At 11 am on Wednesday morning, the battle of the year will begin in Marvel Comics AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #1! You’ve probably heard a lot about it by now, and may have even picked up last week’s prologue in the form of Avengers vs. X-Men #0. But now it’s time to officially get this thing underway!

Though the solicitation has been marked CLASSIFIED (in the Mighty Marvel Manner), we can tell you this: Avengers vs. X-Men #1 will involve a massive fight between the Avengers and the X-Men. And there you have it! You know as much as we do. But if you’ve been following the lead-up, you also know that the story involves Hope, the Scarlet Witch and a little thing called the Phoenix Force. And it’ll come out every other week, too. A 12-issue series over six months.Very exciting stuff.

So what are we doing to celebrate the release of the first issue of the biggest Marvel event of the year?? GLAD YOU ASKED. When you come in tomorrow you can expect:

• Specially priced variant covers! Featuring either the Avengers or the X-Men!
• Very cool litho prints!
• Buttons! Declare your loyalty!
• We’ve even got a handful of full-size Avengers vs. X-Men promotional posters for $3.00 each!

And if you’re wondering: we have declared ourselves, that is to say Cosmic Comix & Toys, on the side of the… X-MEN! What can we say? We’re a bunch of mutants around here.

Marvel Comics’ Avengers vs. X-Men #1 comes out on Wednesday!

As you surely know, the big Marvel release of the week is Avengers vs. X-Men #1… but we’re not ready to talk about that just yet! There are several other books from the House of Ideas that deserve just as much love and affection this week! Starting with Daredevil #10.1, which is obviously a Point One issue and a great place to jump on board one of the funnest series of the year. It also happens to sport one of the coolest covers of the day.

DAREDEVIL #10.1

Written by Mark Waid
Art by Khoi Pham

If you haven’t climbed onboard the Daredevil Express yet, this is a perfect jumping on point for the best reviewed series of the year! Pitting the Man Without Fear against a cabal of villainous secret societies sworn to bringing Hornhead to his knees! Setting the stage for this month’s Daredevil/Spider-Man/Punisher crossover "The Omega Effect"!

Speaking of good places to jump on, Hulk #50 also marks the beginning a new story arc. This issue is extra long at 48 pages and features a mysterious new figure who appears to be haunting the Red Hulk…

Elsewhere at Marvel, look for the end of Fear Itself: Fearless #12 (of 12). I guess we’ll see how relevant the series was to the Marvel Universe as a whole, just as the next major event kicks off!

We also can’t forget Wolverine and the X-Men #8 and Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha and Omega #4 (of 5). All roads may lead to Avengers vs. X-Men, but for now look out for a wicked Sabretooth vs. Beast fight and the return of Chris Bachalo on art.

Finally, the second part of the Doc Ock story "Ends of the Earth" comes out in the form of Amazing Spider-Man #683. This issue, look for the Avengers (whose movie boasted a very cool, Hulk-intensive trailer during last night’s NCAA men’s basketball championship game)!

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #683 ENDS

Written by Dan Slott
Art by Stefano Caselli

The biggest movie stars of the summer team up as the Amazing Spider-Man and the Avengers square off against Doc Ock and the Sinister Six! The world may be ready to buckle under and give in to Doctor Octopus’ demands…but Spider-Man and his fellow Avengers sure ain’t!  

Those titles and more all come out on Wednesday!

We’ll kick off the DC Comics picks for the week with Vertigo… or as I like to call it, in the spirit of Game of Thrones, House Vertigo. There are a couple solid releases from the mature readers imprint this week, but none so cool as Fairest #2! It’s the second issue of the Fables spin-off, whose first issue we thought was excellent, introducing us to Ali Baba, Sleeping Beauty and, as you can see on the very nice Adam Hughes cover, a mischievous winged imp.

FAIREST #2

Written by Bill Willingham
Art by Phil Jimenez, Andy Lanning

Okay, so Sleeping Beauty has been awakened again by true love’s kiss. But hold on! The thief Ali Baba doesn’t seem a likely candidate for knowing true love from a day-old cruller. So how did this kiss work? We proudly present thrills and chills – and since the Snow Queen is involved, we do mean chills – along with mathematical proof of what does and does not constitute true love.

Also from Vertigo, look for American Vampire #25. It’s the final chapter of the "Death Race" story arc, which has been totally excellent, daddy-o. But something tells me it won’t end well for the young rock ‘n’ roll vampire hunter whose trying to take on the one and only Skinner Sweet. There’s also Sweet Tooth #32, which we’re hoping involves the titular character going Rambo on somebody (based on the final page of the last issue).

Over in the main New 52 DCU, we get the dynamic duo of Animal Man #8 and Swamp Thing #8. They’ve both been excellent (if highly trippy) so far, keeping us totally engaged with the concepts of Green, Black and Red, colors that were no doubt inspired by the Pan-African flag. Both stories involve the heroes (and/or the heroes’ daughters) finding their roles in the world.

There’s also Detective Comics #8, which leads into next month’s Night of the Owls and involves Catwoman, Scarecrow, a new type of fear gas, and a new back-up story from writer Tony Daniel and Simon Kudranski, the artist whose darker than dark palette was a big part of what made the Penguin: Pain and Prejudice mini-series so good.

Finally, we’re stoked about Action Comics #8, from Grant Morrison, Rags Morales and a host of other artists. Last time, we saw Metropolis taken down to bottle-size and we got a glimpse of the only person who could conceivably be behind a deed like that: Brainiac. In this issue, we meet the one and only Collector of Worlds FOR REAL, as Morrison and Morales’ opening story comes to a close!

ACTION COMICS #8

Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Rags Morales, Rick Bryant

It’s the epic 30-page conclusion of Grant Morrison and Rags Morales’ majestic opening storyline! $3.99 gets you front row seats to the ascension of the DC Universe’s first Super Hero as The Man of Steel goes toe to tentacle with the all-new Brainiac for the final fate of Metropolis!

Those titles and more all come out on Wednesday!