Uncanny X-Men #600 Postponed Until October

Fans and haters alike are going to have to wait a little while longer to see Brian Michael Bendis relinquish control of the X-Books. The long-time Marvel MVP writer, who has penned crossover events like Avengers Vs X-Men and Secret Invasion, has been behind the two core X-Men titles for a little over two years, with his final issue due to be this month's landmark Uncanny X-Men #600. However, it appears that the champagne has to remain corked until October after all, with Marvel delaying the issue. Marvel has suffered from a number of delays recently. Hawkeye #22, the final issue of Matt Fraction and David Aja's critically acclaimed run on the book, was due to be published last October; as it stands, the comic will actually hit stands on July of this year thanks to the artist's slow pace. By that point, four issues of Jeff Lemire and Ramon Perez's All-New Hawkeye title will have shipped. In the case of Uncanny X-Men #600, however, it has nothing to do with the creative team. When asked about the rumoured push-back on his Tumblr, Bendis himself confirmed that Uncanny #600 "could easily ship this month as it was supposed to. It has been written. Pages are already in as many of the collaborators have said so on Twitter," going on to explain, "it was bumped until after Secret Wars for editorial and commercial reasons. Not my call. This was marvel. But they have their reasons. It will not effect the story or the impact of the story. In fact it may have more impact on how things shake out after my run." Marvel's Secret Wars event has currently wiped out the majority of their publishing line, replaced with tie-ins to the crossover until September. Some current titles have been riffing on the "Last Days" of their universe before being destroyed which, presumably, Uncanny X-Men #600 won't be doing if it can be published after the whole shebang is over with. The issues preceding the 600th anniversary edition - #34 and #35 - will reportedly be released as solicited.