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 Comics have announced three “Dark Nights: Death Metal” one-shots that spin out of Snyder and Capullo’s mini-series, releasing this September. We also have interviews with Daniel Freedman and Crom about their new Dark Horse graphic novel, “Raiders,” and Tommy Jenkins and Kati Lacker about about their book, “Drawing the Vote: An Illustrated Guide to Voting.”
– Image Comics have announced that the popular, Eisner Award-nominated series “Middlewest,” by Skottie Young and Jorge Corona, will be coming to a conclusion this July with “Middlewest” #18. The synopsis states, “in ‘Middlewest’ #18, the missteps of the past meet an uncertain future as the roving monster that Dale has been confronts the ruinous behemoth that Abel has become.” The final issue will include a virgin variant cover, without trade dress, by Young. The issue will hit shelves on Wednesday, July 22. The final trade edition, “Middlewest” Vol. 3 will be available Wednesday, August 26, and in book stores on September 1.
– Vault announced the surprise early release of “Dark One,” the new fantasy graphic novel by author Brandon Sanderson, co-writers Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly, and artist Nathan Gooden. Pre-order the book within the next 15 days at Vault’s website, and you’ll receive a number of exclusives, including an invitation to a livestream Q&A event with Sanderson. The eBook copy of the novel will be released on June 26, while the hardcover version will begin shipping after August 17, 2020.
– Brian Michael Bendis has announced, on an episode of David Harper’s Off Panel podcast, that he is “heading toward the end” of his time on “Superman” and “Action Comics.” The episode was released early last week before being pulled but has since been reposted. A specific timeline on when Bendis will actually be leaving the titles has not yet been revealed. Bendis has been known to work far in advance on his scripts, which could mean we can see him on these titles for a few more months to come, but with the end in sight, we can see him start to wrap things up on his run. Listen to the full Off Panel podcast interview here.
– DC Comics have shared the covers to September’s “Batman” issues, along with a taste of what’s to come. ‘The Joker War’ kicks off in July with “Batman” #95, but the cover to “Batman” #98 features Harley Quinn as she “steps in to become Batman’s savior,” as Batman recovers from an experimental new Joker toxin. “Batman” #99 follows on September 15 and features Nightwing as he returns to Gotham City to help face The Joker. Both issues are written by James Tynion IV with art by Jorge Jiménez, and act as a prelude to “Batman” #100, which releases in October.
– Collider has confirmed that the DC Daily webseries has been canceled. A DC spokesperson shared that “this year has brought more challenges than the show could overcome.” The DC Daily cast had been recording episodes from their homes through video chat due to the pandemic. Because of the cancellation, there is continuing speculation that DC Universe may now become an exclusive comics platform, while HBO Max handles DC media content. The final episode of DC Daily will air on July 3.
– Lead animator, Nick Kondo, has reported via Twitter that he and his team have begun work on the highly anticipated sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The announcement serves as a sign that work in the movie industry, mostly for animated films, is kicking back up again after months of production shut-downs. No plot details have been released yet, but the film is still scheduled to hit theaters in October 2022. The sequel is directed by Joaquim Dos Santos and written by Dave Callaham, with Phil Lord and Chris Miller still on as producers.
– Finally, artist Alex Ross has called out Stargirl for not crediting his artwork as inspiration for a recent episode. The banners from the show that seem to take inspiration from Ross’s artwork are featured in episode 3, “Icicle.” The banners feature each member from the Justice Society of America and are seen hanging above each of their respective gear. It’s clear that the banners took direct inspiration from Ross’s cover art for the series “Justice Society of America,” which was written by Stargirl showrunner, Geoff Johns. A source has said that the team who created the banners based them off of Ross’s work, but the new banners are all photographs, and Ross’s art was not used in the show. Stargirl airs Mondays on DC Universe, and Tuesdays on The CW at 8 pm ET.
