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, DC Comics announced a new mini-series called “Flashpoint Beyond,” whilst Marvel announced a mini-series of their own with “X-Men ’92: House of XCII.”
– Via Daily Dead, Dark Horse Comics revealed the cover for the upcoming “Hellboy Universe Essentials: Witchfinder” collection, featuring artwork by Mike Mignola. The collection is the latest in Dark Horse’s rereleases of different Hellboy titles, designed to be the perfect introductions for new readers; “Hellboy Universe Essentials: Witchfinder” is set to include all five issues of “Witchfinder: In the Service of Angels” by Mike Mignola, Ben Stenbeck, and Dave Stewart. It is scheduled for release on July 6 in comic shops, followed by a bookshop release on July 19.
– To celebrate the 45th anniversary of Judge Dredd and 2000 AD, London’s Cartoon Museum announced that they will be home to an exhibition called Dredd @ 45. The exhibition is set to chronicle the evolution of the character, and the techniques that have been used to depict him. Specific details about which pieces of artwork will be featured haven’t been disclosed, however, the press release includes artwork by Brett Ewins and Ron Smith. Judge Dredd was created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra. Dredd @ 45 will open to the public on Thursday, January 20, and run through April 24.
– Following its removal from its regular late January timeframe after a rise in COVID-19 cases in France last December, the Angoulême International Comics Festival has been rescheduled for March 17 to 20. In a press release, the organizers detailed that all elements of the Festival will be “carried over to the new dates,” with the event intended to be “as rich and culturally diverse as the ones which took place before the pandemic.” The dates have been determined by organizers “having taken several factors into consideration,” which include projections for COVID-19 case numbers, the schedules for other “global cultural events,” and the French Presidential elections set for April. The full press release can be read over at The Beat.
– Netflix released a trailer for the upcoming All of Us Are Dead, a series adaptation of Joo Dong-geun’s “Now at Our School.” The South Korean show will chronicle a zombie outbreak within a high school, with the trailer suggesting the outbreak starts from a virus-infected mouse before rapidly affecting other students. One of the school teachers explains that the virus makes the “infected human [feel] extreme fear,” and they “attack only to survive.” All of Us Are Dead is scheduled to premiere on the streaming service on January 28; in the meantime, you can check out the trailer here.
– Actress Leslie Grace took to Instagram to share a photo of herself in costume as Batgirl/Barbara Gordon from the upcoming DC and HBO Max film, Batgirl. The suit itself is highly comparable with the redesigned Batgirl costume that debuted in “Batgirl” #35 in 2014. In addition to Grace, the film’s cast includes Brendan Fraser as the villain Garfield Lynns aka Firefly, J.K. Simmons as Jim Gordon, Barbara’s father, and Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Batgirl is expected to release on HBO Max later this year. You can see the photo for yourself here.
– The return of Riverdale‘s sixth season has been delayed two weeks, and is now set for March 20, the CW announced. This comes as the Critics Choice Awards have been rescheduled to March 13 following their coronavirus-related delay this month; the ceremony is set to air on the network. Riverdale, which is based on the Archie Comics series, kicked off its sixth season with a five-part event story, ‘RiverVale,’ in November, which saw a brief crossover with its cancelled Netflix sister show, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and concluded with the series’ 100th episode.
– Deadline reported that Storm Reid (Euphoria) has joined the upcoming HBO adaptation of the 2013 video game, The Last of Us, in the role of Riley Abel, the best friend of lead character Ellie Williams (Bella Ramsey). Riley debuted in the graphic novel prequel, “The Last of Us: American Dreams,” by game creative director Neil Druckmann, artist Faith Erin Hicks, and colorist Rachelle Rosenberg. An air date for The Last of Us has yet to be announced.
– Artist Mike Zeck’s original artwork depicting Spider-Man in his famous black suit for the very first time sold for $3.36 million at an auction in Texas. The sale of the artwork, which featured in 1984’s “Secret Wars” #8, broke the previous record for a single interior page from a US comic book; it had previously been set at $657,250 by a page of “The Incredible Hulk” that featured Wolverine’s first appearance from 1974. The Spider-Man artwork wasn’t the only comic book item on sale at the auction though, with a copy of “Action Comics” #1 selling for $3.18 million shortly after it.
– Finally, NBC gave a pilot order to a reboot/sequel series to the sci-fi show Quantum Leap. The series is planned to take place thirty years after the events of the original series, with a new team coming together to restart the Quantum Leap project and uncover the secrets of the titular accelerator and its creator. The original series starred Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, and the late Dean Stockwell as Admiral Al Calavicci; the former isn’t currently set to be involved with the new iteration, but is “aware of the reboot and has had conversations about potentially getting involved,” according to Deadline. The original show’s creator and writer, Don Bellisario, as well as fellow writer, Deborah Pratt, are involved with the show as executive producers, along with Martin Gero (Blindspot); writing the new show will be Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt (La Brea), both of whom will also be executive producers. Details regarding the pilot’s production schedule have been kept under wraps.
