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.
– Marvel will publish a series of one-shots to mark the 40th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi next year, beginning with “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi – Jabba’s Palace.” Written by Marc Guggenheim with art by Alessandro Miracolo (“Star Wars: Obi-Wan” #3), the comic will follow a plot to overthrow Jabba the Hutt. It will be released with a main cover by Ryan Brown, and variants by Alex Maleev and Lee Garbett, in February 2023.
– Abrams’s Amulet Books announced a series based on Nickelodeon’s horror anthology Are You Afraid of the Dark? It will include the Mexican folklore-inspired graphic novel, “The Witch’s Wings and Other Terrifying Tales,” written by Tehlor Kay Mejia (Paola Santiago), with art by Justin and Alexis Hernandez, Junyi Wu, and Kaylee Rowena. The line will kick off on June 27, 2023, with Rin Chupeco‘s prose novel The Tale of the Gravemother, before the release of “The Witch’s Wings” in the fall.
– King Features Syndicate launched “Mara Llave: Keeper of Time,” a new comic strip by writer Alex Segura and artist Nickolej Villiger on Tuesday, November 15. The time travel mystery series follows a young woman who becomes the protégé of the last of the Chronal Keepers, a secret society who kept watch over alternate universes to maintain the main timeline. You can read the first installment at Comics Kingdom.
– Warner Bros. released the trailer for Legion of Super-Heroes, the upcoming animated film starring Meg Donnelly as Supergirl, Yuri Lowenthal as Mon-El, and Harry Shum Jr. as Brainiac 5. Set in the Tomorrowverse established by Superman: Man of Tomorrow, the film sees Superman (played once again by Darren Criss) enrol his cousin in the 31st century group’s academy, so she can learn to discipline herself. The movie will be released on Blu-ray and digitally sometime next year.
– Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, and several other producers of The Walking Dead have filed a new lawsuit against AMC Networks, claiming $200 million in lost profits from the show. The producers cited AMC’s $200 million settlement with the show’s creator, Frank Darabont, from last year, as the reason for filing the new suit. They originally sued AMC in 2017, leading to a judgment in AMC’s favor in 2020, ruling the company did not breach their contract with the producers. They revised the lawsuit last year, but most of their case was dismissed in April.
– Archie announced some representation for tall girls with Cassie Cloud, a character debuting in February 1’s “Archie Valentine’s Spectacular” special, in a story called ‘More Than Meets the Eye.’ Written by Jamie L. Rotante, with art by Bill Golliher and Jim Amash, the story will see Archie and Reggie try to catch the new girl’s attention, only to learn she’d rather hang out with Riverdale’s RPG group. The character was designed by Archie veteran Holly G!, or Holly Golightly, and is also intended to show a girl might be more interested in a guy for his personality than his height.
– Rocketship Entertainment are launching Bottlerocket, an early reader and middle-grade graphic novel imprint. The first title in the line-up will be “Felix the Cat,” by Mike Federali, Bob Frantz, and Tracy Yardly. The book was originally going to be published by Source Point Press earlier this year, but as Rocketship CEO Tom Akel explained to ICv2, “we’re not privy to what those terms were and it went back to Studio Stario [the licensee for the comic]. Later, Studio Stario approached Rocketship to publish the book.” It will be released in Spring 2023.
– Finally, Mad Cave announced “Don’t Spit in the Wind,” a four-part sci-fi series by Heavy Metal writer/artist Stefano Cardoselli, and colorist/letterer Dan Lee. Set on a toxic, uninhabited Earth, the comic follows a clean-up crew who begin disappearing near an old nuclear facility. The first issue will be released with a variant cover by Zach Howard and Nelson Dániel on March 29, 2023.
