Welcome to your weekend edition of Comics Relief, fangirls and fanboys! In today’s installment, we’ve got news on how to get the latest cool Humble Bundle, plus more DC and Marvel news than you can shake a stick at. But first off, we’ve got more details on Valiant Comics’ big summer event. Read on for all the details…
Valiant Comics Announces The Summer of 4001 A.D.
Valiant Comics have announced their big  The Summer of 4001 A.D. initiative, which is set to start this May in the first issue of their upcoming summer event, 4001 A.D. #1, from Matt Kindt and Clayton Crain. 4001 A.D. is described as being about “Rai assembling the future heroes of the Valiant Universe to take down Father, the malevolent AI that created him and that continues to rule the 41st century city-state of New Japan.”
Spinning out of the core event series, the character of Rai returns in May with a new arc in Rai #13 by Matt Kindt and CAFU, which will reveal the origin of New Japan and the creation of the first Rai and his successors. The Summer of 4001 A.D. will also include four standalone one-shots revealing the future of some of some of the publisher’s more popular characters. For more info on Valiant’s big summer 2016 plans, click on the following link: [Bleeding Cool]
DC reveals latest video art tutorial with Sinestro artist Brad Walker
DC Comics have been making these cool video tutorials made by different artists working on their books over the last year or so, and the latest features Sinestro artist Brad Walker. These videos were taken at different conventions over the past year, and then loaded up onto YouTube by the folks at DC. Aspiring artists can check out their latest video below:
Marvel and Phil Noto provide C2E2’s Official Poster for 2016
This year, Marvel Comics is providing the poster for the big C2E2 convention in Chicago coming up in March, featuring the All-New, All-Different Avengers. The illustration by artist Phil Noto, best known for his amazing covers for comics like Star Wars and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, shows the heroes with Chicago’s Michigan Ave in the background. The poster will be given away at C2E2 events leading up to the show, and also at local comic book stores across the midwest. [Entertainment Weekly]
Has DC cancelled the meeting between the classic and new Supermen?
It was only a couple of months ago that it was announced that the current New 52-era Kal-El would be meeting his pre-Flashpoint counterpart, currently starring in the pages of Superman: Lois and Clark, in issue #50 of Superman. There was even a cover image released of the two Men of Steel side by side. Now, DC has changed the solicitations for issue #50 to make no mention of the other Superman or any kind of meetings between the two Supermen. Could this have something to do with DC’s upcoming Rebirth? I’d bet real money on it. [Bleeding Cool]
Dynamite Entertainment’s new Humble Budle features comics from Garth Ennis, Neil Gaiman, and more
This week’s Humble Bundle from Dynamite Entertainment — which allows fans to pay what they want for a variety of cool comics —  is worth every penny. For just fifteen dollars, you can get titles like Garth Ennis and Aaron Campbell’s The Shadow: Fires of Creation, a collaboration between Neil Gaiman and Alice Cooper, the Django/Zorro crossover comic, Alice in Wonderland, and comics work from notable prose authors like Charlaine Harris and Tom Clancy. You can check out the latest bundle right here. [Comics Alliance]
The Dwayne McDuffie Awards for Diversity in Comics Nominations have been announced
The late Dwayne McDuffie was a comic book legend, having written and created many books for both Marvel and DC, as well as being one of the founders of Milestone Comics. Since McDuffie was one of the most important African-American figures in the industry, it’s fitting that the The Award for Diversity in Comics is named after him. The Dwayne McDuffie Award is presented to works which further the goals towards a more inclusive comics industry on the page as well as behind it.
This year the nominations are as follows:
- Andre The Giant: Closer to Heaven by Brandon Easton and Denis Medri (IDW Publishing)
- Fresh Romance, edited by Janelle Asselin (Rosy Press)
- Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur by Brandon Montclare, Amy Reeder and Natacha Bustos (Marvel Entertainment)
- Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona (Marvel Entertainment)
- Zana by Jean Barker and Joey Granger (Emet Comics)
The winner will be announced in a ceremony February 20th at the Long Beach Comic Con; creator (and Fatman on Batman co-host) Marc Bernadin will be the keynote speaker. [Comics Beat]
DC celebrates 52 issues of the New 52
This year mark the fifth anniversary of DC’s New 52 publishing initiative. Although controversial, one thing is inarguable: New 52 brought many new fans into comic shops, and was a big part of turning the comic book industry around these past few years.
Although only 12 titles still remain from that initial launch, almost all of them are getting a variant cover in May when they hit issue #52, celebrating the anniversary. Each cover will be an homage to the first issues of each book from back in 2011. Mysteriously absent from this is Justice League #52, which is interesting since Justice League #1 was the first New 52 book published. You can check out all the covers in our gallery below: [Comic Book]
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What do you think of today’s top stories? Let us know in the comments below.
Featured Image: Valiant Comics
