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, Image Comics announced the return of “Ant,” BOOM! Studios imprint Archaia unveiled a tale of America’s first female detective with “Better Angels: A Kate Warne Adventure,” and “Red Sonja” artist Frank Thorne has died aged 90.
– Marvel has announced that “The Amazing Spider-Man” will be going weekly for an arc that brings Spider-Man’s first supervillain back into the spotlight. Via Newsarama, ‘The Chameleon Conspiracy’ will run from “Amazing Spider-Man” #67-69, culminating with a “Giant Size Amazing Spider-Man: Chameleon Conspiracy” one-shot to wrap up the event. Ongoing writer Nick Spencer is joined by artists Marcelo Ferreira and Carlos Gomez for an arc that, per Marvel’s description, finds the Chameleon “making the biggest play of his supervillain career.” The storyline begins with “Amazing Spider-Man” #67 on June 2, and finishes off in “Giant Size Amazing Spider-Man: Chameleon Conspiracy” #1 on June 30.
– Stephen Fry has let slip that he has been cast in Netflix’s upcoming “Sandman” adaptation. Via the Metro, Fry dropped the news in a method Netflix clearly approved in advance: during Live Test Cricket coverage on Channel 4. Fry told Channel 4 he would be playing Gilbert, a character who plays a significant part in “The Sandman” arc ‘The Doll’s House.’ Fry joins a cast that includes Tom Sturridge as Dream, as well as Gwendoline Christie, Charles Dance, Vivienne Acheampong, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Asim Chaudhry and Boyd Holbrook. The first season of The Sandman is currently in production.
– Netflix has unveiled a first look and casting details for their upcoming anime adaptation of the Phillipine graphic novel “Trese” by by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo. Via ComicBook.com, the streaming studio made a point to highlight both their Filipino and English-language leads, announcing the lead role of Alexandra Trese in the Filipino audio would be played by Filipino actress Liza Soberano (Alone/Together), with Filipino-Canadian actress Shay Mitchell (Pretty Little Liars) taking the lead for the English-language release. Per Netflix’s description, the new anime is, “set in a Manila where the mythical creatures of Philippine folklore live in hiding amongst humans,” and finds detective Alexandra Trese fighting a criminal underworld made up of malevolent supernatural beings. Trese is set for release sometime in 2021.
– As part of International Women’s Day, Warner Bros. and DC Comics announced the multi-month campaign “Believe in Wonder,” an 80th Anniversary celebration of Wonder Woman’s message of hope and empowerment. The initiative will feature original content, commemorative comics, books, and global fashion collections and experiences, culminating in a worldwide celebration of Wonder Woman Day on October 21. The announcement included the reveal of a throwback of the original Wonder Woman TV show’s opening titles “remixed” with the stars of Wonder Woman 1984. The announced content also included fashion collections from Venus Williams, Camilla, and Azede Jean-Pierre; special Wonder Woman-themed promotions running through ongoing Warner Bros. games like DC Universe Online and Injustice 2; and October’s newly announced “Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Spectacular,” which will feature art from Yanick Paquette (“Wonder Woman: Earth One”) with colors by Nathan Fairbairn. You can find out more about Warner Bros.’s plans for the campaign at their website.
– Awards season keeps on churning, and a new contender from a comic book adaptation has joined the field at the Directors Guild Awards. Via Variety, WandaVision director Matt Shakman scored a nomination in the Movies for Television or Limited Series category for his work directing every episode of the show’s recently wrapped run. A longtime television director with credits from shows as varied as Mad Men, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, One Tree Hill, and Fargo, Shakman previously earned a DGA nomination in 2018 for directing the Game of Thrones episode “The Spoils of War.”
– Speaking of WandaVision, the show’s “unexpected” success has led to a run on titles related to the popular Disney+ series, leaving them out of stock for months. Via Newsarama, Marvel Comics has informed retailers that its four primarily WandaVision-related comics collections — “The Vision Complete Collection,” “Vision & Scarlet Witch: The Saga of Wanda and Vision,” “House of M,” and “Scarlet Witch by James Robinson: The Complete Collection” — have sold out at the distributor level, and are all on backorder. The titles apparently sold out in February, and new printings will be unavailable until the end of April. In addition, the first three titles have also sold out on Amazon, and are currently only available for purchase at double the cover price from second-hand sellers.
– Finally, Happy Tank, a new imprint of Behemoth Comics, is launching a charity drive alongside the release of their new series “Freak Snow” from Rob Cannon and Happy Tank publisher Kevin Roditeli. Per PREVIEWSworld, all the profits from the Dimitris Pantazis-drawn variant cover for “Freak Snow” #1 will benefit the Hero Initiative. The Hero Initiative provides a financial safety net for comic creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work. Roditeli said, “Now that I’m publishing, it’s important for me to start by giving back to those who made comics my passion, those who drove me for years to get into this position. I think there was no better way than raising money for the Hero Initiative, which is helping out creators that have all inspired us with their craft.” “Freak Snow” #1, billed as “a frozen apocalyptic story in the spirit of Mad Max, Fallout, and Borderlands meets Tarantino,” hits shops on April 28.
