Highlights from Marvel November 2013 solicitations – Amazing X-Men, X-Men Gold and the end of Avengers Arena

It’s time to start thinking about what Marvel books you’ll be buying in November! It’s the end of an era for several books, new starts for others and the return of some absolute legends: and we aren’t just talking about Longshot. These are the highlights from Marvel’s November 2013 solicitations.

More X-Men books!

There’s 11 ongoing X-Men books now! Whee? As previously reported, Amazing X-Men by Jason Aaron and artist Ed McGuinness, and the Longshot Saves The Marvel Universe mini-series by Chris Hastings and artist Jacopo Camagni. In the first book, the team learns that Nightcrawler may not be dead, so they head off to find him. The intriguing book will feature Azazel as the main antagonist, bring Firestar forward as a major character, along with Northstar, Wolverine, Beast, Iceman and Storm.

“Finally, a Longshot mini-series,” I can hear you both thinking. Not many more details here, but “the luckiest X-Man” is apparently being chased by everyone. You be sure to be careful to not get trampled in the stampede on new comic book day come November. Additionally, there will be a Wolverine and the X-Men Annual #1 and a Deadpool Annual #1, because evidently neither character had enough comic book real estate to tell their stories adequately.

Whither the Ultimate Universe?

Already discussed in detail elsewhere on the site, the solicitations now indicate that things are not looking good for the Ultimate line with Cataclysm taking over all of the Ultimates books for the month. In addition to the launch of the ominously titled Cataclysm: The Ultimates Last Stand #1 and #2, from Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, all of the regular Ultimate series have been replaced with 3-issue mini-series: Cataclysm: Ultimate Spider-Man #1, Cataclysm: Ultimates #1 and Cataclysm: Ultimate X-Men #1. 

Adding more fuel to the fire is the solicitation for Cataclysm: The Ultimates Last Stand #2 that states “Miles Morales is headed to the Marvel Universe”. Indeed, we’ve mentioned on the podcast several times that this is the likely scenario: the universe will collapse, salvaging the most popular character to come out of it.

Chris Claremont and Stan Lee return to X-Men!

No, it isn’t April! The X-Men maestro, and friend of Behind the Panels (we’ve interviewed him twice!), Chris Claremont will return to the characters he defined, and will be joined by a slew of classic writers and artists who did the same. Did we mention Stan Lee? Unlike X-Men Forever, which took up where Claremont left off, the X-Men Gold one-shot is a celebration for the 50th anniversary of the characters Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created in 1963. The solicitation describes this exciting one-off event: “It’s the 50th Anniversary of the X-Men, ring it in with some of the greatest creators to ever work on the X-Men! Chris Claremont is joined by classic X-Artist Bob McLeod to bring you an untold story of the X-Men starring Cyclops, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Kitty Pryde and Rogue! Also jam-packed with all-star creators from X-Men past including Stan Lee, Walter Simonson, Louise Simonson and Fabian Nicieza!” Yes, please!

Avengers Arena ends

Billed as the “searing series finale”, Dennis Hopeless and Kev Walker’s Avengers Arena comes to an end with issues #17 and #18. Speaking with CBR, Hopeless stated:  “We told you from the start that this was a 30-day competition. ‘Boss Level’ takes us all the way to day 30 and beyond. After this, everything changes.” The disappearance of this initially controversial series won’t necessarily make much of a blip on the radar in the grand scheme of things, as the July sales showed that it only came in at #104 on the charts, right behind the My Little Pony Micro Series. ‘Nuff said.

No Captain Marvel?

A conspicuous absence for November is Kelly Sue DeConnick‘s superb Captain Marvel, which recently concluded its “Enemy Within” crossover with Avengers Assemble, Kelly Sue’s other title. On her tumblr, the writer teased the future of the book:  “Exciting news coming, but I don’t want to step on any Marvel toes by speaking out of turn. Until official word is out, Carol Corps — stay tuned, have faith. It’s all good. I’ve never lied to you before, have I?”  We have faith that whatever is brewing, it’s going to be good. Between now and then, you can also check out her collaboration with Emma Rios on Pretty Deadly in October (Image Comics), or have a listen back to our interview with Kelly Sue here.