Welcome 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, we ran exclusive previews of “Batwoman” #12 and IDW’s “Relic of the Dragon,” as well as a round-up of the past month’s Mignolaverse news.
– Amazon announced yesterday that they will be partnering with StudioCanal to distribute Radioactive, a biopic about Marie and Pierre Currie’s romance and Nobel Prize-winning work with radiation. The film is being based off of Lauren Redniss (“Century Girl,” “Thunder & Lightning: Weather Past, Present, Future”)’s graphic novel “Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie, A Tale of Love and Fallout,” and is being brought to life on the big screen by director Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis, The Voices) with Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl, Jack Reacher) playing Marie Curie. The film just began shooting in Budapest so it won’t likely be out until next year at the soonest.
– Conventions are as intrinsically linked to comics as peanut butter and jelly, so it makes perfect sense that the Con experience would make for good comic fodder like in the new satirical post-apocalyptic Oni Press series “The Long Con.” The series is written by Dylan Meconis (“Family Man,” “Outfoxed: A Fable”) and Portland Mercury contributing writer Ben Coleman, with art provided by Emilee (E.A.) Denich (“Yes, Roya,” “Rick and Morty: Lil’ Poopy Superstar”), and follows a reporter entering the convention center that never stopped, even after the apocalypse. “The Long Con” #1 will hit shelves July 11.
– BOOM! Studios’s Archaia imprint has exciting news for all you Muppet enthusiasts out there: Fraggle Rock is returning to comics with a new four-issue miniseries, which will feature a different creative team for each issue, the first being written and illustrated by Jared Cullum (“The Storyteller: Giants,” “Jim Henson’s Labyrinth 2017 Special”). It is intended as part of a larger celebration of Fraggle Rock‘s 35th anniversary this year. The first issue of the series, which is being printed in a special 8″ x 8″ format similar to “Mouse Guard” (also published by Archaia), is scheduled for release in May.
– The Next Generation crew of the USS Enterprise will be meeting their Mirror Universe counterparts in a new weekly miniseries from IDW titled “Star Trek The Next Generation: Through the Mirror.” The series picks up on the twisted versions of The Next Generation crew, including a very buff Jean-Luc Picard, from last year’s “Star Trek The Next Generation: Mirror Broken” and pits them against the crew we all know and love. The series is written by Scott Tipton (“Angel: Not Fade Away,” “Star Trek: Flesh and Stone”) and David Tipton (“Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time,” “Star Trek: Flesh and Stone”), who wrote “Mirror Broken” together, and it will feature different artists for each issue, with “Mirror Broken” artist J.K. Woodward (“Fallen Angel,” “Belladona”) providing conecting covers for the series, which starts May 2.
– “Lumberjanes” is reaching an important milestone not often seen in the modern reboot-hungry comics market, that’s right “Lumberjanes” is reaching issue #50 in May. The series follows the adventures of several young women at the Miss Qiunzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types, making friends, chopping wood, and generally having a pretty good time being badasses. The series which has won two Eisners to date and is currently being adapted to film by 20th Century Fox, which owns a small stake in BOOM! Studios. The anniversary issue will feature a main story of a discovery deep in the tunnels below the Mess Hall from writers Shannon Watters (“Lumberjanes,” “Boom! Box Halloween Haunt”) & Kat Leyh (“Bird Witch,” “Adventure Time”) and German artist Dozer Draws, with a backup story illustrated by series co-creator Brooke Allen (“Lumberjanes,” “Moon Lake”).
– If you haven’t already seen last year’s Thor: Ragnarok: what are you doing go watch that… now. Okay now that you’re back you’ll want to check out this cool little 8-bit map director Taika Waititi (Hunt for the Wilderpeople, What We Do in the Shadows) used to block out the final battle that the Revengers, the Rebellion and (!!!SPOILERS!!!) Scourge the Executioner joins in to defeat Hela. The battle is epic in both scope and visuals, but the 8-bit maps out the entire battle illustrating just how complex the whole endeavor was for Waititi and company.
– Robert Kirkman (“Walking Dead,” “Invincible” RIP), ever the savvy businessman, has announced that the first issue of his new series with co-creator and artist Lorenzo de Felici (“Invincible,” “Amazing Spider-Man”), “Oblivion Song,” will only be printed once. This is a smart move on Image imprint Skybound and Kirkman’s part, because without a second printing fans are going to need to be on their toes when it comes to ordering the first issue, otherwise they risk missing the all but guaranteed runaway train that will be Kirkman’s first new series since “Outcast” #1 four years ago. Odds are that the new series will be picked up for adaption if AMC’s Walking Dead, Cinemax’s Outcast and the forthcoming Invincible (RIP) film are any indication. So if you are looking to fill that “Invincible” RIP sized hole or just are looking for some quality genre comics, you’d better swing by your local comic shop and preorder “Oblivion Song” #1 before it comes out March 7.
