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, Marvel have announced the next stage of Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men run, ‘Reign of X,’ Random House Graphic revealed a graphic novel adaptation of Turtle in Paradise, and A Wave Blue World announced a new original graphic novel, “Averee.” We also have exclusive previews of “Savage Avengers” #15 and “Edgeworld” #3.
– Via Publishers Weekly, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing will introduce two new graphic novel lines aimed at emerging readers. Little Simon Graphic Novels, created for readers ages five to nine, will roll out in February 2021 under the Little Simon chapter-book imprint, and Ready-to-Read Graphics will debut next summer with graphic novels for the same audience as its Ready-to-Read leveled readers. The Little Simon Graphic Novels will launch with six titles (two books each in three series), with more titles planned for each series in summer and fall 2021: “Dragon Kingdom of Wrenly,” “The Pup Detectives,” and “Super Turbo.” The first three Ready-to-Read Graphics titles are original stories, and each is the first in a planned series. “Thunder and Cluck: Friends Do Not Eat Friends,” “Nugget and Dog: All Ketchup, No Mustard!” and “Geraldine Pu and Her Lunch Box, Too!” are set for release on June 29, 2021.
– In more Simon & Schuster news via The Hollywood Reporter, ViacomCBS said Wednesday that it had agreed to sell Simon & Schuster to Bertelsmann’s Penguin Random House for $2.175 billion in cash. ViacomCBS said that the “highly competitive auction” for the book unit had attracted “interest from buyers around the world.” Simon & Schuster, whose portfolio of authors includes Stephen King, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Jason Reynolds, will continue to be managed as a separate unit under the Penguin Random House umbrella, with president and CEO Jonathan Karp and COO and CFO Dennis Eulau set to continue in their roles. News Corp CEO Robert Thomson said Penguin Random House “would have 70 percent of the U.S. literary and general fiction market.”
– Publishers Weekly‘s Rights Report also revealed several graphic novel deals. Ten Speed Press bought world rights to “The Comic Book Lesson” by Mark Crilley, a graphic novel that teaches readers how to create comics. Dial has acquired, at auction, Fernanda Frick and Glenn Lazo’s debut middle-grade graphic novel, “Raise the Bar,” and “Suraya,” the YA graphic novel debut of Lebanese comics artist Fouad Mezher. Holiday House has acquired, in an exclusive submission, world rights to “Stories of the Islands,” and another graphic novel by debut author-illustrator Clar Angkasa. HMH/Etch has acquired world rights to “The Worst Ronin” by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Faith Schaffer. Little, Brown has acquired, in a preempt, world rights to middle-grade graphic memoir “Muhammad Najem, War Reporter” by Muhammad Najem and Nora Neus. First Second has acquired, at auction, Wes Molebash’s “Travis Daventhorpe for the Win!,” a four-part middle-grade graphic novel series. For more info, take a look at the Rights Reports for November 9, 2020 and November 16, 2020.
– CBR reports Legendary Entertainment and Watford & Essex recently announced plans to adapt Legendary Comics’ upcoming graphic novel “Championess” as a television series. Inspired by Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas’s upcoming take on a true story, the show will be set in the male-dominated world of 18th century bare-knuckle boxing, and follow championess Elizabeth Wilkinson, reimagined as the half-Indian daughter of an immigrant, who trains to become the best female fighter in London. No casting details have been revealed. In addition to Championess, the company has nine other projects in development. Head on over to CBR to read more.
– TVLine reports that DC’s Legends of Tomorrow has cast Nic Bishop in season 6, for an episode inspired by Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Stanley Kubrick’s acclaimed satirization of the Cold War. In “Bay of Squids,” the fourth episode of the season, Nate (Nick Zano) and Zari (Tala Ashe) must infiltrate the Kennedy White House to stop Bishop’s warmongering General Kilgore from steering JFK to start WWIII, after an alien begins wreaking havoc in Fidel Castro’s Cuba in 1962. Legends of Tomorrow is among the CW series still awaiting a return date.
– Finally, IGN reports Marvel’s Avengers sales have been lower than expected, and the game hasn’t yet recouped its development costs, leading to an estimated ¥7 billion (approximately $67 million USD) operating loss in Square Enix’s HD Games segment during the last financial quarter. Company President Yosuke Matsuda didn’t offer concrete plans, but said the hope is that updates will help drive new sales. Last week, developer Crystal Dynamics announced a December 8 release date for its first post-launch hero and campaign, and teased other heroes to come beyond that.
