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.
– Kicking off, first there was “Memetic,” then “Cognetic,” and now the conclusion to James Tynion IV and Erik Donovan’s Apocalyptic Trilogy at BOOM! Studios has been revealed as “Eugenic.” Tynion, who has already made a career at DC in the Bat-Universe and is currently writing “Detective Comics” has been crafting a horror trilogy at BOOM about different ways the world can end apocalyptically. This new series doesn’t end the world over a few days like the other two, but the three-issue miniseries takes place 200 years after the previous one. You can check out a full interview here, and the first issue kicks off in October with the other two coming out before the end of the year so we can end 2017 with a bang.
– In more Marvel Legacy news, it was announced that every title will launch with a three-page “Primer Page” all written by Robbie Thompson with art by Mark Bagley and others, that will recap the significant beats of the characters, the legacy if you will. Marvel also revealed, as for “Incredible Hulk” the math to how they arrived at the Legacy numbering for “Invincible Iron Man” and “Despicable Deadpool.” We also have some new creative team announcements, with Tom Taylor coming back to “All-New Wolverine” #25 with Juann Cabal for a Laura/Daken team-up, David Walker and Nelson Blake continuing on “Luke Cage,” Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez on “Spider-Gwen” for the much teased “Gwenom” arc which may be Rodriguez’ last, and the not-superheroes-fighting “Avengers”/”Champions” crossover first arc which may involve the teams taking on each other before taking on the High Evolutionary written again by Mark Waid with art, respectively by Jesus Saiz and Humberto Ramos.
– Marvel also announced that “Secret Empire” #8 will increase in price and page count to $4.99 with 48 pages instead of 40. But fear not! DC has revealed that their upcoming crossover, “Dark Nights: Metal” will decrease from $4.99 to $3.99 for issues #2-#6, citing this as a gift to DC fans for the success of Rebirth. So DC is giving you the $5 to buy “Secret Empire” #8 which is super nice of them! In all seriousness though the two have nothing to do with each other, only to serve as a microcosm of the significant dichotomous relationship the two publishers have with Marvel on cash grab mode and DC revitalizing their line and listening to fans.
– DC also realized their first look for the art of the upcoming, aforementioned “Dark Nights: Metal” #1 from Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, and FCO Plascencia. This includes a variant cover by Andy Kubert and snippets of Capullo’s art including the armored-up Justice League in an undisclosed arena, a look at Starman with a mullet (where have you been?) and the map of the multiverse from Grant Morrison’s “Multiversity.” Honestly, and I stole this from Vince’s Twitter, multiversal map = eggplant emoji.
– In rumor news, we have gotten the likes of Greg Rucka and James Robinson back to DC with Rebirth, so is third time’s the charm with Mark Waid? Bleeding Cool is reporting that we’re getting an “Archie/Batman ’66” crossover written by, you guessed it, current “Archie” writer Mark Waid. This would follow the announcement of “Harley & Ivy Meet Betty & Veronica” last week from Marc Andreyko, Paul Dini, and Laura Braga and would be another DC/Archie Comics crossover and continue DC’s recent plethora of intercompany crossovers.
– Back in the fall Titan Comics announced a reboot of British sci-fi hero Dan Dare entitled “Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future,” but with no creative team announcement. It was revealed that Peter Milligan will write the book, beginning October 11, with art from newcomer Alberto Fouche. Dan Dare was created in the 1950s and is the British equivalent of Buck Rogers. Ex-Vertigo creators like Garth Ennis and Grant Morrison have each had turns with the character so it is appropriate that Milligan is having his crack. The series will feature main covers by Christian Ward, Fouche, and “2000 AD” artist Chris Weston.
Continued below– Frank Miller’s “300” prequel comic is back on track at Dark Horse and will be entitled “Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander” and is a prequel told from the Persian side of events. The story follows the titular king Xerxes as he invades Greece in the 5th century BCE to get revenge for his father’s death and attain godhood. Miller will offering a special signing at SDCC on Friday July 21 at the Dark Horse booth to celebrate the announcement. The series begins in 2018.
– In casting news, Fresh Off the Boat and Veep star Randall Park has been cast as SHIELD agent Jimmy Woo in the upcoming Ant-Man sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp. Woo is most famous for leading a team of SHIELD operatives dubbed the Agents of Atlas in the same named 2006-07 miniseries. Ant Man and the Wasp opens July 8, 2018.
– In recent news, it was revealed that Supergirl star Laura Benanti will not return to the show as Kara’s mom Alura. But CW has found a replacement in Smallville alum Erica Durance for season 3. Durance played Lois Lane on the show, and is the second former Lois on the show with Teri Hatcher’s turn as the villain Rhea last season. This also follows the Arrowverse’s pattern of casting actors and actresses from former DC properties like Mark Hamill, Linda Carter, and John Wesley Shipp. Season 3 premieres Monday October 9th.
– We now the identity of DC’s next animated adaptation, the Elseworlds story “Gotham by Gaslight.” This news came from a look at the list of special features on the upcoming animated movie Batman and Harley Quinn. “Gotham by Gaslight” was the first ever Elseworlds story at DC and was created by Brian Augustyn and “Hellboy” creator Mike Mignola. Look for more details probably at SDCC and when Batman and Harley Quinn drops August 29th.
– As we all know, San Diego Comic-Con is on the horizon and begins next week on July 19th. This will be a time of heavy comic related news from the comics, television, movie, etc pipelines. DC has revealed that they will have four special hour-long episodes of DC All Access, their Youtube show, for each day of SDCC. They also revealed two segments including a live “Countdown to ‘Doomsday Clock’ with Geoff Johns and “A Tour of ‘Metal’ and the Dark Multiverse” set for Thursday and Friday respectively. You can check out more info on their full SDCC slate here.
– Marvel has revealed that retroactively, the first volume for Mariko Tamaki and Nico Leon’s “Hulk” series will be called “She-Hulk” to coincide with the Legacy relaunch. This new series offered a fresh take on Jennifer Walters as she recovered from the aftershocks of “Civil War II” with the near fatal injuries she suffered from Thanos and the death of her cousin Bruce Banner. Comic shop Big Bang Comics tweeted and expressed disappoint like many with the decision.
– Finally, we have the results of our weekend Reader Poll where we asked everyone to M/F/K all three of the live-action Spider-Men, Tobey McGuire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland, in perhaps our most shallow poll ever. Well the results are inconclusive, but fairly split between holy matrimony or a one-night stan between Garfield or Holland and McGuire ending up in the grave. Do with that what you well (but it matches what I want so thanks for the validation :).
