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, “Helm Greycastle” is launching from Top Cow, Image unveiled “Jules Verne’s Lighthouse,” and Dark Horse announced the comic “Jenny Zero.” We also had the exclusive cover reveal for “They Called Us Enemy” artist Harmony Becker’s new graphic novel “Himawari House.”
– Syfy Wire has the exclusive that the 2015 Black Mask Studios series “Godkiller,” by writer Matteo Pizzolo and artist Anna Wieszczyk, is returning with “Godkiller: Tomorrow’s Ashes.” The new story picks up with the orphan Tommy, who has been captured by The Republic in the middle of his quest to find a heart for his sister in the dystopian cityscape. “As twisted and insane as it is, ‘Godkiller’ is one of my most personal projects and holds a very special place in the deepest, grimiest pit of my soul,” Pizzolo said, “so I’m beyond thrilled to return to Outer City with the always brilliant Anna Wieszczyk, who breathes vivid life into these characters I love so much.” Nen Chang provided a fully painted cover for the first issue, which is set to be released in April.
– The publisher Silver Sprocket has announced their spring 2021 publishing line-up. Via Broken Frontier, the list of titles includes new works from Ashley Robin Franklin, Matt Lubchansky, Abby Jame, and Robyn Chapman. Ashley Robin Franklin’s magical queer romcom “That Full Moon Feeling” follows a witch and a werewolf as they go on thee disastrous dates; while “The Antifa Super Soldier Cookbook” from The Nib contributor Matt Lubchansky will ask if everything the right thinks about the left is real, by following an ANTIFA operative named Max Marx on a journey to become a fully-fledged super-soldier to destroy the American way of life; and Abby Jame’s collection “Heart Shaped Tears” features comics and illustrations “about aliens, elves and boys who don’t text back.” Finally, “American Cult,” edited by Robyn Chapman, offers a graphic history of religious cults in America and features the work of Ben Passmore, Box Brown, Lisa Rosalie Eisenberg, Jim Rugg and more. “That Full Moon Feeling” is due out in February, “The Antifa Super Soldier Cookbook” in March, “Heart Shaped Tears” in April, and “American Cult” in May.
– Via Syfy Wire, Kelly Thompson’s next arc on “Captain Marvel” will see Carol Danvers getting a new look as she attempts to master the mystic arts. Carol’s new costume was designed by “Daredevil” artist Marco Checchetto, who also provided the cover art for “Captain Marvel” #28. The story, drawn by Jacopo Camagni, will spin out from the events of the book’s current arc, ‘The New World.’ “Not everything goes Carol’s way in that story, and there’s real loss mixed in there with the win,” Thompson told Syfy Wire. “And it leaves her feeling more vulnerable than ever to magic and characters that can attack her with magic.” “Captain Marvel” #28 hits comic shops in April.
– The upcoming Disney+ She-Hulk series is adding to its cast. Deadline reports that actress Ginger Gonzaga (Kidding) will co-star as Jennifer Walters’s best friend, who remains unnamed in the announcement. Gonzaga joins Tatiana Maslany as the titular attorney, as well as Mark Ruffalo and Tim Roth, who were confirmed at Disney’s Investor Day to be reprising their roles as the Hulk and Abomination, respectively. Marvel has not commented on the casting, but Gonzaga has expressed her excitement for the casting on Twitter. The series will be directed by Kat Coiro and Anu Valia, with Jessica Gao as the showrunner, and is set to premiere in 2022.
– Netflix has picked up a miniseries adaptation of the YA graphic novel “Heartstopper” from writer and artist Alice Oseman. Deadline reports that Oseman will write the adaptation of her story, which follows Nick and Charlie, two British teens at an all-boys grammar school. When the high-strung, openly gay Nick falls for soft-hearted rugby player Nick, the small stories of their two lives come together to make something larger. Originally launched as webcomic on Tumblr and Tapas, a physical edition was subsequently published by Hachette Children’s Group. The TV adaptation will be produced by See-Saw Films, the prestige producers behind shows and films like Top of the Lake, Ammonite, and The King’s Speech, and directed by Doctor Who and Daredevil veteran Euros Lyn.
Continued below– The return of the CW’s The Flash has been delayed a bit to make room for the “premiere event” of the new series Superman & Lois. Via TVLine, The Flash was originally scheduled to have its season 7 premiere act as a lead-in for the new series, but that episode was moved to the following week to make way for a two-hour Superman & Lois premiere that will include a 90-minute episode and a special titled Superman & Lois: Legacy of Hope. The special will feature sneak peeks of the upcoming season alongside interviews with the cast and special guests discussing the legacy of Superman. Superman & Lois premieres on Tuesday, February 23, with season 7 of The Flash returning on Tuesday, March 2.
– Five comics veterans are teaming up to launch the new content development company Endpaper Entertainment. Via The Beat, influential editor and buyer James Killen, Geek Riot Media founder and Heavy Metal Chief Sales Officer Kris Longo, and producer and VFX director Jonathon L. Gilbreath joined Rich Johnson and Syndee Barwick to found the company, which will develop content for multiple media platforms and genres. Both Johnson and Barwick are alumni of DC Comics, and each brings a set of experiences and contacts at a number of businesses in the publishing and entertainment industry. A self-financed company, Endpaper Entertainment aims to bring “a wide range of original story concepts to market” using the diverse areas of expertise of its founders across multiple industries.
– (Trigger warning: sexual abuse, incest, and transphobia.) The French cartoonist Xavier Gorce has said he will no longer draw for the newspaper Le Monde after the paper apologized for publishing one of his cartoons. Via Agence France-Presse, the cartoon was a reaction to allegations that political commentator Olivier Duhamel had sexually abused his stepson, leading to the trending hashtag #MeTooInceste. Gorce’s cartoon featured two penguins, the smaller of which asked the other, “If I was abused by the adopted half-brother of the partner of my transgender father who has now become my mother, is that incest?” Le Monde’s editor-in-chief Caroline Minnot apologized to readers, stating that the cartoon should not have been published and that it could be read as “relativizing the seriousness of acts of incest, using inappropriate terms towards victims and transgender people.” Duhamel is under criminal investigation after his stepdaughter Camille Kouchner published the allegations that Duhamel abused her twin brother when they were 14 years old.
