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, Mignolaversity took a look at May’s releases.
Cover by Jorge Jimenez
– DC released their May 2023 solicitations, which revealed Chip Zdarsky, Jorge Jimenez, Mike Hawthorne, and Adriano Di Benedetto’s oversized “Batman” #135/900; the first issue of Mark Waid and Dan Mora’s “Shazam” run; a “Power Girl Special” by Leah Williams and Marguerite Sauvage continuing their “Action Comics” story; the anthology “New Talent Showcase: The Milestone Initiative”; and “Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum,” a five-part Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League prequel by John Layman and Jesus Hervas. We’ll have more on DC’s May releases in our Soliciting Multiversity column next week, and in the meantime, you can check out a press release for “Kill Arkham Asylum.”
– Dark Horse and Jinxworld announced “Murder Inc.: Jagger Rose,” a new six-issue installment in Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Avon Oeming, and Taki Soma’s crime series. Starting May 10, the series sees rising assassin Jagger Rose receive word that the Pope (“yeah, that Pope”) wants her services. Dark Horse also announced an event for the upcoming print release of Oeming and James Tynion IV’s “Blue Book,” which will be held at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland, Oregon on March 15; head to the link for more details, like a screening of Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and a Q&A hosted by David F. Walker.
– Marvel Studios delayed the release of The Marvels from July 28, to November 10, 2023. To tide fans over, they also released the film’s teaser poster, showcasing Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel’s new costumes. It was not stated why the film was pushed back, although its original release would’ve come a mere three months after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and left a nine-month gap before the release of the next Marvel film, Captain America: New World Order (out May 3, 2024).
– Meanwhile, Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly revealed Thor Quest, a new middle-grade series illustrated by Billy Yong, starring a younger Thor, Loki, Sif, and Fandral. The first book, Thor Quest: Hammers of the Gods, will be published by Marvel Press on July 25, and retail at 240 pages in hardcover for $14.99. You can check out the full synopsis at Penguin Random House, and interior pages here.
– Image announced “Supermassive 2023,” a 50-page Massive-Verse crossover written by Kyle Higgins, Ryan Parrott, Melissa Flores, and Mat Groom, with art by Daniele Di Nicuolo and Walter Baiamonte. The one-shot will see Radiant Black, Rogue Sun, and The Dead Lucky try to get their hands on the Holy Grail (“yes, that Holy Grail”), and will be released on May 24. Image also revealed they will publish a print version of Saladin Ahmed, Megan Levens, and Kelly Fitzpatrick’s fantasy Substack series “Starsigns,” beginning May 3.
– Charles Soule and Will Sliney’s interconnected horror series ‘The Shrouded College’ (which so far consists of “Hell to Pay“) has been optioned for a TV show by Peacock. Soule and Sliney will executive produce the project with Seth MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door Productions and UCP. Not only that, but Peacock’s fellow Comcast subsidiary Universal Pictures acquired the film rights to another Image title, Marc Guggenheim and Howard Chaykin’s spy OGN “Too Dead To Die: A Simon Cross Thriller.” No director is attached, but Guggenheim will write the script and executive produce the movie, while David Leitch will co-produce.
– Via The Hollywood Reporter, New York-based film distributor Kino Lorber have acquired the U.S. rights to the new Diabolik trilogy. The Italian film series, based on Angela and Luciana Giussani’s iconic thief, began in 2021 with the simply named Diabolik, starring Luca Marinelli. Giacomo Gianniotti took over the role in last year’s sequel, Diabolik – Ginko Attacks!, and will reprise the role in Diabolik – Who Are You?, which will premiere in Italy later this year. The trilogy, which co-stars Miriam Leone as Eva Kant, marks the second cinematic incarnation of Diabolik, following 1968’s iconic Danger: Diabolik.
Continued below– Via the DuckTalks podcast, Don Rosa received an email from Disney informing him two of his Scrooge McDuck stories, ‘The Empire-Builder of Calisota’ (aka ‘The Richest Duck in the World’) and ‘The Dream of a Lifetime,’ will not be reprinted after the company deemed them culturally insensitive. This is believed to be because the stories feature Bombie the Zombie, an outdated Voodoo stereotype created by Carl Banks in 1949. While ‘The Dream of a Lifetime’ is a standalone story, ‘The Empire-Builder of Calisota’ forms part 11 of the Eisner Award-winning story ‘The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck,’ meaning the entire arc could go out-of-print.
– Actor, author and comedian Richard Belzer died on Saturday, February 19: he was 78 years old. Bezler was best known for playing Detective John Munch on various TV shows from 1993 to 2016, starting with Homicide: Life on the Street, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; he also portrayed Inspector Henderson in four episodes of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in 1994. He is survived by his third wife, Harlee McBride, and stepdaughters Jessica and Bree.
– Finally, animation director and storyboard artist William Ruzicka died on February 1, 2023, aged just 45. According to his colleagues, Ruzicka had been sick with cold and flu (although he tested negative for COVID-19), and passed out and fell while getting himself into his car to drive to urgent care. His credits included Invincible, The Legend of Korra, Justice League Action, Ultimate Spider-Man, Transformers: Prime, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Justice League vs. Teen Titans, Wonder Woman: Bloodlines, and Star Trek: Lower Decks. You can donate to his family at GoFundMe.
