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, Mark Alessi, founder of CrossGen Comics, has sadly passed away. WonderCon 2019 also wrapped up this weekend with a number of announcements from IDW, BOOM!, Lion Forge and more, which you can browse here.
– Ram V announced via Twitter that he will have a short story in this month’s upcoming “War of the Realms: War Scrolls.” He will be joined by Carlos Alberto Fernandez Urbano for art duties. The story will debut in “War of the Realms: War Scrolls” #1, available in comic book stores on April 17, 2019. The main “War of the Realms” series begins this Wednesday.
– To mark the franchise’s 35th anniversary, IDW will bring in former “Transformers” scribe Simon Furman for a special one-shot, “Transformers ’84” #0, that, according to Bleeding Cool, may launch a new series revolving around the original ’80s comic. Guido Guidi will provide the art for the one-shot, which will be released in July.
– It was announced at the DC Universe WonderCon panel that the app will provide full access to DC’s digital comic library: previously, the online platform had limited options, even after an expansion. While DC didn’t put out a full list of available comics, fans will likely have the chance to look at early “Action Comics” and “Detective Comics” issues. DC also revealed a look at Brec Bassinger as Stargirl for the DC Universe show of the same name. Finally, DC announced Swamp Thing would be available on the streaming service from May 31, 2019, while Young Justice: Outsiders will return to finish its season on July 2, 2019. DC says that the price for the online app will not change.
– During the Agents of SHIELD panel, it was revealed that the show’s sixth season will premiere on May 10, 2019. AMC also announced Fear the Walking Dead season 5 will premiere on June 2.
– Newsarama reports that Batman will be the first inductee to the Comic-Con Museum’s Character Hall of Fame, as announced at the “Happy Birthday Batman” panel on Saturday. The panel was attended by DC CCO/Co-Publisher Jim Lee, Gotham‘s David Mazouz, Batman: The Animated Series‘ Kevin Conroy, Batman‘s Lee Meriwether, and more in attendance cutting a Batman-themed cake.
– CBR reported that three Marvel Rising specials were`announced: Marvel Rising: Battle of the Bands will focus on Gwen Stacy (aka Ghost-Spider) and her band as well as some superhero action. Marvel Rising: Operation Shuri will feature Shuri, the younger sister of Black Panther, as she asks the Secret Warriors for help on an important mission. And finally, Marvel Rising: Playing with Fire will focus on America Chavez discovering a secret about about her family. You can check out the trailer here.
Now for the non-WonderCon news:
– The New Statesman published a short comic memorializing Moira Smith, the only female New York police officer to give her life on 9/11. She was also the first officer to call in the first plane crashing into the North Tower. The comic revolves around the ferry named after her, and the narrator’s research into the heroic officer. Check out the comic by Tony Wolf with watercolors by Morgan McCue here.
– The British Museum website is listing lectures about manga to accompany its Manga exhibition, described as the largest outside Japan, from May 23 to August 26. Some of the lectures include the “Curator’s introduction to the Citi exhibition Manga,” “Hokusai as the father of modern manga: facts and fictions,” “The Japanese manga comic helping Syrian refugee children dream,” and “The art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga.” These lectures will all be free and will be accompanied by a paid workshop, “Manga Drawing 101: A Practical Introduction.” To see dates and times, head over to Anime News Network.
– Deadline reports that at the NAACP Image Awards, Black Panther won the Outstanding Motion Picture award, while Boseman was awarded Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture, and Letitia Wright picked up the Breakthrough Performance award. The film also won several more awards for its score and soundtrack, screenplay, director Chadwick Boseman, and supporting cast members Michael B. Jordan and Danai Gurira.
– Finally, last week we asked which comic was better: “Action Comics” #1000 or “Detective Comics” #1000. Well the results are in and it looks like “Detective Comics” #1000 has won with 53 percent of the vote, while “Action Comics” had 47 percent. Join us on Friday for our next weekly Reader Poll.
