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.
– Marvel unveiled this year’s edition of “Marvel’s Voices: Pride,” the annual anthology special showcasing LGBTQIA+ characters and creators. The latest installment includes the prelude for an upcoming, untitled X-Men series by writer Steve Foxe and artist Rosi Kampe, starring the Children of the Atom’s Gimmick; a new incarnation of Nightshade from Stephanie Williams; a Black Cat story by writer Sarah Gailey, in their Marvel debut; a Wiccan and Hulkling tale by TV veteran Shadi Petosky, also making her Marvel debut; and a new symbiote character created by author H.E. Edgmon. The comic will be released during Pride Month on June 14.
– Meanwhile, IDW Publishing revealed four new Artist’s Editions of classic Marvel comics for Fall 2023. They are “Walter Simonson’s Fantastic Four” (collecting issues #337–341 and #352–354); “Bill Sienkiewicz’s Mutants and Moon Knights and Assassins” (featuring work from “Moon Knight,” “The New Mutants,” and “Elektra: Assassin”); “John Romita’s Amazing Spider-Man: The Daily Strips” (containing 300 of his earliest Spider-Man newspaper strips); and “John Byrne’s X-Men” (including ‘The Dark Phoenix Saga’ and ‘Days of Future Past.’) The oversized books will be released in that order from September to November.
– Image announced “Tales of Syzpense,” a double-feature from the Syzygy imprint starting on June 21. The two comics featured in the series are ‘Les Mort 13,’ by T.P. Louise and Ashley Wood (“Lore”), and ‘Dreamweaver,’ by Chris Ryall and Nelson Daniel. Both star cloak-wielding heroes, with ‘Les Mort 13’ centering around a mystery in “the surreal and mysterious island of Southport after a run-in with Eris, the goddess of strife,” while ‘Dreamwaver’ sees “an aging adventurer with a mystical secret” decide “to pass on his abilities to the next generation of hero… until they have much greater success than he did, and he decides he wants those abilities back at any cost.”
– “Tim Drake: Robin” writer Meghan Fitzmartin confirmed the series will end with issue #10 in June. Fitzmartin, who previously penned Tim’s coming out in “Batman: Urban Legends,” said “it has been an incredible privilege to tell Tim Drake’s story,” and thanked fans “who reached out on DMs and at conventions, telling me how much Tim’s story has meant to you, or that Tim’s was the first comic you read and now you’re into comics.” She adds, “No matter what I move onto next (there are some exciting things coming up), I look forward to your continued journey, as well as Tim’s.” The news follows on the heels of DC’s June solicits, which revealed “Batgirls” would also end with that month’s issue #19.
– BOOM! Studios will publish “Magic Planeswalkers: Noble,” a 40-page Magic: The Gathering one-shot, written by Stephanie Williams, Daniel Warren and Dave Rapoza, with art by Alberto Locatelli & Lea Caballero, and colors by Arianna Consonni & Raúl Angulo. The comic follows the planeswalkers Karn and Ral Zarek, who are two of the most powerful beings in the multiverse, as they “team up to navigate the lonely and often treacherous space between flesh and machine,” as well as Vraska and Jace, who go on a date. It will be released on June 14.
– Apple TV+ will release the first two episodes of Drops of God on Friday, April 21. The eight-part series, based on the manga by Yuko & Shin Kibayashi, and Shu Okimoto, follows a woman who must compete with her late father’s apprentice to inherit his wine collection. A French/Japanese/English co-production, the show stars Fleur Geffrier and Tomohisa Yamashita, and marks the second live-action adaptation of the comic to date, following a Japanese series from 2009.
– The BBC announced ‘Doom’s Day,’ a Doctor Who story unfolding across multiple products, including a Titan Comics release, later this year. The story will star British comedian Sooz Kempner as Doom, the universe’s greatest assassin, who is being pursued by Death, and has only 24 hrs to find the Doctor. Each tie-in will portray an hour of Doom’s last day “before the finale, which will release on Doctor Who digital channels.” It is one of several projects that have been commissioned for the show’s 60th anniversary, including the specials (starring a returning David Tennant) ahead of the 14th series this November, and Big Finish’s audio crossover Once and Future.
– Finally, The Hollywood Reporter revealed Marvel Studios’ Victoria Alonso has exited the company after 18 years. Initially a visual effects producer and co-producer on the first Iron Man, Alonso was a producer on all of the division’s subsequent MCU projects (except The Incredible Hulk), eventually becoming its President of Physical, Post Production, VFX and Animation in 2021. Her departure comes after increasing scrutiny over visual effects artists being overworked, especially with the growing number of Marvel movies and TV shows. Alonso, 57, has earned several awards during her time at Marvel, including the Advanced Imaging Society’s Harold Lloyd Award, and also co-produced the Academy Award-nominated legal drama Argentina, 1985.
