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, Dark Horse announced “Minecraft Volume 2” and “Stranger Things: The Bully” for October, and Diamond announced the winners for the 2019 Gem Awards.
– DC Comics provided a statement — along with several updates — detailing its plans to going forward in the light of Diamond Comics Distributors ceasing distribution due to coronavirus concerns. The statement announces full returnability of comics with in store dates between March 18 and June 24, and revealed that they are exploring a multi-distributor model to “provide [them] with the flexibility needed during this crisis to get new content to [their] readers on an ongoing basis.”
Expanding on that statement, several other stories have provided clarity in DC’s current publishing strategy during the pandemic. The OGN “Gotham High,” which is distributed by Penguin Random House along with Diamond, will still be released to “stores and online retailers everywhere books are sold” on April 7 as planned, indicating that DC will not be stopping all of its physical releases. Per Newsarama, DC has also indicated that they plan to continue releasing their weekly comics digitally. “All our data shows the digital consumer and the physical consumer are two different audiences,” Adam Phillips, DC’s Director of Marketing Services, posted on a private Facebook page for Direct Market comics book retailers. “For now, we’re going to continue to release digital comics, but will revisit this if the pipeline for physical distribution continues to be challenged and disrupted.”
– In a different publisher response to the pandemic, BOOM! Studios has fully halted the printing and release of all of its single-issue comics for both print and digital. Via Newsarama, the publisher will continue to release its graphic novels and collections on their current book market schedules, and they suggested comics retailers should consider placing orders with independent booksellers to have the books continue to reach their shelves. They also noted that they will be re-evaluating their entire release schedule for the remainder of 2020.
– Amid the many publishers showing solidarity with comic book retailers that have been forced to close due to the coronavirus pandemic, TKO Studios is offering a way for readers to support their favorite shops. As announced on Twitter, when a customer shops at the TKO Studios online store, they can now designate a store during checkout to receive 50 percent of purchase price, the same that store would have received if the book had been purchased from the physical store. Per their announcement, the program will last until the end of the coronavirus threat.
– Writer David Walker has confirmed a major new project on his Facebook page. He’ll be collaborating with artist Marcus Kwame Anderson on a graphic novel history of the Black Panther Party, due out in early 2021. He also provided a glimpse of some early art for the project, which will be released by Ten Speed Press.
– Via CBR, Harriet Glickman, the Los Angeles teacher who inspired “Peanuts” cartoonist Charles Schultz to introduce Franklin–the comic strip’s first black character–has passed away at age 93. In a letter dated April 15, 1968, Glickman wrote a letter to Schultz urging him to consider the addition of a black character in the wake of the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. “In thinking over the areas of the mass media which are of tremendous importance in shaping the unconscious attitudes of our kids,” Glickman wrote in her letter, “I felt that something could be done through our comic strips and even in that violent jungle of horrors known as Children’s Television.” After additional correspondence between the two, Schultz introduced Franklin on July 31 of that year. The character went on to appear in many other “Peanuts” strips, books, and television specials.
– Via Newsarama, Kodansha USA Publishing has announced a partnership with the European digital comics platform izneo. The deal brings more than 2000 Kodansha and Vertical titles to the service’s catalogue, including popular series like “Attack on Titan,” “Ghost in the Shell,” and “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon.” “For years we’ve been working hard to build a strong digital business for Kodansha content in order to make it as easy as possible for anyone to start reading manga,” said Alvin Lu, Kodansha USA Publishing President and CEO. “And now very happy to have izneo help us with that mission.” The new library is available on izneo now.
– Also via Newsarama, the Kubert School has announced, with very good timing, that they will be offering an online studies program to the general public beginning on April 15. The famous art school, which features alumni like Amanda Connor, Jenny Frison, and Adam and Andy Kubert, will offer four courses: Narrative Art taught by Tom Mandrake (“The Spectre”), Inking by Joe Prado (“Superman”), Script Writing for Comics taught by Amy Chu (“Red Sonja”), and Basic Drawing taught by Fernando Ruiz (“Archie”). Each course costs $175 to enroll–you can find more information at The Kubert School’s website.
– Finally, and perhaps most importantly, is the question no one has yet been brave enough to ask: Who Washes the Washmen?
