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.
– This weekend, Disney held their annual conference, D23, and Star Wars absolutely dominated it. First, there’s plans for a Star Wars Land attraction at both DisneyLand and DisneyWorld. There will be a cantina and you can fly the Millennium Falcon. John Boyega also revealed the old school painted one-sheet for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, illustrated by Drew Struzan, movie poster legend. Disney also released the first photo for Gareth Edwards’s Star Wars: Rogue One, starring Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Forest Whitaker, and Alan Tudyk. Producer Kathleen Kennedy says this film will take place before the original trilogy. There’s also a Darth Vader Special Edition PS4 on the way, because why not. Finally, LucasFilm LTD announced Jurassic World director, Colin Tevorrow, taking the helm for Episode IX. He’ll follow J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson, and his movie will probably just end up reminding you of the first Star Wars movie. Not much was mentioned in the way of “Star Wars” comics, but be sure there’ll be plenty more as the current miniseries begin wrapping up.
– Not to neglect their other cash cow, Disney also teased concepts from the upcoming Doctor Strange film, including his costume design. As of now, the design hasn’t been released publicly yet, but Cumberbatch promises the movie will be full of the “usual fare…girls, cars, astral projection.” Expect Kevin Feige to make them also work in Doctor Strange battling some flying object for the film’s climax.
– Noah van Sciver contributed to Paste Magazine’s Songs Illustrated feature. He chose The Good Life’s “How Small We Are.” He also appeared on Inkstuds this week.
– A real life Red Sonja was found in South Kazakhstan.
– John Layman and Rob Guillory are on their final 10 issues of “Chew.” Guillory talks to old Multiversity Comics alum, David Harper, about starting and ending the project.
– In other interviews, Keith McCulloch chats with cartoonist Kevin Hooyman about his new book, “Conditions on the Ground.”
– Last Friday, we asked you: Where do comics fit in your media consumption? The majority of you, at 47%, said that when you’re deciding what media to take in, you chose comics first. (Ahem.) 39% of you said you may not read comics as often as you engage with other media, but they’re still one of your favorite mediums. 9% said, on average, comics fall toward the bottom of your media consumption, and 6% of you said that comics only represent a small portion of the entertainment in your life. Now, the sample size might be suspect, considering we’re a comics site, but with all the people who make comics such a huge part of their entertainment, I think it’s getting more evident that comics are for everyone. Be sure to check back next Friday for our newest reader question!
– Finally, in Webcomics Worth Clicking: “Witchy” by Ariel Ries takes place in a world where the strength of your magic is determined by the length of your hair. The more powerful a witch might be, the more likely she’ll be enlisted in the Witch Guard, a law enforcement outfit with too much power. So our focus character, Nyneve, hides her hair, though she can’t hide her raw power. Ries’s art is animated and exuberant (she’s also an animation student), and it reads super well. It’s an engaging story.
