It's been a busy year for me. For which I am exceedingly grateful. Children, as you may have heard, are very expensive. As are the exotic murder safaris I sometimes go on to relax (we all have our vices, do we not?). As we enter 2012, I find myself in a period of transition. I wrote a little about this yesterday in my final column for CBR. But to to sum it up, three of my current writing gigs will be coming to an end in 2012. PUNISHERMAX and SCALPED are both ending (by my choice, not because they've been cancelled), and I'm wrapping up my run on WOLVERINE after about 50 issues spread across 10 years. So 2012 will be about charging ahead with my two newest series, WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN and THE INCREDIBLE HULK, and eventually taking on a few new challenges as well.

As you may have heard, one of those new challenges will be this:

I expect you'll be hearing even more and more about that one in the coming months. Suffice to say, it's the biggest, boldest thing I've ever been involved in, and man, is it going to be fun.

Beyond that, we'll just have to wait and see, I guess. Perhaps I'll even try to post here again with some regularity, now that I don't have a column to write.

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks to everybody out there who read and supported my work this past year. I appreciate every last damn one of you. And for my part, hopefully the best is still yet to come.

Happy New Year.

INCREDIBLE HULK #4
JASON AARON (W) • WHILCE PORTACIO (A)
COVER BY LEINIL FRANCIS YU
VENOM VARIANT COVER BY TBA
• The fight everyone’s been waiting for: HULK VS. BANNER!
• Banner unleashes an army of Hulked-out monsters!
32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$3 .99

WOLVERINE #300
JASON AARON (W) • ADAM KUBERT (A/C)
VARIANT COVER BY JIM CHEUNG
WRAPAROUND VARIANT COVER BY GEOF DARROW
BLANK VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLE
• EXTRA-SIZED 300th ISSUE EVENT!
• An all-new, soon-to-be-classic Wolverine story starts here!
• Wolverine travels to Tokyo to confront his most dangerous enemy yet.
• And a new Silver Samurai rises to take his place…along with Wolverine’s daughter!
56 PGS./Parental Advisory …$4.99
 

WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN #4
JASON AARON (W) • NICK BRADSHAW (A/C)
• Two new students join the school. Who could it be?
• The future comes back to haunt the school.
• And who is PREGNANT?!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99  

PUNISHERMAX #21
JASON AARON (W)
STEVE DILLON (A)
COVER BY DAVE JOHNSON
• The final brutal confrontation between the Punisher and the Kingpin!
• Only one of these men is going to walk away alive.
• Final chapter of the HOMELESS arc.
32 PGS./Explicit Content …$3.99

ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN & WOLVERINE TPB
Written by JASON AARON
Penciled by ADAM KUBERT
COVER BY ADAM KUBERT
They’re going to kill each other — if the apocalypse doesn’t do them in first! Spider-Man and Wolverine — fellow Avengers, but not each other’s biggest fans — are lost in time…and running out of time. Millions of years in the past, they’re about to be blasted by the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs. Their only path to safety is an uncontrollable trip through history that will take them to the end of the world — and beyond. But if they’re going to figure out who’s been pulling their strings and get back to their own era, they’ll have to learn to work together. In other words, they’re probably going to die. Collecting ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN & WOLVERINE #1-6 and material from ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN & WOLVERINE #1 DIRECTOR’S CUT.
168 PGS./Rated T+ …$19.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-4080-1

WOLVERINE: WOLVERINE VS. THE X-MEN TPB
Written by JASON AARON
Penciled by JEFTE PALO & DANIEL ACUNA
COVER BY JAE LEE
In his long and bloody life, Wolverine has lost control before. But the situation has never been more dire. Hell itself has inhabited Logan’s body, laughing with delight at every innocent life it takes — and he is powerless to stop it. Running out of options, Cyclops is faced with an impossible choice. The X-Men’s leader wants to believe his old friend possesses the strength of will to break free. But as Wolverine spirals out of control, Cyclops may be forced to resort to deadly force to put an end to Logan’s murderous rampage. Can even a last-ditch psychic intervention by those closest to him help Wolverine come to his senses before his teammates have no recourse but to kill him? Collecting WOLVERINE (2010) #5.1 and #6-9.
120 PGS./Parental Advisory …$15.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-4787-9 

This year for the first time at NYCC I'll be set up in Artists Alley. Look for me at table 014 right alongside Jason Latour. When I'm not there, here's where you're likely to find me:

Friday, October 14th
11:00-12:00 – Signing at the DC Booth (#1254)
3:45-4:45 – Vertigo Visions panel, Room #1A22
5:00-6:00 – Signing at the Marvel Booth (#654) (With Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie)

Saturday, October 15th
12:00-1:00 – Signing at the Marvel Booth (#654)
5:00-6:00 – Cup o’ Joe Panel, Room #1A10

Sunday, October 16th
11:00-12:00 – Signing at the Marvel Booth (#654)
1:30-2:30 – Incredible Hulk Panel, Room #1A06
3:30-4:30 – X-Men Regenesis panel, Room #1A10

UPDATE: I should also be there for Preview night on Thursday, likely at my table (O14) the whole time. 

Sometimes the world is just perfect.

Just got back from the 16th annual Jornadas de Comic de la Villa de Aviles, an amazing comic book festival in the town of Aviles, in the north of Spain. I have much to say about this show and my time there. For now, here are some photos.

Welcome to Aviles, Spain

The town square

I have never been to a comic show quite like this one.

On the left, Diego Cruz, the show's official translator. On the right, Jorge Ivan Argiz, who started the show 16 years ago.

