Welcome back to The Rundown, our daily breakdown of 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, Lion Forge is publishing queer paranormal romance webcomic “Mooncakes” in print in October. We also covered the main prize winners at this year’s Angoulême International Comics Festival.
– Vault Comics imprint Myriad released a prequel to the first issue of “Bonding” at Paste magazine. The upcoming YA sci-fi comic, written by Matthew Erman with art by Emily Pearson, is a quirkly look at a world occupied by alien parasites. Vault also announced a competition for readers to design their own parasite, which Pearson will incorporate into the book: submissions are open until September 13, 2019. “Bonding” #1 comes out February 5, 2020.
– DC Universe will double the size of its comic library by March, the digital subscription announced yesterday. Sam Ades, senior VP and general manager of DC Digital Services said, “When launching DC Universe, we knew the comic reader was an area that we wanted to expand and provide more choice. Fans want a place to discover new titles and the opportunity to enjoy full arcs of iconic and notable storylines from start to finish. We are listening to fans and responding with an expanded comic book offering that improves the overall DC Universe experience.” The new additions, which can be seen at The Hollywood Reporter, will include classic and current runs, such as Bendis’s “Action Comics” and Tom King’s “Batman.”
– Scout Comics series “Fish Eye” is being developed into a film by producers Gina Matthews and Grant Scharbo (What Women Want, Isn’t It Romantic). The 2017 miniseries by Massimo Rosi and Stefano Cardoselli followed Travis, a smalltown police detective who is unknowingly the subject of a reality show, and when ratings begin to slip, the show’s producers send a group of killers after him and his family.
– ABC have ordered a pilot based on Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth’s Oni Press series “Stumptown.” Writer Jason Richman (Detroit 1-8-7) will pen the pilot and serve as executive producer with Ruben Fleischer (Venom), David Bernad (Superstore), and the comic’s creators. “Stumptown,” which began in 2009, followed Dex Parios, a female Army veteran working as a private investigator in Portland, Oregon.
– Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman 1984 director Patty Jenkins has commented on when the third film will take place. “I’m not set, but I’m not doing another period piece,” she told The Hollywood Reporter at the Sundance Film Festival. “I’m not planning to put it in the past again, because where are you going to go? You have to go forward. It’s definitely a contemporary story. That’s all I can say. Where we put it and how that gets figured out, I haven’t totally nailed down.” Wonder Woman 1984 is out June 5, 2020.
– Sky One released a trailer for Moominvalley, a new series based on Tove Jansson’s classic characters combining 2D and 3D animation. The show, a Finnish-British collaboration created by Marika Makaroff and Steve Box (Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit), will star the voices of Taron Egerton, Rosamund Pike, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Saunders, Richard Ayoade, Matt Lucas, Katie Leung, and more. The first season, consisting of 13 22-minute episodes, will premiere in the UK this Easter (April 21).
– Sasha Lane (American Honey, the Hellboy reboot) will star in Amazon Prime’s remake of the British TV series Utopia. Broadcast on Channel 4 from 2013 to 2014, Utopia revolved around the hunt for “The Utopia Experiments,” a graphic novel that can predict the future. Lane will play Jessica Hyde, a woman who has spent her life running from The Network – an organization killing those pursuing the book. Amazon have given a nine-episode order for the series, which is being overseen by Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl, Sharp Objects).
– Indianz.com, a website owned by the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, has criticized a cartoon by The Las Vegas Review-Journal‘s Michael Ramirez for depicting Omaha activist Nathan Phillips and Senator Elizabeth Warren as hosting a “beer summit.” “Las Vegas Review Journal published a propaganda cartoon in derogation of Native Americans using a stereotype of Indian alcoholism,” the editorial reads. “Racism is an abuse no matter how softly or funny media represent its abuse.”
– Finally, CBR reports make-up artist and sculptor Matt Rose died on Friday, January 26, 2019. He was 53 years old. Rose, a protege of Stan Winston and Rick Baker, worked on multiple films like Aliens, Predator, Monster Squad, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, The Nutty Professor, Star Trek Beyond and more, but was best known for his work with Ron Perlman on Hellboy, for which he won a Saturn Award. Director Guillermo del Toro tweeted, “Matt Rose’s passing hurts deep. If our craft ever had a golden age, he was one of the Titans. And a real pal: approachable, generous and full of love.”
