The Rundown: March 18, 2020

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, Vault Comics announced “Vampire: The Masquerade: Winter’s Teeth,” and we interviewed James Tynion IV about “Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen,” and “Batman.” We also have a preview and interview with Steve Orlando and Phillip Kennedy Johnson for their upcoming graphic novel “Kill A Man.”

Cover by Michel Fiffe

– Michel Fiffe revealed via The Beat that “COPRA” will be moving to the miniseries format at Image Comics, starting with “COPRA: The Ochizon Saga” in June. Fiffe kept story details to a minimum and only teased that the “promise of this arc is what anchored me through the very earliest issues.” Fiffe continued that the miniseries format “opens up a world of possibilities… Whether it be character spotlights or genre expansion, it’s all on the table.” The next issue of Fiffe’s series, “Copra” #6 will be released on April 1.

– Joe Casey and Dustin Nguyen’s “All-America Comix” was given a June release date. The series will tell the story of superhero America Vasquez. “All-America Comix” was first announced in 2016 and had Nick Dragotta illustrating. Fans will still see similarities between Vasquez and Miss America Chavez, a character Casey co-created at Marvel Comics, as they did when the book was first announced. When questioned about the overlap in the characters in an interview with THR, Casey said “I don’t know what you mean,” and continued, “what we’re delivering in our book is a character and a direction that we have complete control over. In other words, there’s a strong creative hand at work here. A definite vision being executed.” Image Comics will publish “All-America Comix” #1 on June 17.

– Marvel released a trailer and design sheets for the upcoming “New Warriors” relaunch. Writer Daniel Kibblesmith detailed each member of the new roster of New Warriors:

Trailblazer is a “group home and foster kid” who volunteers at senior centers. She inherited a “magic backpack” which has access to a pocket dimension that she can retrieve items from, some of which are helpful, some of them are not, as it isn’t always under her control.

Screentime is a “meme-obsessed super teen” with a contant connection to the internet after being exposed to an “experimental internet gas” his grandfather made. He can see augmented reality and real-time maps. Kibblesmith described the decision to call him Screentime being rooted in the term’s “sort of restrictive sense” and the New Warriors being teenage rebels adopting the labels put upon them.

Snowflake and Safespace are psychically connected twins. Snowflake is a cyrokinetic and can make snowflake-shaped shuriken projectiles. Safespace can make a pink forcefields but cannot use them for himself – they are only accessible to others. They see their superheroics as “a post-ironic meditation on using violence to combat bullying.”

B-Negative is a teen vampire who gained the abilities of Morbius after being exposed to his blood in a rogue but live-saving procedure as a child. He still ages like a regular teenager and is obsessed with the music and attitude of the ’90s and ’00s.

“New Warriors” #1 will be released on April 15. You can check out the trailer and Luciano Vecchio’s designs here.

– Image Comics sent out a letter to retailers detailing the measures they are implementing as a result of ongoing coronavirus pandemic. They stated the six measures that have been implemented so far are:

“ALL Image Comics product on FOC for Monday, March 16 and for the following FOCs through the end of the month will be fully returnable. Should the pandemic worsen and the closures continue, we will update you all on returnability in April.”

“Our marketing team is actively giving signal blasts to all social posts from Direct Market retailers who have announced mail subscription deliveries and curbside pickup.”

“We have sent an email alert to 80K+ consumers encouraging them to follow their local comic book stores on social media for updates on store hours, rescheduled events, and cleaning policies.”

“We are actively messaging to fans across all platforms to purchase their pullbox reserves and stock up on comics at their local shop for reading material during self-quarantine.”

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“We are pushing for Diamond to extend delayed billing to stores.”

“We are listening to feedback and to your concerns and are monitoring emails from retailers. We are eager and invested in helping support you and your businesses.”

They closed by stating they “share in the responsibility to support this medium we all love by supporting the local retailers who are the bedrock of our industry – absolutely essential businesses that drive the exposure of comic books to fans, readers, and collectors all over the world.”

– Noelle Stevenson, the showrunner of Netflix’s She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, revealed the series will be ending with its upcoming fifth season. The series has been running since 2018 and tells the story of Adora, a teenager who gains powers and becomes She-Ra. Together with a group of magic-wielding princesses, She-Ra fights against the evil Horde and their leader Lord Hordak. Stevenson detailed that “It was tailored to be 52 episodes, the length that it is, and that’s a real blessing for a storyteller because it means everything happens when it’s meant to happen.” You can read the full interview and see the two posters for the series at EW. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power season five will be available on Netflix on May 15.

– Marvel Studios’s Black Widow became the latest film to have its release date pulled amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with a replacement not given at this time. The film which stars Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, and Rachel Weisz was set to be released on May 1.

– Actor Lyle Waggoner, who played Steve Trevor opposite Lynda Carter’s Diana Prince in the 1970s Wonder Woman TV series, has died at the age of 84 following an illness. Waggoner was born Kyle Wesley Waggoner in Missouri. He started his career in television in 1967 as the announcer on The Carol Burnett Show after auditioning for the role of Batman, which he lost to Adam West. He stayed in the role for seven years before joining Wonder Woman. Waggoner remained on the series into its second season as it changed its time period from the 1940s to the 1970s, portraying his character’s son, Steve Trevor Jr. He retired from regular television roles in 1978 and launched a business renting trailers to film productions. Waggoner is survived by his wife Sharon Kennedy and their two sons, Jason and Beau.