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 “Sgt. Rock vs. the Army of the Dead,” by Bruce Campbell and Eduardo Risso. We also had exclusive previews of next week’s “Iron Man” #20, and next month’s “LEGO Ninjago: Garmadon” #3.
– Dan Slott confirmed his “Fantastic Four” run will end this summer after the conclusion of ‘Reckoning War.’ He stated, “This was always the plan: the Reckoning War! Then the reveal in #46! And then goodbye.” Issue #46 (with art by CAFU) was solicited for release on August 10, although it was not stated if it would be Slott’s swansong, or a penultimate issue. Slott relaunched “Fantastic Four” with Sara Pichelli in 2018, after an extended hiatus for the team: as he put it, “It’s been 4 fantastic years!”
– Similarly, BOOM! Studios announced September’s “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” #100 will mark the final issue by writer Ryan Parrott. Parrott thanked fans in a statement, saying “to all the Ranger fans who have been so encouraging and supportive over the years, you’ll never know how much your kind words meant when I was struggling to hit a deadline or find the right line of dialogue. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone.” Parrott originally penned the comic’s sister title, “Go Go Power Rangers,” beginning in 2017, before taking over the main title two years later. “Power Rangers” #100 will mark the culmination of the ‘Charge to 100’ story, and feature art by Marco Renna and Moisés Hidalgo, as well as several returning fan favorites.
– The Pennsylvania Center for the Book awarded the 2022 Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize to Lee Lai for their debut graphic novel “Stone Fruit.” Published by Fantagraphics, the book explores the family relationships of a queer couple, including the six-year old nephew they dote upon. It was previously the recipient of two Ignatz Awards. Lai will receive the $2500 prize money, and a copy of “Lynd Ward: Six Novels in Woodcuts,” at an event that will be announced later in the fall. “How to Pick a Fight,” by Lara Kaminoff, and R. Kikuo Johnson’s “No One Else” were also named this year’s Lynd Ward Prize honor books.
– Marvel announced three ‘A.X.E.: Judgment Day’ one-shots, all written by Kieron Gillen: “A.X.E.: Avengers,” “A.X.E.: X-Men,” and “A.X.E.: Eternals.” Featuring art respectively by Federico Vicenti, Francesco Mobili, and Pasqual Ferry, the tie-ins will bridge the gap between the fifth and sixth issues, and follow Iron Man, Jean Grey, and Ajak “as they embark on a vital and complex mission to penetrate the Progenitor Celestial and shut it down.” The comics will be released in late September and October, and have connecting covers by Nic Klein and Salvador Larroca.
– Meanwhile, Marvel Unlimited launched “Love Unlimited,” a new romantic anthology. The first story stars Ms. Marvel and Red Dagger, and was written by Nadia Shammas with art by Federico Sabbatini, colors by Ian Herring, and lettering by Ariana Maher. Subsequent stories will feature Viv Vision (by Marieke Nijkamp and Sabbatini), Millie the Spy (formerly Millie the Model, by Stephanie Phillips and Nick Roche), Logan/Wolverine (Sean Kelley McKeever and Diogenes Neves), and Hulkling and Wiccan (Josh Trujillo and tokitokoro). “Love Unlimited” #1 is available to read now on the Marvel Unlimited app, with subsequent chapters going live every Thursday.
– Via Bleeding Cool, AHOY Comics announced “Highball,” a retro space comedy by writer Stuart Moore, artist Fred Harper, colorist Lee Loughridge, and letterer Rob Steen. It follows the eponymous Highball, “ace pilot of the Earth Space Corp. He’s the best shot in the galaxy, except for one big problem: he can only hit the target when he’s dead drunk.” The book, which launches on September 7, reteams Moore and Harper, who previously worked together on “The Wrong Earth: Purple.”
– Entertainment Weekly published a first look at Amazon Prime’s Paper Girls TV series, which announced the show will be released on Friday, July 29. Based on the comic by Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson and Jared K. Fletcher, follows four newspaper delivery girls from 1988, who discover a time machine, and decide to meet their adult selves in the present day. Hit the link to check out the photos, featuring the main cast and Ali Wong as the older Erin Tieng.
Continued below– Per Deadline, director Jake Schreier (Robot & Frank, Kidding) will helm a Thunderbolts movie for Marvel Studios. Eric Pearson, Marvel’s go-to script doctor and the final credited writer on Black Widow, will pen the screenplay. Little is known about the plot, but it will presumably see Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine put together a government-sponsored team of morally murky characters like Zemo, Yelena Belova, and U.S. Agent. The team’s co-creator, Kurt Busiek, tweeted he and Mark Bagley will receive some financial compensation for creating the team, thanks to a clause in their contract from 1997.
– A new cinematic trailer for Marvel’s Midnight Suns premiered at the Summer Game Fest, revealing the game will be released on current and previous gen PlayStation, Xbox, and PC platforms on October 7. (It will be released on Nintendo Switch at a later date.) Publisher Dotemu also revealed sidescrolling beat ’em up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge will be released on most platforms very soon, on Thursday, June 16. You can check out most of the reveals, including new Gotham Knights and One Piece Odyssey trailers, on the Game Awards’ YouTube channel.
– Lastly, via ScreenRant, DC announced they will pay tribute to the late Neal Adams with a new print and variant cover for July’s “Batman” #125. The artwork, called ‘Batman: Defender of Gotham,’ features Alex Ross’s painting of Adams’s take on the Dark Knight, complete with blue, gray and yellow colors. The cover and print will be sold exclusively at Ross’s website from June 24, and at San Diego Comic-Con during the weekend of Thursday, July 21.
