Comic Convention roundup

I cannot remember the last time there was so much comic book info spilled in a 24 hour span. And, it all happened while I was away from my computer most of the day yesterday, driving and watching the Silver Surfer.

So, we're going to give you a whole lot of quick hits to get you up to speed:

1) The long-teased fall X-men crossover was announced, with "X-Men: Messiah Complex." It will have no central special mini-series, just a 13-part crossover with a one-shot leading into three issues from each X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, and New X-men. You remember crossovers like this, right? Old School, like "Inferno" or "X-Tinction Agenda."

I could not be any more stoked for this event, especially after I read this: "Something happens in Chapter One that changes everything. It stratifies the world of the X-Men in a clear way. It unifies the heroes in a way they haven’t been for years, and all under Scott Summers. Cyclops steps up huge in this event and will get people talking."

All I can say is HELL YEAH, the fanboy in me is throwing a party.

2) Dwayne McDuffie (who is currently also writing Fantastic Four) is taking over on Justice League of America at issue #13. Apparently he is going to be on the book as long as he likes (unless he REALLY bombs), and he'll be juggling the lineup to make it a bit smaller and iconic.

I am not a fan of this news. I haven't been too impressed with McDuffie's FF, and I am really more of a JLA fan when they have quirky lineups, like now with Red Arrow and Black Lightning and Red Tornado, or like the Keith Giffen days... plus, if this current lineup wasn't going to be around for long, then why did we have seven issues of them coming together???

3) Mark Waid will be taking over writing duties on The Flash, after "The Flash: Fastest Man Alive" ends with issue #13... and take a look at the cover to that one!

Newsarama has an interview with Waid up HERE, in which he states that he won't be writing the same Flash he was a few years ago, and that he cannot say who he is writing until The JLA/JSA "Lightning Saga" crossover is finished. That, combined with this cover makes it pretty obvious that a Mr. B. Allen may be returning from the dead... at least that's where we are being led to believe...

Personally, I like Bart. maybe it's just that I'm a Teen Titans guy, but I think he's too good a character to kill.

4) Amazing Spider-man is going weekly! Or at least, three times a month. While this may sound incredible and unbelievable, you should realize that Marvel is killing Spidey's two other titles at the same time, so the page count is not changing.

This move does bring up a good idea, though. With so many characters like Superman or Batman or the X-Men supporting several different titles, maybe going with one title and more issues is the way to go? I know if I was a bigger fan of the Webhead, I'd be excited.

5) The Avengers apparently can no longer trust anybody. It turns out that the Elektra hanging around with them was, in fact, a Skrull. And apparently there are Skrull sleeper cells EVERYWHERE... or at least that's what Brian Bendis is saying.

For the next six-months the Avengers book will be full or characters turning out to be Skrulls, turning the Avengers' world upside down. How all these Skrulls are only affecting the Avengers and nobody else, I don't know. What I do know is that Bendis swears they are not going to do something cheesy like make Civil War the product of a Skrull, completely negating that story.

Or at least, thats what he is saying now... I don't trust Bendis, he annoys the Shit out of me.

6) So those are the biggest ones out there, unless my memory is faltering... one last thing though — Joe Quesada's response to why he wouldn't bring Jean Grey back, if only to have another great female character out there — he said he would never randomly make 20 Latino characters just because he is of Cuban decent and the Marvel Universe needed more Latinos
...

But didn't he already do that???