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.
– Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice might be PG-13 when you see it in the theater, but when you bring it home on video four months later, you’ll have the option to do so with an R-rated director’s cut. You read that right; an R-rated Superman movie. Well, let’s be honest, it’s really a Batman movie with Superman in it, and having an R-rated Batman movie is a little less of a stretch. And this isn’t to say you can’t have an R-rated movie with Superman in it; you absolutely can and still remain true to the character. Just because we know there’s going to be even more trauma-inducing violence in this film doesn’t mean that non-imaginary or non-mind-controlled Superman is the one doing it. (My money would be on the guy with the bat-ears.) I obviously have not seen the movie yet and could be completely wrong on this. But the track record of BvS‘s filmmakers shows us they thought Superman choosing to snap someone’s neck to solve a problem rather than half a dozen other options was a good idea the last time they touched the character. So excuse me if I’m not as pumped about this director’s cut as I should be. At least all the dudebros sure to be thrown into orgasmic fits from this uncut destruction porn can do so in the comfort of their own home, and not next to me in the theater.
– Speaking of hot messes, you may have noticed that the recently concluded Angoulême comics festival had one of the worst award competition fiascos in recent memory. Its exclusion of female creators from any real awards consideration felt bigger than OscarsSoWhite in terms of its “WTF?” effect on the comics community both overseas and here in the States. Changes were promised for 2017, but given how 2016 went down, no one was holding their breath that the Grand Prix organizers had any real incentive to implement them. That is, until a critical mass of French publishers announced they would boycott next year’s festival if said changes weren’t enacted. You can read more about it at The Beat, but with that much publishing muscle behind the threat, I think things are going to change for Angoulême tout suite!
– Just before you lose faith in awards-giving, be refreshed and rejuvenated by checking out the nominees in the “Graphic Novel/Comics” category for the LA Times Book Prize.
– Vulture takes a surprisingly deep look at Stan “The Man” Lee and where his legacy stands today.
– And finally, Birth Movies Death’s Devin Faraci chimes in with one of the better takes on the R-rated superhero movie trend I’ve seen recently.
