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, Multiversity celebrated our 10th anniversary this past Friday and boy, did we celebrate by giving X-Men Origins: Wolverine some well-deserved (?) time in the spotlight. Also, Nora Krug’s “Belonging” won the 2019 Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize, Lucasfilm commemorated Star Wars Day by revealing their new “Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” publishing series, and Patrick Gleason has signed an exclusive contract with Marvel.
— Canadian writer, critic and academic Anthony Oliveira revealed that he’s working on a story for “War of the Realms.” According to his Twitter page, it’s a Hulkling and Wiccan story called ‘My Drag Brunch with Loki,’ and it’ll appear in “War of the Realms: War Scrolls” #2. Oliveira previously contributed a story to this year’s BOOM! Studios special “Steven Universe: Fusion Frenzy.” “War Scrolls” #2 will be released on May 29.
— “Uncanny X-Men” writer Matthew Rosenberg has apologized for a scene in last week’s issue #17, depicting the murder of Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbane. Critics argued the sequence, which read as an allegory for transmisogyny, trivialized the issue. Rosenberg tweeted, “I just want to say that I am listening to all the criticism and taking it in. I want to let other voices lead the conversation here. With that said, I do want to apologize to people hurt by our story. That was never, ever our intention.” He also urged fans to donate to Trans Lifeline.
— Marvel is teaming up with Rakuten OverDrive to offer 600 graphic novel and comic collection titles to public libraries and schools worldwide. Library patrons and students will be able to borrow digital versions of popular series like “Avengers,” “Black Panther,” “Amazing Spider-Man,” and “X-Men” by visiting Overdrive.com.
— Marvel will celebrate Mother’s Day by providing participating comic book shops with free giveaways to celebrate the May 12 holiday. Giveaways include “Marvel Rising” and “Marvel Super Hero Adventures” coloring posters and a collectible bookmark.
— FX announced that Legion, their critically acclaimed show based on the Marvel comic by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz, will premiere its third and final season on Monday, June 24 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. It stars Dan Stevens as David Haller, a man who believes he’s schizophrenic, but discovered that he is actually the most powerful mutant the world has ever seen.
Now for non-Marvel news:
— Danish filmmaker Anders Walter is adapting French graphic novel “The Quest for the Time Bird” into a TV series. The graphic novel series, created by Serge Le Tendre and Régis Loisel, was first published from 1983 to 1987. It tells the story of a sorcerer’s daughter and an aging warrior who embark on an epic journey for the Time Bird, which will make the imprisonment of a dark god last for eternity.
— French comic strip and children’s book series “Le Petit Nicolas” (“Young Nicholas”) is being adapted into a 2D animated film. Created by writer Rene Goscinny (“Asterix”) with New Yorker illustrator Jean-Jacques Sempe in 1959, “Le Petit Nicolas” follows the everyday life of the titular schoolboy. The film, written by Michel Fessler (March of the Penguins) and Anne Goscinny (the daughter of Rene and a critically acclaimed author in her own right), will have two narrative threads, one adapting Nicolas’s story from the books, while the other will follow Goscinny and Sempe when they bring the character to life, and see Nicolas playfully interact with his creators.
— Several of DC’s most recognizable characters are getting turned into ancient Chinese warriors, thanks to a collaboration between Pop Life Global and China’s Imperial Palace. Collectible figures for Batman, Superman, Robin, Deathstroke, Wonder Woman, Nightwing, Joker, Harley Quinn, Green Lantern, Arrow, Flash, and Aquaman will don armor inspired by the Imperial Palace archives as part of the Creativity and Historical Culture collection, which will also include art toys, apparel, homewares, accessories, and other merchandise.
— If you’re a fan of Dav Pilkey’s “Dog Man,” get ready to mark your calendar: this August, new merch based on the graphic novel series will hit stores, coinciding with the release of the seventh volume in the series. The products include specialty and mass market plush, board games, puzzles, figurines, activity sets, calendars, costumes, and school supplies.
— Finally, Peter Mayhew, the original Chewbacca, passed away on April 30. The 7 foot 3 actor, who played the role from 1977’s Star Wars to 2015’s The Force Awakens, was 74 years old. He is survived by his wife Angie, and their three children. You can read tributes to Mayhew from Kathleen Kennedy and George Lucas here, and other colleagues including Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Joonas Suotamo (his successor in the role) here. In lieu of gifts and flowers, Mayhew’s family have asked for donations to be made to the Peter Mayhew Foundation.
