We don’t usually do much in terms of new updates here, but since the April 2008 Marvel Solicits have just been released, and in light of all the secrecy over the casts of various titles, I couldn’t help noticing this Greg Land X-Men poster (top image below, click to enlarge)

Colossus, Frost, Cyclops, Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Pixie? Odd set of characters to be appearing on a poster together. It doesn’t appear to be the cast of Ellis’ Astonishing X-Men, after all (depicted here) though there is a little crossover. Could it be something to do with the post-Messiah Complex X-Men line? The Uncanny cast, perhaps?

There’s also this leaked Young X-Men cover (bottom image on the left, also click to enlarge.) YXM is, as we know, the successor to the dearly departed New X-Men.

 Clearly no Pixie there. Though I do recognise Wolfcub, Blindfold (in costume!?) Rockslide and Dust, clockwise from the far left, along with an (apparently) new guy on the far right and either Elixir or a new character in the centre. That’s clearly a Dodson cover even before you read the signature, though whether that means he’ll be the regular artist is anyone’s guess.

Still, I suppose we’ll find all this out soon when the full X-Men solicits come out on Thursday.

And, while we’re speaking about the solicits, it’s also good to see this has finally been announced:

X-MEN DIVIDED WE STAND BOOK 1 (of 2)
Written by MIKE CAREY, MATT FRACTION, CRAIG KYLE, CHRISTOPHER YOST and SKOTTIE YOUNG
Pencils by BRANDON PETERSON, JAMIE MCKELVIE, SANA TAKEDA and SKOTTIE YOUNG
Cover by BRANDON PETERSON
*Solicit classified until 1/24/2008*
48 PGS./Rated T+…$3.99

Frankly, that’s going to be worth it for McKelvie’s first mainstream superhero work alone. Excited? Yes sir.

DMZ #27 once again features guest art from Nathan Fox, and continues the “Hidden War” non-arc concentrating on various new and supporting characters from around the DMZ. Under the spotlight in this issue is the DMZ’s own club DJ, Random Fire, who finds himself just angry enough with the world to make some seriously bad decisions.

At the start of the issue, Random Fire’s set is bumped in favour of DJ Grendel, a celebrity DJ who has moved in to the DMZ to do a “dangerous” live webcast. RF discovers that he’s manipulating the situation for his own popularity, planning to stage an atack during his set, and he’s just angry enough that when the chance arises to stop it, he jumps at the chance. As ever, the politics are vivd and the characters realistic in their motivations and decisions. A large part of DMZ’s appeal is the well-realised world it’s taking place in, and the recent issues have exemplified that by telling stories largely removed from the main cast.

Wood’s solo issue, #12, which was a magazine-like “guide” to the DMZ in the style of say, Timeout, has clearly proven a goldmine for ideas, as club Rezurrection, which appeared on fliers in that issue, finally makes a grand entrance here as the focal point for the action (and my nerd credentials would be at stake if I didn’t mention that it’s got the same name as the club from Wood’s debut work, Channel Zero.)

Still, it’s also fair to say that the ongoing plot of DMZ is also a big draw. This arc has been great, and next issue about the Central Park “Ghost” has me particularly excited because they were always a neat concept, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t ready to pick up Matty’s story and see how the larger series arc is shaping up. Granted, everything contributes in its own way, but with an arc focussing on a DMZ Guevara/Chavez analogue around the corner, it’s hard not to get excited for a return to whatever passes for normalcy in this series.