MARVEL COMICS FOR APRIL

Following are Marvel Comics' solicitations for April, with information coming from the company.

NEW/TSUNAMI TITLES

NAMOR #1

Written by Bill Jemas and Andi Watson, art and cover by Mizuki Sakakibara.

Beneath the waves, well out of sight from human land dwellers, lies the undersea empire of Atlantis, and its heir is a young hero who yearns for the world above water even as he struggles to maintain his undersea birthright. Japanese manga sensation Mizuki Sakakibara brings the exotic undersea world of young Prince Namor to life in all of its lush and delicate splendor, and writers Bill Jemas and Andi Watson weave a romantic tale of a young hero who finds love above the waves while gradually coming to terms with who he is.

32 pages, 25 cents, on sale April 16.

NAMOR #2

Written by Bill Jemas and Andi Watson, art and cover by Mizuki Sakakibara.

Things get complicated for young Prince Namor when he meets a beautiful land-dwelling girl.

32 pages, $2.25, on sale April 30.

VENOM #1

Written by Daniel Way, art by Francisco Herrera, cover by Sam Kieth.

Venom's back and has popped up near the Arctic Circle, leaving a trail of dead bodies in his wake. Now able to jump from host-to-host with the greatest of ease, Venom is on the run from mysterious forces, each with their own agenda for the elusive alien. But is this the same Venom that we've come to know and fear? How does Eddie Brock figure in this? A big budget, sci-fi/horror, rollercoaster ride that reintroduces one of Spider-Man's most deadly foes into the Marvel Universe.

32 pages, $2.25, on sale April 23.

SENTINEL #1

Written by Sean McKeever, art and cover by Udon.

"Salvage," Part 1. Juston Seyfert is about to make a discovery that will change his life: the ravaged remains of a giant robot buried in his family's salvage yard! But what could a downtrodden, disillusioned high school sophomore possibly do with a 30-foot tall engine of destruction? Anything he wants.

"Sentinel is a teen sci-fi drama about finding your voice, learning to stand up for yourself without being irresponsible, and discovering what it means to be a hero in the 21st century," says writer Sean McKeever. "Oh yeah, it's also about a boy and his giant robot."

32 pages, $2.99, on sale April 2.

HUMAN TORCH #1

Written by Karl Kesel, art and cover by Skottie Young.

"Burn," Part 1. Deep inside, Johnny Storm has a burning desire for - something - and not just when he bursts into flame as the Human Torch. Though rich, famous & privy to sights and experiences most people can't imagine, something's missing - A direction. A purpose. A spark- Writer Karl Kesel and future superstar artist Skottie Young reignite that spark and redefine the FF's youngest, most impetuous member. Now more fire-like than ever, Johnny is capable of great warmth, and even greater fury. Is he always on the edge of exploding into a raging inferno, or just having so much fun he wants everyone to think so?

32 pages, $2.50, on sale April 9.

MYSTIQUE #1

Written by Brian K. Vaughan, penciled by Jorge Lucas, cover by Joseph Michael Linsner.

"Dead Drop Gorgeous" Part 1. Mystique can be anything you want her to be- In a world of intrigue and seduction, where mutants are feared and hated and the X-Men are not enough to protect them, Mystique uses her shape-shifting abilities to further her own mutant rights agenda. And to get want she wants, she's not afraid to do whatever's necessary. Mystique's true motives are put to the test in this brand new beginning for the mutant chameleon.

32 pages, $2.99, on sale April 23.

RUNAWAYS #1

Written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Adrian Alphona, cover by Jo Chen.

At some point in their lives, all young people believe that they have something to runaway from home for? But what if it they REALLY do? When six young friends discover that their parents all share a deep, dark secret, the shocked teens find strength in one another and together run away from their homes and straight into the adventure of their lives. Smallville meets Harry Potter in this all-ages action/adventure series.

32 pages, $2.50, on sale April 16.

X-MEN TITLES

WOLVERINE #189

Written by Daniel Way, penciled by Staz Johnson, cover by Esad Ribic.

Part 2 of a 2-part story by guest writer Daniel Way and guest artist Staz Johnson.

32 pages, $2.25, on sale April 16.

WOLVERINE: X-ISLE #1-5

Written by Bruce Jones, art and covers by Jorge Lucas.

Writer Bruce Jones delivers the X-Men's lone wolf as you've never seen him before! At a carnival with his stepdaughter Amiko, Wolverine shows a violent side of himself that sends the young girl running. Unable to face what he's done, Wolverine is propelled into a soul-searching adventure he may not be able to escape. What did he do? What did young Amiko see? The mystery begins here.

