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, we have an exclusive preview of tomorrow’s “Lady Baltimore: The Witch Queens” #5, and we spoke to Cullen Bunn and Jeff Parker respectively about “Tales from Harrow County: Fair Folk” and “Aquaman.”
– Top Shelf will publish “Radical: My Year with a Socialist Senator,” the first graphic novel by New Yorker cartoonist Sofia Warren. The book will chronicle the year Warren spent with New York State Senator Julia Salazar’s electoral campaign in 2018, when Salazar — a political newcomer — ran to represent Warren’s district in Brooklyn. It will be published in June 2022.
– Image Comics announced they will publish a deluxe hardcover edition of James Tynion IV and Steve Foxe’s horror series “Razorblades.” The nearly 400-page book will collect the first five issues of the magazine, featuring comics, prose, illustrations, and interviews. It will be released in comic book stores on Wednesday, April 27, 2022, and in bookstores on Tuesday, May 3, 2022.
– Marvel revealed they will celebrate Ghost Rider’s 50th anniversary in 2022 with ‘the Year of Vengeance.’ Nothing else was said beyond that, but the company unveiled new promotional art featuring Ghost Riders past and present by Ryan Stegman, and colorist Marte Gracia. The original Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze, was created by Gary Friedrich, Roy Thomas, and Mike Ploog, and first appeared in “Marvel Spotlight” #5 (cover dated August 1972.)
– Variety reports Brendan Fraser will play pyromaniac supervillain Firefly in the Batgirl movie. The movie, starring Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl, will also feature J.K. Simmons as her father, Jim Gordon, and Jacob Scipio in an undisclosed role. It will be released exclusively on HBO Max sometime in 2022. The casting continues a career renaissance for Fraser, who also plays Cliff Steele (Robotman) on DC’s Doom Patrol.
– Disney revealed Anthony Mackie (Captain America), Brie Larson (Captain Marvel), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), and Evangeline Lilly (the Wasp) will reprise their roles for Avengers: Quantum Encounter, an immersive dining experience coming to the Disney Cruise Line next summer. The actors have already filmed their parts for the experience, which utilizes “cinematic technology, including hundreds of screens and special effects embedded throughout.” Ross Marquand will also reprise the role of Ultron (which he took over from James Spader in What If…?), while Kerry Condon will return as the voice of F.R.I.D.A.Y.
– A GoFundMe was launched for cartoonist Victor Martins, “to help him afford a life-saving functional reversal for Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.” Martins “was pressured into getting a dangerous weight-loss surgery at a very young age,” and “he has since developed serious complications from the surgery.” At the time of writing, Martins’s friends have raised $30,613 of their $42,000 goal.
– Ruby Rose and Warner Bros. TV’s war of words over her firing from Batwoman have allegedly escalated to the point co-star Dougray Scott intends to sue her. Last week, Rose claimed Scott had been abusive and unprofessional on the set of the CW show, and that Warner Bros. ignored her when she complained about his behavior. Scott and Warner Bros. have denied the allegations, and Rose claims that Scott has threatened her with a $10 million lawsuit.
– In lighter DC news, Aquaman director James Wan disclosed that the canceled spin-off film The Trench “was really going to be a secret Black Manta movie.” The project, a horror film centered on the monstrous subspecies of Atlanteans from the first movie, was announced shortly after Aquaman became the highest-grossing DC film in 2019, but confirmed as not going forward earlier this year. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will reprise his role as Black Manta (David Hyde) in next year’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
