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, BOOM! Studios have announced “Seven Secrets” from writer Tom Taylor and artist Daniele Di Nicuolo, and Vault Comics has announced the “Fearscape” follow-up “A Dark Interlude.”
– Via ICv2, Drawn and Quarterly has set five new titles for release in early 2021. “Red Flowers” from influential Japanese cartoonist Yoshiharu Tsuge features a set of short stories with unusual characters based on his own travels. “Heaven No Hell” is a collection of stories from Michael DeForge that the publisher calls “funny, sometimes sad, and continuously innovative in its deconstruction of society.” “Tono Monogatari” is a personal project from Shigeru Mizuki that adapts the classic Japanese book of yokai stories of the same name. “Billionaires” from Darryl Cunningham digs into four of the biggest power players in America’s private sector — Rupert Murdoch, the Koch Brothers, and Jeff Bezos. Finally, Aminder Dhaliwal follows up her wildly popular “Woman World” with her witty look into the interior lives of the cyclops community in “Cyclopedia Exotica.” “Red Flowers” is scheduled for January 2021, “Heaven No Hell” for February 2021, “Tono Monogatari” and “Billionaires” for March 2021, and “Cyclopedia Exotica” for April 2021.
– Via Newsarama, James Tynion IV and Michael Dialynas’s upcoming BOOM! Studios project “Wynd” is changing shape. Originally set for a November release as an original graphic novel at the publisher’s BOOM! Box imprint, “Wynd” will instead be released as a limited series starting next month. The move breaks the usual three month solicitation cycle, instead attempting to, in the words of the publisher, bring “fans and retailers a new Must Read series at a crucial time in the comics industry.” The series follows a young boy named Wynd, who must keep his true identity (and pointy ears) a secret in a world where magical abilities are punishable by death. “Wynd” #1 will hit shelves on June 17.
– Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy has set a date for its return: the unlikely family of heroes will return to the service in season 2 on July 31st. Netflix made the reveal via a joyful date announcement video, featuring its quarantined lead cast, dancing and vibing in a recreation of the scene from the first episode, set to Tiffany’s ’80s jam “I Think We’re Alone Now.”
– Christopher Nolan and comic book movies are the common pieces in two bits of entertainment news from Deadline. First, Warner Bros. is scheduling a re-release of Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy in Hong Kong and Taiwan. That re-release is part of the studio’s plans to bring back several of their older properties around the world, as theaters slowly begin to reopen following closures due to COVID-19, and will also work to build excitement in anticipation of the release of Nolan’s upcoming blockbuster Tenet.
Second, Tenet’s July 17 release date may be in question, as Warner Bros. is reportedly considering bumping the film to the fall if 80% of theaters worldwide won’t be open in time for its release. The movement of Tenet, currently the earliest scheduled blockbuster to not jump to a later premiere date in the face of coronavirus, would likely have a ripple effect throughout the release schedule, pushing other major films even further into the future. If Tenet were to move, it would likely take Wonder Woman 1984’s current release date of Aug. 14, pushing the princess of Themyscira to a likely December release.
– Speaking of coronavirus pushes, Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel adaptation Radioactive, starring Rosamund Pike, has switched from a theatrical to a digital release due to the crisis. Via The Digital Fix, the film, which had already been pulled by distributor StudioCanal from its original March 20 release date, will now be available for digital download on June 15, with DVD and TVOD release scheduled for July 24. The film also stars Sam Riley, Aneurin Barnard, Anya Taylor-Joy and Simon Russell.
– NPR’s Claire Schneider has teamed up with author Rachel Wilkerson Miller for an illustrated set of exercises based on Miller’s book The Art of Showing Up: How to Be There for Yourself and Your People. The guide stresses that self-care is an important precursor to helping others, because, as Miller notes, “going into emotional or financial debt to help others doesn’t serve anyone in the long run.” You can find the comic, with its helpful self-care tips, over at NPR.
– Production companies Armory Films and Motor Content are teaming up with Scout Comics, CGC Certified Guaranty Company and Comic Impressions for a unique contest. Via Deadline, the Script2Comic contest will offer the winner the opportunity to see their screenplay, teleplay, short story, or comic script produced as a comic or graphic novel, with that comic then being optioned for development into a film or television series produced by Armory Films and Motor Content. The contest is now open, with submissions being accepted until October 15.
