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.
– Via The Hollywood Reporter, AHOY is dedicating a whole day to one of its superheroes. June 16th will officially be Dragonflyman Day and coincides with the publisher’s release of the collected edition of the 2019 series “Dragonflyman.” Originally debuting in “The Wrong Earth” mini-series, there are actually two versions of the character from alternate Earths — Earth Alpha and Earth Omega, where he is known as The Dragonfly. Both versions of the character were given subsequent series at AHOY Comics. The collected edition of “Dragonflyman” will be available for purchase on June 16, 2020.
– The Beat also reported that AHOY Comics announced a change in their release schedules, as well as a format change for one of their titles in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their inaugural series, Stuart Moore, June Brigman, and Roy Richardson’s “Captain Ginger,” will complete the rest of its run digitally. Each digital issue will also include a bonus digital issue of another AHOY title to sample. AHOY’s updated schedule also included Mariah McCourt, Soo Lee, and Pippa Bowland’s “Ash and Thorn,” as well as Mark Russell and Steve Pugh’s “Billionaire Island.”
– From NBC, “El Peso Hero” creator Héctor Rodríguez has put out a special issue in light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The issue sees “El Peso Hero” taking a back seat to a nurse who is bringing masks to to agricultural workers. Rodríguez said that when fans asked him to put out a special issue during the pandemic, he knew he wanted to focus on the thousands of invisible workers. “Very few stories focus on the people who are feeding us,” the writer was quoted as saying, adding that “many undocumented Latinos are the glue that holds America together.”
– Gail Simone announced on Twitter that she is auctioning off art from George Perez’s final “Wonder Woman” story, and will be donating the proceeds to the Black Lives Matter movement. The Beat reported that the pages were taken from the story ‘Valedictorian,’ as seen in the anniversary issue “Wonder Woman” #600. Drawn as his farewell to the character, Perez had personally requested Simone write the story. Simone also challenged other creators to follow suit, and you can check out other auctions for the BLM movement at the hashtag #ComicWritersChallenge.
– Beginning June 17, several Image Comics will feature a “Back The Comeback” logo to show support for local comic book and game stores reopening. The effort to raise money and awareness for local stores and their customers centers around “Our comeback will be bigger than our setback.” Both “Family Tree” #6 and “Gideon Falls” #22 will get covers sporting the new logo. You can check those covers out here.
– In more COVID-related news, Comicbook.com reported that Denver Pop Culture Con has been cancelled this year in the wake of the pandemic. The event has been rescheduled for next year, taking place on May 14-16.
– Newsarama reported that, due to the unrest after George Floyd’s murder, Hero Initiative will be postponing several live scheduled events, and won’t be announcing any new events at the moment. The charity, which has been dedicated to helping comic book creators in medical or financial need, has been offering live events such as Q&A’s and tutorials as a way of generating revenue.
– From Fad Magazine, a new graphic novel is being released on the life of cult artist Yayoi Kusama. “Kusama: A Graphic Biography,” by Elisa Macellari, is the third book in Laurence King’s Graphic Lives Series, and will be released in September 2020.
– From Broken Frontier, you can now check out “The Promise,” a collection of webcomics from BA and MA students at Falmouth University. While the project began before the current pandemic, some of the later works contain reflections on life during COVID-19, while others are purely imaginative.
– The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker second unit director, Victoria Mahoney, is in talks to make her big-studio directorial debut on Kill Them All, Paramount’s adaptation of the graphic novel by Kyle Starks and Luigi Anderson. The 2017 graphic novel, published by Oni Press, followed a vengeful murderess and a hard drinking former cop teaming up “to fight their way through fifteen flights of criminals, assassins, drug lords, murderers, yup, even accountants.” The film is set to be produced by Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec, and is being written by James Coyne.
