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, we interviewed Greg Pak and Khoi Pham about their new DC/Milestone series “Duo.”
– The “Giant Days” team of John Allison and Max Sarin are reuniting for the standalone “Steeple” romance comic “Steeple: Reverend in Love,” featuring colors by regular “Steeple” colorist Sammy Borras. “Steeple,” which follows a curate of the Church of England and a Satanic priestess as they become unlikely friends and encounter the supernatural, began as a miniseries for Dark Horse before continuing its story online. The series is currently on hiatus, but its third volume will receive a print release from Dark Horse this August. In the meantime, “Steeple: Reverend in Love” is available through Allison’s Gumroad or to $3 and up subscribers to his Patreon.
– Workers at the manga and webtoon publisher Seven Seas Entertainment have unionized. Per their statement released on Twitter and on the union’s website, the United Workers of Seven Seas say that the company’s rapid growth has caused growing pains that have put undue burdens on the workers. “We find ourselves overworked, underpaid, and we do not currently receive the benefits otherwise typical of the publishing industry,” the statement reads. The United Workers of Seven Seas are invoking their right to organize and vote on the formation of a union, and are working with the Communications Workers of America to plot their next steps forward.
– Benjamin Massoubre and Amandine Fredon’s The Little Nicholas: Happy as Can Be, an animated film based on the Little Nicholas books from author René Goscinny and cartoonist Jean-Jacques Sempé, made its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last week. Via Variety, the film moves back and forth between the world of Little Nicholas and the world of his creators, taking a look at the creative process of Goscinny and Sempé as it tells its story. The film was co-written by Michel Fessler and Goscinny’s daughter Anne, who came up with the idea of the dialogue between the creators and their creation due to the fact that her father died young in 1977. The Little Nicholas: Happy as Can Be is currently seeking a worldwide distributor, but it will be released in France on October 12.
– In another story out of the Cannes Film Festival, The Beat checked in with director Owen Kline about his film set in the world of comics that is debuting as part of the Directors’ Fortnight, a parallel showcase that runs alongside Cannes. The A24 production Funny Pages is a coming-of-age tale that tells the story of “a teenage cartoonist who rejects the comforts of his suburban life in a misguided quest for soul.” The film features the work of actual comics creators, with cartoonist and animator Johnny Ryan creating the works of the main character, and “Doofus” creator Rick Altergott making the art for the character’s mentor. Funny Pages is aiming to premiere later this year.
– ScreenDaily has a review from the Directors’ Fortnight premiere of the Canadian drama Falcon Lake, the directorial debut of actress Charlotte Le Bon (Fresh), that adapts the graphic novel “Une Soeur” (“A Sister”) by Bastien Vivès. The film stars Joseph Engel as a 13-year-old who is pulled out of his comfort zone by Chloe (Sara Montpetit), an older teenager with whom he becomes smitten. Falcon Lake is set for a release later in 2022.
– Capcom, Playmates, and Nickelodeon have set up a new collaborative action figure line the features a face-off between the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the characters of the Street Fighter franchise. Via ComicBook.com, the first two sets from the line will launch this fall, featuring Ryu vs. Leonardo, and Chun-Li vs. Michelangelo. Those sets will be followed up by Guile vs. Raphael and Ken Masters vs. Donatello; no release window was announced for the third and fourth TMNT vs. Street Fighter sets.
– The new TV anime Urusei Yatsura, the latest adaptation of the manga by Rumiko Takahashi, has released the first full promotional video for the upcoming series. Via Anime News Network, the video reveals members of the Japanese voice cast as well as the production staff, including the addition of composer Masaru Yokoyama (Fruits Basket). The anime will not adapt the full series, instead adapting selected stories from the manga. The original anime series based on the manga ran from 1981 to 1986, and was followed up by several anime films. The new Urusei Yatsura will premiere in Japan in October.
– Finally, Marvel released the second trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder, showcasing much more of Natalie Portman as Jane Foster’s Thor, and Russell Crowe’s Zeus, as well as the first footage of Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher, whose portrayal is capable of draining the color from the film itself. It also shows Korg narrating the story to a bunch of alien kids, Thor’s new helmet, Jane’s uniquely fractured Mjolnir attack, and… the Odinson’s (pixelated) derrière. See it all in the link, before the film releases on July 8.
