Marvel will be going all-out promoting their upcoming event Avengers & X-Men: AXIS (you can catch up some of the details here, and preview the first issue here), with Marvel Executive David Gabriel letting retailers know of their plans. "We're planning some great digital, social and radio advertising for the series which we've had lots of success with in the past," he said. "Look for Avengers & X-Men: AXIS ads on your favorite comic and non-comic sites, as pre-roll YouTube video ads and more. And as always, we'll be supplying a trailer for the series for our retailers to run in their stores. We're looking to get our die-hard comic fans excited about AXIS as well as capture some of the massive audiences of Marvel Studios films or Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – more casual Marvel fans who want to check out some of the big, bombastic stories going on in the comics." So far, the publisher has unveiled two pieces of teaser art (shown right and below), but apparently there are 28 still to come. "Marvel.com is getting ready to roll out a very cool new initiative they’re calling '30 Days of AXIS,' leading up to the release of issue 1. Each day they’ll have something cool and never before seen from AXIS on Marvel.com or through the Marvel Social Channels – a panel of art, a line of dialogue from the script, a new sound bite from Rick [Remender, writer of the series] about something coming up in the story, etc."
Finally, Gabriel looks ahead to Marvel's future, saying to "expect something HUGE coming in January that’s going to be so incendiary, it will alter the course of Marvel history! I should also mention we’ve got something special planned for New Year’s Eve, the final on-sale date of the year that’s going to be big for retailers and fans. Only two Marvel Comics are being released that day. One of which is Mark Waid’s new S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 complete with a S.H.I.E.L.D. party, Marvel 2015 Calendar and more. The other title? Well, just wait and see!" Now, we've definitely heard claims of forever changing a comic book universe time and time again, but Marvel's latest events (and DC's too, to be fair) have seen major changes last for months, if not years. It is interesting that Gabriel mentions that there are only two titles hitting shelves on New Year's Eve; though December is usually a quieter time for comic releases, they must be a big deal to Marvel to fly them solo. At the rate AXIS is being solicited, perhaps the earth-shattering event comes as a result (or during) the conclusion of said event, but this purely speculation as of now. What do you think of these tidbits? Got any ideas for what mystery title is launching on December 31st? Sound off below.