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 “She Could Fly: Fight or Flight.”
– Dark Horse Comics announced a new Stranger Things graphic novel by writers Danny Lore and Greg Pak, artist Valeria Favoccia, colorist Dan Jackson, and letterer Nate Piekos, called “Stranger Things: Erica the Great.” The creative team, bar Danny Lore, have worked on the previous two Stranger Things YA graphic novels, “Zombie Boy” and “The Bully.” Artist Ron Chan will provide the cover art. The graphic novel will take place after the events of the third season, with Erica struggling with boredom now that her usual hangout, Scoops-Ahoy, has been destroyed along with the rest of Starcourt Mall — her brother doesn’t have any time for her, and her mom has stopped her from playing Dungeons and Dragons.
Alongside this new graphic novel, Dark Horse also announced two Library Editions of their previous Stranger Things miniseries: the first will collect “Stranger Things: The Other Side” and “Science Camp,” while the other combines “Stranger Things: SIX” and “Into The Fire.” “Stranger Things Library Edition Volume 1” is slated for August 31, with “Library Edition Volume 2” on November 2. “Stranger Things: Erica the Great” will follow on November 23, with the option to purchase it as a standalone book, or as part of a boxed set with the other two Stranger Things YA graphic novels. You can see the covers for the two library editions here.
– Frank Miller’s “Sin City” series will begin a special edition rerelease to mark its 30th anniversary in September, Dark Horse Comics revealed. “Sin City: The Hard Goodbye” will receive a new softcover edition that will feature a pin-up gallery, with artists including Joyce Chin, Amanda Conner, and Klaus Janson contributing, as well as a deluxe hardcover and slipcase edition which will include a selection of development artwork Miller has never published. Both new editions of “Frank Miller’s Sin City: The Hard Goodbye” will be released in September in comic shops and October in bookshops. The new editions of the rest of the volumes in the series are yet to be fully detailed, but will be published in the months that follow.
– The Black Wall Street Times started a 31-part series of cartoons to highlight the impact of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, and to bring the ongoing process of reconciliation in the city to the forefront. The series will be published daily throughout the month of May and deal with different elements and viewpoints surrounding the Massacre through the combination of “art, hyperbole and satire.” Some of the cartoons aim to directly start a counternarrative, with them being drawn over the top of 1921 photographic postcards that were used “by white people, presumably to brag to the world about the destruction of Greenwood.” The first cartoon by Rev. Marlin Lavanhar can be found here.
– There was a host of DC live-action series adaptation news that started with Finn Wittrock (American Horror Story) being cast as Guy Gardner in the upcoming HBO Max Green Lantern series. The show will span multiple decades and feature a variety of Lanterns alongside Wittrock’s Gardner, including the first Green Lantern, Alan Scott, who is yet to be cast. This announcement was followed by Netflix releasing the first trailer for the second half of Lucifer‘s fifth season, starring Tom Ellis, which sees Dennis Haysbert’s God announce he is planning to retire, and Lucifer setting his sights on the position. The final adaptation news came in the form of a teaser image for the CW’s Naomi, which revealed Kaci Walfall’s titular character. The image, which you can see here, was styled after Jamal Campbell’s cover for “Naomi” #1. The only series in the trio with a scheduled release date is Lucifer, which is set to return on May 28.
– Aconyte partially revealed their slate for this Fall, including a host of Marvel titles. The slate starts with Tristan Palmgren’s Outlaw – Relentless, the latest in the Marvel Heroines line, which will star Outlaw/Inez Temple; this will be followed by Jaleigh Johnson’s entry in the Xavier’s Institute line, Triptych, a novel which will pit Fantomex against clones of himself. David Guymer’s Marvel Untold novel Dark Avengers – The Patriot List will see the team trying to keep their secrets hidden, and is set for an October release. In November’s subsequent Marvel Untold book, Witches Unleashed by Carrie Harris, Ghost Rider, Jennifer Kale, Satana Hellstrom, and Topaz will team up to return Lucifer to Hell. Richard Lee Byers’s The Rebels of Vanaheim (starring Heimdall), and X-Academy, an anthology edited by Gwendolyn Nix, are scheduled for December.
Continued below– Well Go USA announced that they will be bringing The Great War of Archimedes, a Japanese film based on Norifusa Mita’s manga series of the same, to the U.S. with an English dub. The film is directed by Takashi Yamazaki, and follows a naval officer and maths prodigy (Masaki Suda), who starts to unravel a conspiracy around the construction of Japanese warships during WWII. The Great War of Archimedes is scheduled for release on DVD, Blu-ray, and digital platforms on June 15.
– US-based cartoonist Andy Singer accused the Hong Kong publisher, Marshall Cavendish Education, of copying one of his political illustration “Invading new markets,” which was published in 1998. The cartoon depicts Walt Disney characters taking control of an island, with landing boats adorned by US brand logos like Texaco and Shell. When Hong Kong Free Press contacted Singer, he emailed the response: “the cartoon seems like a direct steal. My cartoons appear in a Chinese news magazine called Neweekly, so someone either saw the image there (and copied it) or the found it on the internet.” The Marshall Cavendish Education legal department are set to investigate the issue. The original illustration and the alleged copy can be viewed here.
– Via press release, Humble Bundle announced their latest pay-what-you-want comics bundle in partnership with Heavy Metal Entertainmnent. The bundle includes a selection of issues of “Heavy Metal Magazine,” “Sun Eater” by Dylan Sprouse, Joe Harris, and Diego Yapur, and “Cold Dead War,” by George C. Romero, Germán Ponce, Gabriel Rearte, Protobunker Studio, and Saida Temofonte, amongst others. The bundle is available until May 20, with a percentage of the money raised being donated to the Hero Initiative.
The company also announced that they will be making changes to their website over the course of this month, including the removal of the donation weighting sliders. Soon, the donation for the bundles will be split by an automated system, with the majority going to the publishers of the bundle, though an option for an “Extra for Charity” allowing for a 15% cut of the donation to reach the bundle’s charity will be available. For a preview of the changes and further details, head over to Humble Bundle’s blog.
– Finally, Nikkolas Smith, the artist behind the ‘King Chad’ artwork, has donated the piece to the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The artwork, which honors the late Chadwick Boseman, depicts the actor visiting a young Black Panther fan undergoing medical treatment. Smith stated, “It’s just a huge honor for me personally to be able to donate this piece of art to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where I know it will inspire patients going through treatments and serve as a reminder of not only Chadwick’s heart, but also his relatable struggle with cancer.” The ‘King Chad’ artwork had first been displayed in the Downtown Disney District at the Disneyland Resort.
