I've returned from the Philadelphia Comic Convention hosted by Wizard World. The convention had more vendors there than last year which was good, but the size of the convention overall was the same. The artist alley was slightly larger, so if you wanted to get that piece of artwork form that up and cumming artist you had a good chance of buying what might be a valuable piece, if not something to decorate the home or office. I wished the convention had grown in size however, but it seems to be staying the same. The usual suspects are there. Marvel had Joe Quesadda there along with Charles Pak who is writing the big summer event World War Hulk. As usual they were tight lipped about the outcome and what characters will have a large roll in the story. The preview for the story arcs art work is done very well. The cover of the Incredible hulk was especially drawn well. I'm sure that they will be posted at the sight for you to preview. Some information given at the convention was that the Thunderbolts will not be included in the story arc. There will be allies for the Hulk in his war to avenge those who ostracized him to another world. Namor and She - Hulk were dropped as to the potential allies that will join the Hulk in his quest for vengance against the group that decided to, and eventually sent the Hulk to another world. The group of heroes that send the Hulk to this other world are Dr. Strange, Reed Richards, Namor, Black Bolt, and Charles Xavier. When the decision was made to ostracize the Hulk Charles Xavier was not at the meeting because he was with the X-men who were fighting for their existence against the Governments attempt to register new mutants, and to control their powers. Because Charles Xavier was not at the meeting the Hulk will seek out Xavier and find out once and for all which side he stand on. Will he aid the Hulk in his quest for vengeance, or will he decide that the decision to send him to another planet was a good one and fight against the hulk. Charles back told the audience the the hulk will be a smarter version of character. He will be a strategist, and a tactician. If you have been reading the Hulk then you have a good indication as to how much of a tactician the Hulk will be in the World War Hulk story. The Marvel panel announced that the next story arch for the X-men will be the Messiah complex. The panel showed slides of Charles Xavier, Mystique, and Mr. Sinister. The panel as usual was tight lipped about the story. Mark Silvestry from Top Cow does the artwork on the cover that features Charles Xavier, Mysique, and Mr. Sinister. It looked well done, but I was left with the idea by the panel that this was just something of a stop gap until a greater story arc. The panel spent only several minutes talking about the X-men. Their major thrust was on World War Hulk. The panel did divulge that Gambit will not be coming back anytime soon, and neither will Jean Grey.