32 pages, $2.50.

X-MEN MOVIE ADAPTATION

Written by Chuck Austen, art by Patrick Zircher, cover by Michael Mayhew.

The adaptation of one of 2003's biggest blockbusters. Check out one of the summer's most anticipated films before its release.

48 pages, $3.50, on sale April 2.

ULTIMATE X-MEN #32

Written by Mark Millar, art by Adam Kubert and Danny Miki, cover by Kubert.

It's the Ultimate fate of the Ultimate X-Men as humanity itself teeters on the edge of extinction and a new world order is waiting in the wings. The entire Ultimate X-Men series has led up to this can't-miss issue.

32 pages, $2.25, on sale April 30.

UNCANNY X-MEN #421

Written by Chuck Austen, art by Ron Garney, cover by Chris Bachalo.

Part 1 of 2 of a brand new story arc just in time for the X-Men movie. The X-Men face off against Alpha Flight.

32 pages, $2.25. on sale April 2.

NEW X-MEN #139-140

Written by Grant Morrison, art and cover by Phil Jimenez.

"Murder at the Mansion" Parts 1 & 2 (of 3). A perfect jumping-on point, drawn by fan-favorite Phil Jimenez. Bishop and Sage from the X-Treme X-Men guest star! Does an X-Man die? Will they be able to find the killer?

32 pages, $2.25, on sale April 16 and April 30.

X-STATIX #10

Written by Peter Milligan, art and cover Philip Bond.

Special issue: "The Diaries of Edie Sawyer!" Your favorite team-member is back. Or is she..? By special guest artist Philip Bond.

32 pages, $2.99, on sale April 23.

WEAPON X #8

Written by Frank Tieri, art and cover by Georges Jeanty.

"The Underground" Part 2 (of 6). Soldier X, Domino, Meltdown, and the other members of the Underground resistance attempt to unravel the mystery of Neverland. What length will the Director go to in order to protect his sinister secret?

32 pages, $2.99, on sale April 23.

X-TREME X-MEN #24

Written by Chris Claremont, art and cover by Salvador Larroca.

A special stand-alone issue featuring the return of Cannonball to the pages of the X-Men.

32 pages, $2.99, on sale April 23.

GOD LOVES, MAN KILLS REPRINT EDITION

Written by Chris Claremont, art and cover by Brent Anderson.

The X-Men tale that inspired X2. A special comic book reprint of perhaps THE preeminent X-Men story, this tale of the team's battle against the fear and hatred of the anti-mutant movement serves as the basis for this summer's blockbuster X-Men movie sequel. The special edition also features a look back at the original landmark graphic novel by writer Chris Claremont and a preview of a very special upcoming new X-Men project.

72 pages, $4.99, on sale April 30.

AGENT X #10

Written by Evan Dorkin, art and cover by Juan Bobillo and Marcelo Sosa.

Part 1 of 2. What will Agent X do when he's hired to kill a man who wants to die but can't be killed? And why's that funny? Comics' funniest writer Evan Dorkin tells you why.

32 pages, $2.99

SOLDIER X #10

Written by Karl Bollers, art by Arthur Ranson, cover by Igor Kordey.

Soldier X brings the battle to United States soil, fighting the very idea of a racist militia by any means necessary! The more important question: for a proselytizing Nathan, will he destroy the racists, or turn them to his will?

32 pages, $2.99, on sale April 16.

X-MEN UNLIMITED #45

Written by Chuck Austen, art by Pop Mhan, cover by Phil Noto.

A tie-in with this month's Uncanny X-Men. Alpha Flight's in full force, and expanding their roster. Witness the birth of Vindicator's and Guardian's baby.

32 pages, $2.50, on sale April 9.

X-MEN UNLIMITED #46

Written by Ian Edgington and Bruce Jones, art by Simon Bisley and Sin Nagasawa, cover by David Finch.

A Wolverine blowout issue! Marvel's bad boy is back in true lethal form in two hardcore stories.

32 pages, $2.50, on sale April 16.

EXILES #25

Written by Judd Winick, art by Kev Walker, cover by Randy Green.

"With an Iron Fist" concludes. Gambit and his reality-hopping team, Weapon X, face off against the Inhumans. But who will be left standing at the end of this epic battle?

32 pages, $2.99, on sale April 9.

