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.
– Via Newsarama, IDW have revealed new details on the previously announced “Dark Spaces: Good Deeds,” the latest miniseries in Scott Snyder’s anthology line. “Good Deeds” is presented by Snyder, written by Che Grayson with art by Kelsey Ramsay, and colored by Ronda Pattison. “Good Deeds” follows Cheyenne Rite as she moves to St. Augustine, Florida with her mother Rebecca. They meet a journalist who uncovers supernatural secrets about the town’s “sinister colonial past,” and get caught in the middle. “Dark Space: Good Deeds” #1 goes on sale in May.
– Screen Rant has an exclusive look at BOOM! Studios’s “Ghostlore.” Written by Cullen Bunn with art from Leomacs and colors by Jason Wordie, “Ghostlore” follows estranged father and daughter Lucas and Harmony Agate, who, after a deadly accident, can see the dead. They soon discover there are other “nearly-dead” with malicious intentions. The series will also feature short stories by some of the industry’s biggest artists, with the first one from Brian Hurtt. “Ghostlore” #1 will be available in May.
– Sean Gordon Murphy announced his next project via Instagram, “Zorro: Man of the Dead.” Murphy said he licensed the rights himself and will publish the book under his new label, with more details to come. Zorro was created in 1919 by Johnston McCulley for the novel The Curse of Capistrano, and has more recently starred in comics at Dynamite and American Mythology.
– Via ICv2, the American Library Association’s Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table has released their 2022 Best Graphic Novels for Adults and Best Graphic Novels for Kids lists. The top 3 for Adults include “Days of Sand,” by Aimee de Jongh, “Down to the Bone: A Leukemia Story,” by Catherine Piolo, and “Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands,” by Kate Beaton. The top 3 for Kids include “The Aquanaut: A Graphic Novel,” by Dan Santat, “Borders,” by Thomas King and Natasha Donovan, and “The Flamingo: A Graphic Novel Chapter Book,” by Guojing. You can see both of the top 10 lists here.
– ICv2 also reports that HarperCollins and the Association of HarperCollins Employees, who went on strike on November 10, 2022, have reached a tentative agreement. The previous contract expired in April 2022. The new agreement includes unspecified increases to minimum salaries across all levels, as well as a one-time lump-sum bonus of $1,500 to each member of the bargaining unit. The union employees sought an increase in the starting salary from $45,000 to $50,000, a greater commitment to diversity among the staff, and continued protection for union members, some of whom say they were pressured to work longer hours with no overtime pay.
– In a lengthy feature, Popverse reports that there is much uncertainty about the future of comiXology. It has been suggested that around 25-30 people remain active inside the current comixology, down from roughly 100 staff before January’s layoffs. Many of those workers are reportedly under limited term contracts. Amazon remains quiet and has not publicly addressed the future of comiXology, but further layoffs are expected, and insiders suggest Amazon could shutter the company entirely. For more details, head on over to Popverse for the scoop.
– Finally, Michael Kelly (House of Cards), Shohreh Aghdashloo (The Expanse), and Deirdre O’Connell (Outer Range) have joined the cast of HBO Max’s The Penguin, The Batman spin-off miniseries starring Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot, and Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone. It is unknown at this time who they will be playing. The eight-part series will begin production in New York later this year.
