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, “Berserk” creator Kentaro Mirua passed away at the age of 54; Dark Horse announced ‘Black Hammer’ spin-off “The Unbelievable Unteens” and demonic comedy “Lucky Devil;” and Vault unveiled DVD rental kiosk horror series “Deadbox.” We also have an exclusive preview of next week’s “Black Panther” #25, the finale of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s run.
– J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman unveiled “Echolands,” a project the former “Batwoman” collaborators have spent nearly a decade completing. The story will follow gem thief Hope Redhood in a genre blending tale of evil wizards, robots, and Roman demigods. Blackman co-wrote the series with Williams, who also handles art duties. Dave Stewart colors and Todd Klein provides lettering. The first issue is due out from Image August 25.
– Marvel will celebrate fifty issues of “Black Widow” on August 18, with the release of “Black Widow” #10. The issue will conclude the ‘I Am the Black Widow’ story arc. The current run is considered by Marvel to be the fourth volume of Black Widow’s solo ongoings, discounting any of her miniseries. The book is written by Kelly Thompson with art by Elena Casagrande, and Adam Hughes will provide cover art, with Mark Brooks and mobile game developer NetEase offering variants.
– Valiant’s “X-O Manowar” #5 will reveal a deadly secret about Aric of Dacia’s sentient armor Shanhara. The ‘Upgrade the World’ story arc, beginning in that issue, will focus of the hero out-of-time’s armor, as Aric battles an “unknown nanite monstrosity” attacking the planet. The book will be handled by the current creative team of writer Dennis Hopeless and artist Emilio Laiso, with Rahzzah, Michael Cho, and Christian Ward all providing covers. “X-O Manowar” #5 hits shelves August 18.
– Fans in the UK will be able to watch The Walking Dead on Disney+ starting July 2. All ten seasons of the show will move to the streaming service, with Season 11 debuting there on August 23. The news comes after Disney announced that the British and Irish version of the Fox channel, which held the broadcast rights for the AMC show, would be shut down on June 30.
– Netflix released a trailer and announced a release date for the upcoming anime horror series Trese. Adapted from the award-winning Fillipino comic from writer Budjette Tan and artist Kajo Baldisimo, Trese was first announced back in 2018 alongside anime series based on Pacific Rim and Altered Carbon. The series will premiere on June 11. The trailer can be viewed here.
– In other Netflix news, the streaming service announced on their website and via Twitter plans to produce a trio of animated projects featuring Asian American leads, including the CG animated series Mech Cadets, based on BOOM! Studios’ “Mech Cadet Yu,” created by Greg Pak and Takeshi Miyazawa. The other projects will be the Journey to the West-inspired feature The Monkey King, and Jaydeep Hasrajani’s action comedy series Boons and Curses. All three are scheduled for release in 2023.
– More graphic novel adaptations of Animorphs are coming, with Books 4, 5, and 6 having just been announced. Scholastic has confirmed that Chris Grine will be returning to illustrate “The Message,” “The Predator,” and “The Capture,” based on the novels by K.A. Applegate and Michael Grant. Scholastic will be putting the three books on an “accelerated schedule,” releasing them in Fall 2023, Summer 2024, and Fall 2024. The second Animorphs graphic novelization, “The Visitor,” will be released on October 5.
– Finally, nominations were announced for the 2021 Hugo Awards. The nominations for Best Graphic Story or Comic include the second volumes of “DIE” and “Invisible Kingdom,” the first volumes of “Ghost Spider” and “Once & Future,” volume five of “Monstress,” and the Octavia Butler adaptation “Parable of the Sower.” Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) and The Old Guard were nominated for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form, while episodes of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and The Mandalorian picked up noms for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. The nominations were announced on WorldCon’s YouTube, and the awards will be presented at DisCon III in Washington DC on December 15-19, 2021. Voting will close November 19, 2021.
