In #Trending I’ll highlight and offer my opinions on any comic-related news that occurred during the week while also highlighting various Comic Book Cosplay. This will include any notable news about comic books from DC, Marvel, and the Independents. Let’s begin:

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NEWS

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Diamond Comic Distributors 2013 Diamond Gem Awards Winners

Diamond Comic Distributors revealed the winners of their 2013 Diamond Gem Awards which were selected by comic book specialty retailers. The awards are “recognized within the comic book industry as the pinnacle of sales achievement for comic book artists, writers, publishers, and industry executives who work in one of America’s most unique art forms.” Here’ are the winners in the various comic book categories:

2013 Comic Book Publisher of the Year Over 4%
Image Comics

2013 Comic Book Publisher of the Year Under 4%
BOOM! Studios

2013 Backlist Publisher of the Year
DC Entertainment

2013 Top Dollar Comic Book Publisher of the Year
Marvel Comics

2013 Comic Book of the Year Under $3.00
Afterlife with Archie #1 (Archie Comics)

2013 Comic Book of the Year Over $3.00
Superior Spider-Man #1 NOW! (Marvel Comics)

2013 Top Dollar Comic of the Year
Superman Unchained #1 (DC Entertainment)

2013 Licensed Comic Book of the Year
The Star Wars: Lucas Draft #1 (Dark Horse Comics)

2013 Licensed TP/HC of the Year
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Vol. 1 TP (IDW Publishing)

2013 Original GN of the Year
Hellboy: Midnight Circle HC (Dark Horse Comics)

2013 Reprint TP/HC of the Year
Batman: Death of the Family Vol. 3 HC (DC Entertainment)

2013 Best Free Comic Book Day Book
FCBD 2013 The Walking Dead Special (Image Comics)

2013 Best New Comic Book Series
East of West (Image Comics)

2013 Best All-Ages Comics
Adventure Time (BOOM! Studios)

2013 Magazine of the Year
Batman Automobilia Figure Collectors Magazine (Eaglemoss Publications)

2013 Indie GN of the Year
March: Book One TP (Top Shelf Productions)

2013 Anthology of the Year
Dark Horse Presents #26 (Dark Horse Comics)

2013 Trade Book of the Year
Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia HC (Dark Horse Comics)
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DC News

(#1) What we know: Wally West is making his New 52 debut in the coming months…and that is about it. What will he look like? Is he indeed going to be African-American? Artist Brett Booth revealed the following: “Be open to change and wait for things to play out a bit. I know everyone’s first reaction is to flip out, myself included, but be patient. We’re going to try to give him his own look. I can’t give too much away about that.” Interesting…

(#2) Fresh off of leaving Nightwing, writer Kyle Higgins has joined the writing team of the upcoming Batman: Eternal after the departure of John Layman.
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Marvel News

There was no notable news from Marvel this week.
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Other Comic News

(#1) March 22nd is Hellboy Day! Dark Horse explained: “To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the worlds greatest paranormal investigator and the release of the Hellboy: The First 20 Years art book, we are announcing March 22 to be Hellboy Day. To commemorate this event, Dark Horse is offering special support for our retail partners and inviting you to celebrate with us! Through these promotional offerings, retailers will have the chance to receive special materials and additional sale pricing, and all participating retailers will be automatically entered to win an original piece of Mike Mignola art.” Very cool!

(#2) James Marsters is going to be writing an original graphic novel featuring his television character Spike from Buffy. It will “take place during Season 7 and will be called Into the Light. It is an exploration of the character Spike after he gets his soul back.”

(#3) Fellow Buffy actor, Nicholas Brendon, will be writing a 3 issue arc with Chris Gage for Buffy Season 10. It will take place in issues 3-5 and focus on Xander and the return of Dracula: “The Buffy cast seeks Dracula’s help to understand the changes in a world where the rules of vampires are no longer the same.”
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Comic Book Cosplay of the Week ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________