Happy Friday, and welcome back to Comics Relief! Before you head into the weekend, we’ve got the biggest comic book stories to wrap up the week. In today’s column, we’ve got the first preview pages from Marvel’s Champions, the first teaser for MU, the return of Youngblood and Battlestar Galactica, and a very big move on the horizon for Image Comics.
MS. MARVEL LEAVES THE AVENGERS IN CHAMPIONS #1
We all knew this was coming: The youngest Avengers from All-New, All-Different Avengers are leaving the team to join with young Cyclops, Viv Vision, and the Totally Awesome Hulk to form the Champions. Marvel has released the first few pages from writer Mark Waid and artist Humberto Ramos‘ first issue of the series, which gives Ms. Marvel a very good reason to quit the team. You can find the rest of the pages in our gallery below along with the various covers.
But before we move on, check out this visually arresting (and currently unfinished) cover by Mark Brooks that unites the modern Champions with their ’70s counterparts! Champions # 1 hits comic stores on October 5.
WHAT IS MU?
Okay, Marvel. You’ve got our attention. What is MU? Marvel Universe would be our first guess, but Marvel is holding off on answers until September 1. So far, all we know is that superstar artist Steve McNiven and writer Cullen Bunn will be working on it. It’s unusual for the artist to get top billing in comics, which suggests that McNiven may be co-writing this project as well.
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA REBOOT SERIES RETURNS TO COMICS
Dynamite is far from done with the Battlestar Galactica franchise. This November, writer Karl Kesel and artist Alex Morgan will be the creative team of Battlestar Galactica: Gods and Monsters, a new miniseries that takes place during the second season of the 2004 BSG reboot. So far, we know that it takes place somewhere between episodes 8 and 19 of the second season, and the core storyline revolves around Baltar successfully creating a Cylon Centurion out of scrap parts. That’s definitely not going to come back to bite him and end horribly. Not at all.. For more about the new series, check our story on it. [Nerdist]
ROB LIEFELD’S YOUNGBLOOD LIVES AGAIN
Love it or not, Rob Liefeld‘s Youngblood kicked off the Image revolution nearly 25 years ago. It was Liefeld’s first major crack at a creator owned superhero team, and Youngblood has popped up a few times over the last two decades with some impressive creators. Now, it’s coming back with a new modernized take by Liefeld, with X-Men ’92 co-writer Chad Bowers and artist Jim Towe, who wasted no time sharing his new designs for the characters. [Nerdy Pop]
Cat’s out of the bag — I’m drawing an all-new Youngblood book coming out next year! pic.twitter.com/2uExMmkSEZ
— jim towe (@jimtowe) August 24, 2016
IMAGE COMICS IS ON THE MOVE
Heidi MacDonald of The Beat is reporting that Image Comics is relocating from Berkley, California to Portland, Oregon in the near future. Image Comics has not confirmed the news, but it makes perfect sense. Portland has a very active community of comic book creators and fans, lower rent, and several other nearby publishers including Dark Horse Comics and Oni Press. This move shouldn’t affect the production of any Image Comics’ titles, but it should make for some exciting times in Portland if the report is accurate. [The Beat]
That’s all for today’s Comics Relief. Let us know what you thought about the stories in the comment section below!
Images: Marvel Comics/Dynamite Entertainment/Image Comics
