Hello comics fans, and welcome to the very first Comics Relief of 2017! There’s going to be a ton of great comics to look forward to this year from all the publishers, but it seems that so far, it’s DC Comics who have the biggest momentum going into the new year. So we start this week with some news that should make DC fans very excited indeed. Read on for all the details.

Geoff Johns to write Watchmen characters in 2017

And 1) Writing comics again… stay tuned! Happy New Year!!! pic.twitter.com/zUvs4NIXhM

— Geoff Johns (@geoffjohns) January 1, 2017

Although he hasn’t written any comics for DC Comics since the DC Rebirth special last May, choosing to concentrate on the movie side of things for the DCEU instead, writer and DC CCO Geoff Johns has announced that’s about to change. He addressed fans in a series of New Year’s Eve tweets, talking about some of the DC events he’s most looking forward to in 2017. That list ended with a tweet saying “Writing comics again… stay tuned.”

Most interesting is that the tweet had the accompanying image of Doctor Manhattan from Watchmen. (You can see Johns’ original tweet above.) Are we finally going to find out just why Dr. Manhattan messed with the DC Universe timeline? And will the other Watchmen characters be involved somehow? I have a feeling we won’t have to wait too long to find out the answer. [CBR]

Marvel announces new Punisher vs Deadpool mini-series

Marvel Comics’ two most popular gun toting anti-heroes are about to meet up once again in a new crossover series Punisher vs Deadpool: Bullet to the Brain, the publisher just announced. The miniseries, from writer Fred Van Lente and artist Pere Perez, is set to arrive in April 2017.

The two former Thunderbolts will team up when an old enemy of Deadpool’s emerges once again named the Bank. “The Bank is a shadowy character who’s existed in the Marvel Universe for decades,” Van Lente told Marvel.com. “We’ve never heard of him before because he is very much off the grid—he’s as his name implies a money man, who handles offshore accounts for a variety of amoral-to-immoral characters and organizations.”

Van Lente added “He also happens to be one of Wade Wilson’s best friends, having known Deadpool before his Weapon X days, so when the Punisher decides to bring The Bank down, he’s got to go through Deadpool to do that, and you know what? Frank doesn’t really have a problem with that, since he doesn’t like Wade all that much anyway.” Deadpool Vs. Punisher: Bullet to the Brain arrives in April 2017. You can see the cover for issue #1 above. For more on this comic, be sure to read our full story by clicking here: [Nerdist]

Frank Miller provides new twist to his Dark Knight Returns universe (Spoilers)

Have you guys been reading Dark Knight III: The Master Race from Frank Miller and Brian Azzarello? Although the series is nowhere near as groundbreaking as the original The Dark Knight Returns from 1986, it’s proven to be a fun read on its own (and WAY better than DK2). And the latest issue, #7,  features a big twist to the Dark Knight Returns universe. Spoilers ahead folks:

In issue #7, Superman flies Bruce Wayne, broken and injured and basically dead after his fight with the Kandorian invasion army, to one of Ras al Ghul’s Lazarus pits. Revived, the aging Batman of the past two Dark Knight series is restored to his youthful self, and suddenly we have a Dark Knight with years of experience, but with a young, ripped body.

So why make Bruce young again? Because it seems Frank Miller has way more Batman stories to tell, and he doesn’t want them all to be about an old Bruce anymore, saying in an interview “There’s no reason not to keep going with these [characters]. The character [of Batman] is immortal and more ideas spring to mind all the time.” [Comic Book]

Comixology Unlimited announces new additions for January

Comixology is adding a ton of new titles for their ComiXology Unlimited service this month, including titles like Complete Battlefields Vol. 1 by Garth Ennis  from Dynamite Comics, The Complete Elfquest Vol. 1: The Original Quest Vol. 1 by Richard Pini and Wendy Pini from Dark Horse Comics, Evil Ernie Vol. 1 and #1-6 by Jesse Blaze Snider and Jason Craig, and Kyle Hotz, and a whole lot more. This is a great opportunity to get some great books at a killer deal. You can see the entire line of comics being added in January by clicking on the following link: [Comics Alliance]

Sherlock gets another manga adaptation

The manga adaptations of BBC’s Sherlock series have been a hit for publisher Kadokawa, with a fourth series announced to arrive in February 2017. It’s been revealed that the fourth manga adaptation of the series starring Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman’s Dr. John Watson will adapt “A Scandal in Belgravia,” the first episode from the TV show’s second season.

Titled “Belgravia no ShÅ«bun,” the manga will be drawn by the illustrator who goes only by the name “Jay,” the same artist who handled the show’s previous adaptations. It’s not yet known if Titan Comics will handle the English language translation as they did for the previous Sherlock adaptations. [CBR]

Moby Dick gets new graphic novel adaptation from Dark Horse Comics

Dark Horse Comics has announced a new collection of the comics adaptation of the classic novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville, coming from French comics creators Vents d’Ouest and Christophe Chabouté. Described as “a masterpiece of French literary comics”, this hardcover edition collects previously released Vents d’Ouest volumes, and features illustrations by the award-winning French artist Christophe Chabouté. Moby Dick is now available for pre order at DarkHorse.com, and will be released on February 8. You can see the cover image for the adaptation above: [Bleeding Cool]

Marvel adds on more surprise U.S.Avengers variant cover

Finally, Marvel has released 53 variant covers for issue #1 of U.S.Avengers which hits stands this week – one for each of the fifty states, plus Canada, the UK, and Puerto Rico. But there is also another not previously announced cover, coming from artist Phil Noto and featuring the Avengers’ “trinity” of Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor. This cover was made for retails who ordered all 53 covers of the issue. You can see the cover for this sure to be hard to get comic above. [Comic Book]

Images: DC Comics / Marvel Comics / Dark Horse Comics / Kadokawa / ComiXology