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, Marvel announced the initial ‘X-Men: From the Ashes’ series, and we got a trailer for the upcoming remake of The Crow. We also have an exclusive look at next week’s “Star Wars: Jango Fett” #1, and the cover of June’s “Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt” #2.
– Writer Gerry Duggan and artist Garry Brown are the team behind, what Duggan calls, “your new favorite ongoing series… about two warriors that find themselves in purgatory.” Launching June 5, “Falling in Love on the Path to Hell” from Image Comics follows a samurai and old west gunslinger who are killed on opposite sides of the world, only to begin their romance in the afterlife. Duggan calls it a “love letter to creator-owned comics,” citing “samurai films, grindhouse, westerns, Tarantino, ‘Lone Wolf & Cub’ and of course all our favorite weird, supernatural comic books” as influences.
– Image Comics also announced “Precious Metal,” the prequel to acclaimed dystopian series “Little Bird.” The six-issue, double-length miniseries is set 35 years before the first volume (‘The Fight for Elder’s Hope’), and focuses on mod-tracker Max Weaver, and the modified child who may help unlock his hidden memories. The Eisner-winning team of writer Darcy Van Poelgeest and artist Ian Bertram both return, with Tradd Moore providing a wraparound variant cover. It will begin June 5.
– Mad Cave Studios has announced a new horror series from writer Paul Tobin and artist Arjuna Susini, and according to Tobin at least, it’s a big one. “Mammoth” tells the story of gigantic phantom deep in the woods of Broke Tree Valley, and the four scientists who are investigating it. Issue #1’s due out June 5, with colors from Pippa Bowland and lettering by Charles Pritchett. Jessica Fong and Kevin Wada provide variants.
– Writer Clay McLeod Chapman and artist Andrea Mutti have teamed up for a new historical horror miniseries from Dark Horse, that follows a huckster spiritualist medium whose patients begin getting possessed seemingly for real. “Séance in the Asylum” draws on Chapman’s interest in the Fox sisters, and the 1857 text The Homeopathic Principle Applied to Insanity: A Proposal to Treat Lunacy by Spiritualism by Dr. James John Garth Wilkinson. Issue #1 (of 4) will hit shelves on July 24.
– At the 35th annual GLAAD Media Awards, Alyssa Wong won Outstanding Comic Book for “Star Wars: Doctor Aphra,” while Outstanding Original Graphic Novel/Anthology went to Richard Fairgray for “Four Color Heroes” (published by Fanbase Press.) Head to the link for all the winners from the first night of this year’s awards, honoring the best representation of the LGBT community in 2023; the second night will be held on May 11, 2024.
– A year after its cancellation at TNT, Snowpiercer‘s fourth and final season has been finally picked up by another network. AMC has acquired the series, based on the 2013 Bong Joo Ho film of the same name, that was based in turn on the French comics series by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette. Filming on the season had been completed, but the show’s cancellation led to fears it would become another Warner Bros. tax write-off like Batgirl and Coyote vs. Acme. Paul Zbyszewaki took over as showrunner, with Clark Gregg and Michael Arrow joining the cast. It’s set to air in 2025.
– Marvel Studios have finally commented on the firing of X-Men ‘97 executive producer and showrunner Beau DeMayo, although they still didn’t provide a reason as to why. At a screening, executive producer Brad Winderbaum praised DeMayo’s work on the show, before quickly segueing to honor the entire creative team, and everyone who paved the way for the show. While he had completed two seasons before termination, DeMayo will not attend the May 31 Hollywood premiere, nor will he be involved with future seasons. He has also deleted his Instagram account, which featured sample art from the series, and answers to fan questions.
– Netflix Japan released a teaser for the new live-action City Hunter film, arriving on the streamer on April 25. The movie, which marks the first film version of Tsukasa Hōjō’s manga to actually be shot in Tokyo, stars Ryōhei Suzuki as titular private detective Ryō Saeba, Misato Morita as Kaori Makimura, Masanobu Andō as her brother Hideyuki Makimura, and Fumino Kimura as Saeko Nogami. It was directed by Yuichi Sato, and written by Tatsuhiro Mishima (the live-action Yu Yu Hakusho.) Previous live-action City Hunter projects have been produced in Hong Kong, France, South Korea, and mainland China.
– Finally, release dates have been announced for the Batman, The Lord of the Rings, and Spider-Man seasons of Icons Unearthed. Produced by The Nacelle Company, and airing on Vice TV, the Batman and Rings seasons will both debut on March 20, with the Spider-Man episodes dropping May 1. Each season will feature creators and performers connected with the respective franchise, with Robert Wuhl narrating the Batman episodes, Graham McTavish handling Rings, and Yori Lowenthal lending his voice to Spider-Man.
