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, a Stop AAPI Hate Comic by MariNaomi was installed as a Mural in Rosemead, California; comiXology announced a five-part miniseries called “Astonishing Times;” and Benoît Sokal, the creator of “Inspector Canardo” and the Syberia game series, died at the age of 66.
– DC Comics announced a new middle-grade graphic novel called “Shazam! Thundercrack,” by writer and artist Yehudi Mercado. The film will be canonically congruous to 2019’s Shazam!, with Billy Batson being forced to become the new quarterback for the Fawcett Tigers, instead of facing an endless amount of detentions because of his plummeting attendance rate. Billy’s continued development as a superhero will be documented by his adoptive brother Freddy’s vlogs in the OGN too. In the David F. Sandberg-directed film, Billy Batson was portrayed by Asher Angel, with Zachary Levi as Shazam, and Jack Dylan Grazer was Freddy. A sequel to the film, Shazam! Fury of the Gods will see the director and the starring trio returning in June 2023. “Shazam! Thundercrack” will be released on June 7, 2022.
– Ablaze Publishing announced two new titles as part of their August solicitations. The first is a new series by Maria Llovet called “Porcelain,” which will see a girl called Beryl have her life turned upside down when she ventures inside the Dollhouse, an “ever-changing” building that traps children before turning them into dolls. The first issue of “Porcelain” will feature variants by artists including Sabine Rich and Caspar Wijngaard (“Home Sick Pilots”), and is set for release on August 4.
The second new title is “A Man’s Skin,” a translation of Zanzim and the late Hubert’s “Peau d’homme.” The graphic novel is set in Renaissance Italy, and sees a woman named Bianca being gifted “a man’s skin” by the women in her family. Bianca wears it to explore the social spaces of men, and observe the man she is set to wed, whom she would otherwise know nothing about. “A Man’s Skin” won the Prix de la critique (Critic’s Award) at Angoulême earlier this year, and is set for release in English on November 9.
Ablaze also announced they will be collecting Maria Llovet’s “Eros/Psyche” in a hardcover edition in September, and you can see the covers for both new titles and the hardcover collection here.
– Artist Nick Pitarra shared a host of pages from the long-awaited concluding issues of his and John Layman’s series, “Leviathan,” detailing that the pair, along with colorist Michael Garland, are planning to release the final two issues of the series by the fall. Three issues of the series were released in 2018 at Image Comics, and a fourth and fifth were solicited but, after a series of delays, the decision was made to take the series off of the schedule. You can check out the mixture of black-and-white and colored pages here.
– Ron Cacace and Vincent Lovallo’s Archie Comics webcomic series, “Bite Sized Archie,” will be syndicated on Tinyview, with the first sixteen strips of the series set to be released on comiXology with behind the scenes content, it was revealed. Archie Comics will be the first major American publisher on Tinyview. “Bite Sized Archie” launched on the Archie Comics website and its various social media accounts in December 2020, continuing to be published every Friday since. The webcomic is set to continue on those platforms in addition to Tinyview, though Tinyview users will get a glimpse at each new strip every Thursday night. The first collection of “Bite Sized Archie” is set for released on comiXology on June 2, with a preview available here.
– The co-founder and CEO of BOOM! Studios, Ross Richie, was appointed to the Board of Directors in the role of Chairman of the Board. Richie will take over from Scott Lenet, who is leaving the role after serving the publisher for ten years. This new role will see Richie leaving behind his involvement in the daily activities of the publisher, and instead focus on “targeting new business activities and arrangements to take the company to its next stage.” The management team will continue in its current form, with no roles changing hands in Richie’s absence.
Continued below– Deadline reported that Freddie Stroma will be replacing Chris Conrad in the role of Adrian Chase/Vigilante in the upcoming The Suicide Squad spin-off series, Peacemaker. Conrad departed the role as a result of creative differences. In the comics, Chase was a New York City DA who began working outside of the law after the murder of his wife and children. Peacemaker will star John Cena in the titular role, with James Gunn, the individual behind the new Suicide Squad film, writing all eight episodes, and directing a selection of the series as well. Peacemaker is set to debut early next year on HBO Max, whilst The Suicide Squad is scheduled for August 6.
– Scholastic announced a collaboration with Salt & Straw Ice Cream, which will see five new flavors added to the latter’s menu, with each flavor inspired by one of their publications, including three with graphic novel connections. Shannon Wright and Varian Johnson’s “Twins” has inspired ‘A Matching Pear w/ Twinnamon Swirl;’ ‘Fruit of the Gadoba Tree’ is named after the fictional fruit that features in Kazu Kibuishi’s “Amulet” series; and ‘Words & Pictures’ was inspired by Raina Telgemeier (“Smile,” “Guts”)’s working environment, with yellow and pink almond-infused sponge cake and stracciatella representing the pencil shavings, and the vanilla ice cream representing the sketchpad. All five of the flavors are available now until July 1. The full details can be found at The Beat.
– Finally, the man who voiced Spider-Man in the character’s animated series in the late ’60s, Paul Soles, died at the age of 90. Soles’s work on Marvel animated series started in 1966 with The Marvel Super Heroes, where he voiced Bruce Banner, Attuma, and Rick Jones, with his starring role on Spider-Man starting in 1967. His most recent Marvel-related involvement came through his portrayal of Stanley in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. Soles is survived by Ruth-Ellen, his sister; Jean, his wife; Jonathan, his son; and Jonathan’s family.
