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.
– “Have you ever wondered who helps villains execute their plans?” writer Dennis Liu asks readers. “Who loads the guns? Who cleans the lair? Who flatters the boss? Why don’t they get a comic?” That’s exactly the question his new comic “Partizan” aims to answer. Created with Kurt Chang, “Partizan” follows Justin Jin, younger brother and assistant to archvillain Taihei, whose life of costume repairs and laundry is interrupted when he falls for superhero (and Taihei’s current nemesis) Kira. “There’s still a lack of diversity in film/television,” Liu says of the book, “so we designed another indie grassroots story that features a strong Asian American character.” Liu is a producer and director for Netflix’s Raising Dion, in addition to creating the comic for it with Jason Piperberg. “Partizan” is available now on his website.
– Marvel has launched “Eternals: The 500-Year War.” The new digital series is currently available on the publisher’s Marvel Unlimited app, and will be available on Webtoon from Thursday, January 20. The seven-issue miniseries will feature a rotating creative team from Brazil, China, France, Japan, South Korea, Spain and the UK, each setting a story in their home country. Creators will consist of writers Dan Abnett, Aki Yanagi, Jongmin Shin, Ju-Yeon Park, David Macho, Rafael Scavone, and Yifan Jiang; and artists Geoffo, Rickie Yagawa, Do Gyun Kim, Magda Price, Marcio Fiorito, and Gunji. The release coincides with the Eternals film hitting Disney+.
– The nominees for for the 2022 Screen Actors Guild Awards have been released, with several Marvel projects earning the nod for stunt work. Black Widow and Shang-Chi and the Legend Of The Ten Rings picked up Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture nominations, while The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki earned noms for television stunts. The SAG Awards will air 8pm EST on Sunday, February 27, broadcast on TNT and TBS.
– Scream star David Arquette has co-written a sci-fi epic starring St. Valentine for this week’s edition of Heavy Metal. Written with Cliff Dorfman and featuring art by Bernard Chang, “Valentine” can be read in issue #313 of the magazine. The story follows the Christian martyr arriving in the late 21st century, finding a world not unlike the Rome that executed him. Arquette and Dorfman previously collaborated on “The Highwayman” for the magazine.
– In an email to comiXology users, the digital comic platform’s co-founder and CEO David Steinberger addressed changes to the service. These include a new “store experience” and entirely new app for users in the United States and United Kingdom. Users outside those areas will have to rely on the local Amazon market and will not be able to browse on the comiXology website or app. Library series grouping will not be available for markets outside the US, UK, Japan, or Germany, with no information about when it may return.
– Publishers Weekly revealed the cover of “Two-Head Chicken,” the latest original graphic novel from Tom Angleberger (The Strange Case of Origami Yoda). The cover was illustrated with the help of designer Maria T. Middleton and colorist Joey Ellis. The OGN, which Angleberger describes as an update to the jokebooks creators such as Will Eisner made in the ’70s, is due out September 6. The second book in the series, tentatively titled “Beak to the Future,” is expected out in Fall 2023.
– The Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection at Temple University has assembled a team of comic artists for “Black Lives Always Mattered!,” a collection of 14 short stories exploring the real life tales of prominent African American Philadelphians. The anthology, which is being donated to public high school students in the Philly area, was published by the Blockson Collection, thanks to a grant from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage. Blockson Collection curator Diane D. Turner states that she hopes these stories will help students “to develop their critical thinking skills and lets people know that the African American community is not monolithic.”
Continued below– Picard stars Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) and Michelle Hurd (Raffi) will reprise their roles for a new Star Trek audio drama. Star Trek: No Man’s Land, from publisher Simon & Schuster, picks up immediately after the conclusion of Picard’s first season. The story finds Seven of Nine and Raffi answering a distress call from a distant planet, only to find themselves in the path of a Romulan warlord. The script is written by Picard co-creator Kirsten Beyer and “Star Trek” comics alum Mike Johnson. The audio drama is due out February 22, and is available for pre-order at Audible.
– Spoiler warning for the Batwoman series: Nick Creegan’s character, Marquis Jet, the new CEO of Wayne Enterprises, and half-brother of Ryan Wilder, has been revealed to be the show’s new incarnation of the Joker. This makes Creegan the first Black actor to play in live-action, following Kevin Michael Richardson, who was the first Black actor to play him (on the 2004 animated series The Batman.) You can read an interview with Creegan about the reveal at The Wrap.
– Finally, Disney’s 20th Century Studios have reportedly resolved the copyright dispute with brothers James and John Thomas, the writers of the original Predator screenplay. The brothers, who sold their script to 20th Century Fox in 1986, filed suit to terminate Disney’s rights to the franchise last year, seemingly delaying the release of Marvel Comics’ new series, and potentially blocking the release of this year’s new movie Prey. According to attorney Marc Toberoff of Toberoff & Associates, both parties had come to an “amicable resolution” over royalties from the franchise.
