It’s time for the weekend installment of Comics Relief, and today we’ve gathered news on an old pulp hero your grandpa used to love making a big comeback at Dynamite Entertainment. Plus we have tidbits on some nifty Marvel exclusives coming to New York Comic Con, and yet another variant cover for the upcoming Dark Knight III from DC Comics. But first, next year’s would-be movie stars, the Suicide Squad, are already getting a spin-off series for two of their fan favorite members. Continue reading for all the details….

DC announces Suicide Squad Spin-off featuring Deadshot and Katana

2016 is gearing up to be a big year for DC’s Suicide Squad, as the team is making their big screen debut in August. But before that movie (and all the hype sure to be surrounding it) finally arrive, DC is capitalizing on the Squad by releasing a new mini-series featuring team staples Deadshot and Katana. The publisher has announced Suicide Squad Most Wanted: Deadshot/Katana, a new six-issue anthology series spotlighting two members of Amanda Waller’s supervillain team. Although is Katana really a villain? I remember her being one of Batman’s allies. Was that New 52-ed away?

The Deadshot story will be written by Brian Buccellato with art by Viktor Bogdanovic and Richard Friend. The story follows the character on the run after escaping Belle Reve Penitentiary, taking on a series of new contracts and reestablishing himself as the world’s deadliest marksman. But he’s shocked to find that his latest target is none other than Lex Luthor himself.

The Katana story is written by the character’s co-creator, Mike W. Barr, and features art by Diogenes Neves. In this storyline, Katana endeavors to save an entire nation from a hostile takeover by the terrorist group Kobra. But first, she’s going to have to learn the origin of her sword, Soultaker, if she’s to maintain control over it, rather than falling under its influence. Suicide Squad Most Wanted: Deadshot/Katana launches in January. [Comic Book Resources]

Valiant brings fan-favorite character Faith into her own mini-series

Valiant Entertainment has announced a new mini-series and first ever solo series for the character of Faith “Zephyr” Herbert, who was introduced in the pages of Harbinger and went on to be a member of the Harbinger Renegades and Unity. The new four-issue Faith series will be written by Jody Houser, with art from Francis Portela and Marguerite Sauvage. Faith Herbert is a reporter leading a double-life in Los Angeles as a superhero called Zephyr. In this new series, the superhuman investigates an alien conspiracy that she must tackle on her own.

Valiant Editor-in-Chief Warren Simons had this to say on the new series: “Since she first stepped off the page in Harbinger through Harbinger Wars, Unity and Armor Hunters, fans far and wide have demanded that she be given her time to shine in the spotlight. Fortunately, Jody, Francis, and Marguerite are the perfect team to give Faith the leading role she deserves with a fast and fun-filled series that will establish her once and for all as one of Valiant’s leading lights.”

The new Faith series from Valiant hits comics shops in January, 2016. [Newsarama]

Marvel debuts new Skottie Young pins exclusive to New York Comic Con

Artist Skottie Young has gathered quite a following with his cutesy, babified versions of Marvel heroes, often shown off on different variant covers for nearly every Marvel book out there. Now Marvel has enlisted Young once again to follow up their popular Comic-Con International exclusive this past summer by expanding their Young-inspired enamel pin collection with a new series of sets featuring his distinctive versions of Marvel characters. The pins will only be available at this year’s New York Comic Con. Twenty-two new pins will be available for purchase at the Marvel Booth (#1354).

The pins will come in five sets: “Iron Man 3-Pack,” “Captain America 3-Pack,” “Spider-Man 2-Pack,” “Blind Pack 2-Pin Set” and “Daredevil, Punisher and Spider-Man Unmasked.” A Director Coulson pin with a lanyard will also be available. The pins will set you back a bit though; Fans who spend $30 at the Marvel Shop will be able to purchase one, but it takes $65 to purchase two or $90 to purchase all three. The “Daredevil, Punisher and Spider-Man Unmasked” pins will be available in limited quantities throughout the con, and are only available for those who hit those incentive tiers. You can check out a preview of the Marvel NYCC exclusives below: [MTV]

The Man of Bronze returns in new Doc Savage series from Dynamite Entertainment

Before Superman and Batman kicked off the era of superheroes, America was in love with the colorful protagonists of the pulp novels, especially characters like The Shadow and The Spider. But the most famous pulp novel hero was no doubt Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze. First created in 1933, the adventure character was the embodiment of brains and brawn combined.

Now Dynamite Entertainment is bringing back the legendary action hero in an all-new series, debuting in December, Doc Savage: The Spider’s Web #1. Chris Roberson (iZombie, Hellboy), who previously wrote the Doc Savage: Man of Bronze series, returns for the hero’s brand-new adventure, joined by interior artist Cezar Razek (Red Sonja: The Black Tower).

In Doc Savage: The Spider’s Web, the intrepid explorer and responds to a devastating earthquake in South America, only to discover that the disaster was no accident… and it seems to be linked to a menace that Doc faced many years before. As his investigation begins, Doc finds that a number of closed cases that he had considered to be isolated threats were in fact part of a larger web that he never suspected until now. You can check out two of the variant covers for issue #1 below:

Mark Waid and Chris Samnee bring their Daredevil magic to new Black Widow series

One could argue that Black Widow is the most important female Marvel hero, thanks to her status in the Avengers movies. Yet a Black Widow series wasn’t part of the initial announcement for All-New, All-Different Marvel, making many fans unhappy. Now that’s finally changed, as Marvel has announced that the popular former Daredevil creative team of Mark Waid and Chris Samnee are taking on the adventures of the Black Widow for a new ongoing series, starting in early 2016.

So what can fans expect from this new incarnatio of Natasha Romanova? According to Waid, “A lot more old school spy. We have a reason why Natasha isn’t able in those first few issues to go super high tech. She can’t just call Tony Stark and say, ‘Give me the most recent stuff.’ She can’t just call Maria Hill at S.H.I.E.L.D. and say, ‘What’s new with the world of spy business?’ In fact, she has to turn to a lot of people, some of who we’ve never seen before but we’ll be introducing, who taught her spy craft at an early age.”

Chris Samnee adds “It’s spy craft and secrets and all of her pasts, and it all ties together in ways that it couldn’t be anything else.” [Entertainment Weekly]

Original appearances of Booster Gold show up on comiXology

DC’s time traveling hero Booster Gold is getting a bit of attention lately, due to rumors that he will be getting a movie with his old buddy Blue Beetle. Now for curious fans who want to know about the character’s early days, comiXology and DC Comics have released the first two issues of the original 1980s Booster Gold series from writer/artist Dan Jurgens. These issues have never been collected before in color (a black-and-white version was reprinted for DC’s Showcase trade paperback series, although that one is long out of print). If they sell well, I imagine the rest of the classic run will be made available too, as the original run of the title only lasted two years and twenty-six issues. You can buy these issues right now via comiXology by clicking here. [Comic Book]

DC releases preview of Jim Lee cover for Dark Knight III: The Master Race

Finally, in addition to the variant covers for Dark Knight III: The Master Race, which we previewed for you in the last Comics Relief, DC has now revealed an early, pre-inked and colored sketch version of Jim Lee’s cover for the first issue of the series. Like most of the covers we’ve seen so far, it is an homage to the original Dark Knight Returns comic from 1986. You can see the sketch cover of Batman and Carrie Kelly as Robin below. Dark Knight III: The Master Race, by Frank Miller and Brian Azzarello, hits on November 25th. [Newsarama]

—

What do you think of today’s top stories? Share your thoughts in the comments below.