Avid comic readers know there’s one undeniable truth to any crossover or event featuring Marvel’s merry mutants: prepare yourself for the worst and hope for the best. For every Age of Apocalypse there’s a Utopia, Necrosha or Schism just waiting to drag you down. Tentatively, I dove into last year’s X-Men: Battle of the Atom crossover to see which side of the fence I fell on; the initial fan feedback was divisive, to say the least.

A 10-chapter arc weaving through X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine and the X-Men and All-New X-Men and bookended by two one-shots; Battle of the Atom starts with the original, time-displaced team of X-Men deciding (arguing) whether or not they should leave the present day and return to their era. But why settle on past and present when you can have not one but two different X-Men teams from the future join in?

Another year, another crisis in the X-Men universe. Can’t they all just get along? Fortunately, they can’t and that makes for some great reading for fans.

This new arc looks to carry on the tradition of fine storytelling and we’ve got a preview of the first issue of X-Men: Battle of the Atom for you today. Here’s more from Marvel:

Hank McCoy brought the original X-Men into the present in the hopes of changing the course of history and stopping Scott Summer’s mutant revolution before it even begins. But as the young and confused X-Men try to cope with their devastating futures, the team begins to unravel from the inside.

And just as mutant civil war is about to hit its boiling point, an unexpected third party comes in to change the game – the future X-Men! They’ve traveled back in time with a warning – the originals need to go back to their rightful time or they will be the final nail in mutantkind’s coffin. They risked everything to come to the past and won’t leave until the All-New X-Men are back in the past.

There’s no doubt that comics featuring the X-Men are some of the most popular of all time. The characters, situations and stories have captured the imaginations of millions of fans worldwide.

Over the years as they’ve gained in popularity, the X-Men have been comprised of many great members. Arguably, the most popular and iconic is Wolverine. And now, thanks to the gang at Marvel, he’s headlining another new comic coming soon.

That’s right folks. Here’s the scoop directly from Marvel:

“A brand new crew of X-Men in the oversized debut of Wolverine & The X-Men #1! From Marvel Architect writer Jason Aaron and fan favorite artist Chris Bachalo, this new team will have their hands full as the Hellfire Club makes their next move. With covers by Bachalo – no fan can miss this bold new era of mutantkind as X-Men: Regenesis continues in Wolverine & The X-Men #1!”

Look for the new book to hit store shelves on October 26. Check out the covers (in the larger, easier to see size) for issues #1 and #2 after the break.

Welcome to another edition of The Pull List Comic Reviews! This week Jonah Hex takes top billing, a couple more Blackest Night mini-series debuts and a slew of over-sized annuals and one-shots invade your pull list. As always, WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

PULL OF THE WEEK:

Jonah Hex #50
DC Comics – $3.99 US
Writers: Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: Darwyn Cooke
Score: 9.5

The landmark 50th issue of Jonah Hex hits the stands, featuring a done-in-one tale of the scarred bounty hunter’s latest task: to locate and dispose of 50 various bad guys. The cost of victory, however, may prove to be too much to bear…

Jonah Hex is no stranger to violence. We’ve been exposed to his brand of “justice” for decades now, so it’s very easy to forget that, under all of that hatred, this killing machine does have a heart. Thankfully, writing team Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti weave a story that is sure to please the loyal Hex fans with plenty of merciless vengeance, while injecting a tragedy that goes to great lengths to humanize the central character.

Darwyn Cooke handles the art chores on this commemorative issue, further cementing how incredible a read this was. Gorgeous pencils accompany the artist’s usual cinematic flair, with numerous examples of how to kill a man mixed in with a few touching moments, and a final page that speaks volumes without the aid of dialogue. With the holidays around the corner, I’d gladly accept this final page in all of its original glory as a nifty Christmas gift.