Alex Summers, also known as Havok, is arguably my favorite character from Marvel’s X-Men comic books. Unfortunately, his publication history is defined by long stretches of time off panel dating back to his earliest appearances. The most recent of these absences finally concludes today in the pages of X-Men: Legacy #254, the first chapter of a story called “Five Miles South of the Universe.” In commemoration of his return, we’ve even created a sub-site dedicated to Havok here at MLD as a resource for fellow fans.

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When Marvel’s May solicitations appeared earlier this month a group of books were very conspicuous by their absence. Four X-Men titles (Uncanny X-Men, X-Men: Legacy, New Mutants, and Uncanny X-Force) had no listings and it was clear that something was up. Last week Marvel released a set of teaser images for these titles and they’re giving more details all this week on Marvel.com. Every day at 3PM Marvel will host a series of “liveblogs” focusing on what they’re calling MMXI: Year of the X-Men featuring X-editor Nick Lowe and the creators behind each of these titles kicking off yesterday with New Mutants.

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I’ve been very quiet about the upcoming X-Men: First Class film, but the last few weeks have brought such a flurry of activity I think it’s time to weigh in. The official trailer for the movie hit yesterday on the “X-Men Movies” Facebook page, and multiple sets of photos (some legitimate, some not, and some selected by director Matthew Vaughn himself) were released in the weeks prior. If you visit this site at all regularly, you’ve seen that I’m a huge fan of all things X-Men. I focus primarily on the source material in the monthly comics, but over the years I’ve enjoyed the cartoons and films that have been part of the franchise over the years. I’m very forgiving of the changes to characters and continuity, so long as they serve to make a better story. Unfortunately, the films have declined with each iteration, and like many I’m hoping for First Class to change that trend.

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I overlooked this in all my excitement over the Age of X, but Marvel recently unveiled another ultra-wide Marko Djurdjevic poster image, this time featuring the history of Wolverine. This image will be available as an oversized poster and as a set of interlocking variant covers to a group of Wolverine titles scheduled for December and January (Uncanny X-Force #3, Wolverine: The Best There Is #1, Wolverine #4, Daken: Dark Wolverine #4, X-23 #4, Wolverine: The Best There Is #2).

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I had thought that Angie was helping keep my psychoses in check, but tonight she was an enabler.  Kevin, some of this is your fault as well.

There are these ridiculous children’s toys from Hasbro called the “Super Hero Squad” that feature Marvel characters.  In fact, there are toys done in this style for a bunch of licensed characters (Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Marvel, DC, even Doctor Who) and I honestly think they’re great.  My attention was first drawn to them trying to find a birthday present for our nephew (he’s 5!).

I talked with Kevin about them, and it turns out he has some of them.  So, the next time I’m at Target, I see an Iron Fist/Black Costume Spider-Man 2-pack and I pick it up to split with him.  Packed inside is a poster that features a bunch of additional figures from the line, including Havok from the X-Men.  I must have this.

Earlier today, Kevin sends me an e-mail with the subject “Target $13” and the picture to the right attached.

Angie and I just got home from the Target in Oaks, Pennsylvania (about 20 miles from home).  So much for conquering my problems.  At least tiny Spidey seems to approve.