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.
– Marvel have announced the return of artist John Romita Jr. Romita is coming off of a five-year stint at DC Comics, and will return to the House of Ideas in July. In a statement, Romita said “I am literally, at this very moment, working on my next big Marvel project, and it’s a blast!!! I am JUST as excited as I was when I first started, and I will do my best to let the work show that again. I hope fans will see that too!” There has been no official announcement of Romita’s new project.
– Via Screen Rant, Heavy Metal Publishing announced “Vasator & Crunch,” the magazine’s newest running strip, which will later expand to its own comic book series. Written by Dave Erwin, “Vasator & Crunch” is set to run as a series of strips in the monthly anthology Heavy Metal Magazine with a number of artists, including Kevin Molen, Raymund Bermudez, and Riccardo Latina, and colorists DC Alonso and Federico Pietrobon. Heavy Metal will then launch a new comic series to be drawn by Agustin Padilla and colored by Carlos Cabrera. “Vasator & Crunch” follows the adventures of a muscle-bound swordsman and his brutal robot companion. Consumed by revenge, the two brothers join the battlefield as mercenaries, and fight to take the kingdom back from a young, cruel king. “Vasator & Crunch” launches in the pages of Heavy Metal Magazine #305, out April 7 from Heavy Metal Publishing, and soon to be followed in their own comic series.
– Via Newsarama, DC Comics have announced that they are letting fans choose what their next comic series will be. Things will kick off with an NCAA tournament-like structure they’re calling ‘Round Robin.’ Readers can participate in a series of polls on the DC Universe Infinite digital platform to whittle 16 candidates down to one in a series of four rounds. Round 1 voting runs from March 31 through April 7, while round 2 voting will open from April 8 through April 15. Voting for round 3 will begin May 5 through May 13, and round 4 will last from May 20 through May 27. The creators of each project (and some art) won’t be revealed until April 8, after round 1 voting ends. This would work for voters to decide based strictly on these concepts, and not because of the creators involved. After the winner is chosen on May 27, DC aims to have the winning series debut by the end of the year. Head on over to Newsarama for descriptions of each series.
– Meanwhile, “Nightwing” writer Tom Taylor announced on Twitter the winner of the poll to decide the name of Dick Grayson’s new puppy: it’s Haley. He did add, however, “don’t worry. Haley’s codename in our ‘Nightwing’ is still Bitewing.” The three-legged dog was introduced in this month’s “Nightwing” #78, the first issue of Taylor’s run with artist Bruno Redondo, as a stray Grayson saved from a group of abusive teenagers.
– Via The Connexion, Plantu, one of France’s best-known cartoonists, retired from Le Monde after almost 49 years. Plantu, 70, whose drawings have been featured on the front page of Le Monde every day since 1985, drew his last image for the newspaper dated April 1. Entitled ‘Plantu et Le Monde, 50 ans d’histoire,’ the drawing includes an image of his trademark dove holding a vaccine syringe, as a worried President Macron wonders what to announce to the public about the next steps to combat COVID-19. Cartooning for Peace is now to take over from Plantu at Le Monde: each day the association will suggest a selection of drawings, and the editorial team will choose which one to use depending on the news of the day.
– Variety reports Shout! Studios has secured all distribution rights in North America from Protagonist Pictures to The Show, the mystery fantasy feature film written by Alan Moore and directed by Mitch Jenkins. The film centers on Fletcher Dennis (portrayed by Tom Burke), a man of many talents, passports and identities, who arrives in Northampton – a strange and haunted town in the heart of England. Fletcher finds himself entangled in a twilight world populated with vampires, sleeping beauties, voodoo gangsters, noir private eyes, and masked avengers. The Show will be launched across all major platforms later this year.
Continued below– Variety also reports that Randall Park will be making his directorial debut with the upcoming film, Shortcomings, based on Adrian Tomine’s graphic novel. The comedic drama follows a trio of young Bay Area urbanites — Ben Tanaka, Miko Hayashi and Alice Kim — as they navigate a range of interpersonal relationships, traversing the country in search of the ideal connection. Tomine is executive producing the movie and adapting the screenplay. Park has previously directed the series finale of Fresh Off the Boat, the ABC sitcom in which he starred as Louis Huang.
– Next, Variety revealed The CW’s Naomi pilot has added five cast members. Mouzam Makkar is set to play Jennifer, Naomi’s adoptive mother who teaches linguistics at the town military base and dotes on her bright and gifted daughter. Barry Watson is set to play Greg, Naomi’s adoptive father and military vet who is happily married to Jennifer, and sees Naomi as the “perfect daughter.” Mary-Charles Jones has been cast as Annabelle, Naomi’s “fiercely loyal classmate and best friend who is unafraid of telling Naomi hard truths.” Aidan Gemme will play Jacob, the sweet, shy, slightly nerdy boyfriend of Annabelle who treats her like a queen. Finally, Daniel Puig will appear as Nathan, a high school jock who briefly dated Naomi before she ended things, and with whom he still shares an “undeniable chemistry.” Ava DuVernay and Jill Blankenship are writing and exec producing the drama.
– And rounding things out from Variety, legendary Hong Kong director John Woo will produce a live-action movie of “Monkey Master,” an unreleased comic book created by the late Stan Lee and Graphic India co-founder and CEO Sharad Devarajan. The story reimagines the Chinese legend of the Monkey King as New York archeologist Li Yong, who becomes the Monkey Master after discovering an ancient prophecy that leads him to a hidden power in India. Woo, who will produce with Devarajan and POW! Entertainment president Gill Champion, stated, “I have always wanted to make a film based on the Monkey King story of China but have struggled with a new way to present it. The story by Stan Lee was such a unique version of it that incorporated the mythological characters unexplored journey to India and had all the elements I enjoy in filmmaking – great characters, action, and adventure. I am excited to work with Sharad and Gill to bring Stan’s vision for this new superhero character to the screen.”
– Finally, via The Hollywood Reporter, the voice cast for the animated Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One has been announced, with Jensen Ackles cast as Batman/Bruce Wayne. Among the ensemble voice cast is Naya Rivera, the late Glee star who died in July. Rivera completed her voice work as Catwoman/Selina Kyle. Other stars include Josh Duhamel as Harvey Dent, Billy Burke as James Gordon, Titus Welliver as Carmine Falcone, David Dastmalchian as Calendar Man, Troy Baker as Joker, Amy Landecker as Barbara Gordon, Julie Nathanson as Gilda Dent, Jack Quaid as Alberto, Fred Tatasciore as Solomon Grundy, and Alastair Duncan as Alfred. Chris Palmer, known for Superman: Man of Tomorrow, is directing from a script that reteams him with Man of Tomorrow screenwriter Tim Sheridan. Based on Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s comic of the same name, Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One is set to be released later this year.
