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.
– Colorist Lee Loughridge is making the jump to writing with “Midstate,” a comiXology series featuring art by Mack Chater. A psychological thriller, the book follows disgraced psychic Paul Rinaldi, who really does possess clairvoyance, as he teams up with rookie detective Abigail Dahlin to solve a string of disappearances in their town. “When the arrival of a highly esteemed paraplegic doctor sparks suspicion, they set their sights on the mysterious new resident, Dr. Mark Jounce. Together they will either get to the bottom of things or die trying!” Issue #1 will be released on Tuesday, March 12.
– Similarly, cartoonist Michelle Wong (“Goosebumps,” “The Legend of Korra”) is making the leap to prose with House of the Beast, an illustrated fantasy novel at HarperCollins imprint HarperVoyager. Described as a dark romance with elements of horror, the book follows Alma, a young woman who makes a deal with a mysterious god to get revenge on her aristocratic family. It will be released in Summer 2025, a year before Wong’s first comic as writer, “Terminal Hope,” will be published by First Second Books.
– Dark Horse will publish “Naked City,” a new graphic novel by New Yorker cartoonist Eric Drooker, in bookstores on October 8, and comic book stores the following day. A comedy, the book follows three struggling artists, including a young singer, who poses nude for a painter who has recently shifted away from landscapes, leading to “both of them learn[ing] a thing or two about the purpose of art, and the meaning of success.” It marks Drooker’s third OGN, following “Flood” and “Blood Song,” and will retail in hardcover at 336 pages for $29.99.
– In reprint news, Dark Horse announced “Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1955-1957,” a hardcover volume collecting all the prequel comics released since 2017. Featuring a cover by Mike Mignola, the 448-page book will arrive in bookstores on November 19, and comic book shops the next day. Meanwhile, Oni Press will release a deluxe omnibus edition of Sophie Campbell’s “Wet Moon,” to celebrate her breakout comic’s 20th anniversary. The first of three paperback volumes will be released on November 26.
– Speaking of reprints, Terry Blas revealed the rights to his and Claudia Aguirre’s graphic novel “Hotel Dare” have reverted back to them. He comments, “It seems like nobody’s interested/wants to pick it up for more chapters. Not sure what to do because Claudia & I really want to make more. I have no idea how young people make comics for sites online but is that the only way now?” The all-ages fantasy adventure, following a group of siblings in Mexico, was published by BOOM! Studios in 2019.
– The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Moon Knight, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Andor season one will all be released in 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray steelbooks on April 30, 2024. They mark the second wave of Disney+ series to receive a physical release, following WandaVision, Loki season one, and the first two seasons of The Mandalorian last fall. Obi-Wan Kenobi‘s release is being billed as The Complete Series, while both of the Marvel releases have been branded as The Complete First Season, even though TFATWS saw Sam Wilson transition to become the lead of the Captain America films, and a second season of Moon Knight has not been confirmed. The steelbooks will be available to pre-order starting March 12.
– Causa Creations will publish Songs of Travel, a free, interactive motion comic game for Android and iOS this summer. It will tell the story of five refugees, each fleeing their respective homelands of Syria, Italy, Turkey, Ukraine and Vietnam for a new life in Europe. It will be narrated by Syrian artist Jack Gutmann, who previously starred in Causa’s biographcial adventure game Path Out, and feature a score by Irish composer Elaine Agnew. It was produced as part of a larger project of the same name, commissioned by the European Union’s Creative Europe Cooperation Project “to raise awareness and foster empathy for climate change and migration through music.”
– Finally, the School Library Journal ran an article on publishers’ struggle to provide age-appropriate manga for hungry young readers. Denpa publisher Ed Chavez is quoted saying Japanese children’s comics are “extremely busy, full of slapstick and potty humor, often relying on memes and pop cultural references that may not easily cross the Pacific Ocean for the casual manga/anime fan, let alone new readers — and/or their parents.” Ironically, it’s been easier for them to find wholesome (often slice-of-life themed) comics in magazines published for adults. Kevin Hamric, Viz’s VP of publishing, also discloses the publisher’s age ratings are fairly conservative in part because they are aware that children “read up,” and that inconsistent ratings across a series can be frustrating for parents and librarians.
