Why yes, I AM a nerd, thanks!

I am a huge comic books fan.

You're totally shocked, right? Hah, yeah right. There's no surprise there. I'm a huge nerd! Anyway, I love comic books. To be specific, Marvel comics. I have over a thousand, probably around 1200 by now actually, boxed up or spread around my apartment. Which would be fine if I lived alone. Sorry Darcy! (no I'm not.) In the 7-8 years I've been collecting comics, my "pull list" has grown pretty much out of control. Originally I started with only a couple of titles (Exiles and New Mutants), but since then I've expanded to 12-15 titles every month, not to mention special one-shots and limited series. It's crazy.

But what I wanted to talk about, 'cause I really have no one around to listen to me drone on about comics (locally), is a couple that I'm really excited about right now. First up:

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man

The Ultimate Marvel line of comics was launched as a separate continuity from regular Marvel comics to make it easier for new readers to enjoy comics without having to be bogged down by decades of backstory. My favourite title in the Ultimate line is Spider-Man. It's a version of Peter Parker very similar to the original, but still back in high school, not all grown up like the Spider-Man we all know and love.

This title has actually come to an end with the Death of Spider-Man story that recently came out. I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty bummed by this. Not only is it one of my favourite comic books, but the title of that final story should be a pretty obvious clue. They killed Spider-Man. Peter Parker is dead.

They did such an amazing job with the story, it was really epic how it all happened, and I really advise you to go read it if you haven't already because even though I'm sad, I can't help but be at awe of the story. It was so tragic, but in the end, Peter Parker dies a real hero (not that there was any denying it before anyway).

The title is relaunching in a few months with a new man behind the mask, and I'm actually really interested to see what's going to happen. The new costume design is really interesting, but there really hasn't been any info revealed about the new Spider-Man. The only info I've heard is of what his motivation is; that Peter's death is to him what Uncle Ben's death was to Peter. Very intriguing... Also of note is that Ultimate Comics: X-Men is finally getting a new start after the dust settles here, and it looks like Johnny Storm, Bobby Drake, and Kitty Pride will all be featured there, so that's pretty awesome.

The second title I'm excited about right now hasn't actually come out yet, but I just read the "Prelude" miniseries today so it's got me pretty much on the edge of my seat wondering what's going on:

X-Men: Schism

The next big X-Men event. X-Men: Schism is a limited series starting in a couple weeks. What I know so far is that there is something bad coming. It's a threat beyond anything the X-Men have ever faced. And in dealing with this threat, Cyclops and Wolverine come to a conflict of opinions that can't be resolved, and the X-Men are all forced to choose a side, dividing the X-Men "forever" (gotta throw the forever in there for dramatic effect).

Part of what has me excited about this event is to see what the heck it is that will cause the split of the X-Men. They are a family, and now a nation, united against all threats to the mutant race. But what could cause them all to turn on each other? It's gotta be something big! And I haven't been disappointed by an X-event yet!

The other part is that it means we'll have separate teams again! I liked the good old days where each book had it's own set of X-Men, with the occasional crossover and/or cameo. The last few years have had the same core characters appearing in every. single. book. I didn't mind when it was Wolverine appearing in every comics 'cause he's awesome, but I'm getting really tired of seeing Emma Frost, Colossus, Kitty Pride, Wolverine, and Cyclops in ALL of the X-Men books, leaving so many characters out in comic book limbo. I'd love to see a unique set of characters in each of the X-books.

After Schism comes to an end, Uncanny X-Men will relaunch with a new #1 issue, and that is where you will find Cyclops and those who choose his side. Those that take the other side will appear in Wolverine and the X-Men. So that is at least two teams that will be totally different. X-Men: Legacy will hopefully continue to focus on it's own team as well. That leaves X-Men and Astonishing X-Men to establish where they will fall after the Schism, plus titles like New Mutants, Uncanny X-Force and X-Factor that could see some shake-ups as well. Oh, and Generation Hope. But I don't really care about that one. At all.

Woo! So that's just SOME of what's going on in comics right now that's got me excited! If I continued, this post would never end, so I'll leave it here, but expect follow-ups to this, 'cause you know, I'm a comic book nerd, so what else am I gonna blog about? Leave a comment below if you've got anything to say about these comic events! I'd like to hear what you've got to say! (and good on you if you actually made it through this whole post!)