Welcome to your weekend edition of Comics Relief, comics fans! Lots of news to cover this weekend, starting with a bit of delay for the World’s Finest duo’s offspring. Read on for all the details….

Superman and Batman’s kids will have to wait till next year for their own comic book

When DC Rebirth was announced this past spring, several titles were given release dates through to the fall. Two of them though, seemed to have disappeared off the schedule — Super Sons, which features Damian Wayne as Robin and Jon Kent, the new Superboy, in a team up book, and Justice League of America, presumably featuring a different team than the one in the current Justice League book. So does this mean those books cancelled?

Apparently they’re not canned, merely delayed. In an interview with ICV2, DC Entertainment co-publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee, DiDio gave an update on those two books, and both are now scheduled for sometime in 2017. Considering they are just now introducing Superman’s young son Jonathen Kent as Superboy in the pages Superman and Action Comics, maybe it’s wise to give the character some room to grow and gain fans before teaming him up with Robin in an ongoing series. [Bleeding Cool]

Another Copy of Action Comics #1 sells for a staggering amount

Speaking of all things super, a fine copy of 1938’s Action Comics #1, which of course features the first appearance of Superman, sold at auction this past week for $956,000. The comic was graded 5.5 out of 10 by the Certified Guarantee Company. Matt Nelson, CGC’s primary grader, said in a statement “Having seen many Action #1’s over the years, I am deeply impressed with this copy’s eye appeal.” He added “this Action #1 is one of the best looking among the remarkably rare pool of unrestored copies in the world.”

$956,000 is of course not the record price for this particular comic. The most well preserved known copy of Action Comics #1 sold in 2014 on for $3.2 million, which blew past the $2.16 million paid in 2011 for a copy once owned by actor Nicolas Cage. There are only 100 or so known copies of Action Comics #1 in decent condition known to still be in existence in the world. [CBR]

Marvel takes somewhat confusing approach to their Marvel NOW! relaunch

Marvel NOW! is taking a different — and slightly confusing — approach to the relaunch. While some comics like the new Champions series are starting at issue #1, a lot books that have been running now for over a year or more are simply keeping their numbering…but with a twist.

For example, Sam Wilson: Captain America #13 will have a giant #1 on the cover indicating it’s the first issue in a new storyline (see the above image). The issue #13 indicator is small, and on the bottom right of the cover. It’s basically Marvel trying to have their cake and eat it too. We’ll see if this approach works with fans come the fall and doesn’t confuse everyone even more. [Bleeding Cool]

Watchmen to Receive Yet Another Hardcover Slipcase Collection

Over the past thirty years, DC Comics has milked just about every dime out of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ seminal series Watchmen that they possibly can, much to Alan Moore’s perpetual unhappiness. Now they’re about to do it again, as the publisher is releasing a new hardcover slipcase version of the series, but this time with each individual issue hardbound and held together in as a box set.

With so many collections of Watchmen out there already, I’m not entirely sure what the appeal or point is of having them presented as separate issues. It doesn’t appear that there will be any new material or the like with this set. The only way this could be worth it is if DC included the original ads from the 1986/87 issues as part of the deal for some retro flavor, but there are probably legal reasons that would prevent that. The box set, which you can view above, does look spiffy though. [Comics Beat]

R.I.P. Legendary Comics Letterer Gaspar Saladino

When talking talking about comics, people rarely (if ever) talk about the letterers. But it simply wouldn’t be comic books without them. The comics industry lost one of the lettering greats this week, as letterer/designer Gaspar Saladino passed away Wednesday, August 3, 2016, according to former DC Comics Publisher Paul Levitz.

The Brooklyn-born artist worked in the comic book industry for a whopping 62 years, and including Grant Morrison’s seminal Batman OGN Arkham Asylum, either designed or re-designed the logos for Avengers (including the one which is now known all over the world, which you can view above), Green Lantern, Swamp Thing, Metal Men, House of Mystery, and many others. Gaspar Saladino was 89 years old. [Newsarama]

Final Issue of Darth Vader Gets 12 Variant Covers

Last week we showed you Marvel CCO Joe Quesada’s artwork for Darth Vader #25, the series’ final issue (at least of this run). Now the publisher has revealed a whole lot more covers, a whopping 12 of them, from such well-known artists as Cliff Chiang, Chris Samnee, Sara Pichelli, Michael Cho, Adi Granov,  and more. You can see all twelve covers in our gallery below. [CBR]

Images: DC Comics / Marvel Comics