Ever since Samuel L. Jackson showed up as Nick Fury in the post-credits sequence to Iron Man, Marvel’s Cinematic Universe films have had a tradition of serving up a little something awesome for the folks who stick around until after that bit about which film stock the movie used. Usually these little teasers have set up the next movie in the over-arching continuity, but Guardians of the Galaxy — in typical irreverent fashion — instead introduced an obscure Marvel character into the MCU canon. Moviegoers who weren’t hardcore fans were probably just confused when an anthropomorphic duck showed up to talk smack to Benecio del Toro’s Collector, but true fans knew that duck’s name was Howard, and that he was around long before George Lucas’ much-maligned ’80s flick. Now Marvel’s print side plans to follow up on the Guardians movie’s tease, with an upcoming comic story revealing just how Howard wound up in The Collector’s collection.

Director Stuart Gordon burst onto the horror scene back in 1985 with Re-Animator, an instant cult classic based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft. As the name suggests, the flick focused on freaky experiments to resurrect dead tissue, and gave us one particularly memorable sequence which put an all too literal spin on the phrase “giving head.” Now Dr. Herbert West, the mad genius at the core of Re-Animator, is returning to stir up trouble again in a four-issue comics miniseries from Dynamite Entertainment.

Here’s the official series synopsis from Dynamite:

In Re-Animator, Dr. Herbert West heads to New Orleans to continue his life’s work: the revival of the dead by purely chemical means. To accomplish this task, he recruits Susan Greene, a young and wide-eyed pharmacologist fascinated by his macabre experiments. Initially unfazed by West’s unorthodox practices (including how he funds his research — by selling zombie brain fluid as a narcotic), Susan may regret her scientific curiosity as sinister forces — those aligned with Elder Gods and Haitian Voodoo — begin to align against the Re-Animator.

Writer Keith Davidsen and artist Randy Valiente will be teaming up for the Re-Animator series, which ships in April. You can check out preview art from Re-Animator below, followed by this week’s new comic picks.

With a resume that includes stellar titles like Transmetropolitan, Planetary, and Global Frequency, writer Warren Ellis excels at creating two of our favorite things: comics and science fiction. He’s got a knack for blending bleeding-edge scientific concepts with unforgettable characters and a pitch-black sense of humor that guarantees I’m interested in pretty much everything he does. Now he’s shared a preview of his upcoming Image series, Injection, in his Orbital Operations newsletter. The series sees Ellis reteaming with artists Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire, his partners from Marvel’s 2014 Moon Knight series. Injection is slated for an unspecified 2015 release, but in the meantime you can check out the intriguing synopsis and preview art below.

There have been some weird damn comics crossovers throughout the years. IDW Publishing has teamed the Ghostbusters up with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, not to mention joining forces with BOOM! Studios for the recently launched Star Trek/Planet of the Apes: The Primate Directive. But for sheer WTF factor, you’d be hard pressed to find a weirder crossover concept than the upcoming Archie vs. Predator. Yes, you read that right.

If you’re looking for some nostalgic reads this week, the comic book world has got your back. You can read a new issue of Dynamite’s Army of Darkness series. The AoD series has taken Ashley Williams and the Deadites into the final frontier, stranding Ash on a space station…and the station’s computer has been possessed by the evil of the Necronomicon! You can check out a gallery from the new issue below.

With the holidays still winding down this week as we advance toward the new year, there’s not a whole helluva lot going on in the comic-book world, at least not when it comes to new issues hitting shelves. Thankfully if you’re craving reading material, you’ve got two new series that very well might be worth your time. First up, IDW Publishing and Boom! Studios are teaming up with the first issue of their Star Trek/Planet of the Apes crossover series. Your reaction to the fact that it’s subtitled The Primate Directive should determine whether or not this one should be on your pull list.

The series will find Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise crossing starpaths with Taylor, Nova, and other familiar faces from the original Planet of the Apes film. Scott and David Tipton, the team who wrote the Star Trek/Doctor Who: Assimilation² series a while back are penning the scripts for The Primate Directive. Interior art and covers are being tackled by British artist Rachael Scott. Here’s how IDW describes the series: