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?

We like Marvel. They seem to be able to keep most of their characters fresh and interesting. Case in point this time is Thor, who’s getting a brand new series from Marvel called Thor: God of Thunder. It comes from writer Jason Aaron and artist Esad Ribic and looks promising.

Here’s more about it directly from Marvel:

Throughout the ages, the gods of the Marvel Universe have been vanishing, their mortal worshippers left in chaos. NOW! the Mighty Thor follows a trail of blood that threatens to consume his past, present and future selves. The only hope for these ravaged worlds lies with the God of Thunder unraveling the gruesome mystery of the God Butcher!

Yes, we know, Marvel loves exclamation points. What are you gonna do? Check out some pages from the new comic after the break. Look for Thor: God of Thunder to arrive in stores on November 14.

I know it might seem a bit confusing sometimes what with many comics having unusual or long names these days. Ultimate Comics New Ultimates anyone? Fortunately, this one isn’t that long or confusing. Or is it? Anyway,what am I talking about?

I’m talking about Marvel’s upcoming Ultimate Comics Ultimates #2, which we have a preview of for you today. Here’s some scoop on the book directly from our pals at Marvel.

Marvel is pleased to present your first look at Ultimate Comics Ultimates #2 from the rockstar creative team of Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic. Ultimate Comics Reborn continues as the entire world begins to crumble around S.H.I.E.L.D., and the Ultimates are powerless against it! With their leader nowhere to be found, can Thor, Iron Man & Nick Fury pull together and stop the Tomorrow People before it’s too late?

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say they probably will. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to read it and find out for sure. Fortunately, I’m going to get my chance pretty soon.

Look for Ultimate Comics Ultimates #2 to hit store shelves on September 28. Click through to check out the preview pages.

In the world of Marvel comics I’ve always been more of a fan of Marvel’s Ultimates version of its Universe. I’m not sure why but maybe it’s the stark realism of that Universe or maybe it’s just Nick Fury looking like Samuel L. Jackson.

Whatever the reason, I like it. So, glad to see Marvel is coming out with another comic that takes place in that world called Ultimate Comics Ultimates. Here’s the scoop:

From the critically acclaimed creative team of Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic comes a comic where Iron Man, Hawkeye, Nick Fury & Thor are back together after the monumental events of Ultimate Comics Fallout. One of the biggest villains that ever faced the Ultimate Universe has returned. But with a teammate out of action, can the remaining members save the world as they struggle to find their place in the Ultimate Universe?

Yep, that sounds pretty good to me. This is one I’ll be picking up as soon as I can.

Check out the preview pages after the jump. Pick up Ultimate Comics Ultimates #1 in stores on August 24th.