Welcome back to The Rundown, our daily breakdown of comic news stories we missed from the previous day. Have a link to share? Email our team at rundown@multiversitycomics.com.
– Patty Jenkins must be proud that Wonder Woman is getting some of the best reviews for a DC film since The Dark Knight, but we should be even more proud at her pushing for the film to not be rated R. Jenkins said: “I cared a lot about it never being an R-rating. And I totally support the movies that do have an R-rating, but in this case I was very aware that little girls were going to want to see the film, and I was very protective of that. So it had to not be rated R to me. I would have been happy to go for PG, but it’s World War I, so we couldn’t.” As a father of a five year old, I’m probably not bringing my daughter to the theater to see a PG-13 film, but if she was 9 or 10, I damn sure would be. Good for Jenkins for realizing that superheroes could, and should, be for kids.
– Speaking of the DCEU, it has been revealed that next year’s Aquaman takes place after November’s Justice League. This CBR article treats that as a surprise, perhaps because it isn’t an origin story, but that can only be considered good news in an era where every single superhero film seems to be an origin story.
– Over at Nerdist, we get the most complete picture of what “Venomverse” will look like when it launches from Marvel this June. In short: Venomized versions of lots of Marvel characters, from Black Panther to Ghost Rider to Old Man Logann, as well as lots of characters already associated with Venom, like Flash Thompson, Pork Grind, and Carnage.
– Marvel continues to tease the return of “Runaways,” though no creative team or release date have been released yet, although the teasers have been drawn by Kris Anka.
– DC released a preview today of some of the new material in the “WildStorm: A Celebration of 25 Years” hardcover, due out later this year. The preview consists of a Deathblow pinup by Tim Sale and Brennan Wagner, a WildC.A.T.s pinup by Ryan Benjamin, and story previews of a new “Authority” story from Warren Ellis, Bryan Hitch, Paul Neary and Laura Martin, and a “Backlash” story by Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund and Andrew Dalhouse
– Along with Marvel and IDW, now Joe Books will also be publishing Star Wars comics. Joe will be publishing ‘cinestory adaptations’ of the seven feature films, as well as certain episodes of Star Wars: Rebels. It appears as if these will be a mixture of screen grabs and layered illustration/dialogue boxes. The first installment, “Spark of Rebellion: A Star Wars Rebels Cinestory Comic,” drops in August.
– It appears that Archie cancelled a trio of one-shots announced late last year. Two Art and Franco one-shots, featuring Josie and the Pussycats and Sabrina, and a Katie Cook/Andy Price “Sabrina goes to college” book all were announced, but haven’t been released. Whether they are permanently cancelled or delayed remains unknown at this point.
– In what sounds like a fun promotional event, random copies of Valiant’s “Secret Weapons” #1 will have a slightly different cover, that will allow the reader to unlock a mystery of the series. Valiant isn’t spilling the beans with what the cover difference will be, so keep your eyes peeled come June 28th.
– “Nocturnals,” a property that has been published through Malibu, Image, and Oni, successfully completed a Kickstarter in 2015 for a new graphic novel, “Nocturnals: The Sinister Path.” Newsarama talked with artist Dan Brereton about the book’s origins, ahead of its June release date.
– August 15th sees the release of Batman and Harley Quinn, the next DCAU film. Details of the film were revealed today, including cover art, and the first trailer.
