The Rundown: Frank Darabont Sues AMC Over “The Walking Dead”, Stumptown Comics Fest Ends as a Standalone, and more

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 either david@multiversitycomics.com or brian@multiversitycomics.com.

– This is big, crazy news: Frank Darabont, the once upon a time showrunner of AMC’s “The Walking Dead”, is suing the network for lost profits that amount to tens of millions of dollars according to the suit. Darabont’s lawsuit is in conjunction with his representation at agency CAA, and the whole thing is extremely ugly and explains quite a bit about why Darabont’s departure was as acrimonious and sudden as it was. Honestly, the show itself is a hot mess, and it explains quite a bit that AMC has handled things in such a cloak and dagger fashion with its creatives. We’ll see what happens with this, probably over a long, long time, but the article is well worth a read just to see the depths AMC has gone to in ensuring they kept as much money in house as they could.

– From the Portland Mercury, Stumptown Comics Fest, one of the preeminent indie comic events of the year, is ending as a standalone event, combining with Rose City Comic Con (a spinoff of Seattle’s Emerald City Comic Con) to make that an even better event. Panel programming and the yearly Stumptown Comic Arts Awards will move over to Rose City, and given the substantial costs and venue issues in the city, this is the most logical step and the best option if everyone wanted to keep this party going. While it’s sad to hear, it certainly makes Rose City Comic Con all the more interesting as an event.

– Adventures of Superman was one of the most overlooked titles of 2013 according to us, and if you overlook it after you see the upcoming list of creators…well, that’s on you. B. Clay Moore and Gabriel Rodriguez, Max Landis and Jock, Fabian Nicieza and Phil Hester, and Ron Marz and Doc Shaner? That’s a hell of a thing. Yeah, you should buy those.

– This Sex Criminals variant by Chip Zdarsky for Image (S)Expo is pretty much the greatest thing I have ever seen. Chip, I’ll gladly give you my address if you’d like to send me one. Please send me one. Please. I want it so.

– There’s a new teaser poster for “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”, and I’m going to be honest, it’s as uninspiring as the trailer was.

– Shia LeBeouf is a crazy moron of a person.