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.
– Iman Vellani and Sabir Pirzada’s Ms. Marvel run will continue with “Ms. Marvel: Mutant Menace,” a four-issue series featuring art by Scott Godlewski. Continuing on from the newly concluded “Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant,” the book finds Kamala Khan back home in Jersey City, and dealing with her fans turning on her after discovering she’s a mutant, as well as a new ‘Fall of X’-related threat. (The synopsis also teases a reunion for Kamala with a “fan favorite ex.”) “The New Mutant” artist Carlos Gómez will provide covers for the follow-up, which begins on March 6.
– In other Marvel news, Tom Brevoort confirmed in his newsletter that “Avengers Inc.” will end with its fifth issue, stating pre-orders for the series were too low for it to continue. Launched by writer Al Ewing and artist Leonard Kirk in September, “Avengers Inc.” follows original Wasp Janet van Dyne, and Victor Shade, as they open a detective agency. The series built upon both the “Wasp” and “Ant-Man” miniseries Ewing wrote to mark the characters’ 60th anniversaries. The final issue will be released on January 31, 2024.
– Via Facebook, Dwayne McDuffie’s widow Charlotte Fullerton has established the non-profit Dwayne McDuffie Foundation. The main beneficiary at this time will be McDuffie’s own school, the Roeper School, a private school for gifted students in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where one African-American student will be awarded the annual McDuffie Genius Grant. A ceremony honoring McDuffie will also be held at Roeper in February. For details on how to make a tax-deductible donation, head to the link.
– Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser’s new studio Absurd Ventures has announced their first projects will include a graphic novel, titled “American Caper.” The book, which will feature art by Sláine co-creator Simon Bisley, centers on “two normal, badly-damaged American families in a world of corrupt business, inept politics and bungling crime.” It will be released sometime next year. Absurd Ventures was established in 2021, a year after Houser, 50, left Rockstar, which he co-founded in 1998.
– In a letter to fans celebrating the 35th anniversary of “The Sandman’s” first issue, Neil Gaiman announced filming on season two of the Netflix series has resumed following the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike. While he did not reveal the number of episodes or any new cast members, he indirectly confirmed the next season will adapt ‘Season of Mists,’ ‘Song of Orpheus,’ and ‘Thermidor,’ stating it “will take us from Destiny’s garden to Hell, from the Heart of the Dreaming to Ancient Greece and revolutionary France, and from there to places even I cannot quite imagine on the screen. I will be patient. Good things are coming.”
– Your Lie in April – The Musical will make its European premiere at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane on April 8, 2024. The production, based on Naoshi Arakawa’s 2011-15 manga, tells the story of a grieving pianist who falls in love with a violin player. Originally staged in Japan in 2020, the show features music by Frank Wildhorn (Bonnie & Clyde), lyrics by Carly Robyn Green and Tracy Miller, and a book by Riko Sakaguchi, with an English translation by Rinne B Groff. It is being directed and choreographed by Nick Winston (Bonnie & Clyde), with casting to be announced at a later date.
– Finally, Robot Wars creator Marc Thorpe died last week from complications of Parkinson’s disease, aged 77. A model maker and animatronics designer, Thorpe worked on The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, the first three Indiana Jones films, and Howard the Duck, among others. He was working as a senior designer for LucasToys in 1992 when he came up with the idea for Robot Wars; leaving the company two years later, he would produce Robot Wars events until 1997, when he lost ownership of the concept to Profile Records. He is survived by his daughter, Megan Feffer, and two grandchildren.
