "more about the Hellfire Club from "X-Men: First Class." So this first issue will be more like a prequel to the prequel movie :P When you buy the X-Men First Class Bluray you'll also be getting cool X-Men comics via Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, including X-Men First Class: The High Hand #1 along with 9 other comics including Uncanny X-Men #389.

________________________

Now let's go onto X-Men First Class sequel news! X-movies producer Lauren Shuler Donner has been giving loads of sound bytes lately, because of the DD/Bluray release, about the status on the X-movies. This is what she had to say on the XFC sequels:

• Since the making of First Class was just as tiring a process as it was rewarding to the entire team, they took some time off, but have now regrouped & are in serious talks for a sequel.
• She doesn't feel pigeon-holed due to the previous X-films or feel pressure in ending the prequel films to where the original trilogy started. Their main aim is to come up with a great story. If it does tie in nicely with where 2000's X-Men began then that's great, but the story is going to be of prime importance to them.
• Confirmed that the next sequel would most probably be set in the 70s.

With regards to an X4 & X5, which she herself has teased us about before, she's now stated that there could be an X4, but they "don’t want to saturate the market". Since First Class was such a roaring success they will most probably go ahead with a First Class sequel. She's also candidly stated that she "wasn’t too pleased with those movies (X3 & X-Men Origins:Wolverine). We just wanted to make something that was a fan-pleaser. There are many elements that go into making a movie, and not all of them came together. Two thumbs up to her for going ahead with First Class for sure rather than an X4 too & for fessing up! :)

Now wotchya waitin for?!? Order your X-Men First Class DVD or Bluray today right here!

Xcavate: SDCC 2011's Marvel: Year of the X-Men (Comics news!)

So as I said out here, the Year of the X-Men panel held by Marvel at the SDCC 2011 discussed future X-Men title issues that will be coming your way this 2011-12! Check out the exciting cover artworks below:
^(l-r) X-Men Legacy #257 (prominently featuring Havok), X-Men #19, X-23 #15, Deadpool

^(l-r) Daken #16 (Daken is Wolverine's offspring btw), Deadpool Max #13, Uncanny X-Force #16, Astonishing X-Men #43 (And...yes, I know ;P)
< Loads of artwork has been released for X-Factor too! Just a sampling of it out here. The sketch is of Jamie Madrox (aka Multiple Man) I'm finding the (Bishop) "M" markings very intriguing indeed!

Cover for a new series (curiously called Wolverine & the X-Men) has also been released.>
Does this mean we just might be getting a second Season for the Wolverine & the X-Men animated series?? I do hope so!


And as I said before, in X-Men: Schism (look out for an article on this Marvel X-comics-event soon), the X-Men are currently divided into 2 camps: Team Wolverine & Team Cyclops. Have a look at some new Schism comic panels that were revealed at the SDCC:
^Now isn't that first panel just bloody AWESOME?!?

Schism will be followed by X-Men: Regenisis. What will happen to the X-Men after this great divide? Only reading the issues will reveal all the answers!
< New artwork for Regensis #1. For the cover art, head to this post

I haven't included all the images released (especially sketches)- check all the X-artwork that was released at the source- CosmicBookNews!

Next Stop?? The Marvel Anime Panel at the SDCC 2011!

Xcursus: X-happenings at the SDCC 2011!

So now I'm guessing you know what the SDCC is all about, & you're aware of all the main SDCC happenings that are gonna be taking place this year...For starters, the SDCC 2011 Marvel booth is looking nothing short of EPIC!! The pics aren't X-related, but are TOO amazing to not be posted!
Now let's see what are all the X-events that are gonna be storming the Con in CA! (Click on the panel titles to get to its related post!)

July 21
Marvel: The Next Big Thing Panel
Learn where all your favorite heroes will be heading in the coming year! Panelists Nick Spencer (ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN), Greg Pak (Incredible Hulks), Jonathan Hickman (FF), Jim McCann (Marvel Zombies Christmas Carol), Editor in Chief Axel Alonso & others will be answering questions & giving a sneak peek at what's to come from Marvel!

July 22

Year of the X-Men Panel
Currently in X-Men: Schism, the X-Men have been broken between Team Cyclops & Team Wolverine- threatening to tear the X-Men apart. So what next? X-Men Regenesis! And this panel- consisting of writers Marjorie Liu (X-23), Rick Remender (Uncanny X-Force), Chris Yost (X-Men: First To Last) and Editor in Chief Axel Alonso- are out there to discuss just that!

Marvel Television Presents: Anime on G4 Panel

You know EXACTLY what this means dontchya?! Yup, Marvel’s Head of TV, Jeph Loeb & some "surprise guests" will be giving you the low-down on the Wolverine & X-Men anime TV shows! Plus they'll be screening a sneak peek of the X-Men anime's first episode!

July 23
Activision Panel Featuring (Spider-Man: Edge of Time &) X-Men Destiny
Comic book legend Stan Lee will talk about the fate of his creations in these games with Marvel writer Peter David (creator of Spiderman 2099) & Marvel VP of Games, TQ Jefferson. Jullian Spillane, project director of Silicon Knights will give an inside look into X-Men Destiny. Expect the cast of both these games to drop in! Get an exclusive preview of never-before-seen footage for the upcoming games! Moderated by Editorial Director of Marvel.com, Ryan Penagos (aka Agent M).

Marvel Television Presents Panel
Jeph Loeb will give your first look at The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Season 2, a sneak peek at the Ultimate Spiderman show & expect "a few other surprises from Marvel Television"...Will these surprises include more X-stuff on the tube? We'll have to wait & see!

