Riding on the success and awesomeness of X-Men: First Class, Marvel has decided to continue in the trend of “retro heroes” as they go all the way back to the end of the second World War with Avengers 1959.

The series will give us some great moments that we remember fondly in history with that special Marvel twist and some great heroic moments with our favorites like Nick Fury, Punisher, Sabertooth, and more. Here’s the press release:

Spinning out from the pages of New Avengers, Marvel is pleased to announce Avengers 1959 #1 (of 5), a brand new mini-series from comics legend Howard Chaykin, this fall! An unique team of super powered individuals of the post-World War II era including,  Sabretooth, Kraven the Hunter and Namora, must combat threats in New York, Madripoor, and everywhere in between!

“I’m grabbing what feels like a brass ring here, with the opportunity to do an untold story of the lost years of the Marvel Universe,” explained Chaykin. “In a follow up to the sensational stuff laid out by Brian Bendis in NEW AVENGERS, we’ll follow Nick Fury and his Avengers around the world as they track down and take down super powered survivors of the Third Reich–as their ever effort is countermanded by a mysterious agency with a dark agenda of its own.”

A pretty action packed series, you can expect to catch the first of five issues hit shelves and comic book stores everywhere this October.

The Great Escape (1963) is one of those films that no matter how many times I see it, I find a new way to appreciate it even more. Director John Sturges (Never So Few, The Magnificent Seven) brings to the screen this World War II adventure about allied soldiers who stage one of the greatest massive escapes from a new type of German POW camp.

Steve McQueen (Capt. Virgil “The Cooler King” Hilts), James Garner ( Lt. Robert “The Scrounger” Hendley), Richard Attenborough (Squadron Leader Roger “The Big X” Bartlett), Charles Bronson (Lt. Danny “The Tunnel King” Velinski), James Coburn (Flying Officer Louis “The Manufacturer” Sedgwick) and Donald Pleasence (Lt. Colin “The Forger” Blythe) make up the cast of escape artists.

The German Luftwaffe (Air Force) has created a new type of POW camp in which “all their rotten eggs” can be placed in one heavily guarded basket. Allied POWs have been gathered from all stockades in Germany and are brought to Stalag Luft III outside of Sagan, Germany. The new camp commandant, Col. von Luger (Hannes Messemer) informs the new prisoners that there will be no escape attempts and if any try they will be executed. The senior allied officer, Group Captain Ramsey (James Donald) tells the commandant that it is the sworn duty of every prisoner to try and escape.

Von Luger feels comfortable that the new facility will make it impossible for any to escape. Within the first few minutes of arriving in the camp, the main characters begin probing for weaknesses among the camp’s guards, the wire, and the conning towers which overlook everyone and everything within the camp. Several make attempts to try and escape but are quickly discovered and prove to be a handful for their captors.

The most notable of these attempts is perpetrated by Capt Hilts (McQueen), an American flier who throws his baseball over the “wire of death” which is erected in front of the camp perimeter fence. Hilts informs one of his fellow American inmates that between the two towers at night, makes it almost impossible for them to see someone trying to cut through the fence. He is discovered by one guard and is shot at by another in one of the towers.

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This week’s pick goes behind the lines of World War II France with the 1967 release of Robert Aldrich’s The Dirty Dozen. The film stars the legendary Lee Marvin as Major John Reisman, an American OSS (pre C.I.A.) operative chosen by Allied command to recruit, train, and drop twelve convicted American military prisoners into France before the Normandy invasion to wipe out a chateau full of German brass. Aldrich adapts E.M. Nathanson’s novel to bring one of the 1960s most successful war movies to the screen.

The cast is a who’s who of some of Hollywood’s best talent. Ernest Borgnine (Maj. Gen. Worden), Charles Bronson (Joseph Wladislaw), Jim Brown (Robert T. Jefferson), John Cassavetes (Victor R. Franko), Richard Jaeckel (Sgt. Clyde Bowren), George Kennedy (Maj. Max Armbruster), Ralph Meeker (Capt. Stuart Kinder), Robert Ryan (Col. Everett Dasher Breed), Telly Savalas (Archer J. Maggott), Donald Sutherland (Vernon L. Pinkley), Clint Walker (Samson Posey), and Robert Webber (Brig. Gen. Denton).

Major Reisman is selected for this mission due to his illustrious reputation for behind the lines action, but he is also well known for exceeding his orders and showing borderline insubordination for his superiors. Both General Worden and Denton tell Reisman that the twelve men have a temporary stay of their sentences for the mission.

Reisman knows fully well that it’s a suicide mission and asks the Generals to reconsider and that the only way for these men to go along with such a deal, is to pardon them for their crimes and that they be returned to active duty at their former ranks. It’s a tough sell, but Gen. Worden agrees and Reisman has just a few short months to train these convicts and turn them into an elite commando unit.

Most of the twelve men are serving long prison sentences, but five (Franko, Jefferson, Maggott, Posey and Wladislaw) are to be hung for murder. Reisman sells the promise of amnesty to these five, because they are the ones with the most to lose. Reisman tells them all that they are dependent of one another and that if any try to escape, fail to add up, or quit, they will all be sent back to prison.

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Last time we talked about Activision’s updated version of the classic game Wolfenstein, we had the brand new E3 trailer for the game to bring you. As cool as the trailer was, of course it made us want more. Fortunately, as sometimes happens, you get just what you wish for — in the form of a brand new video graphic novel prequel for the game.

This video, which has never been seen before, is part one of a four part graphic novel series which tells the backstory of the new  Wolfenstein game. This “moving” graphic novel sets up the game and gives some insight into the characters and situations you may encounter. Its a very cool, clever and entertaining way to promote a video game and after seeing it, I can’t wait for the next three parts.

Wolfenstein 3D is available now on XBox Live and PSN. The new, improved Wolfenstein game is coming later this year for all next gen consoles. Meantime, check out this very cool video after the jump. And, because the video is for an “M’ rated game and contains some blood and gore, by clicking through you certify you are 18 years of age or older.

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