Welcome comics fans, to your weekend edition of Comics Relief! In today’s edition, we celebrate the Man of Steel going back to a more classic look after several years of experimenting with his look. Read on for all the details.

Superman goes classic for his new costume

We reported a few weeks back that the current Superman would be learning the truth about himself in the new DC Rebirth world, as well as that of the now-dead New 52 Man of Steel in the upcoming “Superman Reborn” storyline, which begins in Action Comics and Superman in March. As a result of said storyline, Superman will be getting a new costume, the second since Rebirth began.

So how new is it? Actually, it’s the closest to Supe’s classic duds we’ve had since the end of the old DCU in Flashpoint 2011. Although Superman’s Rebirth costume hued closer to his original look than the armor and high collar of the New 52 Kal-El, he still had blue boots and a darker blue color. Now, it’s the entire classic look restored, except for a red belt instead of red underwear. I think I can live with that one change. The full costume premieres on the cover of Superman #20 from artist Patrick Gleason in April. You can see a preview of the cover above. [Comic Book]

John Cassaday draws new Secret Empire teaser

Last week we teased the Marvel’s new event series for 2017, The Secret Empire. All we knew from the image previously released was that Secret Empire would be a Captain America-centric event, one that would probably expose the Hydra agents living in plain sight across the Marvel Universe.

Now, based on their latest teaser, which features not only Cap, but also Old Man Logan, Black Widow, Black Panther, Deadpool, Rocket Raccoon, Captain Marvel, Black Bolt, and Spider-Man, this indicates that this will definitely be a Marvel Universe encompassing event, and not just within the Cap titles. Will Cassaday draw it? Too soon to say. In the meantime, you check out the teaser image above. [Newsarama]

Topps returns to comic book publishing with Garbage Pail Kids

Back in the early ’90s, Topps Trading Cards company ventured into publishing comic books as well (as it seemed everyone did back then) as making titles for Jack Kirby and Frank Miller among others. Now it seems they are dipping their toes into that well once more, as Topps has just announced a new Garbage Pail Kids comic, based on their classic ’80s trading card sensations, called “The Worst Of 2016”, which seems aimed straight at GPK collectors.

The story, by Pat Barrett and Brent Engstrom, is a only 6 pages long, with a cover bringing it up to 8 pages. there are 2 exclusive stickers from GPK characters Grim Jim and Nervous Rex that are also included. The comic humorously waves goodbye to the last year while dreading 2017 at the same time. You can see the cover from the new Garbage Pail Kids comic above. [Bleeding Cool]

Batman and the Flash have Watchmen-centric crossover

The mystery of the Comedian’s bloody pin from Watchmen showing up in the Batcave in DC Universe: Rebirth #1 has been ongoing since April of last year. Now DC Comics has announced that the two greatest detectives in the Justice League, Bruce Wayne and Barry Allen, are teaming up together to solve the Watchmen-centric mystery.

The four-part crossover storyline in April and is called “The Button.” According to DC’s description, “the two greatest detectives in the DC Universe unite to unravel the mystery behind a certain blood-stained smiley face button stuck in the Batcave wall. However, what begins as a simple investigation soon turns deadly when the secrets of the button prove irresistible to an unwelcome third party, and it’s not who anyone suspects. This is a mystery woven throughout time, and the countdown starts here!”

“The Button” will run through Batman #21 & #22 and The Flash #21 & #22. Tom King and artist Jason Fabok will handle the Batman issues, while Joshua Williamson and artist Howard Porter will be the creative team on The Flash‘s contribution to the crossover. Each issue of the crossover will also have “special lenticular covers.” For more on this event, please check out our full story by clicking the following link: [Nerdist]

Aftershock announces new Garth Ennis title

Comics legend Garth Ennis is creating a new title for indie publisher Aftershock Comics, which has just been announced. Called Jimmy’s Bastards, the new title debuts this summer, with an artistic team to be announced soon. You can read After Shock’s full description of the series down below:

Jimmy Regent is Britain’s number one super spy, a devastatingly handsome secret agent with a license to kill and style to match. Sailing effortlessly through mission after mission with wit and panache, defying danger again and again, Jimmy always triumphs and always gets the girl- gets rather a lot of girls, actually. But now a new and particularly dangerous secret organization has arisen, their sights fixed firmly on Jimmy’s head. Two hundred young men and women in ultimate physical condition, trained in all the arts of deception and death, each bearing a curious facial resemblance to… Jimmy? Every one united with one terrible aim: Get Daddy.

New Darth Maul variant coming from the late Michael Turner

The late Michael Turner, creator of Fathom and publisher of Aspen comics, did many, many convention sketches. Now, one of those sketches is becoming a cover for Marvel’s upcoming Darth Maul mini-series. Turner, who passed away from cancer in 2008, didn’t do very much Star Wars-related art, so this is a rare chance to see Turner’s take on one of the characters from the galaxy far, far away.

The Darth Maul #1 exclusive cover will be available for pre-order starting on Saturday, January 14th at noon (PST)/3:00 PM (EST) and will feature a color variant (limited to 3,000 copies) in addition to a special black and white sketch variant (limited to 2,000 copies and available only in the online set). Darth Maul #1 will be released February 1st. [Newsarama]

Monsters Unleashed gets retro variant covers

Marvel Comics announced this week that artist Francesco Francavilla will provide variant covers for all five issues of their upcoming Monsters Unleashed miniseries. Each of the five covers features a different and long-lost giant monster from Marvel’s early, pre-Fantastic Four years, drawn in the style of ’50s monster movie posters. Arriving in stores on January 18, Cullen Bunn’s Monsters Unleashed will also feature an all-star team of artists. You can see the variant covers down below in our gallery. [CBR]

Images: DC Comics / Marvel Comics / Topps / Aftershock Comics / Aspen