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, AfterShock announced Garth Ennis and P.J. Holden’s WWII series “The Lion and the Eagle,” while comiXology launched Christopher Sebela and Cara McGee’s sci-fi satire “.Self.”
– Via ComicBook.com, Marvel announced “Devil’s Reign: Spider-Man,” a three-issue tie-in series written by Anthony Piper, with art by Ze Carlos. The book will pit Ben Reilly against Wilson Fisk’s recently resurrected son Richard, aka the Rose, who “wants to prove that he’s badder than his dad, Kingpin, ever was.” Issue #1 goes on sale in February.
– Marvel and Aconyte Books also unveiled four new prose novels for Spring 2022. First up is David Annandale’s Doctor Doom novel Marvel Untold: Reign of the Devourer, due out January 4. Next is Legends of Asgard: Three Swords, a Warriors Three tale by C.L. Werner, out February 1. Then on March 1, we’ll have Marvel Heroines: Black Cat Discord, by Cath Lauria. Finally, Marvel Crisis Protocol: Shadow Avengers, by Carrie Harris, will see Doctor Strange’s team fight to stop Dormammu’s arrival on April 5, 2022.
– Furthermore, Marvel announced a new edition of How to Create Comics the Marvel Way, written by Mark Waid with cover art by Humberto Ramos. An updated take on Stan Lee and John Buscema’s 1978 classic, the book will guide readers through the creation of a comic, from rough pencils to completion, and emphasize “how comic book illustration has been revolutionized through advances in digital/desktop technology.” It will be released on July 5, 2022.
– Deadline reports Todd McFarlane has launched a dedicated television division of his production company McFarlane Films, and a first-look deal with Mare of Easttown producers wiip. One of the projects announced as part of the deal was Thumbs, based on Sean Lewis and Hayden Sherman’s cyberpunk comic of the same name. Lewis, McFarlane, wiip and Epicenter will produce the series, which will be penned by screenwriter Anders Weidemann.
– Via The New York Times, the Department of Justice are suing to stop Penguin Random House from acquiring its rival Simon & Schuster. Simon & Schuster, the third largest publisher in the United States, was sold by owner ViacomCBS to Penguin — already the largest publisher in the country — last year for $2.18 billion. Attorney General Merrick Garland commented, “If the world’s largest book publisher is permitted to acquire one of its biggest rivals, it will have unprecedented control over this important industry. American authors and consumers will pay the price of this anticompetitive merger — lower advances for authors and ultimately fewer books and less variety for consumers.” The publishers deny they intend “any reduction in the number of books acquired or in amounts paid for those acquisitions,” and have hired Daniel Petrocelli — who defended AT&T and Time Warner when the DOJ attempted to block their merger — as their lawyer.
– Marvel’s Avengers developer Crystal Dynamics have removed Hero’s Catalysts and Fragment Extractors from the game’s marketplace, following criticism that their addition last month encouraged players to pay to level up their characters. They said, “We apologize for not responding sooner to your concerns about the addition of paid consumables in the Marketplace. We introduced them as an option for an evolving player base, and did not see them as pay-to-win since they don’t offer power directly,” adding, “We hope that this can be the first step in rebuilding your confidence in us as a team. It continues to be our goal to make the very best game possible.”
– Finally, almost two years after the release of the first trailer, Sony Pictures have debuted a full trailer for the Morbius movie, due out January 28. The film, starring Jared Leto as sickly biomedical scientist-turned-vampire Dr. Michael Morbius, was originally intended for release before the COVID-19 pandemic on July 10, 2020. Like the teaser, the trailer appears to reference the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, and adds The Amazing Spider-Man and Venom nods to to the mix, an unpacking of which you can read here.
