Since DC Comics’ relaunch of their entire comic line with last year’s New 52, the company has been consistently reigning at the top of the comic sales charts. Their flagship title, ‘Justice League’ is still going strong with the #1 issue going back to press for a seventh print! Since the relaunch of ‘Justice League’ with writer Geoff Johns and artist Jim Lee at the helm, every single issue has taken the number one sales spot.

It seems as if that reign at number one for ‘Justice League’ may be coming to an end. Marvel Comics is ready to release their big event comic of the summer… ‘Avengers vs X-Men’. The release of ‘Avengers vs X-Men’ in April comes at a time when fan-favorite artist Jim Lee is stepping away from ‘Justice League’ for a bit. And, reliable industry sources are reporting that ‘Avengers vs X-Men’ are expected to sell more than 200,000 copies in advance orders this week.

This past January, ‘Justice League’ #5 sold 138,576 copies. So, if the trend continues, Marvel will not only have a spot in the top 10 sales list that DC’s New 52 has been dominating, but it will have the top selling comic for the month of April!

The excitement for ‘Avengers vs X-Men’ has been building with the impending release of the ‘Avengers’ movie, as well as a virtual onslaught of Marvel promotions. In the main promotion, comic book shops were asked to pick a side in the Avengers vs X-Men battle and, depending on their choice, they were to be sent promotional items (buttons, posters, etc) to hand out to show their allegiances. Upon the release of ‘Avengers vs X-Men’ #1, some comic book shops are even holding midnight release parties.

In addition to drawing in existing comics fans with the comic shop promotions, Marvel owner Disney will be throwing their promotional weight into the arena as well. ABC News, also owned by Disney, will be running a special on the upcoming ‘Avengers vs X-Men’ series. Of the promotion, Marvel marketing exec, David Gabriel, had this to say: “We’re making a concentrated effort like never before to get whatever we can out there.”

It seems that Marvel is pulling out all the stops to regain the top spot that DC wrenched from them last year. There’s no doubt that, with the popularity of the Avengers with the general public and the fanboy debate over which superhero team will come out on top that ‘Avengers vs X-Men’ will be a great seller. The big question is going to be whether or not Marvel can keep up the momentum with this series. Their last big cross-over event, ‘Fear Itself’, was a bit boring and tame for my tastes.

‘Avengers vs X-Men’ will hit comic shelves and digital formats in April from Marvel’s epic team of writers: Brian Michael Bendis, Jason Aaron, Jonathan Hickman, Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction.