Big comic book events, both on the page and the big screen, have traditionally been a Summer thing, but with an impressive list of upcoming films, comic crossover events and even a TV show, this year Marvel Comics has a Fall line-up that's just as exciting as any June.

The biggest event is the release of Thor 2: The Dark World, coming to theaters on November 8. In the second post-Avengers Marvel Studios movie, the God of Thunder will be facing elves that make the ones in The Hobbit movies look like a bunch of peace-loving hippies. Played by Doctor Who's Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston, the villainous Malekith leads his dark elf army to attack both Asgard and Earth and Thor will need the help of all of Asgard's warriors, including his brother Loki, if he's going to defeat them. Tom Hiddleston's Loki is a major fan favorite after the first Thor movie and Marvel's The Avengers and they couldn't have done the sequel without him. The filmmakers even went back and shot more scenes with him because they felt there just wasn’t enough Loki!

Comic books have a habit of tying into whatever other versions of their characters are in the public eye and the Thor comic is continuing that with a multi-issue storyline called “The Accursed.” Known in comics as Malekith the Accursed, the dark elf leader hasn't done much in the mainstream Marvel Universe since his first storyline in the 80s, but he'll be returning in Thor: God of Thunder #13, written by Jason Aaron with art by Ron Garney, starting with a prison break on a fantastic scale. Though it takes place in the mainstream Marvel Universe instead of the world of the movies, the storyline is meant to be friendly to new readers looking for more of this pointy-eared villain after Thor 2, so if you've loved the movies but haven't made the leap into the comics yet this one's a good place to start.

If you prefer to stick with Marvel's Cinematic Universe, check out ABC on September 24 for the premiere of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Joss Whedon, writer/director of Marvel's The Avengers, is bringing the Marvel Cinematic Universe to the small screen with a series focusing on the un-super heroes of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. Headlining this series will be another fan favorite, Clark Gregg, returning to his role as Agent Phil Coulson, whose death in The Avengers was apparently not as fatal as it seemed. He'll be joined in the pilot by Cobie Smulders as The Avengers' Maria Hill and the ongoing series will include Mulan's Ming-Na Wen and Firefly/Serenity's Ron Glass.
And if you prefer your comics without any media tie-in meddling, this Fall brings two big events to the pages of Marvel Comics: Infinity, pitting the Avengers against big-chinned, purple-skinned baddie Thanos and Battle of the Atom, pitting multiple generations of time-traveling X-Men against each other for the future of mutantkind. As usual with events like these, both promise to bring sweeping changes to their part of the mainstream Marvel Universe.

If it's all a bit overwhelming, don't worry: Things settle down for the Winter and you have until April 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier to get caught up.

[Pictures Courtesy of Marvel Comics; Caption: “Thor 2's Malekith is less flamboyant than his comic counterpart, but every bit as evil”]