In today’s Comics Relief, we’ve got new Alan Moore comics coming, non-Marvel Star Wars, and more rumors about this DC Rebirth business. Read on for all the details…
Avatar Press launches Kickstarter for Alan Moore’s Cinema Purgatorio
Avatar Press launched a Kickstarter this week to fund Cinema Purgatorio, a new anthology series from Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill, the incredible creative team behind League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The series will feature new stories by Kieron Gillen, Garth Ennis, Christos Gage and more, all built around the theme of “recapturing the strange, violent, and somewhat disturbing world of 1970s cinema.”
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/avatarpress/alan-moores-cinema-purgatorio
The video for the Kickstarter campaign has Alan Moore himself waxing nostalgic for the dingy, grindhouse cinemas of his day, and then in the written opening statement of his campaign, he says “unapologetically we offer up Cinema Purgatorio, a black and white horror anthology which reaches for something both new and startling beyond the endlessly recycled characters and concepts of the 60s and the 70s.” Wait, what?? Contradictory much? In any event, you can go to the Kickstarter page here, and check out the first image from Cinema Purgatorio below. [Comics Alliance]
More rumors abound for DC Comics Rebirth
A week or so back, it was rumored (then confirmed) that DC was going to be launching something called Rebirth. Would this be a reboot, a relaunch, or what? We still don’t know really. But Bleeding Cool, who broke the story in the first place, has heard several new rumors about Rebirth. DC has issued “no comment” on all of these, which makes it even more interesting. Here are the highlights:
Rumors are suggesting that Tom King will take over as writer on the biweekly Batman, and current Batman writer Scott Snyder will take over Detective Comics.
At least seven titles will be canceled before “Rebirth,” and they are apparently Batman/Superman, Superman/Wonder Woman, Grayson, Starfire, Black Canary, Midnighter and Doctor Fate. Batman/Superman and Superman/Wonder Woman will be replaced with a title featuring the DC Trinity.
For the first time in five years, a new Justice Society of America book is said to be coming, starring what’s described as a team of young heroes brought forward in time from the World War II era, where they will fight alongside the JLA. This would restore the JSA as the original heroes in the DC  Golden Age. There will also be a Teen Titans series, which will feature Damian Wayne in the lead as Robin. Wait, is Damian even a teenager?? For more info, click on the following links [CBR via Bleeding Cool].
Marvel’s first All-New, All-Different Cancellation is Black Knight
It looks like we now know which is the first of the All New, All Different Marvel titles to get the ax. Writer Frank Tieri has revealed that his Black Knight series, which starred the on-again, off again member of the Avengers, has been cancelled with issue #5. Tieri announced the cancellation on Facebook, saying that “The bottom line is the market is what it is these days and the sales just weren’t there.” No doubt the character will pop up in other parts of the Marvel universe soon. [IGN]
DC to give out free copies of Batman/Superman #1 in time for BvS
As part of the big promotional push for Batman v Superman, DC Comics has announced that comic book stores will be receiving batches of the Superman/Batman #1 issue by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness, from back in 2003. Stores will be able to give copies away from the 23rd of March, with the movie itself coming out on the 25th.
While this isn’t surprising, what is surprising is that it’s the version of the Batman/Superman team-up book from thirteen years ago, when Supes still had underwear on the outside. The current Batman/Superman title seems much more in line with the cinematic universe, so I wonder why the decision? Still, it’s hard to knock the notion of free comics. [Bleeding Cool]
New Star Wars OGN coming…and not from Marvel
Marvel has been having great success with their line of Star Wars comics over the past year, but it seems the latest Star Wars comic isn’t actually coming from Marvel. Instead, this coming March, Lusasfilm Press will release a brand new graphic novel adaptation of the original trilogy, all told as one big story. I’m not sure who the artist is, but it is definitely in a more cartoony style than the Marvel books, making me think this is aimed at younger readers. You can see the A New Hope-themed cover below: [Comics Beat]
Rogue/Gambit reunion not what it seems
If you were a kid in the ’90s, then the Rogue/Gambit love affair was the epic love story of the decade. Well, in this week’s Uncanny Avengers #5 — SPOILERS for the issue from here on out, by the way — the Avengers go after the Red Skull, since he now is in possession of the dead Professor X’s telepathic brain. The team learns that the Skull has a safe in a bank in Bagalia, and head that way.
When breaking into the Red Skull’s section of the bank, Rogue runs into her old flame Gambit. Gambit ends up being a total jerk to Rogue, killing any chance of a real reunion between the two. But then, in the end, it’s revealed that it wasn’t really Gambit at all…but the Red Skull, using Xavier’s telepathy to hide his identity. Will Rogue find out it wasn’t really Remy that was such a jerk to her?? Find out soon on General Hospital Uncanny Avengers. [CBR]
New, hip Scooby-Doo will speak in emoji
Last week, the big story from DC Comics was their plan to do a big “realistic” revamp on several of their Hanna-Barbera properties to make them more hip. Now, a new report suggests that Scooby Doo won’t actually talk, per se. The folks at Bleeding Cool pointed out that in the Jim Lee cover for Scooby Apocalypse #1, we see Scoob wearing some kind of Google Glasses type deal that emits holograms of emojis. You see happiness, fear, concern, pizza, and more. All I can say is, if “Scooby Snacks” are some kind of code word for a hip drug now, I officially give up. [Bleeding Cool]
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IMAGES: DC Comics / Marvel Comics / Avatar Press /Lucasfilm
