Happy weekend comics fans one and all, and welcome to your Friday edition of Comics Relief! New York Comic Con is almost upon us, but before the big week and the inevitable deluge of announcements, we still have plenty of news from all the major publishers. Read on for all the details.

DC Announces new Batgirl artist, releases promo artwork

Batgirl has been one of the many shining example of DC’s new Rebirth success, but sadly artist Rafael Albuquerque is leaving the title with issue #6. Now DC has announced that Gotham Academy artist Christian Wildgoose will join writer Hope Larson as they bring Barbara Gordon back to her hometown of Burnside in Batgirl #7, in a new storyline called “Son Of Penguin.”

In a statement, Wildgoose said “After Rafael’s run, I know I have some pretty big yellow boots to fill. I’m feeling a mixture of excitement and nerves as I take on one of my favorite characters.” You can see two of Wildgoose’s promo images for Batgirl released by DC -one above, and one as our header image. [Comic Book]

Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo becomes Stan Lee’s Los Angeles Comic-Con

Over the last few years, Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo  in Los Angeles has been slowing growing, and now it’s even growing out of its old name. While making an appearence at Los Angeles City Hall this week (this past Tuesday was declared “Stan Lee Day”), Stan the Man announced that the event previously known as “Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo” has now been officially renamed “Stan Lee’s Los Angeles Comic Con.” The con is still scheduled for Oct. 28-30 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, where it has been held since 2011. You can see the Con’s new logo above. [Comics Beat]

LINE Webtoon Announces Buck, a series about warrior rabbits fighting barbarian ferrets.

LINE Webtoon has announced a new digital comic series called Buck, which will tell the story of a young rabbit, for whom the webcomic is named, whose father Alton is a great general of the warrior rabbit army. The rabbits are at war with the barbaric ferrets of the land, and Buck must gather and defend his people from their wrath. The only way to do that is to live up to his father’s legacy and become the warrior he is meant to be. It already sounds like the best comic of all time.

Bringing Buck to life are Noble Transmission, which consists of Eisner-nominated artist Zach Howard (TMNT, Shaun of the Dead), and creators Mike Raicht (Wild Blue Yonder) and Austin Harrison (Transformers Animated Series). In a statement, said Buck artist and co-creator Zach Howard said “We really believe that we have a special story here, and I’m excited to get to use the platform of LINE Webtoon to prove it.” Buck will arrive on digital devices in 2017, but you can download the LINE Webtoon app on iOS and Android now. You can see a preview image for the series above. [Comic Book]

Italian Disney artist lends his talents to the new Avengers #1

Avengers is re-launching once again this fall, and to celebrate, Marvel is bringing on Italian artist Lorenzo Pastrovicchio to do a variant cover. The illustrator is maybe best known for his work for Disney’s comics published internationally by Panini. With all the younger members of the All-New, All-Different Avengers off to form their own team called the Champions, the newest Avengers line-up consists of  Thor (Jane Foster), Captain America (Sam Wilson) and The Vision, as well as returning heroes Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and Hercules. You can see the new cover image above. [CBR]

Comixology bringing Comic Book All-Stars Series 2 Trading Cards to NYCC

ComiXology is following up their popular comics creator themed trading cards with a new Series 2 of the Comic Book All Stars collectible trading cards, set to be unveiled at New York Comic Con. Over 30 creators will be featured on these cards. Series 2 features the first graphic-novel-specific card, with a tribute to the bestselling March Trilogy written by Congressman John Lewis and Andrew Aydin with art by Nate Powell.

Series 2 will also introduce the first ever All Star “Rookie” Cards featuring two creators who recently made their graphic novel debuts. The 31-card complete set includes fun facts about the creators as well as a redemption code on each Comic Book All Star card redeemable for a free title on comixology.com that has been handpicked by the creator. For more on series 2, including a complete list of creator names involved, click on the follwing link: [Newsarama]

BOOM! Studios teases new series from Matt Kindt and Tyler Jenkins

Ahead of New York Comic-Con, BOOM! Studios have released a new teaser image for a new series from writer Matt Kindt and artist Tyler Jenkins. And this is the very definition of the word “teaser,” because all we know from the image is the creative team and the release date of the series, which is set to come out in March of 2017. We don’t even have a name for this book yet!  Well, we know a pick-up truck will be involved somehow, but that’s about it. I imagine full details will be revealed at NYCC. In the meantime, check out the teaser image above. [CBR]

More mystery variant covers coming from Marvel

Recently here in Comics Relief we talked about Marvel’s 53 different variant covers for U.S.Avengers #1, one for each of the fifty states, plus Canada and Puerto Rico. Now we’ve learned that if you’re a retailer who orders all 53 covers, they can order one copy of a top secret variant, with the artist to be revealed at a later date.

In addition to that, Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #1 was also announced as getting a top secret artist variant too, available to each store that orders 1000 copies. Turned out, it was recycled cover from John Romita. Will U.S.Avengers be yet another recycled image from the past like Spidey’s, and the one from Todd McFarlane for Venom #1, or will this be more impressive? My money’s on another rehash. [Bleeding Cool]

Images: DC Comics / Marvel Comics / BOOM! Studios / LINE Webtoon / Comixology