It’s Wednesday, which equals Comics Relief time around these parts, and we’ve got plenty of comics news for you to digest this week, including the latest Secret Wars tie-in comic from Marvel, the return of Usagi Yojimbo, and the weirdest Green Lantern story you’ll likely ever read in your life. But first, 2015 is shaping up to be a big year for women in comics, and Dynamite is leading the way with their first all-female crossover event…

Dynamite Entertainment Brings Us All-Female Crossover Event Swords of Sorrow

All female team ups are all the rage these days; first came news of Marvel’s All Women team A-Force, and now Dynamite Entertainment has announced an all-women comic book crossover event Swords of Sorrow. Like A-Force, the series also happens to be written by an all-female creative team, this time headed by Gail Simone. Swords of Sorrow will feature characters like Red Sonja, Vampirella and John Carter’s Dejah Thoris, and will launch with a core series written by Simone, alongside spin-off titles including a Vampirella miniseries by horror novelist Nancy A. Collins and a Green Hornet series co-written by Ms. Marvel writer G. Willow Wilson.

In a statement Simone said, “I love pulp adventure, always have; But as male-dominated as comics have often been, the pulp adventure world seems to be even more so. Most of the big-name stars and creators are dudes, and that’s fine, it’s great. But it hit me … what if that wasn’t the case? What if adventure pulps had also been written with female readers in mind, and awesome female characters in the spotlight?” Swords of Sorrow launches in May, with related titles to follow soon after. [Hollywood Reporter]

Usagi Yojimbo Returns After 3-Year Break To Dark Horse

After a three year hiatus, creator Stan Sakai’s long-running Usagi Yojimbo is set to return to Dark Horse Comics in May. For those of you out there unfamiliar, Usagi Yojimbo (translated as “rabbit bodyguard”) is set in feudal Japan, but a feudal Japan that just so happens to be inhabited by anthropomorphic animals. Usagi Yojimbo has been published almost continuously since 1984, winning many awards and much critical acclaim. Despite a nearly three year break, Usagi Yojimbo will pick up right were it left off, at issue #145, when it comes back in May. [Comics Alliance]

Infinity Gauntlet The Latest Marvel Secret Wars Title

And Marvel’s latest Secret Wars title to be a new riff on an old classic is going to be a big one-none other than the Infinity Gauntlet. The original 1991 series was one of Marvel’s biggest stories ever, and provides the basis for the Avengers: Infinity War movies coming out in a few years. This new series will be written by Gerry Duggan (Deadpool) and illustrated by Dustin Weaver (Edge of Spider-Verse).

Infinity Gauntlet will chronicle the adventures of a young woman named Anwen Bakian, who lives with her dad, sister, and grandfather in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, searching for food and hiding from enormous insects. How exactly this will tie in to the classic Infinity Gauntlet story is still somewhat of a mystery, but the original series featured Marvel uber-villain Thanos – and so does this story – so we’ll just have to wait and see how it all plays out. [Los Angeles Times]

Avengers Vs. Is Old School Classic Marvel Without All The Event

It’s not ALL about Secret Wars at Marvel these days though. In May, Marvel is releasing the Avengers Vs one-shot, which features members of the team fighting not weird alternate universe versions of themselves, or the X-Men…but actual villains. (I know, these days it almost seems quaint.)

As described by Marvel, this issue has “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes doing battle against their deadliest foes for a quartet of can’t miss tales; Packed to the gills with action, adventure and excitement – experience four unique stories of the Avengers going toe-to-toe with four of their all-time greatest adversaries!” The 56 page one-shot will be brought to you by writer Joe Caramagna, with art by Andrea Di Vito and Wellington Alves. No doubt this one shot is meant to attract casual readers and movie fans. Avengers Vs will debut on digital platforms in April, then see print in May. [Bleeding Cool]

IDW Collects Alex Toth’s Bravo For Adventure

Alex Toth isn’t a name that’s probably very familiar to modern comic book fans, but he should be; known for illustrating tons of comics in the Golden Age (including the first appearance of Black Canary), Toth spent his later career as an animation designer for Hanna Barbera, where he created Space Ghost and the Herculoids, among others. Now IDW Publishing will collect Bravo for Adventure, a rarely-seen story from Toth, as part of its Library of American Comics.

Although it’s been out of print for three decades, the original 48-page story about “knock-about pilot and reluctant swashbuckler” Jesse Bravo was created for a French publisher, but a planned graphic novel was never released. Later on it was serialized by several different publishers. IDW’s 100-page hardcover edition will include all three published stories, never-before-seen pencil roughs, preliminary drawings and story fragments, as well as Toth’s coloring samples for an edition that was never printed. Bravo for Adventure is scheduled for release in July. [Comic Book Resources]

Mike Mignola’s Hellboy Turns 21, Finally Gets To Have A Beer

Mike Mignola’s signature creation, Hellboy, turns 21 this year, and what better way to celebrate than with Big Red’s first (legal) beer? Yup, Hellboy is getting a brew in his honor, called “The Right Hand of Doom Red Ale”, which will be a limited edition release from Oregon-based company Rogue Ales. Though available nationally at Rogue.com, the “Right Hand of Doom” debuts in Portland at the Things From Another World Comics store, where Mike Mignola will be signing books alongside other Dark Horse creators on Friday, Feb. 20.

In a statement, Dark Horse President Mike Richardson said, “Rogue Ales approached us with the idea of creating a heavy-handed, supernatural red ale and we loved the idea of two independent, Portland based companies coming together to create something new that would be both fun for fans and worthy of the Mike Mignola’s creative legacy.” Rogue Ales president Brett Joyce added, “this beer is dedicated to the B.P.R.D. – Right Hand of Doom is brewed with all the same passion and intensity that Mike Mignola and Dark Horse have brought to Hellboy for the past 21 years.” [Entertainment Weekly]

Frank Miller’s Daredevil Run Gets An Oversized Artist’s Edition

Before he re-invented Batman for the modern age, Frank Miller saved Daredevil from Marvel B-list status into one of their best-selling titles. In June 2015, IDW is set to publish Frank Miller’s Daredevil Artifact Edition, reprinting original artwork as close to the boards in appearance and size as possible. Slthough the label “Artifact” suggests they don’t have enough original art to tell a complete story, it will be the closest thing yet to having all that Frank Miller art in its original format. [Bleeding Cool]

A Dead Man Was Dressed As Green Lantern At His Wake. Yes, Ring Included.

You think doing cosplay or getting a tattoo of your favorite superhero is showing true fan devotion? That’s for amateurs. Try getting dressed up as your favorite superhero after you die, to be displayed in that costume at your wake. That’s what a Green Lantern fan in Puerto Rico did. Renato Garcia had been ill for a long time with respiratory problems, and then he found a Green Lantern costume in a box of clothing. He spent his last few weeks wearing it around his hometown, so when he passed away at age 50, his sister decided to dress him in the costume for his wake, where his body was propped up standing. I’m not going to post the actual picture here, because it’s somewhat nightmare-inducing, but for the morbidly curious out there (you know who you are) you can click on this link: [Comics Beat via NY Daily News]

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Have a favorite comics news item this week (or a favorite comics character you’d want to be buried as??) Let us know in the comments below!