This is what a comic con looks like in Aviles.

As part of the festival, there was a huge exhibition of R.M Guera's work.

Early advertising work by R.M. Guera.

More advertising work by R.M. Guera.

Covers for Spanish EL COYOTE novels by R.M. Guera.

From R.M. Guera's HOWARD BLAKE graphic novel.

SCALPED!

Samurai covers by Guera.

The wife and I with Jorge.

Lobezno!

Signing for fans.

The first of many new friends I made in Spain.

"We do our best to avoid the law, in the dry counties of Arkansas." ♫ http://blip.fm/~1781qo

New INCREDIBLE HULK #1 variant cover by Ladronn. Maybe as close as I'll ever come to working with Ladroon, who's worked I've loved since CABLE back in the day. If so, I'll take it.

Today's a Hulk day for me. I'm working on the biggest fight scene of my career. Much smashing. Also building onto my master outline, working on my extended plans. First year looks to be shaping up nicely. There are new characters, a crazy new dynamic for Hulk and Banner and ultimately a big connection to one of the Marvel U's premiere villains.

Now back to the regularly scheduled smashing.

This October, Incredible Hulk #1 smashes into stores courtesy of Marvel Architect Jason Aaron & legendary artist Marc Silvestri, featuring all-new variant by acclaimed artist Ladronn (Planet Hulk)! Prepare for an Earth-shaking brawl for the ages that no fan of the Marvel Universe can miss—Banner vs Hulk!


Can’t wait to see what Aaron and Silvestri have planned for the Jade Giant? Join the conversation on Twitter with #HULK!
INCREDIBLE HULK #1 (AUG110584)
INCREDIBLE HULK #1 LADRONN VARIANT (AUG110587)
Written by JASON AARON
Art & Cover by MARC SILVESTRI
Variant Cover by LADRONN
ON SALE THIS OCTOBER!

Shotguns, Rifles, Pistols and Cantaloupe Zombies with Tony Moore! from Craig Shimala on Vimeo.

This one by Nick Bradshaw, who's drawing the book's second arc. It features some of the same characters that are on Bachalo's cover, plus at least two that aren't. And those two will probably prove to be the most unexpected members of the cast. That's all I can say for now.

"We received our education in the cities of the nation, me and Paul." ♫ http://blip.fm/~16nt4v

Here's the official version of the trailer for INCREDIBLE HULK #1.

The other bit of me-related news that came out of San Diego Comic Con was that SCALPED is ending with issue #60. Still feels weird to see it finally spelled out so definitely, but this has actually been the plan for quite a while now. This was my choice. We were not canceled or forced into an ending. The series will be ending just the way I've always imagined it ending. There are a couple of smaller stories I always thought I might get to which I ultimately won't, but those were set aside in the interest of giving the series as solid a finish as possible. There won't be any more stand-alone issues. Instead we'll have two final big arcs to bring everything home, with Guera drawing every issue. Expect a death or two and hopefully at least a couple of surprises. And expect everyone to get the ending they've got coming to them, good or bad. In many ways, the entire story of SCALPED will ultimately be about what happens in these last ten issues. Thanks again to everybody who's stuck with us this long. And I promise you, we're all doing our best not to let you down.

And know that the ending of SCALPED will not be the end of me doing creator-owned work. Not by a long shot. The wheels are already turning in regards to my next creator-owned book. And Guera and I are already talking about our next project as well. So as always, stay tuned.

The cover for WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN also came out last week, at least in a mostly blacked-out form. I've enjoyed reading all the speculation online about who's who here. Nobody's even come close to guessing everybody. Nor can they, as a couple of these characters are brand new. I'll also add that this isn't the entire cast of the series. Not even close.

It was also revealed that Ron Garney is rejoining me on WOLVERINE for another arc, this one titled "Goodbye, Chinatown," and guest-starring Gorilla Man, Fat Cobra and some crazy Kung Fu villains, including a few holdovers from my WOLVERINE: MANIFEST DESTINY mini-series.

Eventhough I didn't go to San Diego Comic Con, I've still somehow found myself floundering in its wake, struggling to get caught up on work. Guess I might as well have gone and enjoyed the weather for a bit.

And eventhough I wasn't there, I still had quite a few announcements come out of the con.

The biggest is probably that I'm the writer on a new INCREDIBLE HULK series that debuts in October. It's drawn by Marc Silvestri, first arc is titled "Hulk: Asunder" and it features a Hulk and Banner who have been split apart and set at odds. I've been wanting to tackle the Hulk for a while now, so I'm happy to finally be involved with this. Yes, along with everything else I'm doing, this means my schedule is awfully crazy right now, but that will be sorting itself out. Stay tuned.

And holy crap, I'm writing the Hulk!

Lots of interviews here and there:

CBR
Newsarama
IGN
Marvel

My contribution is titled "How Not To Get Your Ass Kicked While In Alabama," which should be rather self-explanatory.

More details here.

X-MEN SCHISM #1 is out today, and I'm told it has already sold out at the distributor level, so grab a copy from your local retailer while you can. Or you can also download it from the Marvel app.

I've been excited for a while for people to finally check this series out, and the response so far has been phenomenal. And remember, this is only the beginning. Issue #2 hits in just two weeks.

I also have WOLVERINE #12 and PUNISHERMAX #15 out today so, you know, look for those too, if you're not already sick of me.

If the answer is "yes," then print out the below image and present it to your local retailer. Then stand-by for the awesome.

Preview here.