It’s Wednesday, which is new comics day, which also means it’s Comics Relief day, and we’ve got the biggest comics news of the week so far, gathered together for your reading convenience.
This week, DC reveals their plans for an all-new Batman following Endgame, not to mention the return of Batman Beyond. The baby Avengers also make a comeback, and DC makes history with Midnighter. But first off, the apocalyptic future of the X-Men returns, thanks to Secret Wars….
The Days of Future Past Are Now The Years Of Future Past, Thanks To Marvel’s Secret Wars
Among the latest Secret Wars tie-ins announced this week is Years of Future Past, which takes the dystopian “future” of the year 2013 from the classic 1981 Chris Claremont/John Byrne two part story Days of Future Past (which was the basis for the movie of the same name) and makes it an official part of Battleworld.
Like the original story (and unlike the movie version) Kitty Pryde, going by her “grown up” name of Kate Pryde, is at the center of it all, trying to survive in a world where Sentinel robots have nearly hunted mutants to extinction. Writer Marguerite Bennett and artist Mike Norton are bringing us this series, and according to Bennett, “Expect to see most of the characters from the original “DOFP” lineup — Wolverine, Colossus, Magneto, Storm, Rachel, Mystique and Blob. There are two major new players, though.”
Years of Future Past hits in June. [Comic Book Resources]
June Gives Us An All-New Dark Knight In Batman #41
DC is beginning to reveal their post Convergence plans, and it looks like right out of the gate Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Batman is going to have the biggest amount of changes, starting with an all-new Batman. While Snyder is remaining mum on the details, it looks like our new Dark Knight is wearing some kind of robotic suit, or is in fact a robot. (he looks kind of like Chappie though, doesn’t he?)
According to series writer Scott Snyder, “It’s definitely the wackiest thing we’ve every tried. It’s basically the story where I thought, ‘If I ever do a story out of continuity, I’d love to do this. But there’s no way I can change the mythology to a degree that I could get to this story.’ But…here we are. Endgame was designed to be my last story on Batman, but if I stayed after  Endgame, it needed to be transformative, where everything was put aside and reinvented. It’s going to be a new cast.”
Secret Wars Gets Super Cute With Giant Size Little Marvel: AVX #1
Skottie Young, the artist you probably know best for those adorable itty bitty baby Marvel character variant covers, is giving those characters their very own series thanks to Secret Wars, in Giant-Size Little Marvel: AVX #1. Originally pitched as parody of 2012’s Avengers Vs X-Men, Skottie Young has resurrected it as a part of Secret Wars, and according to the solicitation, “The toughest, funniest, craziest and most adorable Marvel heroes THROW DOWN.”
I don’t know about you, but I think I want Little Marvel vs Marvel Zombies as part of Battleworld more than anything else. No release date was given with the solicitation, but the book is expected this June. [MTV.com]
Man Sells Golden & Silver Age Comics…For His Wife’s Breast Augmentation Surgery. Yes, Really.
In maybe our strangest story of the week so far, an Ebay user who goes by the username “hugelyimpressive” is auctioning off some rare Golden Age and Silver Age comics from his collection in order to fund his wife’s breast augmentation surgery. On the auction page, he says, “We have so far raised enough money for a cup size. But I’m pushing for DDs, so we’re looking at another two cup sizes… Keep bidding, people! I have a huge amount of comic books to sell to raise the money for my wife’s bigger bust, ranging from some Golden Age, through Silver Age keys, Bronze Age, and beyond. All proceeds will be going towards my wife’s surgery. $100 is approximately equal to 1cm of extra flesh, so please bid generously!”
Well, at least he’s honest about it. Some of the comics being sold include Fantastic Four #5 and The Brave and the Bold #28, which is the first appearance by the Justice League. You can check out all his auctions at Comics For Boobs. Yes, it actually says “Comics For Boobs” on the Ebay page. [Comics Beat]
Midnighter Becomes DC’s First Gay Male Superhero With An Ongoing Series
Of the many books DC is releasing this June, from a socio-historical standpoint, Midnighter might be the most important, as its DC’s first ever ongoing title with a gay male lead (although the character has had a mini-series all his own before.)
Originally created as an analog for Batman for Wildstorm’s Stormwatch and The Authority (although he was far more Punisher than Batman if you ask me), he got folded in the DCU proper with the New 52. Along with being part of the DCU, his marriage to fellow hero Apollo, like all marriages in the New 52, got dissolved, so the new Midnighter series will explore his life as a gay single man.
According to series writer Steve Orlando, “He’s given up on the idea of a secret identity. He’s out of the closet as a gay man and he’s out of the closet as a superhero, and whether he is fighting Dr. Polaris or he is sitting on a subway, he is always Midnighter, and so we have to see how this reflects with people of every-day life.” Midnighter #1 hit this June. [Newsarama]
Team Code Monkey Return With The Princess Who Saved Herself
After finding huge success with the Code Monkey Save World graphic novel, Greg Pak and Jonathan Coulton, also known as Team Code Monkey, are back with The Princess Who Saved Herself, a children’s book illustrated by Takeshi Miyazawa, that Pak adapted from Coulton’s song of the same name.
Originally done digitally, Pak and Coulton are now looking to bring The Princess Who Saved Herself to print as a hardcover book. According to Greg Pak, the book “tells the story of Gloria Cheng Epstein Takahara de la Garza Champion, a princess who lives in a pink and purple castle, eats cake, has a pet snake, and plays rock ’n’ roll guitar all day long. This kid paradise falls apart when the classical-guitar-playing witch who lives next door decides she hates Glory’s music. So Glory has to step up and deal with the problem as only she can.” [Newsarama]
George Lucas Visits Midtown Comics, Takes Uncomfortable Pic With Employee
Midtown Comics in New York City recently got a fairly famous customer, as George Lucas himself came into the store this week to pick up some comics….Marvel’s new Star Wars books. In fact, Darth Vader, Princess Leia and the new ongoing Star Wars book (and an issue of Heavy Metal). You’d think the creator of the galaxy far, far away would have all these Star Wars comics comped, but it’s nice to know he still cares enough to check up on his babies’ adventures in comic book form. And that he doesn’t send out assistants to buy his stuff for him.
Batman Beyond Returns to DC In A New Ongoing Series
Modern day Gotham’s Batman isn’t the only version of the Dark Knight making a return, as June also brings the return of Batman Beyond in his own ongoing series. Announced as part DC’s June mini-relaunch, the new Batman Beyond book returns Terry McGinnis back from his adventures in Future’s End to his original timeline, some thirty-five years into the future of the DCU, but a future without Bruce Wayne and the Justice League, who are missing. The advance solicits blurb describes the setting of the book as “THE definitive future of the DCU,†which seems like quite a bold statement, but we’ll see if that holds.
Dan Jurgens, one of the writers on Futures End, will write the new series, with Bernard Chang on art duties. [Newsarama]
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Got a favorite comics news story this week? Let us know in the comments below!
Little Marvel… I still like the JL8 comics from Yale Stewart. Justice League of 8 year olds is fun.