Welcome 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 yesterday Dark Horse previewed the end of “ElfQuest,” and former BOOM! Studios President Jack Cummins passed away over the weekend, he was 50 years old.
– Titan Comics and BBC Worldwide Americas yesterday via a press release a new ongoing comic series following the adventures of the Thirteenth Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker (Attack the Block, Broadchurch). The new Doctor premiered on the last Christmas special of Doctor Who, and will make her comic book debut in May’s Free Comic Book Day issue. Jody Houser (“Faith,” “Mother Panic”) will write the book and Rachael Stott (“Motherlands,” various other “Doctor Who” titles) will pencil it. The new comic book sereis as well as the debut of the highly anticipated new season of Doctor Who are slated to be released sometime this fall.
– This weekend’s Visual Effects Society Awards are one part of a long, long list of award shows on the road to the Oscars where Marvel scored an award for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.. The opening segment in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 featuring director James Gunn’s dancing molded onto the lovable body of baby Groot, garnered the visual cinematographers James Baker, Steven Lo, Alvise Avati, and Robert Stipp. The event also featured virtual sweeps by Pixar’s Coco and HBO’s Game of Thrones along with a major win for War for the Planet of the Apes, on the road to a possible Oscar for Best Visual Effects win this March.
– The Winter Olympics are in full swing, oh how I’ve missed you competitive curling, and along with it a new teaser trailer for Pixar’s Incredibles 2. The new trailer features all our favorite mild mannered Parrs aka the Incredibles, still dealing with the ramifications of a world where superheroics are illegal and families are still a lot of work. Helen Parr aka Elastigirl appears to be taking center stage in this film as the one bringing home the super-bacon while Bob Parr aka Mr. Incredible attempts to deal with baby Jack-Jack’s burgeoning superpowers. Incredibles 2 will be out in theaters June 15.
– DC Comics’s new Social Media and Press Guidelines, which were leaked this week have incensed many creatives and journalists on Twitter and elsewhere. The new guidelines amount to: please be nice to people and ask us before you post anything or give interviews to anyone by “credible news outlets.” The guidelines are vague, have no concrete consequences laid out and many are speculating that the guidelines are in response to artist Ethan Van Sciver (“Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps,” “Sinestro Corps War”)’s online personality and association with noticeably alt-right YouTube channel Diversity and Comics. DC artist Patrick Zircher (“Action Comics,” “Iron Man”) went so far as to quit Twitter before promptly reactivating his account 8 hours later.
– Zac Brown’s Southern Gourd has announced plans to add Dabel Brothers Publishing to its Family of Partners, which I’m pretty sure means they bought them? The partnership will pair the publishing house with Southern Gourd to produce a full line of licensed, high-visibility graphic novels, adult coloring books, comics, and specialty publications including a collaboration with Zac Brown Band namesake Zac Brown. Dabel Brothers Publishing has worked with in past with bestselling writers like Stephen King (“The Dark Tower,” “American Vampire”), George R.R. Martin (“A Game of Thrones,” “The Hedge Knight”), and Orson Scott Card (“Ender’s Game,” “Red Prophet”) among others.
– Author Sophie Labelle (“Assigned Male,” “Gender Euphoria”) has decided to return to Halifax, Canada for a book signing after receiving death threats last year which prompted canceling the launch of her book “Dating Tips for Trans and Queer Weirdos.” Labelle, who is transgender, was forced to cancel her visit to Venus Envy, the location slated to host the release, when a coordinated online harassment campaign published her home address along with several death threats. Marshall Haywood, the owner of Venus Envy, decided it best to cancel the event last year when it became evident that he could not guarantee the safety of those in attendance. Labelle is once again visiting Halifax as part of a book tour for her new French language young adult novels called Ciel and says that as of now, no new threats related to her Halifax visit have surfaced.
Continued below– BOOM! Studios imprint Archaia has announced that they will be publishing “Sanpaku,” the first graphic novel work by cartoonist Kate Gavino. Gavino is best known for her book and Tumblr account “Last Night’s Reading” which features her sketches of memorable quotes from authors she has read the previous night. This will be the author’s first narrative work and its premise seems pretty intriguing. The book follows a twelve-year-old girl named Marcine, who is fascinated with the dangers of sanpaku, a Japanese concept stating that having visible whites above or below your iris is a sign of imbalance within your life.
– Speaking of imprints, Statix Press, the Titan Comics imprint dedicated to publishing European comics simultaneously in both American and Europen markets, has announced the release of “2021: Lost Children” in May. French writer Stéphane Betbeder (“Sanctuaire,” “Bunker”) and artist Stéphane Bervas (“2021,” Sherlock Holmes Society”) bring us this 56-page story set in a Detroit which has left the Union and is ruled by a “madman with extrodinary abilities.” The solution to this problem of course is superpowered teenagers whose powers age them dramatically with every use. The book, which hits shelves May 20, was described by the publisher as Escape from New York meets “X-Men.”
– A press release from BOOM! Studios yesterday announced that a new Power Ranger would be appearing in the upcoming installment of their first event ‘Power Rangers: Shattered Grid.’ The evil Lord Drakkon, a twisted alternate universe version of Green Mighty Morphin Ranger (and for those of you in the know future White Ranger) Tommy Oliver is jumping through Power Rangers history to take on every generation of Power Ranger, meanwhile back in the past the classic Mighty Morphin Rangers come face-to-face with a mysterious new Ranger with ties to Lord Drakkon. The new ranger will be introduced in May’s “Go Go Power Rangers” #9 with art by Dan Mora (“Klaus,” “Hexed”) and script by Ryan Parrott (“Revolution,” “Star Trek”).
