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?

Want to jump back into your favorite comic books to check in with some of your favorite superheroes and superheroines, but unable to pick up the pieces in the middle of a heavy storyline? Marvel has you covered by introducing the Point One program. Here’s the skinny.

The Point One program offers readers the perfect starting point for new storylines spinning out of the new year. Self-contained and featuring some of Marvel’s greatest talent and characters, these Point One books will lay the groundwork for a whole year’s worth of storytelling.

For years, this is the one problem that the comic book industry has dealt with. Now, fans can start fresh and continue getting weekly comics courtesy of Marvel without feeling like there are tons of back issues and trades that they have to read.

Starting in February, the publisher will be rolling out this new program on some of their mainstream titles, and eventually roll them out to all big books by May. Take a look at the complete list of effected books after the jump, and start picking up these new books this February.

Even with the coming holiday this week our friends at Marvel are still coming out with new comics for you to enjoy. They even come out on Wednesday just in time for you to pick some up and have something to read when you want to get away from your family on Thursday.

Of the ones coming out this week, we’re most interested in Deadpool #29, Secret Avengers #7, Secret Warriors #22, Uncanny X-Men #530 and Uncanny X-Force #2. So, head over early to your favorite comics shop for best selection.

Don’t know where your nearest comic shop is? Use this handy guide to find one.

Check out the list of comics you can get below. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Comics on Sale:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #649 (BIG)
ASTONISHING THOR #1
ASTONISHING THOR #1 FOILOGRAM VARIANT
AVENGERS & THE INFINITY GAUNTLET #4
AVENGERS PRIME #1 3RD PRINTING VARIANT
AVENGERS VS. PET AVENGERS #2
AVENGERS: THE CHILDREN’S CRUSADE #1 3RD PRINTING VARIANT
BLACK WIDOW #8
CAPTAIN AMERICA #612
CAPTAIN AMERICA #612 TRON VARIANT
CHAOS WAR: ALPHA FLIGHT #1 (CW)
DEADPOOL #29
DEADPOOL PULP #3
DEADPOOL TEAM-UP #887

Welcome to this week’s On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage this week. Let is know if we missed something interesting. Otherwise, on to the links!

• A fan-made alternate ending to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory has surfaced. Michael Bay would love this one.

• Of course there is a real life Kick-Ass, and he prefers to be called “The Viper”.

• Kevin Bacon is allegedly in talks to be the main villain in X-Men: First Class. No word on who he’ll play, we just hope it’s not the same character he played in The Woodsman.

• Just in case you weren’t excited enough for The Expendables, here’s an 8-bit video game to keep you occupied.

Even with the President’s Day holiday, new comics are still going to come out this week. Even with the holiday, comics will still come out on Wednesday, never fear.

Some of the ones we’re particularly interested in include the latest Deadpool, Psylocke #4, Punisher #14, Captain America #603, Uncanny X-Men #521 and the debut of Doomwar. Check out the list of all these comics, and more, from the official Marvel press release below.

Comics On-Sale:
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #621 (GNTLT)
AVENGERS VS. ATLAS #2
AVENGERS VS. ATLAS #2 PELLETIER VARIANT
BLACK WIDOW & THE MARVEL GIRLS #4
BLACK WIDOW: DEADLY ORIGIN #4
CAPTAIN AMERICA #603
CAPTAIN AMERICA #603 DEADPOOL VARIANT
DAREDEVIL #505
DAREDEVIL #505 DEADPOOL VARIANT
DARK AVENGERS #14 (S)
DARK AVENGERS #14 DEADPOOL VARIANT
DEADPOOL #19
DEADPOOL: MERC WITH A MOUTH #8