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, Myke Cole is set his comics debut with “Hundred Wolves” at Vault, Dynamite announced “Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys: The Death of Nancy Drew,” and Ennis, Braun and Robertson revealed their return to the world of “The Boys” with “The Boys: Dear Becky.” We also have exclusive previews for “Doctor Strange: The End” #1 and “The Flash” #87.
– Star Wars: The Clone Wars is set to return to comics in April. Via The Hollywood Reporter, the five-part weekly series “Star Wars Adventures: The Clone Wars – Battle Tales” will be written by Michael Moreci with a framing sequence illustrated by Derek Charm, which sees the heroes from the animated series share war stories while pinned down in the middle of the conflict. Each war story will feature a different artist each week, with Arianna Florean, Megan Levens, Valentina Pinto, Davide Tinto and Philip Murphy taking on art duties. The news follows Wednesday’s trailer reveal for a new, final season of the fan favorite animated series, which will debut on Disney+ in February. The new comic series will run weekly from IDW in the month of April. You can check out the cover reveal over at The Hollywood Reporter.
– Hypable has a first look at the upcoming YA graphic novel “Swamp Thing: Twin Branches” from best-selling author Maggie Stiefvater and illustrator Morgan Beem. The reimagining of Swamp Thing’s origins will follow Alec and Walter Holland, twin brothers who are inseparable despite their different personalities. When they visit their rural cousins for the summer, they find that the local swamp holds far darker depths than they could have imagined. “Nature and humanity,” Stiefvater told Hypable, “have always had this difficult and fascinating relationship, equal parts longing and logic and misunderstanding and projection, and I thought a reinvention of Swamp Thing would be an incredibly satisfying way to explore how hard complex relationships are as we learn who we are and what we need.” “Swamp Thing: Twin Branches” is due out on October 13, 2020.
– Via France 24, a life-sized statue of legendary French comic creator Rene Goscinny was unveiled in Paris on Thursday. Goscinny is best known as the creator of “Asterix,” a Gaul adventurer and warrior who resisted Roman occupation in the era of Julius Caesar, and as the longtime co-writer of “Lucky Luke,” a western gunslinger able to shoot faster than his own shadow. The statue is the first ever for a comics creator in Paris. The unveiling is part of the French Ministry of Culture’s declaration that 2020 is the “Year of the Graphic Novel.”
– Fans of writer Robert Kirkman and artist Chris Samnee will have to wait a little longer than expected for the full premiere of their new, highly anticipated collaboration. Image Comics has announced that they will be releasing both “Fire Power” #1 and #2 on Wednesday, June 3. The new release date will see the third premiere of sorts for “Fire Power,” following the release of the OGN “Fire Power: Prelude, Vol. 1” on April 29 and “Fire Power #1 FCBD” on Free Comic Book Day. The project is Kirkman’s first new series following the surprise ending of his long-running series “The Walking Dead” in July last year.
– With yesterday’s Marvel solicits comes news of the return of a classic Marvel staple. Newsarama caught the story that “The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe” will be getting a new iteration as part of Marvel’s upcoming ‘Empyre’ event. “Empyre Handbook” #1 will offer an encyclopedic look at the major players in the upcoming war, which will see the Kree and Skrull uniting under Emperor Hulkling. The new book is due out on April 1st.
– Publishers Weekly is reporting two new middle grade graphic novel deals. First, Carolina Ortiz at HarperAlley has picked up the rights to writer Tina Cho and artist Deborah Lee’s “The Tune Without Words.” The story follows Yuhno and Joo Ri as they make a dangerous escape from North Korea. Second, Katie Cunningham at Candlewick Press has picked up Matt Tavares’s debut graphic novel “Hoops,” a fictionalized version of the true story of the Warsaw Community High School girls basketball team, which won Indiana’s first statewide girl’s high school basketball tournament in 1976. Both books are expected for publication in Fall 2022.
