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, Scholastic’s Graphix imprint have announced an adaptation of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps story, “The Haunted Mask.” Also, IDW revealed Joëlle Jones, Rafael Albuquerque, Cliff Chiang, and Chris Burnham will respectively provide the art on the first four issues of Jason Aaron’s TMNT run.
– Mad Cave Studios’s YA imprint, Maverick, have announced the fantasy graphic novel “Of Her Own Design.” Written by Birdie Willis and Nicole Andelfinger with art by Jess Taylor and Fiona Marchbank, and letters by Saida Tomafonte, the book follows Brie Page, a 16-year-old writer suffering from writer’s block, when she is transported to the world of her stories along with the rest of her town. If she wants to save them, she’ll have to dive deeper and deeper into her stories. “Of Her Own Design” will be released June 4th, 2024.
– Marvel have announced that Jed MacKay and Pepe Larraz’s event series “Blood Hunt” is getting a red band edition. The red band editions will be labeled with a parental advisory warning and polybagged, and they will include additional pages as well as explictly graphic art. This marks the first time a different edition of the same Marvel comic has been released for more mature readers. “Blood Hunt” #1 – Red Band Edition, will be available on May 1, 2024.
– Via The Beat, cartoonists from Italy and Japan have lended their support to an art tribute in solidarity with Palestine. Creators are taking a symbolic stand for peace with ‘draw-ins,’ honoring Palestinian cartoonist Naji al-Ali and his political cartoon Handala. The first draw-in occurred at the end of 2023 in Italy, and more recently in Japan. Handala has represented Palestinian struggle, the character’s back always facing the reader “because the paths they offer him are all without Palestinian agency. Bearing witness, often to terrible things, Handala faces what we turn away from. One can only hope his dreams will supplant what he’s seen.” For more, head on over to The Beat.
– In a press release, Amazon have announced when Invincible season two will return. The second half of the season will premiere on Thursday, March 14, 2024, exclusively on Prime Video. The first four episodes of the season began streaming on November 3, 2023, with the latest episode, “It’s Been A While,” airing on November 24. The show follows the continuing adventures of Mark Grayson, or Invincible, still reeling from a traumatic battle with his father, Omni-Man.
– Lucasfilm have announced the premiere date and released a trailer for the third and final season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch. After losing one of their own, the remaining members of the Bad Batch must face down the Empire in order to rescue Omega. The trailer includes many returning faces, including Emperor Palpatine, Captain Rex, and Asajj Ventress. According to supervising director Brad Rau, Ventress’s arc will align with the novel Star Wars: Dark Disciple, and she can be seen wielding her yellow-bladed lightsaber from the book. Star Wars: The Bad Batch‘s final season will premiere with three episodes on February 21, 2024.
– Disney have announced that The Marvels will begin streaming on Disney+ on February 7, 2024. The Marvels follows Carol Danvers, Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan as they team up to save the universe. You can check out the announcement trailer here. Additionally, Marvel’s official What If…? Twitter account tweeted a thank you to fans, and offered up a few sneak peek images for what’s in store in season three, revealing more of the Winter Soldier and young Red Guardian’s team up, and Sam Wilson and Monica becoming mech pilots.
– Finally, WB Games and Rocksteady released a behind-the-scenes video for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, revealing Jason Isaacs is voicing Brainiac, and that the Joker will be the first new playable character added post-release. It was explained that although Suicide Squad takes place in the same universe as Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham series, this Joker comes from an Elseworld created by Brainiac. Additionally, the game’s official Twitter account released a teaser image revealing more playable characters to come, new levels, and more for “seasons 2-4.” Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will be released on February 2, 2024, with the Joker set to arrive for no additional cost this March.