Marvel vs. Capcom Panel

Yet another game series featuring X-characters I have to discuss about here- get a behind-the-scenes look at Marvel vs. Capcom 3 from producer Ryota Niitsuma, followed by Q&A.

Marvel Video Games Panel
Besides several other Marvel games set for release this year learn more about X-Men Destiny, Super Hero Squad Online, Super Hero Squad 3DS/uDraw, Marvel Pinball, Marvel Universe MMO as well as the future of Marvel vs Capcom 3, with exclusive trailers (like the XMD Choice trailer below), surprise reveals and a Q&A with the games' creators!


Hasbro: Marvel Panel

Along with that of the Thor, Captain-America: The First Avenger & Spider-Man toy lines, the marketing and design teams of the Marvel Universe figures (that including toys of several X-characters- check the pic below) present all their latest! Get a sneak peek into the 2012 lines!

Cup O' Joe Panel

The highlight of Marvel's program at all the major Cons! Why? Cos it's a no-holds-barred Q&A with Marvel's Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada. And with surprise guests always dropping in- guaranteed fun for any Marvelite!

July 24
Disney/Marvel Team-Up Panel
Marvel wraps up the SDCC with editors of Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW) & Marvel unveiling their new Marvel Origin Storybooks for kids, that retell the stories of Marvel's icons, including, you guessed it- the X-Men. Check out the artwork, film adaptations & beginner books with Marvel's Senior VP, Ruwan Jayatilleke, DPW's Global Editorial Director, Rich Thomas & DPW's Senior Editor, Michael Siglain.

And of course besides all these X-updates we'll be getting new details on The Avengers, Amazing Spider-Man & Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance movies besides the toons too! I for one, am looking forward to see what news lies ahead!

Xhibit: Avengers Poster made by me! :D

Ah! I'm FINALLY done with giving the finishing touches to this first Avengers poster (out of the two which I've been working on) today! And for those of you wondering- Hey! This is supposed to be 'All Things X' & not 'All Things Marvel' or something like that, then FYI, few X-Men characters have been a part of the Avengers at some point of time (Beast & two of Magneto's kids- Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch). Ohh...who am I kidding?! I just wanted to get some views on how you'll like the poster I made! And furthermore, don't mind me posting any of my non-X-Men artwork creations, as I'd really like to know what I'm doing right & what I could do better...So I WILL be posting the other Avengers poster too! :P

So after starting somewhere in mid-June (delayed due to a REALLY hectic schedule) it's complete at last! Check it out below...Would love your rants & raves, things you liked about it & things I could improve on...

Funny thing is the other Avengers poster I was working on was to be the first! But then while I was explaining my friend Sheetal (yes this same one- I told you she was well aware for my fanaticism for all things X-Men & CBM lol!) about the Avengers & the foes they've fought (I mainly was rambling on about the Skrulls & Thanos cos they are two villains rumored to appear in the movie), I happened to chance upon this cool Infinity Gauntlet comic book cover (I hadn't seen this EPIC cover before then) that features all the characters & Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet! Immediately I got inspired & decided I was going to start work on a poster that would emulate this rad cover (well, at least in a way a "movie" poster would).

^The comic book cover that started it all!

CREDITS:
The awesome Infinity Gauntlet is an image clicked at the SDCC 2010 by a photographer named M. V. Partsch.

I got the epic Thanos image from Rodrigue Pralier's blog! An amazing 3D model of Thanos done by Rodrigue (who works as Principal Artist at Bioware Montreal on Mass Effect 3)!

Can you guys guess which movie's poster I used to create Hawkeye's costume? And what about for the Maria Hill? Lastly from which movie did I steal a still pic for the background to the Agent Coulson image?

Xtreme: Marvel Wallpaper releases for June!

Marvel's given their fans another slew of their incredible wallpapers! Official Marvel wallpapers are always of the covers of comic books they release in that particular month & this June, we get loads of amazing cover art in all their high res glory!

You got Red Hulk, (green) Hulk, quite a few Spider-man ones (the Spider-man #666 cover is particularly awesome!), Captain America (another rad one!), Thor, Black Panther & Spider-Girl amongst others.

So where do the X-Men figure into all of this? Well fear not X-fans! We got some new X-wallpapers too! Magneto, Deadpool & a couple of Wolverine ones thrown in for good measure! Plus a new wallpaper from the ongoing X-Men Legacy storyline...I've put the previews for all the X-Men ones below & download all the wallpapers out here! Enjoy!


Now you know where the idea for that red helmet & attire for Magneto came from in X-Men First Class dontchya? It's Mags' costume colors in the comics!

Xtreme: X-Men Evolutions Variant Covers' Artwork

Okay so I have to admit- for hardcore X-fans, this will be old news. And I hadn't actually thought of putting this as my first post for comic book artwork...But I've seen quite a few people on this Facebook X-Men group talk about & gawk at these (nothing but awesome) variant covers that have been done just in time for the X-Men: First To Last (May) storyline. Christopher Yost returns to the X-Men with artists Paco Medina and Dalibor Talijic.

According to Marvel, the series will make you "discover the staggering consequences when Xavier’s first class arrives in the future to tackle their greatest foe yet! The next shocking X-Men arc starts right here and, when it’s all over, a major new figure will tower over the team’s past and their undecided future."

That's right! It goes right back to the First Class...Convenient huh? With the First Class movie out et all? The following "X-Men Evolutions" variant covers were released in mid-May & are brilliant pieces of artwork (very wallpaper-worthy). So I am posting all 13 pics that were released, out here...Each as been done by a different artist but all are equally EPIC! As always, click to enlarge the pics!