One of our favorite charactgers of all the Marvel Universe is Wolverine. He’s a total bad ass and also has a heart, in the right place. Naturally, when Marvel sees fit to release anything having to do with this iconic character, we take notice and bring it to you.

Case in point this time around is the upcoming book Wolverine: Origin II. For more on this new work, check out all the info from the official Marvel press release.

This November, blockbuster writer Kieron Gillen and fan-favorite artist Adam Kubert peel back Wolverine’s shadowy past in a direct sequel to one of the most important Marvel tales of all time in Wolverine: Origin II #1!

“When we last saw Logan at the end of Origin, he was broken—barely straddling the line between man and animal,” said series writer Kieron Gillen. “But how did he transform himself from a wild recluse and into the groomed warrior he is today? That was always been a transformation I’ve wanted to explore.”

One thing Marvel never seems to get tired of is pitting its creations against each other. After all, what do you do when you’ve concurred all the super villains in the universe?

The latest example of this is Marvel’s upcoming Avengers versus X-Men. Not content with just one new series, Marvel is also dropping some tie-in books lioke the one we’ve got a preview of today.

This one, called AVX VS #1, comes from the creative team of Jason Aaron & Adam Kubert and Kathryn & Stuart Immonen. It features “pulse-pounding battles” as Iron Man faces off against Magneto & Thing takes on Namor.

Look for AVX VS #1 to arrive in comic stores on April 25. Check out the preview after the break.

If there’s one thing that send waves of excitement through comic book nerds everywhere it’s epic battles between superhuman combatants. So you can imagine how excited comic book fans will be when two groups of these titans meet to do battle for the fate of the entire Marvel Universe.

Let’s just say it’s going to be epic. Want to know more? Of course you do.

Here’s all the scoop from the official Marvel press release:

From the powerhouse creative team of Brian Michael Bendis, Jason Aaron, Matt Fraction, Jonathan Hickman, Ed Brubaker, John Romita Jr., Adam Kubert and Olivier Copiel comes a groundbreaking event pitting Earth’s Mightiest against the X-Men with the entire Marvel Universe at stake. Cyclops and his team believe the arrival of the Phoenix Force will save mutantkind, but Captain America is convinced it will destroy the world! But who is right?

Who indeed? Check out an image of the first cover after the break. Look for Avengers vs. X-Men to hit store shelves on April 3.

As potential comic book character team-ups go the combination of Spider-Man and Wolverine has to be at, or near, the top of any fan’s wish list. I mean come on, these characters are undoubtedly two of the the most popular in the entire Marvel Universe, so it only stands to reason what an epic book it would be if they ever joined forces.

Well folks, prepare to have your minds blow as that time has come with the pending release of Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine #1. According to Marvel, here’s the scoop on the new series:

Marvel is proud to unveil your first look at the hotly-anticipated Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine #1, from two of today’s most acclaimed talents—Jason Aaron and Adam Kubert. Spider-Man and Wolverine come together in their first major series ever, as they journey to the edges of a Marvel Universe in a new series that will dramatically affect both characters.

The new series hits store shelves in May. In the meantime, check out several preview pages for the comic right after the jump.

With 2009 coming to a close, the challenge was to pick and rank the 10 best comics from the entire year. I’ve estimated reading approximately 1,500+ issues over that time frame, so obviously it wasn’t the easiest task to complete. Still, after much deliberation, these are my picks for the 10 best comics of 2009.

1. Jonah Hex #50
DC Comics
Writers: Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: Darwyn Cooke
Originally reviewed on December 3, 2009

Perfection. Defined as the highest degree of proficiency, skill or excellence, perfection is near impossible to achieve, especially when every comic ever printed is subjective in nature. You know, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and all that jazz. Still, when I thought about all the comics I’ve read this past year, this issue of Jonah Hex kept coming back to me. While not perfect (frankly, what is?), it’s pretty close.

