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, AfterShock Comics announced a new series, ”Mary Shelly: Monster Hunter.” It was also revealed that Ryan Ferrier, Priscilla Petraites, and Marco Lesko will take over as the new creative team behind the Image Comics series, “Rat Queens.”
– Readers will get a sneak peek at DC’s Ink and Zoom comics this year at Free Comic Book Day (May 4). According to The Beat, fans will have the opportunity to read chapters from two upcoming INK and ZOOM titles. Beginning with DC INK, audiences will get a peak at “Under the Moon: a Catwoman Tale,” written by Lauren Myracle and drawn by Isaac Goodheart. Addtionally, a preview of “Teen Titans: Raven” by Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo, will be included with the chapter of “Under the Moon.” As for the ZOOM titles, there will be two chapters from “Dear Justice League,” by writer Michael Northrop and artist Gustavo Duarte, which sees the greatest heroes of the DC Universe answering fan mail from kids. “Catwoman: Under the Moon” will be released on May 7, 2019. “Teen Titans: Raven” will arrive in stores on July 2nd, 2019 and “Dear Justice League” will release on August 6th, 2019.
– In more DC news, Newsarama reports that “DC Entertainment” is no more, reverting its name back to DC. Though never publicly announced, the name change seemingly goes back to September of 2018. “Dc Entertainment” was created in 2009 by Warner Bros. in order to maximize its content. When Diane Nelson exited the role of President, Pam Lifford was promoted to President, and DC was moved to a new division, Warner Bros. Global Brands and Experiences. The news comes after DC laid off seven employees as the company attempts to “refocus on publishing, with the comic book Direct Market at the heart of their core business.”
– This year, the Czech Republic’s annual Muriel Award for the best comic book of the year was given to “Svatá Barbora,” or “Saint Barbara,” a graphic novel about a highly publicized child abuse case. The graphic novel was created by writer Marek Šindelka, screenwriter Vojtěch Mašek and illustrator Marek Pokorný. The case dates back to 2007 when six individuals linked to a small religious sect were charged with abusing and torturing two children. Barbora Škrlová pretended to be one of the children and was taken into childcare from which she escaped. She was later found in Norway when her true identity was revealed. It took the authors six years to complete the book as they were drawn to the story. Instead of focusing on Barbora Škrlová, the creators decided to make the protagonist a member of the media.
– The nominees for the GLAAD Media Awards were announced. Mark Russell took to Twitter to announce “Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles” had been nominated for Outstanding Comic Book. Among the nominees are “Batwoman,” written by Marguerite Bennett with art by Fernando Blanco, and “Fence” by writer C.S. Pacat and artist Johanna the Mad. To see the full list of nominees including those in other GLAAD categories, head on over to The Hollywood Reporter.
– In other awards news, Black Panther won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble Cast, as well as the Award for Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture. You can read the full list of winners at BBC News.
– Donny Cates and Megan Hutchison revealed via Twitter that they were launching a new Image Comics series. There are very few details about what the plot is at this time. Klaus Janson also tweeted that he’s been working on a “secret project” for the Bat Office at DC Comics.
– Image Comics released an official timeline for Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen’s upcoming series, “Ascender,” the follow up to “Descender” which ended last year. The timeline offers a step-by-step description of the events that lead to “Ascender” #1. “Ascender” #1 by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen debuts in comic book shops on April 24 2019.
Continued below– Rob Liefeld announced the film deal between Netflix and Extreme Studios has been called off. “I get questions about Netflix all the time,” he tweeted. “After being at an impasse this summer, I took Extreme elsewhere for a better deal and fit. There is no Netflix deal. More soon enough.” The agreement for Netflix to produce films based on several Liefeld creations was originally announced in March 2018.
– In an exclusive, Deadline reports that Batwoman has starting rounding out its cast opposite of Ruby Rose. Teen Wolf alum Meagan Tandy will play love interest Sophie Moore, Camrus Johnson (Luke Cage) has been cast as Luke Fox, better known as Batwing in the comics, and Nicole Kang (You) as be Kate’s stepsister Mary Hamilton. The CW ordered the pilot from Greg Berlanti’s Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television after this year’s “Elseworlds” crossover.
– Finally, in this week’s Reader Poll we asked what Mark Chiarello’s most important work at DC was. Chiarello was laid off due to DC’s restructuring. The results are in and this week’s winner is “The New Frontier” by a landslide, taking 55.9 percent of the vote. Coming in a distant second is “Wednesday Comics” with 18.3 percent, leaving “Solo” nd “Batman: Hush” tied in third place, with 10.8 percent.
