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, AfterShock announced a new sci-fi series called “Astronaut Down;” Abrams ComicArts will play host to Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda’s reteaming on “The Night Eaters” trilogy; and comiXology revealed “The Panic” by Neil Kleid and Andrea Mutti.
– Titan Comics announced a new Titan Manga imprint, the launch title of which will be a reprint of Takashi Okazaki’s “Afro Samurai.” Released between 1998 and 2002, the long out-of-print manga series’ rerelease will take the form of two volumes, each dubbed a ‘Director’s Cut.’ The editions will be larger than the original releases, this time in the standard graphic novel size, and be housed in new cover art by Okazaki. Okazaki will also be providing a foreword for the volumes. Titan Manga will release the new edition of “Afro Samurai” Volume 1 on July 26. You can check out the first volume’s new cover art as well as preview pages here.
In further news from Titan Comics, the publisher revealed the latest graphic novel in their Hard Case Crime imprint will be “Frank Lee, After Alcatraz,” by writer David Hasteda and artist Ludovic Chesnot. The graphic novel will follow the bank robber, Frank Lee Morris, who escaped Alcatraz on June 11, 1962, and imagine what the rest of his life looked like; the description reads that the historical fiction will see Frank Lee living a life “full of heartache, sorrow and a profound bittersweet acceptance.” In reality, there is no record of what Frank Lee did following his escape, and he is presumed to have drowned in the San Francisco Bay. “Frank Lee, After Alcatraz” is scheduled for release on June 28, just over 60 years after his real-life escape. A host of preview pages are available at Graphic Policy.
– Rocketship Entertainment unveiled a host of graphic novels releasing in 2022, including Fabian Nicieza and Reilly Brown’s “Outrage;” “Stan Lee’s Backchannel,” by Akel and Andie Tong; “Urban Animal” by Justin Jordan and John Amor; and “Action Philosophers,” the humorous history series by Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey that was previously published by Dark Horse Comics. Founded by Webtoon’s former Head of Content, Tom Akel, and cartoonist Rob Feldman, Rocketship primarily publishes print editions of webcomics; their books are available on the single market via Diamond Distributors, and in bookstores through Simon & Schuster. You can check out the full list of titles here.
– IDW Publishing announced a new, five-part collection of Berkeley Breathed’s award-winning comic strip “Bloom County.” Syndicated from 1980 to 1989 before being revived in 2015, “Bloom County” follows the adventures of Milo Bloom, a 10-year old reporter living at his grandparents’ boarding house, which hosts talking animals as well as humans. “Bloom County Library: Book One” will reprint the first two years of strips, and contain commentaries from Breathed on the series; it will be released in softcover on September 6, 2022.
– The upcoming graphic novel, “Neverlanders,” by writer Tom Taylor and artist Jon Sommariva, was given a release date of August 30. “Neverlanders” will follow a new group of Lost Boys in the years that follow from the original Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. It was acquired by Penguin Random House in October 2020, and previously only scheduled for a Summer 2022 release. In addition to its release date, the specific home for the graphic novel was revealed too, with “Neverlanders” set to be published under the YA imprint, Razorbill.
– Writer Gail Simone revealed that there were plans in place during her tenure on “Batgirl” for Alysia Yeoh to take up the titular mantle in Barbara Gordon’s absence, after being “injured by Knightfall.” This would have marked the first time that a transgender woman had held the title. Simone created the character during her run on the series, with the character having since gone on to make history as part of the first transgender wedding in “Batgirl” #45 (after Simone’s departure), and is due to be portrayed on-screen by Ivory Aquino in the upcoming Batgirl film. A greater elaboration of why Simone’s plans for Alysia didn’t come to fruition was not given. You can read a series of tweets in which Simone reflects on the response to and impact of Yeoh’s introduction here.
Continued below– The CW announced several early renewals, including The Flash season nine, Superman & Lois season three, and Riverdale season seven. The network’s other comic book TV shows, Batwoman, Legends of Tomorrow, Naomi (which is still airing its first season), and Stargirl (whose third season will premiere sometime this year), have yet to be renewed. The lower than usual number of early renewals from the channel was reportedly a result of its parent companies, Paramount and WarnerMedia, exploring selling it off, so fans will have to wait longer to hear if those shows will be renewed or not.
– Marvel Comics announced they have teamed with Titan Books for a series of Script to Page books, which will give readers an in-depth look at the behind-the-scenes process of different series, specifically including access to “complete scripts.” The first in the series will be Marvel’s Black Panther: Script To Page, where Marvel’s Voices podcast host Angélique Roché will introduce and provide commentary on the work of writers like Reginald Hudlin, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Roxane Gay. The two, other, currently announced Script to Page entries will focus on Spider-Man and the Avengers respectively, with the creatives whose work will be included in each book not yet revealed. Marvel’s Black Panther: Script To Page will be published on October 4, with Marvel’s Spider-Man: Script To Page following on October 25, and Marvel’s Avengers: Script To Page arriving on November 15.
– iMore spotlighted a new comic reading tracking app called ComicTrack. The app is designed to allow readers to monitor all of their comic book reading in a single place, as well as keep up-to-date with new releases; the information for its comic book library is provided by ComicVine. The app is currently freely available on iOS devices, with additional features requiring a subscription or a larger one-off payment.
– Finally, the death of Howard “Pepper” Martin, the Canadian-American pro-wrestler and actor best known for his role in Superman II, was disclosed; he died from cancer, surrounded by family, at the age of 85 on March 18. Martin debuted as a wrestler in 1957, with his most successful run coming in the NWA Pacific Northwest territory, where he won the territory’s Heavyweight Championship five times and the Tag Team Championship eight times. It was in 1968 that he made his acting debut in Angels from Hell, with appearances in the Mission: Impossible and The Incredible Hulk TV series, among others, before his turn as Rocky, the belligerent truck driver who gets his comeuppance from Clark Kent, in 1980’s Superman II. He is survived by his wife Jordy, and their daughters and grandchildren.
