In this week’s Comic Relief, we’ve got the reveal of Mark Millar’s new series, even more Marvel event teases that probably center around Secret Wars, and Alex Ross does his take on that Galaxy far, far away. So let’s get started with the long awaited return of the world’s most famous sidekick…

Robin’s Return Spoiled Three Months Early…By DC Comics 

Maybe the biggest comics news of the week so far is the return of a certain Boy Wonder in January 2015 in the pages of Batman and Robin, and that that Robin is going to be…. SPOILERS, obviously……………………….none other than the last bearer of the mantle, Damian Wayne. I guess Bruce Wayne was successful in his long quest to bring his son back to life, and Damian will be coming back, and is apparently bulletproof? All this was revealed in the solicitations for the January issues of DC titles.

Although there were reports of The Dark Knight Returns‘ Carrie Kelley becoming the new Robin, it looks like Damian Wayne was just too popular to take a Jason Todd-length dirt nap, and has now come back only a year and half later. You’d think DC would keep the mystery of Damian Wayne coming back at least till the issue drops (I mean, it could have been someone other than Damian) but I guess we’ll have to be content with the mystery of why he’s apparently bulletproof now. Maybe he’s Superman’s kid? Can you imagine the Maury Episode? “Bruce…you are NOT the father!”

[Newsarama]

Army of Darkness Coming To Dynamite This December

You can’t keep a good one handed, demon fightin’, boom stick wielding S-Mart employee down- this December, the one and only Ash returns in a new Army of Darkness series coming from Dynamite Entertainment. Sam Raimi’s beloved cult classic horror/comedy is being written for comics by Cullen Bunn (Magneto) with art by Larry Watts. Bleeding Cool has a preview of the first issue, and you can check it out by clicking the link below.

[Bleeding Cool]

Marvel Taps Alex Ross For Star Wars #1 Variant Cover

After some twenty plus years at Dark Horse Comics, the Star Wars license is going back to its original home at Marvel Comics. Marvel was the first big license that George Lucas ever had for his then-untested space saga, and the first issue of Star Wars hit the stands a good month before the movie ever did, in April of 1977. The cover, illustrated by comic book legend Howard Chaykin, was based on early designs and concepts for the movie, so things looked a little...off. Darth Vader has a green helmet, Han has a purple blaster, and Luke is brandishing a red lightsaber, not a blue one. And he kinds looks more like Thor than Mark Hamill.

Now with an all-new Star Wars #1 coming from Marvel, some thirty-seven years later, they’ve hired Alex Ross to paint a variant cover for that issue, based on the old Chaykin design for the original cover. Below is a side by side comparison of both covers. Still think Alex Ross could have worked in that purple blaster though…

[Entertainment Weekly]

Noise Trade Is Offering Free Hellboy Comics Through Its Digital Platform

Noise Trade is a brand new digital service that’s offering free music, books and also comic books. The idea behind Noise Trade is that it’s a  platform designed to help writers as well as publishers build up their audiences by distributing free eBooks, audio books and music in exchange for reader data, like email & zip/postcodes. Now among some of those free comics are some Hellboy books from creator  Mike Mignola. And Hellboy is apparently going to just be the tip of that iceberg.

[Noise Trade]

Marvel Re-Launches Uncanny Avengers With Mostly Former Villains

As a result of Avengers & X-Men: Axis, Marvel is restructuring its X-Men and Avengers “unity team” with an all new line-up, starting in January with Uncanny Avengers #1. Judging from the cover image Marvel released, the line up will consist of returning members Scarlet Witch and Rogue, with everyone else on the squad being new members, almost all of whom were former bad guys. We’ve got the Sam Wilson version of Captain America, the Scarlet Witch’s brother Quicksilver (who may or may not be a mutant anymore) The Vision, Sabretooth, and the most unexpected member, Brother Voodoo, the one-time replacement Sorcerer Supreme when Dr. Strange was stripped of the title.  Writer Rick Remender returns to the book, along with artist Daniel Acuña.

[ComicBook.com]

Dave Gibbons Named “Comics Laureate” by UK Organization

The UK has a new charity that promotes literacy through the medium of comics, appropriately named The Comics Literacy Awareness, and the organization has named its first ever “comics laureate”, none other than  Watchmen co-creator and legendary comic book artist Dave Gibbons. In his position as laureate, Gibbons will “go on school visits, help with training events for school staff, and participate in education conferences.” In a statement, Gibbons said: “I intend to do all that I can to promote the acceptance of comics in schools. It’s vitally important not only for the pupils but for the industry too.”

[Comics Alliance]

Jupiter’s Legacy Prequel Series Coming From Mark Millar & Wilfredo Torres

Remember last week, when Mark Millar teased a new upcoming project with artist Wilfredo Torres? And a lot of people thought it was something involving maybe the DC or Marvel heroes?  Well, know we know what it is-a prequel series to Millar’s book with artist Frank Quitely, Jupiter’s Legacy, with which he is teaming with artist Wilfredo Torres. Millar is going to explore his universe’s golden age of superheroes in the 1950s era,  and original series artist Frank Quitely, is providing the character designs and cover for the spinoff series, which is expected to launch in April 2015.

[Comic Book Resources]

Marvel Reveals Even More Old Event Series Returns

And finally this week, we have three more images of returning older event series from Marvel —  the 2008 “Old Man Logan” storyline, the 2005 crossover series House of M, which resulted in the “No More Mutants” rule for several years, and the 1991 crossover The Infinity Gauntlet, which featured the Marvel Universe vs. Thanos. What do all these returning epic stories mean? We still don’t know…but I’d still bet money it all has something to do with Marvel’s upcoming Secret Wars reboot.

[Newsarama]

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So what do you think of today’s stories? Let us know in the comments below!

Images: DC Comics, Dynamite Entertainment, Dark Horse Comics, Marvel, Image Comics