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, DC has confirmed that writer Tom King is leaving “Batman” but will finish his 90+ issue run with the launch of a new, 12-issue series titled “Batman/Catwoman” with artist Clay Mann. Also, artist Wendy Xu has signed a three-book deal with HarperCollins.
– DC’s era of double shipping will come to end next year, reports CBR. When “DC Rebirth” launched, most of the publisher’s titles shipped twice a month, In the few years since “Rebirth,” the double shipping has been scaled back, with only a few titles like “Batman,” “Detective Comics,” “Flash,” “Wonder Woman,” and “Justice League” left that ship bi-monthly. DC has yet to make any public statements about the changes, but retailer Ryan Higgins said on Twitter, “DC told retailers yesterday (and told us it’s ok to share today) that all the double-shipping books are going back to single shipping next year.”
– Artist Christian Ward announced via Twitter that his and G. Willow Wilson’s “Invisible Kingdom” will go on a brief hiatus to allow him to get ahead on the book. He also announced that the trade paperback would be available in the interim and pointed fans to his new book “Tommy Gun Wizards” with artist Sami Kivela. “Tommy Gun Wizards” will be published by Dark Horse and available in August. “Invisible Kingdom” returns in October.
– Newsarama reports that writer/comedian DC Pierson will make his Marvel Comics debut with a Winter Soldier story appearing in “Marvel Comics Presents” #7, on sale July 31, 2019. Pierson will be joined by artist Alessandro Vitti for the story. Pierson had a small cameo in Captain America: The Winter Solider as Aaron, the Apple tech guy. You can check out the full solicitation here.
– VOA Cambodia reports high praise for Vannak Anan Prum’s graphic novel “The Dead Eye and The Deep Blue Sea.” In the book, the 41-year old self-taught artist recounts his struggles during a three-year and seven month-long period when he left his pregnant wife, and was lured across the Cambodian border with a promise of a job and then trafficked on to a Thai fishing boat. While aboard, he and dozens of other poor men had little chance of escape and were forced to perform dangerous, heavy work, while at constant risk of violent abuse from the captain and his crew. “The Dead Eye and The Deep Blue Sea” is available now.
-Bleeding Cool announced that Avatar Press will relaunch “Warrior Nun Dora” with Pat Shand and Daniel Gete, to be published this August, ahead of the Netflix adaptation of Ben Dunn and Antarctic Press’s original “Warrior Nun Areala.” There has been no word on when Warrior Nun will begin streaming on Netflix.
– Gail Simone tweeted that she has written an episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. In her thread she announced that she wrote episode 13 of the show’s ninth season, titled “Between Dark and Dawn.” Simone went on to say “I have to thank @hasbro for inviting me, and the wonderful @NicoleDubuc for her support and creativity, and the amazing artists and voice-over talent for making this fun dream come true so beautifully!”
– The East Bay Times published an interview with Jack Katz, a 91-year old Golden Age artist who has worked for DC and Marvel among other publications. Katz is currently working on “Beyond the Beyond,” a graphic novel that now has 483 pages. “It’s about all the histories and science that I studied as a child. This is my way of treating my world,” says Katz. Katz also says ““I am probably the last of the artists from that time, I don’t think there’s anyone else left.” You can learn more about Katz and “Beyond the Beyond” in the East Bay Times‘ full interview.
– Keya Morgan, Stan Lee’s former business manager, was taken into custody in Arizona early Saturday on an outstanding arrest warrant. Lee’s former manager has been charged with felony allegations of theft, embezzlement, forgery or fraud against an elder adult, and false imprisonment of an elder adult. According to British Telecommunications, Morgan’s bail has been set for 300,000 US dollars and he will eventually be extradited to Los Angeles.
– According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. announced on Friday that Taika Waititi’s Akira adaptation will open on May 21, 2021, opposite Lionsgate’s John Wick: Chapter 4. The live-action adaptation of the classic 1982 manga has long been discussed in Hollywood, but has never come to fruition until now. Leonardo DiCaprio will produce Akira though his production company Appian Way along with Andrew Lazar.
Finally, in this week’s Reader Poll we asked what your favorite comic since 2009 was. Well the results are in and the winner is “The Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye/Lost Light” with 57.9 percent of the vote, followed by “Giant Days” at 9.1 percent. Thank you again for voting, and stay tuned for our next reader poll on Friday.