This week in Super Folk, PW Comics World's run down of all things superhero, Marvel offers the first details of its new line of all-ages comics, while three of its series are canceled, DC Comics sheds some light on its big name releases for the Spring and Fall, as well as the release of the New-52 collected editions, Valiant’s new sales manager’s bold ambitions, and superheroes get nominated for GLAAD awards.

To coincide with the launch of the animated Marvel Universe premiering on Disney XD in April, Marvel announced two new comics based on its upcoming cartoon series. The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Adventures and Ultimate Spider-Man Adventures (written by the quite capable Chris Yost and Dan Slott, respectively) will closely follow their animated counterparts in terms of visual style, and offer the same brand of all-ages entertainment. Similar to DC’s comic version of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, which catered to fans of the cartoon, Marvel’s aim is to utilize the popularity of the new shows to drive sales and give their fans “the chance to further immerse themselves in the adventures of Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and the rest of the Avengers.”

But the publisher’s eagerness to capitalize on its biggest draws doesn’t come without a price. Over the last week, Marvel announced three more series going under in what has been a string of cancellations over the last few months. Black Panther: The Man Without Fear ends on issue #529 (which is the 18th issue since the series switched focus from Daredevil to Black Panther) in February. Marvel hasn’t disclosed its future plans for Prince T’Challa, but as one of Marvel’s most well-known and longstanding black heroes, I can’t imagine he’ll be gone for too long. Generation Hope bows out after issue #17 in March, but Hope will return as the lynchpin for Marvel’s Spring event Avengers vs. X-Men. Finally, Moon Knight is ending with issue #12 in April, with Moon Knight continuing to appear in the pages of Secret Avengers. What's notable to me is the number of issues each series roughly got through before sales dipped too low to sustain. It seems without a first-tier character on the cover, most series fail to maintain interest, even when it is written by a high profile writer (arguably the highest profile Marvel writer, Brian Michael Bendis, was writer for Moon Knight).

Following the high publicity announcement of its We Can Be Heroes initiative to fight hunger in the horn of Africa (read more on that here), chief creative officer Geoff Johns shared the first details of DC Comics’ new Captain Marvel series, The Curse of Shazam (to appear at the back of Justice League issues, starting with #7 in March), written by Johns and with art by Gary Frank. The new ongoing, which will be told in ten-page increments, is the first we’ve seen of Captain Marvel (a character nearly as old as Superman) in the New-52, and will reboot the iconic character’s origin. Johns, no stranger to giving decades-old DC characters a fresh “rebirth,” says the series will focus on the dynamic of the Marvel family, but also contain “a lot of mystery.” Most notably, Johns is opting to use the name Shazam for the character as opposed to (the often interchangeable) Captain Marvel due to its greater familiarity with non-comics readers.

James Robinson also teased his upcoming Earth-2 series (part of DC’s “Second Wave” of New-52 titles), all but saying outright that the series will hail the return of the Justice Society. DC also released some unfinished pages of Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham’s upcoming Batman Inc. sequel (picking up where last year’s series left off), which marks the end of Morrison’s six-year run on the character, and looks to go out in the creator’s signature wild style. The last of the Second Wave news came when DC revealed its plans for Free Comic Book Day, which will offer previews of DC’s upcoming new titles, as well as works from both Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. Free Comic Book Day is May 5.

The other big news DC shared was its long awaited plans for the release of the first batch of New-52 collected editions. Beginning in May (and continuing through to November), DC will release a handful of its new titles each month, starting with some heavy hitters such as Scott Snyder’s Batman and the critically acclaimed Animal Man. DC also gave the first glimpse at the cover for The Judas Coin, an original graphic novel by comics legend Walt Simonson, to be released this Fall.

Nominations for the GLAAD’s (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) annual media awards were announced this past week, and DC and Marvel each boast a pair of books in the awards’ Outstanding Comic Book category. DC has Batwoman and Secret Six, which both prominently feature main characters who are lesbians, and Marvel has Avengers: The Children’s Crusade and last year’s winner, X-Factor. Pretty good odds a superhero will win, although if I had to bet, I’d say the fifth entry, Veronica Presents: Kevin Keller from Archie Comics may prevail.

The newly resurrected comics publisher Valiant appointed comics industry veteran Atom! Freeman as its new Sales Manager. Freeman, who’s worked both on the retail and business side of comics for over a decade, has a bold, or rather, valiant, strategy to get the word out on the company’s debut comic, the recently announced X-O Manowar (due out in May). His plan? Contact all 2,500 comics retailers in North America, an unprecedented move that he says will ensure a meaningful and prosperous relationship between the publisher and retailer.

Finally, IDW announced the Rocketeer Adventures Vol. 2, following 2011's Rocketeer Adventures Vol. 1, beginning in May. The new series, which will again be printed in large-format, will feature some of comics’ biggest names, all celebrating the late great Dave Steven’s beloved pulp hero.