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, Marvel announced that Jed MacKay and C.F. Villa will be relaunching “The Avengers,” and “The Beano” artist, David Sutherland, died at the age of 89.
Rico Renzi
– Writers Kyle Higgins and Joe Clark, colorist Igor Monti, and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, are set to team with a host of artists including Danilo Beyruth, Ramón K Pérez, and Toby Cypress, for a new six-part miniseries called “Deep Cuts.” The series is set to explore the development of jazz across six decades, and follow “characters on the periphery who, in spite of their circumstances, find the courage to face the unknown and play an important part in the landscape of American music — even if they don’t know it,” according to Clark. All of the issues in the miniseries will be double-sized and feature lead sheets for music inspired by and connected to each issue by Chicago-based composers. “Deep Cuts” #1 will be released by Image Comics on April 26. You can check out preview pages here.
– Marvel will introduce a host of new Venomverse characters in a new miniseries called “Extreme Venomverse,” the publisher announced. The series will see different creative teams introduce different symbiote-related characters from across the multiverse, with its debut issue set to show Eddie Brock as Spider-Man, in a story with Ryan North and Paulo Siqueira at the helm; a samurai reimagining of Venom from Leonardo Romero; and a unspecified new perspective on the Brock family by Mirka Andolfo. Further creative talents involved with the series have yet to be announced. “Extreme Venomverse” is part of the 35th anniversary of Venom celebrations called the ‘Summer of Symbiotes,’ and is scheduled to debut on May 10.
– BOOM! Studios will continue the story of The Expanse in a new 12-part series, “The Expanse: Dragon Tooth,” by writer Andy Diggle and artist Rubine, it was reported. Whilst specific plot details were not revealed, “Dragon Tooth” is set to continue the story after the events of the sixth and final season of the Amazon Prime series; instead of directly adapting the seventh book in James S.A. Corey’s series, “Dragon Tooth” will be set in the time period between the sixth and seventh books. In the press release, Diggle described “Dragon Tooth” as a rare opportunity “to work on something you already love with your whole heart,” whilst Rubine stated “Andy has prepared a brilliant story faithful to the series, full of plot twists, intrigue, humanity, and a lot of heart.” BOOM! are also set to launch a Kickstarter campaign offering exclusive variant editions of the comic in the near future. “The Expanse: Dragon Tooth” #1 will be released in April.
– IDW announced a new one-shot called “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin — Lost Day Special,” by writers Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz, artist Ben Bishop, and colorist Luis Antonio Delgado. The one-shot will be a further expansion in ‘The Last Ronin’ continuity of stories, dubbed the “Ronin-verse,” and follow April O’Neil and the four young mutant turtles she is raising get stuck in the middle of a dangerous power struggle during a supply run. It will set “the stage for thrilling new tales to come,” as “old memories mix with new realities.” IDW also announced a Director’s Cut of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin — Lost Years” #1, which will give fans a greater insight into the development of the “Ronin-verse,” which first began with 2020’s “”Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin.” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin — Lost Day Special” will be released in May, with the Director’s Cut of “Lost Years #1” arriving in April, following the regular edition’s release on January 25.
– Amazon Prime Video released a teaser for the upcoming second season of Invincible along with a release window. The animated series, which adapts the comic series of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley, first aired in 2021, and updates regarding the second season’s development have been kept under wraps. The teaser playfully acknowledges the lack of development updates by depicting Invincible (Steven Yeun) and Allen the Alien (Seth Rogen) meeting up in a diner; Allen asks Invincible what he has been up to, remarking it’s “a little ridiculous how long it’s been.” Invincible replies, listing the different processes involved in making an animated series before summarizing “it’s kind of a lot.” The teaser then closes with Allen pushing Invincible for a release date, and he reveals that the second season will arrive in “Late 2023.” You can watch the teaser here.
– Crystal Dynamics revealed that the upcoming update for Marvel’s Avengers, 2.8, will be the game’s last, with official support set to cease on September 30, 2023; the game will then no longer be available to buy digitally. The previously released update, 2.7, was the last update to provide players with playable content, and the final update, 2.8, will bring the “final balance updates” and also see Credit currency converted into in-game currencies. As a gesture of “appreciation for [the game’s] community,” Crystal Dynamics also revealed that they will be granting “access to all Marketplace cosmetics, including every Outfit, Takedown, and Nameplate that were previously purchasable with Credits. In addition, all cosmetic items previously earnable through Hero Challenge Cards and Shipments will also be made available to all players.” The 2.8 update for Marvel’s Avengers will launch on March 31. A Credit-to-in-game currency conversion chart is available here.
– Finally, SMOU-TJ, the group seeking to achieve transformative justice with writer Warren Ellis, who was accused of sexual coercion in 2020, posted an update regarding their progress. The group have chosen to move on from working with Ellis towards this goal as they, in addition to their facilitator, believe that “a community accountability process with Warren Ellis is impossible under current conditions.” SMOU-TJ stated that the conclusion is “undeniably disappointing,” and still hope for Ellis to “directly acknowledge the harm he inflicted,” but highlighted the group’s efforts were not in vain: the “industry and public awareness of coercive control” has increased through their actions, and they “are reasonably confident that we have stopped Warren Ellis from continuing his harmful patterns on a large scale.” Members of the group have also been “able to begin [their] own healing processes as a direct result of compiling and discussing [their] experiences, and of other intensive work we did amongst [themselves].” Whilst it remains unclear as to whether any further progress will be able to be made in the future, the SMOU-TJ “hope [their] website continues to help identify and stop harm.” You can read the update in full here.
