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, BOOM! announced the graphic novel duology “The Last Witch,” and we have an exclusive preview of “Tomorrow” #1, as well as a an interview with Evan Dorkin and Veronica and Andy Fish on their returning series “Blackwood: The Mourning After.”
– “Death Note” is back for a free, 88-page surprise one-shot that will bring the series forward to the modern day. The special new issue follows Minoru Tanaka, a smart but unapplied student who comes into possession of a Death Note after Ryuk, the demonic owner of the book, decides he wants to toy with the human world once again. Minoru will be pitted against a modern world of surveillance as he tries to sell the book to the highest bidder. “Death Note: Special One-Shot” is created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, and is available to read online here.
– “The Expendables Go to Hell” in an upcoming graphic novel. Sylvester Stallone has concocted the story himself, working alongside writer Chuck Dixon and artist Graham Nolan to bring it to life. The 50-page main story will be accompanied by a trio of shorter back-ups with a different artist for each, ‘The Bridge’ by Jason Johnson, ‘Christmas in Hell’ by Kelsey Shannon, and, ‘Barbarian’s Holiday’ by Butch Guice. The series follows the Expendables Barney Ross, Lee Christmas, Gunner Jensen, Yin Yang and Toll Road, as they awake in Hell after being killed in action. Copies of “The Expendables Go to Hell” will ship in May.
– Inker extraordinaire Dexter Vines has been diagnosed with blood cancer, and is looking for support. The frequent collaborator of Ed McGuinness, Carlos Pacheco and Steve McNiven is known for his work on “Civil War,” ‘Old Man Logan,’ and the upcoming “X-Men/Fantastic Four.” Vines was lucky to have received a diagnosis before the disease had grown out of control, but needs $25,000 to cover the expensive medical bills that come with it. The GoFundMe page was set up by friends of Vines, who have expressed their thanks to the artist’s many friends and fans.
– Illustrator, comic creator and prose author Sloane Leong has set up a GoFundMe page after her car set fire on the freeway. Leong is known for her comics such as “Prism Stalker,” “Dial H for Hero” and “A Body Made of Seeing.” Her new graphic novel “A Map to the Sun,” published through First Second, is releasing this August. In exchange for contributor’s generous donations, Leong is offering PDFs of her comic “Prism Stalker” and commissions. Her family have been dependent on the car as a way to commute for the last six months and are looking to recoup their losses, seeing as they cannot claim insurance on it.
– Kohei Horikoshi, the creator of “My Hero Academia,” has vowed to change the name of a controversial new character, Dr. Ujiko. The doctor’s full name, Ujiko Maruta, is a reference to the horrific human experiments conducted on prisoners of war by the Japanese during World War II. “Many have voiced their opinions about how this name has brought up recollections of past events. In choosing this name, I had no such intentions of having it be associated as such,” said Horikoshi. “I take everyone’s concerns very seriously, and as a result, will be changing his name.”
– Anthony Del Col, the writer on the upcoming comic “Nancy Drew & the Hardy Boys: The Death of Nancy Drew,” had an interview with Polygon this week, where he responded to accusations of fridging Nancy Drew in the comic meant to celebrate her 90th anniversary. “At no point are we fridging Nancy during the series or doing anything like that,” said Del Col. “As the creator of it, as the writer of it, I know that that’s not the case.” Del Col wrote the previous Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys crossover “Nancy Drew & The Hardy Boys: The Big Lie” back in 2017. You can read the rest of the interview over on Polygon if you are interested.
– Finally, in a follow-up on yesterday’s item on Eddie Berganza and Eric M Esquivel’s new venture, Bleeding Cool reports the “Restorative Education Services” the pair plan to donate ten percent of proceeds to is a new initiative from the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory, a Los Angeles-based organization that focuses on “career development for youth who are interested in film, television, broadcasting, and content creation, who otherwise would have limited access to training in the creative arts economy.” Esquivel also told the site that artist Jocelyn Ojeda (who is working on their first project) was fully aware of the sexual allegations about him and Berganza, and wanted people to leave her “out of the hazing.”
