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, James Powell and a collection of artists bring you Dark Horse’s “House of Fear.” We also spoke with Sina Grace about designing a T-shirt for Rainbow Railroad.
– Free Comic Book Day announced their ‘Silver’ line-up which, as with the ‘Gold’ Sponsor range, consists of approximately one issue per publisher. The Silver line up includes helpings from DC Comics, Dark Horse, BOOM! studios, Marvel, Dynamite Entertainment, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, Viz Media, Titan Comics, and much much more. Among the titles are a “Minecraft” special from Dark Horse by Hope Larson and Meredith Gran (also featuring “Incredibles 2”), a top secret “Amazing Spider-Man” issue, the launch of Humanoids’ H1 Universe, and “Our Favorite Thing Is My Favorite Thing Is Monsters,” a preview of Emil Ferris’s upcoming follow-up to her debut graphic novel. Free Comic Book Day will land Saturday, May 4, 2019.
– IDW announced a new five-issue Gears of War miniseries, “Gears of War: Hivebusters,” will begin in March 2019. “Gears of War: Rise of RAAM” writer Kurtis Wiebe will return for the series, and will be joined by “Dark Souls” artist Alan Quah. The comic introduces a new squad of characters, who have been sent to destroy a Swarm hive on the remote island of Pahunu. “We’re taking the story back to the human side with three new characters that I’ve played a major role in developing,” Wiebe said. “Even with all the blood and violence, I’m weaving a heartfelt story around our three main heroes: Mac, Lahni, and Keegan. I can’t wait for it to hit stores in 2019!”
– IDW and SEGA America have teamed up to release “Sonic the Hedgehog Annual 2019,” and ComicBook.com have an exclusive first look at the cover. The 48-page issue will feature work from first time Sonic contributors; James Kochalka (“Johnny Boo”), Cavan Scott (“Star Wars Adventures”), Jack Lawrence (“Transformers: Lost Light”), and Gigi Dutrieux. It will also feature returning creators, Ian Flynn, Evan Stanley, Caleb Goellner, Johnathan Gray, Jennifer Hernandez and Diana Skelly. Additionally there will be three covers, including one drawn by Yuji Uekawa, who had been with the Sonic franchise since 1998 and is the visionary behind Sonic’s modern look. The other variant artists are Jennifer Hernandez and Nathalie Fourdaine. “Sonic the Hedgehog Annual 2019” will speed into stores, March 2019.
– DC Comics have notified retailers that Eric M. Esquivel has been taken off March’s “Nightwing” #58. DC were going to announce Esquivel was co-writing the book with Scott Lobdell in March’s solicitations, and have yet to give a reason for the removal, however Esquivel has come under allegations of assault and his other book “Border Town” has been cancelled by Vertigo. DC commented, “Watch for an announcement of the updated writing credits coming soon.”
– DC also announced in their solicitations that “The Batman Who Laughs” will skip March, but there will be a one-shot titled “The Batman Who Laughs: The Grim Knight,” written by Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV with art by Eduardo Risso. The Grim Knight is the newest Batman from the Dark Multiverse introduced in the main series. Expect more on DC’s March solicits in our column Soliciting Multiversity in the new year.
– DC Universe has cast three members of Stargirl’s The Injustice Society. Joy Osmanski (The Santa Clarita Diet) will plays Paula Brooks (Tigress), Neil Hopkins (Matador) will portray Lawrence ‘Crusher’ Crock (aka The Sportsmaster), and finally Nelson Lee (Blade: The Series) will play villainous mastermind, Dragon king, who is described as “a deadly and mysterious hooded man.” Stargirl will be arriving on the DC Universe platform in 2019.
– The Beat has an exclusive cover for Janne Kukkonen’s “Lily the Thief,” which is a Finnish graphic novel published in English by First Second Books in November 2019. Aimed at middle grade readers, the book follows Lily, a young girl trying to make a name for herself as a member of a secret society of thieves. The book was Kukkonen’s debut graphic novel and was awarded the 2017 Finlandia prize in the comics category. It was originally published as “Voro,” which means Thief.
Continued below– According to Deadline, Endeavor Content and Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman) have acquired the rights to “Trespasser,” a 2017 series created by Justin M. Ryan and Kristian Rossi, and published by Alterna Comics. Fuchs will produce with script duties being carried out by Gabe Hobson (True Detective season 3). The story follows Hector and his daughter, Maria as they fight to survive an aftermath of a defeating war that ruined the food supply and poisoned the air, only to happen upon a strange visitor. It focuses on an unspeakable lengths a father will go to protect his daughter.
– In fun Spider-Man news, Spider-Man’s Christmas album from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is now real. It features Chris Pine, Shameik Moore and Jake Johnson all reprising their roles from the movie, and can be listened to here. Insomniac Games also announced a surprise suit for PlayStation 4’s Spider-Man game. The suit in question is based on Sam Raimi’s Spider–Man trilogy, featuring Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man, which released from 2002-2007, and is available to all players via a free update.
– Sony Pictures have released the official first trailer for Men In Black International. The movie will follow Agent M and Agent H played by Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth, respectively, as they go on a global hunt for a mole. Additional cast members include, Rebecca Ferguson, Liam Neeson, and Kumail Nanjiani. Emma Thompson will also return for the movie, which is out June 14, 2019.
