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, legendary “New Teen Titans” and “Crisis on Infinite Earths” creator George Pérez has been diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer.
– AfterShock’s upcoming sequel series “We Live: Age of the Palladions” is splitting its first issue in two. Via ComicOn.com, the upcoming book written by Inaki and Roy Miranda with art by Inaki will be released in “WHITE” and “BLACK” versions. First announced back in February, the second volume picks up six years after the tumultuous events of the first arc, following Tala and Hototo in “dark times” on an Earth that is protected by armored heroes called Palladions. The two issues feature slightly different solicits, with one invoking the fear that strikes the primary setting of Megalopolis 9, while the other stresses the powerlessness felt by the Palladions. Featuring returning collaborators Eva de la Cruz on colors and Dave Sharpe on letters, “We Live: Era of the Palladions WHITE” #1 and “We Live: Era of the Palladions BLACK” #1 both hit shelves on March 9, 2022.
– Top Cow and EP1T0ME Studios are releasing a book inspired by a song from the alternative metal band The Clay People. Via ComicOn.com, “Colossus” (based on the song of the same name) comes from writer Matt Hawkins and illustrator Christian DiBari. “The song means different things to different people,” said Richard Leibowitz, EP1T0ME’s President. “The more we heard it, the more we envisioned a story about an underdog with new-found, out-of-control power and the ramifications that using it would bring.” The new comic will follow a biracial teenage character. “Colossus” #1 is due out on February 9, 2022.
– A multiverse of Judge Dredds are coming together for an unlikely crossover in the pages of Rebellion’s “2000 AD.” Via IGN, an upcoming 11-page story in the Christmas edition of the magazine will feature the comic version of Dredd meeting up with the two feature film versions of the character, originally played by Sylvester Stallone and Karl Urban in Judge Dredd and Dredd respectively. The story comes from writer Ken Niemand and artist Richard Elson. The issue will be available to subscribers on December 11, with the individual purchase available on the 2000 AD website on December 16.
– Taschen and Marvel Comics have announced a planned decade-long collaboration in the form of ‘The Marvel Comics Library.’ The series will reproduce some of Marvel’s classic comics in large extra-large bound format. First up is “Spider-Man. Vol. 1 1962-1964,” which will collect the first 21 stories from creators Stan Lee and Steve Ditko just in time for Spidey’s 60th birthday. Each volume will feature an essay by a comic book historian as well as additional bonus material. Marvel editor Ralph Macchio provides the essay for the first volume, with collector David Mandel providing an introduction. The next titles up will focus on the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and Captain America, with those titles coming out over the next two years. “The Marvel Comics Library: Spider-Man. Vol. 1 1962-1964” is due out next year.
– Webtoon’s hit series “Lore Olympus” has reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list with its recent print edition. Via BusinessWire, the webcomic from Rachel Smythe has already accumulated more than 1.2 billion reads online since its start in 2018. The comic is no stranger to prestige, with this year landing it a nomination for Book of the Year from the Goodreads Choice Awards and a win for Digital Book of the Year from the Harvey Awards. Smythe also announced on Twitter this week that the comic would be taking a mid-season break, with that break lasting “up to four months.” Episode 190, the final episode before the break, will release on December 25 for Fast Pass readers, and January 15, 2022 for everyone else.
– Good news for Dune fans: volume 2 of the graphic novel adaptation has been set for a mid-2022 release. Via Gizmodo, publisher Abrams ComicArts will publish “Dune: The Graphic Novel, Book 2: Muad’Dib,” which comes from Brian Herbert (son of original author Frank Herbert) and Kevin J. Anderson with art by Raúl Allén and Patricia Martín. The second volume picks up where volume 1 left off, with Paul Atreides and Lady Jessica on the run in the desert after their family’s betrayal. The new volume features a painted cover by legendary artist Bill Sienkiewicz. The second of a planned trilogy, “Dune: The Graphic Novel, Book 2 Muad’Dib” uses the voice on July 5, 2022.
Continued below– The Writer’s Guild of America has released a list of the best screenplays of the 21st century so far. The list was voted on by current WGA members and features several comic book and genre films among the honorees. WGA’s lead-in to the list pointed out a sharp contrast between the new list of screenplays and a previous compilation of the 101 greatest screenplays of all time voted on by the WGA 15 years ago. The new list features a much broader balance of films by women and people of color, as well as a wider variety of genre films outside the traditional idea of a film canon, with Jordan Peele’s Get Out topping the list. Other scripts making the cut are Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan, and David S. Goyer’s The Dark Knight (#26), Brad Bird’s The Incredibles (#48), Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole’s Black Panther (#57), Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (#71), and Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (#76). You can find the full list at the WGA website.
– The Library of American Comics and its European counterpart EuroComics are moving publishing houses. Via ICv2, the line of classic American comic strips will move from IDW over to a new home at Clover Press, starting with a new collection of “Terry and the Pirates” by Milton Caniff. The existing series of “For Better or For Worse” and “Steve Canyon” will continue over at IDW. The Library of American comics first began publishing in 2007 with a volume of “Terry and the Pirates.” The new volume will be based on Caniff’s own collection of proofs, which were unavailable at the time of the previous collection’s publication. Volume 1 of the new edition will launch in March 2022.
– Season 3 of TNT’s Snowpiercer has released a new trailer. Via Variety, the trailer finds the pirate crew picking up the pieces and attempting to start a life outside the train after the events of season 2. The adaptation of the comic by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette, as well as the 2013 film of the same name by Bong Joon-ho, follows the last living humans on Earth, who survive on a perpetually moving train after Earth has been enveloped by an endless winter. Starring an ensemble that includes Jennifer Connelly, Daveed Diggs, Sean Bean, Rowan Blanchard, Archie Panjabi, and Alison Wright, Snowpiercer returns January 24, 2022.
– Finally, original Power Rangers cast member Amy Jo Johnson is working a Power Rangers comic. Via Den of Geek, Johnson dropped the news at Emerald City Comic Con last weekend, stating that she had written the comic with her boyfriend and that BOOM! Studios was “quite excited” about the project. Johnson said the comic takes place during the present day, picking up with the Rangers in their mid-40s and coming back together as a kind of reunion. Johnson previously wrote the forward for the “Power Rangers Pink” miniseries. There was no word about how far along the project was or when it might see release.
