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 have two new digital-first series “Batman ’89” and “Superman ’78” beginning on July 27; AfterShock will be continuing “We Live” with “We Live: Era of the Palladions;” and Marvel have announced the latest crossover for their Star Wars titles, ‘Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters.’
– Shang-Chi is back in an all-new ongoing series from the returning creative team of Gene Luen Yang and Dike Ruan. “I’m very, very thankful for all the support that we got for the ‘Shang-Chi’ miniseries,” said Yang. “I’m thrilled that we get to continue the story of Shang-Chi and his siblings in the Five Weapons Society. We’re going to show how Shang-Chi’s brand-new role affects the rest of the Marvel Universe. We’ll have him interact with old friends and new foes… and even old friends who become new foes.” The new series debuts with the tagline “Shang-Chi VS. The Marvel Universe,” with the series pitting Shang-Chi and the morally grey Five Weapons Society against the Avengers, X-Men and more. “Shang-Chi” #1 releases May 19 with a cover by Leinil Francis Yu.
– Justin Roiland, the co-creator of Rick and Morty and creator of Solar Opposites, is dipping into comics with his new series “Orcs in Space!” alongside co-writers Michael Tanner, Rashad Gheith, Abed Gheith, and François Vigneault, with Vigneault serving as the main series artist. (Vigneault will also collaborate with colorists DJ Chavis and Dave Pender on the project.) The Oni Press series follows a trio of orcs who hijack a spaceship from StarBleep (a parody of Star Trek‘s United Federation), following the Orcs through the adventures and chaos that follow. Issue #1 releases July 7; check here for a 10-page preview.
– Amy Cooper, the woman who falsely accused writer Christian Cooper of threatening her in Central Park, has had the charges against her dismissed by the Manhattan Criminal Court. During the altercation, Christian Cooper asked Amy Cooper to leash her dog, leading her to call the police on him. This happened on the same day as George Floyd’s murder by police officer Derek Chauvin, sparking a resurgence in the Black Lives Matter movement. Christian Cooper documented his experience in the digital anthology “Represent!” Amy Cooper went through counseling and the Manhattan Justice Opportunities program as a part of her dismissal, rather than the original charge of one year in incarceration.
– Cartoonist Spain Rodriguez is being immortalised with the documentary film Bad Attitude: The Art of Spain Rodriguez, which is currently playing at the Slamdance Film Festival. Spain was famous for non-fiction works like “Che: A Graphic Biography” and “Cruising with the Hound,” as well as characters like Trashman, who regularly appeared in his anthology work. The documentary is directed by his widow Susan Stern, and chronicles his messages of class consciousness, social progression and revolution through his career. Rodriguez died from cancer in 2012 and his last work, “Farmworker Comix,” was published posthumously in 2014.
– Hawkeye will be added to Marvel’s Avengers as a playable character on March 18, as reported by Sony. Clint Barton will be joining as a part of the free Operation: Hawkeye – Future Imperfect update, which will take him to the near future alongside Kate Bishop in a mission to stop Maestro, a despotic version of the Hulk. The event is inspired by “Old Man Hawkeye” by Ethan Sacks and Marco Checchetto, ‘Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon’ by Matt Fraction and David Aja, and ‘The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect’ by Peter David and George Pérez. This comes alongside the news that Marvel’s Avengers will debut on next-gen consoles the very same day. Those with a copy of the game on PS4 or Xbox One will be eligible for a free upgrade to the PS5 or Xbox Series X/S versions of the game, and the ability to transfer your save file between consoles.
– The upcoming graphic novel “King of Killers” is being adapted for the screen by actor/writer Kevin Grevioux (Underworld, “Odyssey of the Amazons”). Grevioux will write and direct the film, with Alain Moussi starring as a hitman taking part in a contest against other killers with $10 million and his daughter’s life on the line. The film will begin production this November in Tokyo and LA, and is currently up for sale at the European Film Market.
Continued below– Funimation have acquired the rights to Cannon Busters, the animated adaptation of LeSean Thomas’s comic series of the same name. The company will be releasing the anime on Blu-ray with both subbed and dubbed versions included. Three issues of the original comic were released before Thomas abandoned the project and moved into adapting it for animation. Alongside producer Tim Yoon, Thomas began a Kickstarter for the series that led to a pilot film, before the project was picked up by Netflix, who ordered 12 episodes of the show. Many rewards promised in the Kickstarter remain unfulfilled, with no communication from the original studio to patrons. There’s no release date set for the Blu-ray as of yet but it will release with both special and limited editions.
– In TV casting news, James Gunn’s Peacemaker HBO Max series has added Alison Araya and Lenny Jacobson as recurring cast members, with the pair playing the married couple Amber and Evan; Archie Panjabi (I Know This Much is True) has joined the cast of the third season of Snowpiercer; and Painkiller, the CW superhero series spinning out of Black Lightning, has found its main supporting cast in Sibongile Mlambo (Lovecraft Country), Alexander Hodge (Insecure) and James Roch (The Night Shift). Mlambo, Hodge and Roch will star as Maya, Philky and Donald, respectively, all members of Khalil Payne (Jordan Calloway)’s inner circle.
– The newest iteration of DuckTales has announced that its series finale will air on March 15, ending with a feature-length 90-minute episode. The series was confirmed as concluding with its third season last December. The series finale will air March 15 at 7pm Eastern Time on Disney XD. “It has been an absolute honor to adventure along with the Duck Family for three seasons of derring-do bad and good luck tales,” said executive producers Matt Youngberg and Francisco Angones. “Our stellar crew, unbelievable cast and endlessly supportive fans have become a bit of a family ourselves. And it has been a great joy to solve mysteries and rewrite history alongside them.”
– Finally, Marvel Studios have announced a new behind-the-scenes Disney+ series, Assembled, which will start with a special covering the making of WandaVision on March 12. The series will look at the creation of a host of upcoming Marvel Studios projects like WandaVision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, Hawkeye and Black Widow. Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Teyonah Parris, Kathryn Hahn, Kat Dennings and Randall Park are all set to appear in the first special, alongside many of the key filmmakers and crew members involved. Future installments are set to include appearances from Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and more.