SPIDER-MAN TITLES

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #39

Written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Mark Bagley and Art Thibert, cover by Bagley. The aftermath of the Vemon Saga. Peter pays an unexpected visit to Nick Fury and gets some unexpected answers.

32 pages, $2.25, on sale April 2.

SPIDEY & THE MINI MARVELS

Written, art and cover by Chris Giarrusso.

Exploding from the panels of the Bullpen Bits comic strip, here come the Mini-Marvels in their very own full-length comedy/adventure one-shot. In the first of 2 stories, Spidey and Venom face off- for the right to have the biggest paper route. And in the second story, Wolvie wakes up to discover that his teammates, the X-Men, have betrayed him - They've finished off the last of his breakfast, leading Wolvie into a quest to the supermarket.

40 pages, $3.50.

PETER PARKER: SPIDER-MAN #56

Written by Zeb Wells, penciled by Michael O'Hare, cover by Francisco Herrera.

Part 3 of a 3-part story.

32 pages, $2.25, on sale April 23.

SPIDER-GIRL#59

Written by Tom DeFalco, art by Ron Frenz, cover by Pat Olliffe.

"Season of the Serpent" Part 6 of 6.

32 pages, $2.99, on sale April 2.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #52

Written by J. Michael Straczynski, art by John Romita Jr. and Scott Hanna, cover by J. Scott Campbell.

Part 2 of a 3-part story.

32 pages, $2.25, on sale April 2.

MARVEL KNIGHTS/MAX TITLES

DAREDEVIL #46

Written by Brian Michael Bendis, art and cover by Alex Maleev.

"Hardcore," part 1. A classic Daredevil villain comes calling in this start of a new story arc. Can Daredevil take the heat?

32 pages, $2.99, on sale April 16.

ELEKTRA #21-22

Written by Greg Rucka, art by Carlos Meglia, painted covers by Greg Horn.

Elektra vs. The Hand: The final showdown.

32 pages, $2.99, on sale April 2 and April 16.

PUNISHER #24-25

Written by Garth Ennis, art by Tom Mandrake, covers by Tim Bradstreet.

"Hidden" Parts 1 & 2 (of 3). Tom Mandrake comes on board to illustrate one of Garth Ennis' most terrifying Punisher stories ever.

32 pages, $2.99, on sale April 9 and April 23.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #12

Written by John Ney Rieber and Chuck Austen, art by Jae Lee, cover by John Cassaday.

"Ice," Part 1. Jae Lee takes over art for Captain America! A mysterious package makes Captain America question is past, his memories and himself.

32 pages, $2.99, on sale April 9.

RAWHIDE KID #4-5

Written by Ron Zimmerman, art by John Severin, covers by Darwyn Cooke (#4) and J. Scott Campbell (#5).

Marvel's newest surprise media sensation continues.

32 pages, $2.99, on sale April 16 and April 30.

ALIAS #21

Written by Brian Michael Bendism art by Michael Gaydos, cover by David Mack.

"The Underneath", Part 6 (of 6). Jessica continues to dig deeper into the disappearance of Mattie Franklin, the young Spider-Woman who invaded her home in this conclusion of "The Underneath". But when an unexpected player also takes interest in the case, Jessica is in for the shock of her life.

32 pages, $2.99, on sale April 16.

MARVEL HEROES TITLES

AVENGERS #66

Written by Geoff Johns, art by Olivier Coipel and Andy Lanning, cover by J.G. Jones.

"Red Zone" Part 2 of 6. New regular artist Olivier Coipel's second issue.

32 pages, $2.25, on sale April 23.

THUNDERBOLTS #78

Written by John Arcudi, art and cover by Francisco Ruiz Velasco.

The controversial revamp of the Thunderbolts continues. Axum is forced to make a hard choice - does he walk the straight-and-narrow line, or does he cross it and never look back?

32 pages, $2.99, on sale April 16.

THOR #62-63

Written by Dan Jurgens, art and covers by Ben and Ray Lai.

"Sprial" continues, as the Thunder God's presence on Earth ruins the lives of three people...

32 pages, $2.99, on sale on April 2 and 23.

INCREDIBLE HULK #52-53

Written by Bruce Jones, art by Mike Deodato Jr., covers by Kaare Andrews.

Parts 3 & 4 of a 5-part story featuring the return of the Abomination. Get ready for a slugfest.

32 pages, $2.25, on sale April 9 and April 23.

TRUTH: RED, WHITE & BLACK #6

Written by Robert Morales, art and cover by Kyle Baker.

