Welcome comics fans to your mid-week edition of Comics Relief! Lots of news to cover today, but a bit of a SPOILER WARNING first — we’ll be talking about big reveals from last week’s Captain America and DC Rebirth comics, so if you’ve somehow managed to avoid spoilers for those books, go read those comics and then come back. We good? Ok, let’s get this started with what a certain comics icon thinks about that big Cap twist. Read on for all the details…

Stan Lee Weighs In On Cap Controversy

So the controversy of the week in the comics world was a certain story element in the first issue of Steve Rogers: Captain America #1 — Cap was a Hydra double agent all this time. Despite being something that will obviously be undone/explained away at some point (if for no other reason, because there is no way in hell that Disney will allow their second most famous icon to be a bad guy) everyone freaked the eff out, as if they’d never read a comic before in their life. Cap actor Chris Evans was asked about it, and now, of course, Stan Lee has chimed in. While at Orlando MegaCon this past weekend, Stan the Man had this to say about the big twist:

“It’s a hell of a clever idea; I don’t know that I would ever have thought of it for him to be a double agent, but it’s going to make you curious, it’s going to make you want to read the books, they’ll probably do a movie based on it,” Lee told an audience at MegaCon this weekend. “So I can’t fault it; it’s a good idea. I think it’s crazy, but it’s a good idea.”

So there you have it. Stan Lee, the man whose fist comics work was a Cap story in the ’40s and who is responsible for un-thawing his butt from the ice in the ’60s, thinks it’s a good idea. So everyone chill out and just let the story play out. It’ll all be OK, I promise. [Comic Book]

Batman #1 Gets Michael Turner Variant Cover

The Dark Knight’s big Rebirth relaunch comes out this week, with an all-new relaunch special issue from writers Tom King and Scott Snyder. Then a on June 15th, a new Batman #1 hits, by Tom King with art by David Finch. One of the variant covers for this first issue is going to be pretty unique, because as part of a “unique partnership” with DC Comics, Aspen Comics will offer limited edition variant covers for Batman #1, featuring art by late artist Michael Turner.

Turner was super popular artist in the late ’90s/early 2000s, creator of characters like Fathom and artist on books like Witchblade, who sadly died of cancer in 2008 at the age of 37. The issue will be available to order June 1 via AspenStore.com, and a limited number of variants will be available at Aspen’s booth at Denver Comic Con on June 17-19, and Comic-Con International in San Diego on July 21-24. You can check out a preview of the variant cover above. [CBR]

What Does Marvel Think of DC’s Big Rebirth Twist?

The big twist coming out of DC Universe: Rebirth — Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen was the character behind all the inconsistencies of the New 52 timeline — sent shockwaves throughout the comics community. So many in fact, even DC’s #1 competitor Marvel Comics commented about it. When Marvel executive editor Tom Brevoort was asked during an interview what he thought about DC incorporating Watchmen into their continuity, he said the following:

I kind of feel like that work is a complete work, and I’ve liked the fact that people have stayed away from it, except in really recent memory, and let it be its own thing. On the flipside of that, as the guy that does all this publishing for Marvel, I know that if that book was in our back catalogue, there would definitely have been interaction by this point, and it probably would have happened much sooner.

Even Marvel can’t blame DC for this one. I suppose it’s something of a small miracle DC stayed away from those characters for as long as they did when all is said and done. [CBR via Bleeding Cool]

A 2nd Printing of Rebirth Is Coming, But It’ll Cost Ya 3 More Bucks

One more DC Rebirth thing: if you happened to miss Geoff Johns‘ amazing one shot that came out last week that set everything in motion, there will be a second printing soon. It’ll be a squarebound edition, but it will cost you an extra three bucks — instead of $2.99 for 80 pages, it will be $5.99. It’s still worth the extra three dollars. The edition will feature new cover art from Gary Frank and DC has scheduled it for June 8. [Newsarama]

IDW Creates Hasbro Shared Comics Universe

We all knew this was coming sooner or later. After Paramount Pictures announced they were making their own interconnected Hasbro Cinematic Universe based on the toy/cartoon properties, it was only a matter of time before current Hasbro rights holder IDW followed suit, announcing that all their Hasbro titles – Transformers, GI Joe, Micronauts, ROM, M.A.S.K and Action Man will be part of one shared comics universe.

The concept will be introduced in a new event series called The Revolution, which begins in September as a twice-monthly five-issue series written by Cullen Bunn and John Barber, with art by Fico Ossio. For more on this turn of events, check out our full story here. [Nerdist]

Latest Marvel NOW! Teaser Suggests Something Darker

Last week, Marvel Comics announced it was bringing back the Marvel NOW! label this fall, presumably with another company wide relaunch, that now happens with the frequency of a new TV season. At first, most assumed the name Marvel NOW! was just a re-use of an old branding from 2012, but the latest teaser from Marvel suggests something different.

The new teaser gives the shattered look to the logo, suggesting something else is afoot. What could it be? Who knows, maybe they’ll reveal everything since the October 2012 original Marvel NOW! relaunch was all a dream or something. OK, hopefully not something that lame. You can check out the teaser image above. [Comic Book]

BOOM! Studios Graduates 3 Mini-Series to Ongoing Status

In a surprise move, publisher BOOM! Studios have announced that three of their originally limited series are now being greenlit to ongoing status, after sales for the first issues exceeded expectations. The three books getting the ongoing bump are Joyride, Jonesy, and teen detective title Goldie Vance. No doubt, BOOM! is hoping one of these — or all of them — becomes their next Lumberjanes style breakout hit.  [Bleeding Cool]

Images: DC Comics / Marvel Comics /IDW Entertainment / BOOM! Studios