A wonderful done-in-one tale following our “hero” as he diligently goes about his day job, in this specific case while hunting down 50 various bad guys who had it coming to them. A fine story on it’s own. Now add a dash of romance – or the bounty hunter’s version of it – to the mix, sprinkle in a little personal vengeance, and top it off with a jolting reminder of how cruel life can be, and you’re left with a portrait of a man who makes no excuses for who he is or what he does, life expectations be damned.

Welcome to another edition of The Pull List Comic Reviews! An incredibly solid week as we’ve got three Blackest Night tie-ins, some speedster action and a particularly “horrible” tale, but only one issue each week tops the “list.” Be sure to let us know what you thought of these issues, we’re always interested to hear from you, the readers. As always, WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

PULL OF THE WEEK:

Dark Reign: The List – Amazing Spider-Man One-Shot – Marvel Comics – $3.99 US
Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Adam Kubert
Score: 9.5

Norman Osborn made a list and he’s checking it more than twice as certain thorns in his side have gotten his full attention. Everyone from the X-Men to the Avengers have had to deal with him, and by now you’ve heard of how the Punisher went to pieces over his clash with the H.A.M.M.E.R. Director, so how will Spider-Man do? Hint: Spidey doesn’t win this one.

I’ll start with Dan Slott’s writing in this issue, and simply state that he crushed it. There’s no other way to say it, really. Sure, an argument could be made that Spidey should have done something by now, especially considering his history with Stormin’ Norman. Put that aside, if you ever wanted to see Peter Parker triumph at anything – he’s had a ridiculously long losing streak since “Brand New Day” – then this is the issue for you.

It’s been a few months since artist Adam Kubert penciled some pages, but with that amount of lead-time you knew this issue would be stunning. He failed to disappoint. Crammed with gorgeous visuals, the entire one-shot was a treat, even when the action had decidedly died down for the last act. One look at the very first page is all you need to know in regards to how good the art is.

I’m particularly fired up for some brand new Adam Kubert art this week. The Kubert Brothers are probably my favorite comic artists working today, and this week we get Adam Kubert handling a Dan Slott Spider-Man issue, where our favorite web-slinger gets put on Norman Osborn’s List. This is probably the Must Buy of the week in my opinion, and there you have it.

Other good issues include the beginning of the Gauntlet story in Amazing Spider-Man. With Mark Waid writing and Paul Azaceta drawing the introduction, Joe Kelly and his I Kill Giants artist Niimura handle a Black Cat story.

From DC we get the penultimate issue of the Flash: Rebirth, with some incredible art from Ethan Van Sciver. At this point, with Blackest Night and everything else it seems like this book has kind of gone by the wayside and we know that Barry Allen is back and he is back to stay. So why stay with this book? Well, I feel like its still interesting to see how he comes back, plus all the Flashes together makes for some neat visuals.

Finally, an Indie book called Viking, written by one of the best comic writers that you may or may not know of, Ivan Brandon, takes on a viking crime book with artist Nic Klein. This is a beautifully dialogued, and gorgeously rendered book that is a feast for your eyes. Its easily the best put together comic on the market so I urge you all to try it out.

As always, we here at The Flickcast care about what you read, so leave us a comment and let us know what you liked/didn’t like from this week’s comics. For a more complete list of what comes out this week, check out the one at Midtown Comics.

Once again its time for the list of the comics on sale from our friends at Marvel this week. Catching our interest this week are the latest issue of Punisher, Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth, Dark Avengers and the new Kookaburra. As always, be sure to check out the list below and after the jump some great covers for some of these new comics.

Comics On-Sale:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #612
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #612 BLACK CAT VARIANT
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #612 GRANOV COVER
DARK AVENGERS #11
DARK REIGN: THE LIST – AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
DARK REIGN: THE LIST – AMAZING SPIDER-MAN HERO VARIANT
DARK REIGN: THE LIST – AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VILLAIN VARIANT
DEADPOOL: MERC WITH A MOUTH #5
DOMINIC FORTUNE #4
INCREDIBLE HULK #604
KOOKABURRA K #1
KOOKABURRA K #1 VARIANT
MIGHTY AVENGERS #31
NOMAD: GIRL WITHOUT A WORLD #3