Now 7 issues. The secret history of Captain America continues.

32 pages, $3.50, on sale April 16.

CAPTAIN MARVEL #8

Written by Peter David, art by Kyle Hotz, cover by Leonardo Manco.

Guest-starring Thor.

32 pages, $2.99.

MARVEL UNIVERSE: THE END #3-4

Written by Jim Starlin, art by Starlin and Al Milgrom, cover by Starlin.

The final tale of the Marvel Universe continues.

32 pages, $2.99.

FANTASTIC FOUR #68

Written by Mark Waid, art by Mike Wieringo and Karl Kesel, cover by Wieringo.

"Unthinkable" Part 1 (of 4). Doctor Doom strikes through the FF's weakest link! Now that's fighting dirty.

32 pages, $2.25, on sale April 23.

IRON MAN #67

Written by Robin Laws, art by Michael Ryan and Sean Parsons, cover by Gene Ha.

"Manhunt," part 3 of 5

32 pages, $2.99, on sale April 9.

PARADISE X #10

Written by Alex Ross and Jim Krueger, art by Doug Braithwaite, cover by Alex Ross.

Matt Murdock is featured in this chapter of Paradise X.

32 pages, $2.99, on sale April 30.

BLACK PANTHER #57-58

Written by J. Torres, art by Ryan Bodenheim, covers by Liam Sharp.

A two-part story featuring T'Challa, drawn by the Wolverine Art Contest winner, Ryan Bodenheim.

32 pages, $2.99, on sale April 9 and April 30.

THE CALL #1

Written by Chuck Austen, art by Patrick Olliffe, cover by Gabriel Del'Otto.

They saved Manhattan from certain doom...but will they be able to save themselves? The saga of Marvel's everyday heroes continues in The Call. As they become something more than human, the fight begins to retain their humanity.

32 pages, $2.25, on sale April 2.

411 #1

Introduction by Dr. Arun Gandhi, stories by Mark Millar & Frank Quitely, Chuck Austen & Phil Winslade, David Rees & Tony Salmons.

On April 11, 2003, grief turns to hope and resolve when Marvel and its international creative community pay tribute to world's least-heralded heroes - peacemakers. Called simply "411", this special anthology project will tell uplifting stories of people choosing to fight aggression with information and non-violent resistance.

This beautifully illustrated, positive publishing initiative will be filled with true and fictional stories about everyday heroes who are trying to bring peace to their part of the world, featuring the work of contributing artists and writers from Cleveland to Croatia - from Hollywood to Hong Kong.

411 will also feature diverse contributors from outside the comics industry, including Pulitzer Prize & Tony Award winning playwright Tony Kushner (Angels in America), anti-nuclear activist & Nobel Peace Prize nominee Helen Caldicott (The New Nuclear Danger), and political cartoonist David Rees ("Get Your War On"). A special introduction will be provided by Dr. Arun Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's grandson and co-founder of the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence.

Bill Jemas

President & COO

32 pages, $3.50, on sale on April 9.

THE MARVELOUS ADVENTURES OF GUS BEEZER: STARRING SPIDER-MAN

Written by Gail Simone, art by Jason Lethcoe.

Gus imagines himself to be everyone's favorite wall-crawler as the opening of the new Spider-Man movie approaches. But what happens when Gus is forced to miss the movie and go to- a family reunion? Will even Spider-Man be able to save Gus from the horrors of a family car ride, potato salad, and square dancing?

32 pages, $2.99.

THE MARVELOUS ADVENTURES OF GUS BEEZER: STARRING THE X-MEN

Written by Gail Simone, art by Jason Lethcoe.

Gus' baby sister Tilly is a nuisance. She destroys Gus's room, she steals his cookies, and basically makes his life a mess! But is Tilly a mutant? Gus sure thinks so, and he's called the mutant experts in to find out for sure! Will the X-Men discover the truth about Tilly - or will Gus be too annoying for them to even care?

32 pages, $2.99.

THE MARVELOUS ADVENTURES OF GUS BEEZER: STARRING THE INCREDIBLE HULK

Written by Gail Simone, art by Jason Lethcoe.

Gus' world comes crashing down around him when his evil neighbor buys the very last issue of the Incredible Hulk from the comic book store. What will Gus be forced to endure to get a glimpse of his favorite comic- and will he be able to contain his Hulk-like rage in order to read the entire issue? Plus, to top it all off, the Hulk has been sighted in town and Gus will do anything to get a glimpse of the green goliath.

32 pages, $2.99.