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, Image will debut two new limited series, “Bolero” and “Monkey Meat,” in January.
– The great cat detective is returning for his first case in seven years. Via Newsarama, next year Blacksad will headline his sixth volume with “Blacksad: They All Fall Down Part 1,” from original writer Juan Díaz Canales and artist Juanjo Guarnido. The new book finds New York City detective John Blacksad taking on the task of protecting the president of a local workers union that has been infiltrated by the mafia, while a construction magnate named Solomon remakes the city in his own image. The French/Spanish noir series was first released back in 2000, racking up several Eisner nominations and wins over the course of its run. “Blacksad: They All Fall Down Part 1” will debut in summer 2022 with an English translation published by Dark Horse, with “Part 2” seeing release the following year.
– John Ridley and Juann Cabal’s third issue of “Black Panther” will also mark an oversized celebration of the character’s 200th issue. “Black Panther” #3 will feature bonus stories “celebrating the past and foreshadowing the future of the Black Panther and the world of Wakanda,” setting the stage for the rest of Ridley’s run. The main story of the issue will feature T’Challa facing off with the X-Men while Shuri investigates who’s behind the attacks on Wakanda’s secret agents. Marvel is keeping its lips sealed about the contributors for the backup stories for the moment. “Black Panther” #3 (legacy #200) pounces on January 26, 2022.
– Via AIPT, Marvel announced “Maestro: World War M,” the third and final miniseries by writer Peter David chronicling the villainous Hulk’s backstory. David will collaborate with artists German Peralta and Pasqual Ferry on the book, which will see the Abomination rising from the dead, and forming an alliance with Namor and Doctor Doom to depose the Maestro. The five-issue series begins January 2022.
– Writer Dan Slott told Newsarama that Marvel’s upcoming event ‘Fantastic Four: The Reckoning War’ is connected to the first war in the Marvel Universe. Originally announced back in August as rekindling the “original secret war,” Slott has confirmed that this doesn’t refer to the classic ‘Secret Wars’ event, instead referencing something “much, much older.” “If you track the Marvel timeline all the way back to the Stan Lee days of Marvel Comics, you can figure out what the first war is,” Slott said. “Our series, The Reckoning War, is that war being rekindled. The cause of that war, which nearly destroyed everything, has been re-ignited.” The event will kick off with the one-shot “Fantastic Four: The Reckoning War Alpha” in January 2022.
– While the long-running (and recent Eisner-winning) series “Usagi Yojimbo” celebrates a milestone issue in its current run, IDW is taking the opportunity to release a full-color edition of one of the series’ seminal stories. The new storyline ‘Crossroads’ kicks off in “Usagi Yojimbo” #25, which finds Usagi acting as a mentor for his cousin Yukichi as they hunt after a band of cutthroat ronin who terrorized a local group of pilgrims. IDW is pairing that new story with the repackaging of “Usagi Yojimbo: Lone Goat and Kid,” a miniseries featuring a selection of classic stories from the series, now rendered in full color. Both series will cut their way to the shelves in January 2022.
– Former Batwoman star Ruby Rose has come forward with allegations of an abusive and unsafe working environment on the set of the CW series. Via CBR, Rose detailed her experiences in a lengthy Instagram story, specifically identifying calling out outgoing Warner Bros. Television Group CEO Peter Roth, producers Sarah Schechter and Greg Berlanti, actors Dougray Scott and Camrus Johnson, as well as showrunner Caroline Dries. Perhaps the most serious of the allegations about the working environment concern a series of injuries suffered by both Rose and the crew, including major rib and neck injuries and a facial cut suffered by Rose, an unnamed crew member who received 3rd degree burns on his entire body, and a production assistant who was left paralyzed from the waist down after the bucket of a lift lowered onto her head. Warner Bros. has since issued a statement calling Rose’s account “revisionist history,” and alleging that her firing resulted from multiple complaints about their workplace behavior.
– Director Chloé Zhao and the cast of Eternals are isolating after a reported exposure to COVID-19. Via Entertainment Weekly, the cast is suspending in-person appearances in the lead-up to the film’s upcoming release. A Disney spokesperson confirmed that the talent have all tested negative, but are isolating “out of an abundance of caution.” Entertaintment Weekly only confirmed that Chloé Zhao, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Gemma Chan, and Lauren Ridloff would be sitting out from in-person events after they pulled out from a Women in Hollywood event being hosted by Elle. Disney has not confirmed if additional cast members were affected.
– A new exhibition at the Library of Congress features selections from the comic art collection of Steve Geppi, founder and CEO of Diamond Comic Distributors’ parent company Geppi Family Enterprises. The ‘Geppi Gems’ exhibition highlights a range of rare comics from across the history of comics, including an early appearance of Popeye the Sailor, the 1977 debut of “Black Panther,” pulp magazines like Weird Science and Creepy, and early appearances of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. The exhibit is open in the Library’s Graphic Arts Gallery through March 2022, with a second rotation of items scheduled for spring 2022.
