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 FanDome 2021 took place on Saturday, and you can read our separate rundown of all the day’s reveals and trailers here.
– In more DC news, the publisher announced Tuesday, October 26’s secretive Batman/Fortnite one-shot is titled “Batman/Fortnite: Foundation,” and that it will see the Dark Knight investigating the arrival of Fortnite Island’s mysterious Foundation in Gotham Harbor. The cover also features the Batman Who Laughs, whose skin will be available to purchase in the game on the day of the comic’s release. The 48-page book was written by Epic Games CCO Donald Mustard, “Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point” scribe Christos Gage, and Batman Who Laughs co-creator Scott Snyder, with art by Joshua Hixson and colorist Roman Stevens.
– Meanwhile, writer Ram V confirmed to Newsarama that his “Justice League Dark” back-up will end with December’s “Justice League” #71. The report came after DC released their January solicitations, which did not list V in the credits for “Justice League” #72. V said, “I withdrew from the series because life happened and I had to cut back a little on workload.” We’ll have more thoughts on January’s releases in next week’s Soliciting Multiversity column.
– Marvel unveiled more ‘Devil’s Reign’ tie-ins for the new year, including two three-issue series: “Devil’s Reign: X-Men,” by writer Gerry Duggan and artist Phil Noto, and “Villains for Hire” by Clay McLeod Chapman and Manuel Garcia. “Villains for Hire,” which debuts on January 5, will star Wilson Fisk’s Thunderbolts, while the X-Men mini, starting January 19, will see Emma Frost realize Fisk might leak dark secrets from her past in the Hellfire Club. “As Wilson Fisk makes his play, will his old ally Emma Frost stand in his way? Or protect the secrets they share?”
– Y: The Last Man showrunner Eliza Clark announced on Twitter that FX on Hulu have opted not to renew the show for a second season. She stated she is committed to finding a new platform for the series, as “there is so much more left to tell,” and because the production team “don’t want it to end.” Based on the comic by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra, Y: The Last Man premiered last month on Hulu (and internationally on Disney+) after a protracted development cycle that saw Clark replace the original showrunners, and the recasting of the show’s leads, after the pilot was filmed in 2018. The finale will be released on November 1, 2021.
– Writer/artist Johnnie Christmas revealed the cover for his next book, “Swim Team,” on Twitter. The book, published by HarperKids, will follow an African American girl named Bree, who “must overcome fierce competition & the legacy of racism in the public pool system if her school swim team has any chance of going to State. But first she must tackle her biggest fear: learning to swim in the first place.” It will be published on May 17, 2022.
– Publishers Weekly shares writer Kevin Panetta (“Bloom”), and artist Niki Smith (“The Deep & Dark Blue”), will collaborate with YouTuber Karina Garcia on “Slime Shop,” a middle-grade graphic novel at Versify. The book follows three children who run a slime shop out of their bedroom. Unbeknownst to them however, their slime is alive, and three of the goey lifeforms set out to prove their owner means them no harm. It is due for publication in Summer 2023.
The magazine also reports HarperAlley will publish the middle-grade graphic novel “The Kinda Sorta Normal Life of Joshua Jones,” by writer E.A. Carrington (Buzz) and artist Kitt Thomas (who illustrated Stacey Abrams’s picture book Stacey’s Extraordinary Words). The book is “about a boy who finds a magical wish-granting star and uses it to wish for endless snow days.” It will also be released in Summer 2023.
– Finally, Black Panther actress Dorothy Steel died on Friday, aged 95. Steel, who portrayed the Elder of the Merchant Tribe, was a former Internal Revenue Service officer, who did not begin acting until she was 88; her other roles included Saints & Sinners, Poms, BET’s The Oval, and Jumanji: The Next Level. Steel was filming the sequel, Wakanda Forever, in Atlanta when her health began to fail, and she was flown back to her hometown in Detroit to be with her loved ones before she passed away.
