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 interviewed Greg Pak about “Star Wars: Darth Vader,” as well as Christopher Golden and Matt Smith on “Hellboy: The Bones of Giants” #3, and we have an exclusive preview of tomorrow’s “King of Spies” #2.
– Marvel announced April’s “Thor” #24 will mark 750 overall issues of the God of Thunder’s solo series, and that the current creative team of Don Cates and Nic Klein will be joined by past Thor and Loki creators for new stories (namely Walt Simonson, Dan Jurgens, J. Michael Straczynski & Oliver Coipel, Tom DeFalco & Ron Frenz, Al Ewing & Lee Garbett, and Jason Aaron & Das Pastoras.) The comic will coincide with the 60th anniversary of Thor’s first appearance at Marvel in “Journey into Mystery” #83 (released June 5, 1962), which Cates and Martin Coccolo will also celebrate with the “Hulk” crossover ‘Banner of War,’ beginning later on April 27.
– Marvel also launched a 2022 edition of the X-Men Election, asking fans to choose the next member of the mutant team. Options for this year consist of Armor, Avalanche, Bling, Firestar, Gentle, Gorgon, Micromax, Penance (Monet St. Croix), Siryn, and Surge. You can vote here until 11:59pm EST on Thursday, January 13. The first X-Men vote was held last year, and led to Polaris being selected as the final member of the team in Gerry Duggan and Pepe Larraz’s current ongoing.
– Bad Idea paid tribute to the late Ryan Bodenheim by releasing the first issue of “Spark,” a work-in-progress comic he created with writer Robert Venditti, colorist Ulises Arreola, and letterer Dave Sharpe. The sci-fi comic follows a father and son trying to survive on a colony world after fleeing an alien invasion of Earth. “We are breaking a cardinal Bad Idea rule today and releasing the comic digitally,” the publisher said. “It’s a work in progress, but we wanted to share it in celebration of Ryan and his incredible talent.” You can read “Spark” #1 for free here.
– The 2021 Hugo Awards, honoring the best sci-fi/fantasy works of 2020, were held in Washington, DC on December 18, 2021. Best Graphic Story or Comic went to “Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation,” adapted by writer Damian Duffy and artist John Jennings from the novel by Octavia Butler, while Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form was awarded to The Old Guard, the movie written by Greg Rucka from his and Leandro Fernández’s comic, which was directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. You can read the full list of the year’s winners here.
– Via The Hollywood Reporter, Robert Kirkman is being sued by “Invincible” colorist William Crabtree, who alleges the writer tricked him into abandoning his ownership stake in the series “under the guise of making it easier to sell to studios.” Crabtree, who colored the first 50 issues of the comic, is being represented in the complaint by attorney Devin McRae, who previously spoke for artist Tony Moore during his 2012 lawsuit over profits from “The Walking Dead.” Crabtree alleges he was paid royalties for the comic until 2020, when Amazon began preparing to launch the animated series version. Kirkman had no comment on the matter at the time of writing.
– Via StarWars.com, The High Republic will be entering its second phase, ‘Quest of the Jedi,’ in October, with stories set 150 years before Phase I. Cavan Scott will write the main comics series, published by Marvel, while Charles Soule will pen a miniseries about the origin of Porter Engle, the Ikkrukkian Jedi Master and cook. “Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures” writer Daniel José Older will also move onto Dark Horse Comics’ all-ages line for the series, beginning with an original graphic novel.
– Speaking of the High Republic, the upcoming tie-in video game Star Wars Eclipse has prompted a boycott from fans over reports of a hostile, misogynistic, and homophobic environment at developer Quantic Dream (allegations that the studio took to court, with mixed results in 2021.) Author E.K. Johnston and the YouTube channel Star Wars Explained have both expressed support for the boycott, which is called #BlackoutStarWarsEclipse. Eclipse was announced at the Game Awards last month, and its release date remains unknown.
Continued below– Award-winning Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda (Our Little Sister, Shoplifters) will helm The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House, a nine-part, live-action Netflix drama based on Aiko Koyama’s manga “Kiyo in Kyoto.” Due for release later in 2022, the series will tell the story of an apprentice geisha who flunks out, only to gain employment from the maiko house after they discover she’s a talented cook.
– IFC Films now lists Paris, 13th District‘s US theatrical release date as being April 15, and releasing on demand on May 31. The black-and-white French drama film, adapted from Adrian Tomine’s comics by director Jacques Audiard, will also bow earlier in the UK at Curzon Cinemas on March 4.
– Christophe Chabouté’s acclaimed graphic novel “Alone” is being adapted into a film by director Antonin Le Guay. The movie, which will be titled Where the World Ends, will tell the story of a boatman who decides to befriend the mysterious lighthouse keeper he’s been assigned to deliver supplies to. Shooting will begin in Belgium later this year, for an intended 2023 release.
– During Japan’s Jump Festa expo in December, it was announced the next “Dragon Ball” movie, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, will hit the country’s theaters on April 22, 2022; the Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War anime will premiere in October 2022; the second part of the “Chainsaw Man” manga will begin on the Shonen Jump+ app and website this summer; and two “Naruto” prose novels will be adapted into manga for the app as part of this year’s 20th anniversary celebrations. It was also revealed “My Hero Academia” creator Kohei Horikoshi plans to end the manga within a year’s time.
– Finally, Jamila Rowser, Kickstarter’s Comics Outreach Consultant, resigned from the company last month over their decision to move the website to a blockchain infrastructure. She tweeted, “It’s been a rewarding experience and I’m grateful to have helped creators fund projects. However, I can no longer advocate for them while staying true to myself and the community I love.” Decentralization continued to be a pain for fans and creators over the holidays, with Mike Mignola and Liam Sharp both reporting about unauthorized NFTs profiting off stolen artwork, leading Sharp in particular to contemplate shutting down his DeviantArt account.
