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, Image announced several titles, including an eponymous 30th anniversary anthology; IDW Publishing confirmed they are losing the Transformers and G.I. Joe licenses; and DC announced a CW comics crossover, “Earth-Prime.” We also had an exclusive preview of this week’s “Archie Milestones Digest #13: The Best of the 1960s.”
– BOOM! Studios are relaunching the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic with writer Sarah Gailey (“Eat The Rich”), and artist Irene Flores (“Just Beyond”). Now simply titled “The Vampire Slayer,” the series will see Buffy losing her memory, after a bout of magic-based therapy with Giles and Willow goes awry. While Buffy’s friends help her recover, a “surprising new Slayer” will step up to protect Sunnydale. “The Vampire Slayer” #1 goes on sale — with a main cover by Goñi Montes (“Hellmouth”), and variants by Francesco Francavilla, Bex Glendining, Christian Ward, and Mike Del Mundo — sometime in April.
– Via The Beat, Dark Horse announced “The Collector: Unit 731,” a four-part, historical horror series by writer/artist Will Conrad (“Out”), co-writer Rod Monteiro, and colorist Marco Lesko (“Blade Runner”). The book follows Michael Smith, a World War II veteran, as he reflects on the “horrors and experimentation he, [his late friend] John, and others, endured at the infamous Manchuria-based Japanese facility known as Unit 731.” Issue #1 releases April 20.
– DC revealed in their April 2022 solicitations that “Batman: Urban Legends” #14 will introduce a new Birds of Prey team, led by Lady Shiva and Katana; they subsequently shared with Newsarama that the new era will be penned by Che Grayson, with art by Serg Acuna (“WWE”), and that the new line-up will also include Miracle Molly, as well as the child thief Ghost. Grayson previously penned a Lady Shiva story in “Urban Legends” #3, and introduced Ghost with artist Belén Ortega in December’s “Legends of the Dark Knight” #8.
– In further Big Two news, DC and Marvel respectively confirmed “Joker” and “Strange Academy” will end in April, with the former taking an explicitly seasonal model, while the “second semester” of the latter begins in the summer. Marvel also revealed the “Free Comic Book Day: Spider-Man/Venom” issue will feature a story by the incoming “Amazing Spider-Man” creative team of Zeb Wells and John Romita Jr., and that ‘Devil’s Reign’ will receive an “Omega” epilogue issue by Chip Zdarsky, Rafael de Latorre, and more in May.
– Image announced “The Secret History of the War on Weed,” a one-shot from the former “Deadpool” creative team of Gerry Duggan, Brian Posehn, and artist Scott Koblish. Set in 1985, the comic follows Scotch McTiernan, “the biggest tool in the armed forces,” after he’s deployed by Nancy Reagan to destroy the cannabis farms in Northern California. “Scotch puts his boots on the ground in Humboldt and does what he does best — but what happens when he gets high for the first time?” The book, which Image teases won’t be the last we see of McTiernan, will debut on (wait for it) April 20.
– Image also announced “Grip of the Kombinat,” an original sci-fi adventure graphic novel by Simon Roy (“Prophet”) and Damon Gentry (“Sabertooth Swordsman”). The book imagines the “pure tomfoolery” that unfolds as “two megacorporations wage an eternal tug-of-war for the ruins of our future solar system.” It will be released in comic book stores on Wednesday, June 8, and in bookstores on Tuesday, June 14.
– Via io9, the upcoming hardcover collection “Locke & Key: The Golden Age” will feature a brand new story, ‘Face the Music,’ which will introduce the Orchestra Key. “Locke & Key: The Golden Age” will include all of Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s prequel stories from the past decade (such as “The Sandman” crossover “Hell & Gone”), and will be released by IDW Publishing on April 12.
– Archie Comics announced “Fun With Little Archie & Friends Special,” a one-shot update of the 1956-83 comic “Little Archie,” starring elementary school versions of the Riverdale gang. The book features stories from writers Shannon Watters (“Lumberjanes”), J. Torres (“Teen Titans Go!”), and Rotante (“Betty & Veronica: Vixens”), with artists Erin Hunting (The Tooth Fairy vs. Santa), Adrian Ropp (“Casper the Friendly Ghost”), and Agnes Garbowska (“DC Super Hero Girls”), and will be released on April 13.
– The Hollywood Reporter states Mary Elizabeth Winstead has been cast in the upcoming Disney+ series Star Wars: Ahsoka, starring Rosario Dawson as the title character. Details were not given on Winstead’s role, but she joins a cast that also includes Ivanna Sakhno, Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker, and Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Star Wars Rebels‘ Sabine Wren. Ahsoka begins production for a 2023 release sometime this spring.
– Finally, Game Informer ran a story on the rebirth of Telltale Games, which features the first plot details for The Wolf Among Us 2. The five-part “Fables” video game will take place six months after the first (during winter 1986), with Snow White now Deputy Mayor of Fabletown, and Bigby Wolf pursuing a case that will take him all over New York City. The game is now in full production, and will be released once all five episodes are done, in a move the developers hopes will avoid crunch, and decrease the time between installments. Head to the link for new artwork from the game in the meantime.
