In today’s edition of Comics Relief: Is Comic-Con staying or going from San Diego? And is Nightcrawler the latest mutant to fail at sustaining an ongoing solo series? Plus a whole lot more. But first off, Image Comics finally reveals what all those teaser images they’ve been posting are all about….

The Story Behind Those Image Comics Teaser Images Finally Revealed

After several weeks of teasers, we now know just what project all those superhero images released from Image Comics are all about; they are members of a super team who call themselves The Front Line, and they’re coming next February in Secret Identities, an all- new series, co-written by Brian Joines and Jay Faerber, with artists Ilias Kyriazis and Charlie Kirchoff. The new series from Image “tells the story of The Front Line, a crew of heroes that banded together to protect the Earth from an alien invasion. Although their mission was successful, the Front Line still has a nemesis — and he just joined their team.”  Issue #1 of Secret Identities hits February 18th.  [Digital Spy]

DC Comics Challenges Spanish Soccer Team Over The Bat Symbol

Believe it or not, DC Comics is reportedly challenging the new logo of a Spanish soccer team, saying that it looks way too much like the classic Batman emblem. La Liga club Valencia C.F. sought to register a trademark for a variation of its crest, which is what ultimately led DC to file a complaint. Unfortunately for DC, the bat symbol has been used in Spain since the 13th century, and is part of the coat of arms of Valencia, as well as other cities in. Valencia C.F. has used bats in its club logo since 1919, two decades before the debut of the Batman in 1939. Although they may still pursue it, DC might not have a legal leg to stand on with this one. [Newsarama]

Marvel Adding Korean Hero The White Fox To The Avengers Line-Up.

Marvel Vice President C.B. Cebulski announced this week during a conference in Seoul that a character created for a licensed Korean webcomic series titled Avengers Electric Rain would soon become a part of the mainstream Marvel universe in North America. Created by Korean comics creator Young Hoon Ko, White Fox was introduced as a member of the Avengers and was reportedly based on Kumiho, a nine-tailed fox from Korean mythology. Apparently, Marvel was prompted to bring the character over into the main Marvel Universe beacuase of the new popularity of the comic series in Korea (Thanks, Hollywood!) Six installments of Avengers Electric Rain have been released so far, and the White Fox’s origin story is already planned for the ninth installment. [icv2]

Dynamite Entertainment Buys Atlas Comics Trademark

Before Marvel Comics was really Marvel Comics, it went by many names; Timely Comics was one, and another was Atlas Comics. In fact, Atlas Comics was the second name of the company that would ultimately become Marvel in 1961. Marvel’s founder Martin Goodman revived the name in 1974 after selling Marvel off, but that version of Atlas Comics folded pretty quickly. Over the years, the name and trademark of Atlas Comics has changed hands (at one point, back in 2010, Marvel even tried to buy it back) but now Dynamite Entertainment owner Nick Barrucci has bought the Atlas trademark. Does that mean a revival of some old Atlas Comics as well, or did Marvel keep all those trademarks, and Dynamite just has the Atlas name? Time will tell… [Bleeding Cool]

Is Nightcrawler Marvel’s Latest Cancellation?

It seems unless your name happens to be Wolverine, most of the various X-Men’s attempts at solo series have ended prematurely, no matter how popular that character may be as a member of the actual X-Men team. Gambit, Mystique, the list goes on; all attempted solo series that didn’t last very long. Now it seems after less than a year, Nightcrawler’s first ongoing solo series seems to be heading for the circular file. Writer Chris Claremont hinted that there wouldn’t be a year two on Facebook recently. Which is a real shame, because Nightcrawler has been a damn fun book to read. [Bleeding Cool]

Comic Book Artist Jock Creates New Promo Art For The Gotham Television Series

One of the saving graces so far of Fox’s Gotham series has been the portrayal of Oswald Cobblepot, a/k/a the Penguin, by actor Robin Taylor. DC has not been slow to realize this, and has enlisted comic book artist Jock, who is doing the art on Scott Snyder’s Wytches series for Image Comics, to do a house ad featuring the Penguin to run in all their comics next month. Jock is no stranger to Gotham of course, having worked with Scott Snyder on a story featuring the Dick Grayson version of Batman called The Black Mirror. [Comic Book Resources]

Deadpool Gets A Prose Novel in 2015

Of all the comic book characters who seem suited for only a visual medium, I would rank Marvel’s Deadpool near the top. Nevertheless, he is getting an actual prose novel in August of 2015 entitled Paws. And yes, the name/book cover is indeed a play on the cover of the novel Jaws. Deadpool: Paws is an all-new original story  written by novelist and comic book writer Stefan Petrucha.

According to the official description,”Something is turning the city’s dogs into giant, bloodthirsty killing machines. And Deadpool is charged with taking care of business. Only thing is – Deadpool likes dogs. He doesn’t want to kill them. Now, people – that’s a different story. He can kill loads of people. At least the ones who deserve it. So what we’ve got here is a genuine character dilemma.” According to Marvel’s  David Gabriel, “When we were discussing which characters should get the prose treatment, Wade Wilson was always right near the top. From the first chapter, the book has everything you love about Deadpool, and I can’t wait for fans to get their hands on it.” [ComicBook.com]

Is Comic-Con Staying Or Going in San Diego?

Comic-Con International has made its home in San Diego for over forty years, and for the last several of them rumors have persisted that the Con is moving out of the San Diego Convention Center, as it has outgrown that space. There were plans for an expansion of the Convention Center, but now that those have been grounded, what are the chances of the Con staying at its original home now?

Still pretty good actually- San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer is desperate to keep the Con in San Diego, and is trying to get local hotels to keep their prices at the 2016 level for both 2017 and 2018, and it seems that many are going along, mostly because everyone realizes that keeping Comic-Con in San Diego is in their best interest. Even the Convention Center itself is offering up a discount rent of $200,000 to keep the con there.  So don’t start making any plans for Comic Con International in, say, Las Vegas, just yet. [Comics Beat]

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