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, manga and anime creator Leiji Matsumoto died last week, on February 13, from acute heart failure. He was 85 years old. We also spoke to Tyler Crook about the first volume of “The Lonesome Hunters.”
– Via CBR, Titan Comics have announced “Heat Seeker: A Gun Honey Series,” under the Hard Case Crime imprint. Written by Charles Ardai, with art by penciler Ace Continuado and inker Jose Zapata, plus colors from Asifur Rahman, this four-issue spinoff miniseries sees Gun Honey Joanna Tan team up with a new character, Dahlia Racers, “to help her pull a vanishing act.” This will be the third Gun Honey series since 2021. “Heat Seeker: A Gun Honey Series” #1 features cover art by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau, and will be released on June 28, 2023.
– CBR also reports that Billy Batson will get a new superhero name nodding to his original Captain Marvel identity in Mark Waid and Dan Mora’s upcoming “Shazam!” series. Waid explained, “We don’t call him Captain Marvel in the book, but I will never not be able to call him Captain Marvel when I’m just relaxed. In the book, he’s just called the Captain. That’s the other kids’ name for him.” “Shazam!” #1 will be available May 2, 2023.
– In partnership with Image and Skybound, the American Library Association Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table (GNCRT) will offer a new grant opportunity for library workers interested in expanding their knoweldge and expertise of comics librarianship. Two recipients will receive reimbursement of up to $3,000 toward their attendance at the upcoming 2023 ALA Annual Conference. Image and Skybound have donated a combined $6,000 to finance the first year of these grants. For more information on the GNCRT Comics Librarian Conference Travel Grant, head on over to ALA’s Comics Librarian Conference Travel Grant page.
– Variety reports Veronica Cartwright has been cast in The CW’s Gotham Knights series in a recurring guest role. Cartwright will play Eunice Harmon, who, according to her character description, “seems like an ordinary sweet old lady living out her twilight years in a nursing home, but that grandmotherly exterior masks a much darker side, one that harbors sinister secrets and has ties to an evil that has plagued Gotham for over a century.” Gotham Knights will premiere March 14, 2023 at 9pm EST.
– VIZ Media have announced hundreds of anime episodes and movies are now available on their YouTube channel with English subs. The featured anime includes all episodes of Death Note, seasons 1-3 of Hunter x Hunter, the complete series of Inuyasha, seasons 1-2 of Mr. Osomatsu, seasons 1-8 of Naruto, and the complete ’90s Sailor Moon series. You can check out the complete anime list including some movies over at the VIZ Media Youtube Channel.
– Via Anime News Network, Toei Animation announced the 590th episode of the One Piece, a crossover between One Piece, Dragon Ball Z, and Toriko, will air on Cartoon Network’s Toonami programming block at 1:00 am EST on March 5. One Piece‘s 590th episode was part one of a two-part crossover with Toriko‘s 99th episode that aired in Japan in 2013, and has not been released in America until now. Because Toriko has never appeared on Toonami or Crunchyroll and Funimation, Toonami will not air the second part of the crossover.
– Finally, Variety confirmed Millennium Media will produce a reboot feature of Hellboy, entitled Hellboy: The Crooked Man. Mike Mignola, the creator of the “Hellboy” comics, co-wrote the script with Christopher Golden, while Brian Taylor will direct. The film, an adaptation of the comic of the same name, follows the titular hero as he teams with a rookie agent to uncover a hidden witch community in 1950s Appalachia. Production will begin in March.
