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 announced a “Power Girl” series and “Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville.” We also had an exclusive first look at next month’s “Summoners War: Awakening” #2.
The Atlas Comics Library'
– Marvel and Fantagraphics are teaming up to publish “Fantagraphics Presents the Marvel Atlas Comics Library,” a hardcover series reprinting the output of Marvel’s 1950s predecessor Atlas Comics. The first book, “Adventures Into Terror: The Atlas Comics Library,” will collect the pre-Comics Code Authority horror title, while “The Atlas Artist Edition Vol. 1: Joe Maneely” will spotlight the work of Jimmy Woo and Black Knight’s co-creator in November. The plan is to release five collections a year. Further volumes, releasing in 2024, will showcase the work of Bill Everett, romance comic “My Love Story,” Atlas’s war and humor titles, Stan Lee and Ken Bald’s “Venus,” and much more.
– Marvel also revealed three “What If…? Dark” one-shots, following the previously announced “Spider-Gwen” issue written by Gerry Conway and Jody Houser with art by Ramon Bachs. They are “What If…? Dark: Loki,” by Walt Simonson and Scot Eaton, which’ll revisit Simonson’s “Thor” run but with Loki wielding Mjolnir; “Venom” by Stephanie Phillips and Jethro Morales, where the Thing becomes Venom; and “Moon Knight” by Erica Schultz and Edgar Salazar, in which a new female champion of Khonshu arises after Marc Spector is killed. All of these will be released over July and August.
– In Infinity Comics news, Marvel Unlimited launched a six-part “Avengers Unlimited” arc co-starring the Guardians of the Galaxy, by David Pepose, Ze Carlos, and Carlos Lopez. The opening chapter, “Avengers Unlimited” #43, sees Captain Marvel and Star-Lord butt heads at an intergalactic casino during the Avenger’s search for a stolen superweapon. Also released on the app was “Marvel’s Voices: Wave” #50, a standalone story for the Filipina superhero by her co-creator, writer Greg Pak, with artist Luigi Teruel and colorist Michael Wiggam. The issue follows Wave as she reclaims her stolen swords from Namor. Both “Voices” #50 and “Avengers Unlimited” #43 are available now.
– Amazon have acquired the rights to Merry Little Batman, the animated holiday special that was originally intended for HBO Max until the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, and ordered a spin-off show titled Bat-Family. The series will star Batman, Alfred, and Damian Wayne — who takes on the mantle of Little Batman in the special — as well as a “few newcomers” to Wayne Manor, as they navigate “life as a super family.” Regular Show writer Mike Roth, who directed Merry Little Batman, will serve as one of the executive producers on Bat-Family. This follows on the heels of Prime Video’s deal for the older-skewing Batman: Caped Crusader, which the streaming service has now ordered two seasons of.
– Via What’s on Netflix, the latest live-action “Asterix” film, Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom, will be added to the streaming service in countries like the US and UK on May 19. The film, which was released in French theaters earlier this year, sees Gaul warriors Asterix and Obelix (Guillaume Canet and Gilles Lellouche) get recruited by a Chinese princess (Julie Chen) to stop a rogue prince (Bun Hay Mean). The movie, which also stars Vincent Cassel as Julius Caesar and Marion Cotillard as Cleopatra, was the first live-action “Asterix” film in 11 years, and the first to have an original story.
– Via Collider, James Gunn revealed the actors playing Rocket Raccoon’s fellow High Evolutionary experiments in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, namely Linda Cardellini (as Lylla the Otter); Mikaela Hoover (Floor the Rabbit); and The Sandman‘s Asim Chaudhry (Teefs the Walrus.) Cardellini previously played Hawkeye/Clint Barton’s wife Laura in the MCU, while Hoover portrayed Nova Prime’s Assistant in the first Guardians. According to Gunn, the actors wore performance capture suits opposite Sean Gunn as Rocket, whose lines continued to be dubbed over by Bradley Cooper. Vol. 3 releases in theaters Friday, May 5.
– At CinemaCon, The Flash director Andy Muschietti revealed plans for many more cameos that had to be cut from the film for the sake of the runtime, including Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman, Marlon Brando’s Jor-El, Cesar Romero’s Joker, Burgess Meredith’s Penguin, and Grant Gustin’s very own version of Barry Allen. Muschietti was quoted by Nerdist News as saying, “Of course, as I said before the list of cameos… was huge. So obviously we played with the idea of including DC characters from TV, but we just had to pick.” The Flash, which still features many undisclosed characters from across the DC multiverse, releases in theaters on June 16.
– Finally, W.W. Norton will publish MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, a book chronicling the history of the studio from the beginning, right up until Victoria Alonso and Ike Perlmutter’s departures last month. Written by journalists Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards, the unauthorized book is based on over a hundred interviews with people who’ve worked at Marvel, “from the biggest stars to the least-known craftsperson,” including founding chairman David Maisel, and writer/producer Craig Kyle. It will be released on November 7. You can check out the cover, and an interview with Robinson, over at Entertainment Weekly.
