Marvel is paying tribute to phenomenal hip hop late-bloomers, Run The Jewels, by incorporating the RTJ gun-and-fist logo, color scheme, and font in two upcoming variant covers for Deadpool #45 (by Skottie Young) and Howard the Duck #2 (by Mahmud Asrar).

The Deadpool cover, as you can see, also references supervillain-du-jour Thanos, who will likely cross paths with the Merc With a Mouth in Deadpool #45 which will see Wade Wilson gaining control of the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet. Meanwhile, Howard is accompanied by another Guardians of the Galaxy favorite, Rocket Raccoon. According to Rolling Stone, the idea to incorporate RTJ into the covers came down from the top, as Marvel editor-in-chief, Axel Alonso, got the idea after watching his football-playing son celebrate a touchdown by pointing to his fist as his teammates began chanting, “Run the jewels fast!”

RTJ’s Killer Mike and El-P, who first met thanks to the insistence of Adult Swim’s Jason DeMarco, are honored by the Marvel news. El-P told Rolling Stone, “Comic books are a part of the creative world of a kid in an urban environment. You might not admit it on record, but you talk to almost every rapper—we all grew up with that shit. I guarantee you like 80 percent of any rappers that you meet probably went through a large comic book phase.”

Vice art editor and comic-book reviewer, Nick Gazin, designed the RTJ logo, so it’s rad to see a project like this come full-circle. The Deadpool and Howard The Duck floppies will be hitting shops this April.

RTJ also paid a visit to Conan last night, and gave an explosive performance of “Lie, Cheat, Steal”.

[HT: Consequence of Sound]