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 spoke to Curt Pires about “Youth” #3, and announced the full lineups for our Summer Comics Binge and our Summer TV Binge.
– IDW Publishing detailed, via Previews World, a new two-part series called “Locke & Key: …In Pale Battalions Go…” by Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez, and Jay Fotos. The series will be set during World War I and tell the story of John Locke, son of Chamberlin Locke, who is too young to go to war, using the Keys to reach the battlefields in France. “Locke & Key: In Pale Battalions Go” #1 will be released on August 26.
– Marvel Comics announced a special ‘Empyre’ Previews Magazine that will act as a primer for the upcoming event. According to Marvel Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski, the magazine will provide “useful information and behind-the-scenes insight” into ‘Empyre,’ although, due to the magazine being produced before the COVID-19 outbreak, there will be some outdated information, such as “cool concepts and characters” that will not be seen elsewhere because “certain stories will no longer be tying in with the event.” Each comic book retailer will receive 25 complimentary copies of the magazine and can order more in batches of 25. The ‘Empyre’ Previews Magazine will release on July 1.
– Vault Comics rescheduled “Heavy” #1 for September 9, and “Hundred Wolves” #1 for September 16, following their delayed debuts as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Max Bemis and Eryk Donovan’s “Heavy” is a violent comedy about love and the transcendence of toxic masculinity; while Myke Cole and Tony Akins’s “Hundred Wolves” will see Cossacks Andrei and Oksana trying to leave their raiding life behind and raise their daughter, only for the Hundred Wolves and their new leige lord seeking to employ their skills.
– DC Comics announced updates regarding the releases of multiple series:
– Via press release, Tapas Media and Podium Audio announced a partnership to develop top Tapas titles into audiobooks. The companies had previously collaborated to adapt The Beginning After The End by TurtleMe into the audio format, with The Dragon Prince’s Bride by C.J. Young, Prince of Silk and Thorn and the Dragon Generals series by Maham Fatemi, Condemning the Heavens and Blue Phoenix by Tinalynge, and Legend of the Arch Magus by MSisa, all set for the audiobook treatment now. Release dates for the newly announced audiobooks were not given.
– Newsarama announced that the site will be joining the GamesRadar team from today. Newsarama Founder and Editor-in-Chief Michael Doran said “becoming part of the bigger GamesRadar site makes total sense from a content perspective” because of the “huge crossover between comics, videogames, film and TV,” and that it will be “giving us a massive boost in terms of audience reach.”
Continued below– The trailer for the fourth and final season of Attack on Titan was released, along with the announcement that Studio MAPPA are producing the season, and not Wit Studio, who were responsible for the previous three seasons. Studio MAPPA have previously worked on Hajime No Ippo, Inuyashiki, and Dorohedoro. The fourth season will tell the story of the final conflict between the people of Marley and Eldia, and is scheduled to start airing this Fall.
– TVLine reported that Tom Ellis, the star of Lucifer, has signed a new contract which will see him continue on the show, despite Netflix not formally announcing a new season of the show. Ellis has a deal in place for what would be the show’s sixth season, but it remains to be seen exactly how many seasons that Ellis is now contracted for. Lucifer aired for three seasons on Fox before it was cancelled and then picked up by Netflix. The fifth season has yet to air, and does not currently have a release date.
– The UK Government and health bodies approved of new coronavirus safety guidelines which will allow the TV and Film industry to resume production potentially as early as July. The new rules, which include guidance on physical distancing, safety training, and temperature tests, were devised by the British Film Commission and the British Film Institute, and will enable productions such as Warner Bros.’s The Batman and Netflix’s The Witcher to continue filming, if they choose to.
– Finally, veteran storyboard artist Jane Wu (Avengers, Thor: Ragnarok) announced plans to host online storyboarding workshops covering her process when working on a film. The description for the workshops state that Jane “will start with the scripts, show her roughs, revisions, pitch the scene and then show the final film for comparison.” The five-hour online workshop costs $120 and is scheduled to take place on June 6, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. PST. You can register for the workshop here.
