After over 100 issues, William and Dane sit down and welcome writer Matt Fraction back to the show as they close out 2011. This one has it all: Casanova, Fear Itself, variant endings, the inner workings of Marvel editorial retreats and more: there’s plenty of Fraction-related-awesome for everyone.

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Full show notes after the break.

No stranger to superhero cover stories, this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive on Marvel Studios’ The Avengers, which includes several new set photos and terribly Photoshopped cover. Director Joss Whedon had this to say about the production of the film thus far:

There is a weird element of: they handed me one of the biggest movies of all time, and I’m making it up as I go.

Whedon also says that the team won’t be all friends, but that doesn’t hold true for the cast members: “I was like, well, if they hate each other, I guess we can use that,” he shrugs. “But they don’t.”

We’ve included all the images after the jump, but outside of Whedon’s quote, we won’t have much to go on until the issue debuts Friday. 

Paramount Pictures has released a shorter version of The Avengers trailer that runs in theaters after the Captain America credits. While the full trailer contains more footage from the Joss Whedon helmed superhero team-up, this teaser does give us our first chance to get a real good look at Captain America and Thor’s new costumes. We also catch quick glimses of Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner and Jeremy Renner‘s Hawkeye. So what are you waiting for? Check out the trailer and screenshots after the break!

At Comic-Con this week, Marvel Television Vice President Jeph Loeb took the stage to discuss the future television plans for the House of Ideas. We’ve already heard about the Hulk series, but Loeb had plenty of other details to discuss. Hit the jump for the full story of what Marvel will be bringing to your TV screens soon.

On the heels of another big movie release, Marvel had quite a busy week at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. With tons of interesting and exciting book announcements, there was plenty to be excited about. After the break we’ve got a roundup of the latest from the House of Ideas.