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, DC and IDW announced “Batman/Teenage Ninja Turtles III,” Marvel announced “New Agents of Atlas” and “Giant-Man” series for ‘War of the Realms,’ Dynamite and Archie will crossover with “Red Sonja and Vamprella meet Betty and Veronica,” and a new creative team are taking over BOOM!’s “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.” Plus, “Archival Quality” won the 2019 Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity.
– With it being Ghostbusters and Transformers’ 35th anniversary this year, Hasbro and IDW Publishing have announced a surprising crossover, which will introduce a ECTO-1 Autobot. The Ghostbusters and Transformers crossover action figure which will be called Ectotron, and will be supported by a five issue tie-in comic. Reuniting “Ghostbusters” writer and artist Erik Burnham and Dan Schoening who will helm the comic, which will see the Autobots and Decepticons taking a turn into the supernatural. The five-issue mini series is expected to start in June 2019.
– Netflix are developing a new Transformers animated series based on the War for Cybertron toy line, set for a 2020 release. The series will be developed by Rooster Teeth and animation studio Polygon Pictures, and will have Transformers: Combiner Wars writer F.J. DeSanto as showrunner. Netflix’s director for anime, John Derderian, said “in this Transformers origin story, we will explore the expansive universe of Cybertron in a way that audiences have never seen before,” continuing, “The Transformers brand is a global phenomenon and we are thrilled to partner with Hasbro, Rooster Teeth and Polygon.” DeSanto will be working with a group of writers, who include George Krstic, Gavin Hignight and Brandon Easton.
– DC have released one of the stories in “Detective Comics” #1000 online, which is free to read on Entertainment Weekly. It is a reunion of writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Alex Maleev, who have previously worked together on their early 2000s “Daredevil” run. Titled ‘I, Know,’ the story is told through the perspective of the Penguin, and how the villain has finally found out Batman’s true secrecy identity after years of investigation. The full comic will be released March 27.
– According to The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel’s Loki series, which will be one of the series launching on Disney’s new streaming service, Disney+, has found its pilot writer, show creator and executive producer in Rick and Morty’s Michael Waldron. Rumors say that the show will follow Loki as a trickster and shapeshifter, popping up throughout human history as an unlikely influence on historical events. Tom Hiddleston is expected to reprise his role as Loki.
– The Hollywood Reporter have exclusively revealed some DC Collectible lines: the first, a very different approach to their iconic heroes and villains due for a late summer release, is DC ¡Lucha Explosiva!: this new property imagines DC characters as Luchadores, with new backstories inspired by Mexican history and culture. The first wave of action figures will include Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Metallo II, Cheetah and Deathstroke, which will release August 2019. The second new collectible lineup is DC Prime, a premium grade 9-inch action figure line created in collaboration with artist Riccardo Federici and sculptor Wonil Song. Each figure will be highly detailed and come with custom accessories, beginning with Batman. These will become available in October 2019.
– Syfy have exclusively revealed the cover for Spider-Man: Far From Home: Peter and Ned’s Ultimate Travel Journal, the upcoming tie-in book for Marvel’s Spider-Man: Far From Home. The book will be ‘written’ by Peter Parker and his best bud, Ned, as they travel Europe on a school trip with their friends. Writer Preeti Chhibber will be penning the travel journal, which is illustrated by George McClements and Stéphane Kardos. It will be released June 4.
– The now discounted NME (New Music Magazine) has partnered with Netflix to release a one-shot issue to build buzz around Netflix’s release of The Umbrella Academy. NME was a British music magazine that stopped printing last year. This special issue however covers former My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way and artist Gabriel Bá’s “Umbrella Academy” and Netflix’s adaptation of the said material. The issue has exclusive content, cast interviews and a short comic: visit here for details on how to pick up a copy. You can also read our recap of the show’s first episode here.
Continued below– Japanese eBook seller Bookwalker revealed the results for their yearly book awards on February 8. This year’s grand prize winner is Fuse’s That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime novels, including the manga adaptation by Taiki Kawamkami. Crunchyroll also announced their Anime Awards winners for the past year: the winner for Anime of the Year was Devilman Crybaby, the Netflix series inspired by Go Nagai’s manga.
– In more manga/anime news, it was announced Attack on Titan season 3, part 2, will begin on April 28. Season 3, part 2, picks up as Eren and the others try to take back Wall Maria by defeating the Titans left in the Shinganshina District.
– Finally, we have the results to this week’s Reader Poll, where we asked, “Who is the Most Iconic DC Villain?” Joker won with 67.4 percent of the vote, followed by Lex Luthor with 13.7 percent, and Darkseid with 12.6 percent.
