Welcome to another edition of Comics Relief! In today’s news, we’ve got details on the return(s) of old DC Comics favorites, our pal CM Punk tries his hand at the whole comics thing, and the Ninja Turtles universe at IDW starts expanding. But first, Marvel does something rather cool for one of their founding fathers…
Marvel Salutes Jack Kirby For Veteran’s Day
In Honor of Veteran’s Day this year, Marvel Comics went ahead and did something very thoughtful (and something also showing that they are now pretty cozy with the Kirby estate after a long period of litigation). They posted a pic of Jack Kirby, legendary co-creator of Captain America, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and so many more, in his army uniform from his World War II days, revealing several wartime anecdotes passed down to his son, Neal Kirby, about his time in the trenches. To the late King Kirby, we honor you for your service. [Marvel]
Former Pro Wrestler CM Punk Makes Comics Writing Debut with Thor Annual #1
If you’re familiar with pro wrestling at all, then chances are you are already aware of our favorite mega-fan CM Punk. Although he’s made his comic book fandom known for years, Marvel is giving him the opportunity to write for them with this February’s Thor Annual #1, which will have art by Chewâs Rob Guillory, also making his Marvel Comics debut. Their story will be set in the time of Thor’s youth, in the days when he wasn’t worthy of wielding Mjolnir in Odin’s eyes, and spent most of his time complaining about it like a little brat. While we can’t know exactly what to expect from CM Punk’s first issue, we know that he’s “not a Grant Morrison guy” and that he loves Ed Brubaker, so that should be pretty telling on who he’ll be trying to emulate. Congrats, CM Punk! [Comics Alliance]
Check out some of CM Punks other skill sets in these videos from Nerdist.com:
DC Reveals First Details on Convergence Tie-In Books, and They’re Pretty Heavy on the Fan-Service
This week DC Comics revealed the solicitations for the first ten tie-in series to their two month event series Convergence, and for longtime DC fans, especially those that have been fans since before the New 52 began, these descriptions read a lot like exactly what we’ve been asking for. Just in these first ten tie-ins alone, we’ve got Superman and Lois Lane married and expecting their first child, Wally West as the Flash (also married), Renee Montoya as the Question (written by Greg Rucka), Stephanie Brown as Batgirl, Donna Troy in her first appearance in three years, and Barbara Gordon as Oracle again, written by Gail Simone and getting preparing to get married to Nightwing. (That noise was the sound of fanboys and fangirls sqee-ing everywhere, by the way.) Could Convergence be the last hurrah of the classic DC Universe, or is this just the beginning? We’ll know by June 2015, but it would be really mean of DC to give longtime fans exactly what they wanted after so long, just to yank it all away again.[Comic Book Resources]
Dark Horse Presents Hits 200 Issues With a Spectacular Line-UpÂ
Dark Horse unveiled just what the content will be for the landmark 200th issue of their long-running anthology series Dark Horse Presents, set to hit in February. It will be a huge 80 page issue featuring work from some of their most famous writers and artists, not to mention being first US appearance of the series Masks by the author of Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn,r and Watchmen’s Dave Gibbons. Also part of the line-up are Mike Mignola (Hellboy), Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragones (Groo), Alex de Campi and Jerry Ordway (Semiautomagic), Fred Van Lente and Miguel Sepulveda (Project Black Sky), Brendan McCarthy (Dream Gang), and Damon Gentry and Aaron Conley (Sabertooth Swordsman). [Bleeding Cool]
IDW Spins Off Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Mutanimals Into A Limited Series
A new team of mutated animals are joining TMNT over at IDW. Fan favorite characters the Mutanimals will be headlining their own mini-series this February. According to the official synopsis, “When someone close to the Mutanimals goes missing, the team consisting of Old Hob, Slash, Mondo Gecko, Herman the Hermit Crab, and Pigeon Pete will be put to the ultimate test. Teamwork doesnât exactly come easy to these outsiders, but theyâll have to find a way to work together to take on a mysterious new entity known as The Null Group.” After having written several  TMNT Micro-Series one-shots, writer Paul Allor will write this series as well. Also coming back to the Tutles’ world is artist Andy Kuhn, who created the new IDW design for Mutanimals leader Slash and will handle covers and interiors. [Newsarama]
BOOM! Studios Explores Immortality and Cloning with Eternal This December
Eternal is the new series written by William Harms and illustrated by Giovanni Valletta, coming from Boom! Studios this December. Eternal takes the notion of cloning and human immortality to a whole new level. According to the official description: “In a world of clones, the Human Liberation Army wants to free people from New Lifeâs grasp. Their leader Gail will take the most drastic, personal measures yet to do so. Rathmann, a former homicide detective turned New Life enforcer, is on the case, and is asking tough questions. Violet, a young girl and one of the few non-cloned humansâor Puresâleft, is longing to enter the real world. But she has no idea the danger she is stepping into.” Eternal #1 hits comic book shops on December 10th. [Bleeding Cool]
LEGO Inspired By Comic Books Are Maybe The Coolest Thing Ever
Designercon took place in Los Angeles over the past weekend, and one part of the convention were these famous comic book covers re-created in LEGO bricks. Included in the event were covers like Detective Comics #27, the first ever appearance of Batman, and modern issues like The Amazing Spider-Man #700, Akira, and Invincible #63. Best one however has to be the cover to an ’80s issue of Ewoks. How random is that? [Comic Book.com]
 The Joker’s New Face….Looks A Lot Like The Old One
Technically, this is a SPOILER, I guess…but DC has revealed the cover to Batman #36, which reveals the Joker’s new face. (For those of you not keeping up, he cut off his old face back at the start of the New 52, then started wearing a the old one as a gruesome mask in Death of the Family.) From the looks of things… Joker looks, well… pretty much like Joker. Below is the full cover. [Comic Book Resources]
So which of these comics stories are you psyched about the most? Let us know in the comments below.
best of luck cm