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.
– Dark Horse will publish “Returnal: Fallen Asteria,” a graphic novelization of the 2021 PlayStation 5 game, written in-house at developer Housemarque by Gregory Louden & Khalil Osaimi, and featuring art by Igor Lomov and Aaron Järvinen. Like the original game, the book follows Selene Vassos, an astronaut who finds herself trapped in a time loop on a hostile alien world. The 88-page paperback book will be released in bookstores on October 22, and comics shops the following day. The publisher also announced The Art of Returnal, a 224-page hardcover book releasing the same day(s). In the meantime, you can watch an animated version of the comic’s first chapter here.
– Speaking of artbooks, “good news everyone!” Abrams ComicArts have announced The Art of Futurama, the first behind-the-scenes book for Matt Groening’s iconic series. Timed to coincide with the show’s 25th anniversary and its next season (premiering on Hulu July 29), the hardcover book will document the development of all 150 episodes so far, complete with commentary from Groening, showrunner David X. Cohen, and producer Claudia Katz. It will retail for $35 on October 8.
– “Persepolis” author Marjane Satrapi has won the Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities. The jury for the €50,000 prize, given annually by the autonomous Spanish region, said “Satrapi is a symbol of civic engagement led by women,” and “an essential voice in the defence of human rights and freedom.” Satrapi dedicated her award to Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, who was sentenced to death in the country last week for supporting the Women, Life, Freedom movement. “I take this opportunity to celebrate the fierce fight of my people for human rights and freedom. Today it is all the young people who lost their lives and the ones who continue the combat for liberty in Iran that are celebrated,” she added in a statement.
– In digital comics news, DSTLRY have launched a beta version of their long-awaited digital marketplace, which allows readers to sell each other their digital copies of the publisher’s comics and collectibles, while ensuring creators maintain a cut of the profits. Meanwhile, Vault Comics have added their titles to GlobalComix, including vertical editions of “Barbaric,” “The Blue Flame,” “Money Shot,” and more; you can check out their page here.
– Adult Swim released the trailer for My Adventures with Superman season two, revealing the show will return with a one-hour premiere at midnight ET/PT on Saturday, May 25, before being added to Max the next day. The trailer reveals the addition of Supergirl to the show, and that the AmazoTech employee Alex is indeed Lex Luthor, as well as the presence of a Parademon among Clark’s foes this season. The new season will now arrive ahead of the tie-in comic that takes place soon after season one, starting June 4.
– Olivia Wilde, Margot Robbie, and Simon Kinberg’s film adaptation of “Avengelyne” has reportedly landed at Warner Bros., with Robbie set to play the title character, and Wilde planning to direct from a script by Tony McNamara (Poor Things). The pact should come as no surprise, as Robbie’s production company LuckyChap had signed a first-look deal with Warner Bros. in the wake of their billion-dollar hit Barbie in February. It will mark Robbie’s second comic book character after Harley Quinn, a role she may or may not ever reprise in the wake of the DCEU’s reboot. Created by Rob Liefeld, Cathy Christian, and Tony Lobito in 1995, “Avengelyne” followed a depowered fallen angel battling demons on Earth. Her debut was written by Robert Napton, with art by John Stinsman and Marlo Alquiza.
– Off the Pages Games (Harrow County: The Game, the “Mind MGMT” board games) will publish Corps of Discovery: A Game Set in the World of “Manifest Destiny,” Chris Dingess and Matthew Roberts’s fantastical take on the Lewis and Clark Expedition that ran at Skybound and Image Comics from 2013 to 2022. The co-op game will see players try to gather resources to survive the wilderness. It was designed by Sen-Foong Lim and Jay Cormier, and features art by Roberts. You can find out more about the game at the pre-order page on Kickstarter.
– Finally, The Walking Dead, Invincible, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and The Umbrella Academy‘s Funko Pop! figures will be among those featured in a new video game, Funko Fusion. The co-op/single-player action game, developed and published by 10:10 Games, features over 60 playable bobbleheads from different NBCUniversal-related or owned projects trying to save the multiverse. Other properties will include Back to the Future, Battlestar Galactica, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Masters of the Universe, and The Mummy. It will be released on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC on September 13, and you can watch the trailer here.
