Welcome 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, Dan Harmon’s Starburns Industries unveiled its first comic books, and we interviewed the creative team of Lion Forge’s “Hunters.”
– Deadline revealed Amazon Studios and Skybound Entertainment are developing Jonathan Hickman’s “East of West” and “Transhuman” as hour-long, episodic TV series. Artists Nick Dragotta (“East of West”) and J.M. Ringuet (“Transhuman”) will join Hickman to executive produce the series based on their respective books: Hickman will also write on the “East of West” adaptation. “Nick, J.M. and I couldn’t be more excited to be working with Skybound and Amazon,” Hickman said. “We feel very strongly about each project and couldn’t be more appreciative of how far both companies have gone to make us feel welcome.”
– 80-year-old newspaper comic “Nancy” has seen some revitalization this week, as the strip’s first female writer/artist, Olivia Jaimes, has updated Nancy’s world to include smartphones, video games, and modern humor. The AV Club has a look at the fresh take, as well as some of the Internet’s predictable responses to the changes.
– ComingSoon.Net showed off artist Rob Liefeld’s painterly homage to Deadpool’s first appearance, a Fandango-exclusive poster that will ship to Deadpool 2‘s first ticket-buyers. The poster features the movie cast, pencilled by Liefeld and painted by Mike Capprotti, recreating the now-iconic cover of “New Mutants” #98. Deadpool 2 also dropped its final trailer yesterday, before its May 18 release.
– Newsarama reports that former X-Men Associate Editor Christina Harrington has been picked up by AfterShock Comics, where she’ll work as managing editor under her former and once-again boss Mike Marts. “Christina was a brilliant hire for me at Marvel,” said Marts, “and she’ll no doubt be instrumental to AfterShock’s continued success.” Harrington’s departure from Marvel earlier this month was one of a number of recent editorial shifts at the company.
– Black Panther officially premiered in Saudi Arabia this past Wednesday, ending that country’s 35-year ban on public film screenings. The Hollywood Reporter has details on the screening, which took place at a non-segregated theater in Riyadh. Of the screening, Saudi minister of culture and information Awwad Alawwad said, “Cinema has always played an important role in bringing cultures together, and Saudi Arabia is ready to play its part.”
– The live-action Bleach movie, based on the incredibly popular manga of the same name, dropped its long-awaited first trailer. Comicbook.com has the trailer and some analysis of what to expect from the movie, based on this first minute of sword-slinging, spirit-fighting footage.
– First Second will release “Kitty Sweet Tooth’s Tasteorama,” a new graphic novel by International Manga Award-winning author Abby Denson and artist Utomaru. The Beat has details on the charmingly-named book, which focuses on an adorable, anthropomorphized cat who loves B-movies and sweets.
– Syfy’s Krypton is going big early-on, according to a new teaser trailer at Comic Book Resources. The teaser first shows off Superman big-bads Zod and Brainiac, then cuts to black just after name-dropping Doomsday. Just five episodes in, it seems like Kal-El’s ancestors have their work cut out for them.
– A new Hellboy comic written by Mike Mignola will debut in this month’s Playboy magazine. Titled “Return of the Lambton Worm,” the six-page story will feature art by Ben Stenbeck and Dave Stewart.
– And finally, Marshall Ramsey – the cartoonist who drew the recently-deceased Barbara Bush reuniting with her daughter in heaven – reflected on the former First Lady’s indefatigable spirit and why he chose to note her death as he did. You can read the essay at NBC affiliate KAGS’s website.
