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, Marvel released the first trailer for the upcoming Eternals movie, and a “Superman vs. Lobo” mini-series was announced as the latest release from DC’s Black Label imprint.
– DC Comics announced their offerings for Free Comic Book Day 2021, which will be hosted online and in-stores across the country on August 14. DC will be offering four different titles for FCBD: the first is “Batman FCBD Special Edition,” featuring a main story by James Tynion IV and Jorge Jimenez, with a preview for “I Am Batman” by Academy Award-winning writer John Ridley and artist Travel Foreman. Then, “Suicide Squad FCBD Special Edition” will feature a main story starring King Shark by Tim Seeley and Scott Kolins, with a preview for “Suicide Squad: Get Joker!” by Brian Azzarello and Alex Maleev. Next is “Teen Titans: Beast Boy Loves Raven Special Edition,” which features the first chapter of the upcoming original graphic novel by Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo. Lastly, DC will be releasing “Batman and Robin and Howard/Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld Special Edition Flipbook,” which – as the name implies – will feature stories from both the upcoming graphic novels “Batman and Robin and Howard,” and the “Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld.”
– Image Comics has announced that they will be expanding “The Silver Coin” into an ongoing series. “The Silver Coin” was originally announced as a mini-series by artist Michael Walsh and a rotating team of writers including Jeff Lemire, Chip Zdarsky, and Kelly Thompson, but will now continue on as an ongoing due to the massive critical and commercial success of the series. The series will continue to feature a rotating team of writers, with Matthew Rosenberg, Ram V, Vita Ayala, and Joshua Williamson set to join for upcoming issues. “The Silver Coin” follows a mysterious silver coin and the horrific events that happen to the people who possess it across the years.
– The CW has given a series order to the upcoming television show Naomi, based on the DC Comics series of the same name. The show stars Kaci Walfall in the titular role and follows the young heroine as she journeys from her small town into the Multiverse. The series is being written and produced by Ava DuVernay and Jill Blankenship and features director Amanda Marsalis for the first episode. Beyond that, the network has also decided that they will be reworking their pilot for the upcoming Powerpuff Girls live-action series, tentatively titled Powerpuff. The show stars Chloe Bennet, Dove Cameron, Yana Perrault, and Donald Faison. There is no word yet on what changes will be made to the series as they restart production.
– In more CW news, the network announced that they will not be moving forward with Painkiller, a spinoff series from Black Lightning. The show was set to feature Jordan Calloway as Khalil Payne aka Painkiller, a vigilante who struggles to overcome his own past as a criminal in order to make a new life for himself. Painkiller was given a backdoor pilot as the seventh episode of the final season of Black Lightning, but ultimately did not find the support that the network was looking for. There is a possibility that the show could instead continue on HBO Max.
– Actor David Ramsey, known to fans for his portrayal of John Diggle on Arrow, will be returning to the CW’s “Arrowverse” as a director and guest star in future episodes of Superman & Lois, Supergirl, The Flash, Batwoman, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. According to Ramsey, this is a long time coming, as the actor was penciled in to reprise this role as far back as 2019, but had to wait as a result of the growing health concerns surrounding COVID-19. Filming began on Ramsey’s episodes in January. He previously directed two episodes of Arrow during the seventh and eight seasons of that series.
– Director Adam Wingard, coming off of the success of Godzilla vs Kong, is set to direct Hardcore, an adaptation of the Image Comics series of the same name. The original “Hardcore” series was written by Andy Diggle with art by Alessandro Vitti, and based on an idea from Robert Kirkman and Marc Silvestri. It follows the Hardcore Program, which allows soldiers to pilot other bodies as easily as a drone, all in their quest to take out their target. The film will be based off of an outline by Kirkman with a script by screenwriter Will Simmons, and has Kirkman, David Alpert, Bryan Furst, and Sean Furst on board as producers. It will be distributed by Universal Pictures.
Continued below– Webcomics site Tapas is celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with a social media contest for Bonus Ink. To enter, fans have to comment on official Tapas social media posts celebrating AAPI Heritage Month, and say which Tapas-based series is their favorite by May 27. Additionally, Tapas is currently highlighting 30 of their webcomics from AAPI creators. The company is based out of North America, South Korea, and China, and has thousands of webcomics available to purchase through the use of their in-app currency, known as Bonus Ink.
– Netflix will be hosting their first ever Geeked Week across social media. On the week of June 7-11, Netflix will feature exclusive news and reveals from shows such as Sweet Tooth, The Umbrella Academy, The Witcher, The Sandman, and Cowboy Bebop. Geeked Week will be a way to celebrate diehard fans and connect them with their favorite established and upcoming properties. In addition to the push across social media, Netflix will be hosting all of their news on GeekedWeek.com.
– Finally, a classic “Bash Street Kids” character from the British children’s magazine The Beano has had his name changed. The character commonly called “Fatty” will now be known simply by his given name of Freddy Brown. This decision came from Beano Studios, as they have realized that the name was cruel. Speaking on the matter, Mike Sterling, editorial director of Beano Studios, said “Kids come in all shapes and sizes and we absolutely celebrate that. We don’t want to risk someone using it in a mean way. The time is right to revert back to Freddy.” “The Bash Street Kids” series was created in 1954 as part of The Beano, which itself has been running since 1938.
