Welcome comics fangirls and fanboys to your weekend edition of Comics Relief! To start things off this week, Marvel has released a trailer for their new Millennial heroes, The Champions. Read on for all the details!

Marvel releases trailer for new Champions Series

Marvel Comics is really pushing Champions, their newest team book with a really old name (it was the name of a Marvel team briefly in the ’70s). In this latest version, it’s all younger heroes who are breaking away from their paternal figures in the Avengers and forging their own paths, unlike, say, the Young Avengers.

Now the publisher has released a new trailer for The Champions, from creators Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos, featuring the team. Well, most of them…team member Cyclops barely gets a reference, and not by name. Make of that what you will. You can watch The Champions trailer above.

Is Marvel blocking Uncanny X-Men‘s Chris Claremont from writing for them?

Speaking of Cyclops and the X-Men, In 1975, a young writer named Chris Claremont took the X-Men to new heights of popularity, and stayed with the team all the way through 1991. His X-Men #1 with Jim Lee stands as the biggest selling comic of all time. Not long after, he left Marvel, only to come back in the late ’90s. He’s since had a long running exclusive contract with Marvel, which forbids him from working for any rival US comic book publisher, a contract that, according to a new interview with Bleeding Cool, is still in effect.

But Claremont hasn’t had a comic from Marvel since his Nightcrawler solo series ended sometime in 2014. So what’s the deal? It seems Marvel is happy to pay him a hefty paycheck and keep him “in house” but not actually write anything. Is his style just too old school for them? How on Earth is Claremont not writing a Storm series, a character no one has written as well since he wrote her back in the day? [Bleeding Cool]

DC teams up with operation gratitude, sending comics to soldiers

Jason Inman, Host of the DC All-Access web show, is asking comic fans everywhere to donate their comics to soldiers abroad. Inman announced in a recent video he would once again work with Operation Gratitude, a charity organization dedicated to delivering care packages to members of the armed forces, first responders, and the children of deployed soldiers, both overseas and in the states.

Together, Inman and Operation Gratitude are hoping to send 20,000 comics to soldiers overseas, which is double the amount they managed to donate last year. DC Co-Publisher Dan DiDio has already announced that DC Comics would be contributing 5,000 comics to the drive. To find out more details and how to donate yourself, be sure to click on the following link: [CBR]

Publisher Double Take, home of Night Of The Living Dead comics, folds

It wasn’t that long ago that former Marvel co-publisher Bill Jemas started a new comic book label called Double Take, which was a division of video game company Take Two. Almost entirely, they published several zombie series spinning out of Night of the Living Dead, which is a public domain title.

Double Take had a very unique way of publishing, as they bundled monthly packs of 10 titles all at once, bypassing the typical way of releasing comics. The shut down ostensibly happened very recently and suddenly, as the publisher announced four new titles, and at the recent New York Comic Con, they had a huge giveaway of 10,000 free graphic novels. In any event, it’s always sad to see another comic publisher fold. [Comics Beat]

Is San Francisco getting a new convention to replace WonderCon?

For years, Comic-Con International’s premiere Bay Area con was WonderCon, up until 2012, when it moved to Southern California. Although the move was supposed to be temporary, it’s turned out to be a permanent one instead. Now CCI might be creating a new Con for the Bay Area, although when it’s actually coming is still a mystery. CCI’s David Glanzer confirmed that they are returning to the Bay Area, although with a smaller event first, a symposium called “SAM, Storytelling Across Media.”

“Our hope is that we can return to the Bay Area if not with WonderCon than perhaps with another convention. SAM, Storytelling Across Media, is our first foray in that direction. We hope the turnout will be good and we hope the community will support our efforts. My fingers are crossed for a great symposium!” Here’s hoping the Bay Area gets a new comic-con on the level of WonderCon sometime soon.  [Comics Beat]

IDW to release Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Artisan Editions

Although publisher IDW has been making a big splash with their oversized Artist Editions recently, those particular collections might be a little bit out of many a fans’ price ranges. Next summer though, the publisher will be releasing something similar, but somewhat more affordable. These new “Artisan Editions” will still be oversized editions, but of one particular issue instead of a whole run. And the first one out of the gate will be Eastman and Laird’s original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 from 1984.

According to the official description, this new Artist’s Editions are “scanned directly from the original art, mimicking the experience of the original hand drawn page, and also collecting all the layouts (also hand drawn) by the creators of what has been called this generation’s Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.” The first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Artisan Edition Hardcover by by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird will be available on May 30, 2017 for a price tag of $50. [Bleeding Cool]

Comixology Has Doctor Strange Sale to tie-in to the film’s release

And finally, for all of those you out there who just got turned on to the adventures of Marvel’s Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange thanks to a little movie coming out this weekend, and want to read more of his comic book adventures, comiXology has got you covered. From the recent Jason Aaron series, to classic Stan Lee/Steve Ditko comics from the ’60s, comiXology has some of the best Strange stories for a killer price. You can check out the sale right here. [Comics Alliance]

Images: Marvel Comics / DC Comics / IDW / Double Take / Comic-Con International