Welcome back to The Rundown, our daily breakdown on comic news stories we missed from the previous day. Have a link to share? Email our team at rundown@multiversitycomics.com.
In case you missed it, we have exclusive previews of this week’s “Iceman” #5 and “The Lodger” #3.
– Dark Horse Comics announced “Disney Dumbo: Friends in High Places,” a graphic anthology tying into Tim Burton’s upcoming live-action Dumbo remake. Written by John Jackson Miller with art by Giovanni Rigano, Alberto Zanon, Paola Antista, and Michela Bovo, the 72-page book will feature five new stories from the world of Max Medici’s circus. “Friends in High Places” will be published on March 26, 2019, three days before the film’s release. This isn’t the the only anthology tie-in for an upcoming Disney release Dark Horse have planned, as the publisher has also solicited ones for the Aladdin remake and Toy Story 4.
– Marvel Comics editor Jordan D. White has been promoted to Senior Editor at the company. White began as an assistant editor at Marvel in 2007, and has overseen the Deadpool and Star Wars lines at the publisher before becoming editor of the X-Men comics last year. “I could not be more proud of the work I’ve done at Marvel,” he tweeted. “Being put in charge of the X-Office last year was a huge deal, and being named Senior Editor is an absolute thrill.”
– Current “Asterix” creative team Didier Conrad and Jean-Yves Ferri announced the next edition of the series will be released in France on October 24, 2019. The untitled 38th book in the series will coincide with the 60th anniversary of René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo’s diminutive Gallic warrior. Other “Asterix” projects in the works include an animated series starring Obelix’s dog Idéfix (or Dogmatix in English), set two years before the comic, which will begin airing next year.
– Devil’s Due Publishing CEO Josh Blaylock and Assemble Media (Brawl In Cell Block 99) announced they will partner to develop the character of Mercy Sparx for film and television. Created by Blaylock and artists Matt Merhoff and Greg & Fake Studio in 2009, “Mercy Sparx” revolved around a female demon who has been exiled to Earth, and is then recruited by Heaven to hunt down and kill rogue angels.
– Netflix released the trailer for Kingdom, a six-part Medieval zombie thriller from South Korea, which is based on Kim Eun-hee and Yang Kyung-il’s webcomic “Land of the Gods.” The series will be released on January 25. Netflix also announced the trailer for the film adaptation of Victor Santos’s “Polar” will be released later today: in the meantime, you can check out the first look at the film’s cast on Instagram. The film will also come out on January 25.
– Actor Leonardo Nam (Westworld) has joined the cast of DC Universe’s Swamp Thing series as Harlan Edwards, a gay disease control specialist who is Abby Arcane (Crystal Reed)’s second-in-command at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
– New York Magazine/Vulture journalist Abraham Riesman announced he is writing a biography of the late Stan Lee. The book will be released by Crown Publishing in Fall 2020.
– Diamond announced the nominees for the 2018 Diamond Gem Awards, the full list of which can be read here. The winners, which are voted for by Direct Market comic book retailers, will be announced later this month.
– Finally, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse won the the Golden Globe for Best Animated Film; and HBO released a first look at their 2019 shows, including the first footage from Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen (featuring Jeremy Irons).
– Also, on Friday we asked, “What ‘Dead’ Animated Series Do You Want to See Return Next?” 17.7 percent responded with Batman: The Brave and the Bold, The Spectacular Spider-Man and Justice League Unlimited tied for second place with 15.2 percent, and 12.7 percent wanted Green Lantern: The Animated Series.
