Run The Jewels, the aggressive hip-hop duo behind acclaimed 2014 album Run The Jewels 2, has inspired Marvel to parody its popular gun-and-fist cover art. Rolling Stone reports that Howard The Duck #2 and Deadpool #45 will feature their own covers inspired by the logo, in which two opposing hands face each other: one pointed like a gun, and the other clenching a chain. Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso said the idea came from the Tag The Jewels graffiti project and watching his own 11-year-old son flash the sign after catching the winning touchdown in a football game. Apparently, the kid’s friends responded on the sideline by yelling, “Run them jewels fast,” the chorus from the album’s “Close Your Eyes (And Count To Fuck).”
Both members of Run The Jewels were extremely supportive of the covers. El-P said, “Comic books are a part of the creative world of a kid in an urban environment,” and added, “I guarantee you like 80 percent of any rappers that you meet probably went through a large comic book phase.” Killer Mike noted that anyone who follows him on Instagram knows he’s a “thirtysomething-year-old child” and further explained, “I play with toys, comics, that type of shit, so this is like a very big deal for me.” The special covers will come out on the April editions of the respective comics, but until then, here’s a preview, in all its bloody glory.