The Avengers and X-Men are battling again to begin the new year! This time they’re battling for dominance in the Fantasy Comic League. The five-week month, combined with the big events for the two teams, results in the most top-heavy appearance preview tiers. The weekly Avengers crossover event, “No Surrender,” begins in the second week of the month, and brings together the members of the main Avengers squad, the Uncanny Avengers (also known as the Unity Squad), and the U.S. Avengers. The X-Men, specifically the Gold team, have their own task at hand: How to handle the return of their long-deceased teammate, Jean Grey! The Amazing Spider-Man and Venom continue their team up to rid the city of the Inklings, but Venom is also teaming up with the younger X-Men in their Annual book which will lead to the next chapter in the Poisons story. Additional team up opportunities come from Falcon and Brother Voodoo, Black Panther and the Spectacular Spider-Man, and Squirrel Girl and Loki. Famous X-Flirts, Gambit and Rogue, will also see the start of their first team up book. Books which are considered out of canon for the month include X-Men: Grand Design, Black Panther: Long Live the King, Old Man Hawkeye, Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, Punisher MAX: The Platoon, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe related books.  

Best of luck to all divisions of the Fantasy Comic League: #Knowhere, #Midtown, #Multiverse, #Wakanda and our new divisions, #Asgard, #DangerRoom and #Latveria. Power rulings and definitions have been revised based on participants’ review in the previous month. Please see the attached Power Summary file for further power clarifications. Please follow along with our #FantasyComicLeague tweets on our Twitter for official power scoring and discussions. Seasons run for four months, stay tuned for your chance to join the official league and win a trade paperback of your choice!

These appearance estimates, based on comic solicitations and cover artwork provided by the Marvel Database wiki, are meant as a guideline and not an indication of a specific draft order. Character names, team designations and power sets conform to the most current information provided by the Database. Power designations are simplified for easier classification and choice, providing the majority of the heroes with 9 to 11 eligible powers from which to choose. As a reminder, you may only have one hero per team designation on your roster and are allowed to select three powers from the heroes’ power set. Powers in (parenthesis) are a subset of the overall ability and can be selected as well as the generic use of that power. For example, Deadpool can be drafted as any of his four team classifications and can use Weapons, Blades and Guns as his three powers (Blades and Guns being a subset of the overall Weapons skill).