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, Kazuo Koike, the writer of “Lone Wolf and Cub,” “Lady Snowblood,” and more, passed away last week.
– Bill Sienkiewicz confirmed on Twitter that he and Chris Claremont have been in talks with Marvel for a new “New Mutants” project. Sienkiewicz illustrated issue #18-31 of Claremont’s original “New Mutants” run from 1984 to 1985, including the classic ‘Demon Bear’ arc that inspired the upcoming movie (currently due for release August 2, 2019).
– Avengers: Endgame releases this Friday, but the Russo brothers aren’t quite done with the Marvel Universe yet: in a report from India’s Economic Times, the duo revealed “We are fascinated by the life of Stan Lee and we are actually developing a little something that has to do with his work in the history of Marvel. But we are not ready to present it or talk about it yet. It’s more of a documentary,” they said. Endgame will feature the final film cameo from the late Marvel Comics co-creator, who passed away in November.
– Devil’s Due Comics will mark Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign with an affectionate parody named “Talk Bernie To Me!: The Bernie Sanders Special and AOC Surprise.” The comic, a follow-up to May 15’s “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez And The Freshman Force,” will feature stories from several as-yet-unnamed award-winning writers/artists, and all proceeds will go to the ACLU and RAICES Texas. The comic, due out July 3, can be pre-ordered here.
– VIZ Media have announced they will be hosting portfolio reviews at several conventions for their upcoming English language imprint VIZ Originals. Events will include Toronto Comics and Arts Festival, Anime Expo, San Diego Comic-Con, New York Comic Con, and Anime NYC. You can consult the dates for these stalls and more details at Newsarama.
– Did you know that Hello Kitty has been starring in her own superhero manga? The series, “Power the Kitty Ichigoman,” written by Toshiki Inoue and illustrated by Shakua Shinkai, casts the iconic Japanese character as Ichigoman (Strawberry Man in English), a superhero battling alien invaders. The series is available to read in Japanese here.
– ABC News Australia have a report on the popularity of the Phantom in Papua New Guinea. The proto-superhero, created by Lee Falk in 1936, was brought to the country by American troops during World War II, and has been a popular favorite for Papua New Guineans since, often painting him on their shields.
– Aquaman was recently the answer to a record-winning question on game show Jeopardy! The question answered was, “During his years with the Justice League of America, this superhero sometimes used the secret identity ‘C. King.'” Host Alex Trebek explained that the alias was a play on the phrase “sea king,” an allusion to Aquaman’s title as the King of the Seven Seas.
– Finally, in memory of Kazuo Koike, we asked for your favorite work by him: 61.1 percent of you voted for “Lone Wolf and Cub,” followed by 11.1 percent each for “Crying Freeman” and “Mad Bull.” Thanks again for voting, and be sure to check out our next reader poll on Friday.
