Welcome 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 published a story by Tom King and Clay Mann from the upcoming “Action Comics” #1000, Dark Horse announced the Halo prequel “Halo: Collateral Damage,” and Archie Comics announced a Bollywood movie starring the Riverdale gang.
– DC has teased an image of the attire to be worn by Batman and Catwoman during their wedding in the upcoming “Batman” #44. The momentous occasion is marked by an equally impressive wedding gown, drawn by Joëlle Jones. Jones designed the ceremonial dress to evoke elegance, mystery, and darkness, with sharp-edged embroidery and stark black-and-white contrast. Bruce Wayne’s own suit looks to be old-fashioned and not quite as dramatic as Selina Kyle’s, though not as much is visible in the teaser page. All will be revealed when “Batman” #44 launches on April 4.
– IDW Publishing’s Chief Creative Officer and Editor-in-Chief, Chris Ryall, will be leaving the company, according to a leaked email, which he later confirmed. This news comes in the wake of other big news for IDW, with co-founder Ted Adams moving from Publisher to CEO, and Greg Goldstein becoming Publisher. As of now, Ryall has not stated his next steps but he seems intent on staying within the comics industry and is currently working on a story for Image Comics’ upcoming “Where We Live” anthology. He is leaving on his own accord.
– In more IDW news, the company’s Public Relations Manager, Steve Scott, has also announced his amicable departure to pursue his career as a comic book writer. He is currently co-writing the comic biography of George Takei for IDW. His successor has not yet been announced.
– Composer Rupert Gregson-Williams is slated to score DC’s Aquaman movie. Gregson-Williams scored 2017’s successful Wonder Woman film from DC, and they are hoping his talents will serve the James Wan-directed picture as well they did Patty Jenkins’ film. This will make Gregson-Williams the second composer, after Hans Zimmer, to score multiple movies in the DC Extended Universe. You can hear the Aquaman score in theaters December 21.
– Ramón Nse Esono Ebalé, the Equatorial Guinean cartoonist known for using his comics to critique Equatorial Guinea’s dictator Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, has been released from prison after more than five months. Ebalé was initially arrested and detained with no charges and was later accused of money laundering and counterfeiting, both of which have proven to be false accusations. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, it seems clear that President Mbasogo had Ebalé arrested as retaliation for his critical cartoons.
– Cheo Hodari Coker, creator and showrunner of Marvel’s Luke Cage TV series, has announced that the episode titles of season two will each be drawn from the songs of Pete Rock & CL Smooth, the critically acclaimed hip-hop duo who were part of the initial group of rappers who began incorporating jazz into hip-hop. Season one of Luke Cage drew its episode titles from Gang Starr songs. Season two will be released on Netflix on June 22.
– Dabel Brothers Publishing, known for turning popular novels into comic books, has acquired the rights to Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey. McCaffrey was the first woman to win both the Hugo and Nebula prizes for her novellas Weyr and Dragonrider. Dabel Brothers plan to launch the series, based on McCaffrey’s first novel in the series, this fall but has yet to announce the creative team behind the comic.
– An animated film version of Oscar Pantoja’s graphic novel “Gabo: Memoirs of a Magical Life” is in the works. The film version of Gabo, which depicts the life of Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez, will be written and directed by Salvador Simó (the upcoming Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles), and is a co-production between Manuel Cristóbal’s Spanish production company Sygnatia and the Colombian studio Rey Naranjo.
– England’s Durham Constabulary (police department) is using comics as part of its Trust and Tell campaign, intended to help children understand how to report sexual crimes from an early age. The comics will use an anthropomorphic cat name Mittens to help explain how to spot criminal behavior and take proper steps in reporting it to an adult. The comics are being used as a way to increase the the statistical likelihood of children reporting abuse, given comics have proved a successful medium for communicating otherwise complicated situations to children. The program hopes to increase the confidence of children to report abuse if they see it and teach them, in an age-appropriate manner, how to recognize a crime.
