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, the Eisner Award nominations, honoring the best comics published in 2020, have been announced.
– Tor Nightfire has announced the new graphic novel “Where Black Stars Rise” from Nadia Shammas and Marie Engler. Billed as an “eldritch horror graphic novel that explores mental illness,” the story reimagines Robert Chambers’s classic supernatural book The King in Yellow in a modern-day Brooklyn setting. The graphic novel follows Dr. Amal Robardin, a therapist who has recently immigrated from Beirut. When one of her patients, a schizophrenic who experiences night terrors of a looming figure that appears closer each night, disappears, Amal’s attempts to find her patient bring her into the realm of the King in Yellow. Nightfire is set to publish “Where Black Stars Rise” on August 2, 2022.
– The Louisiana cryptid the Grunch is taking some time off from stomping around the bayou to explore a new home – Heavy Metal. Via Newsarama, the upcoming horror comic “Intrusion” from writer Ethan Sacks and artist Marco Lorenzana finds a group of Louisiana settlers running afoul of their new neighbor in the swamp next door. The book follows a French Acadian family named the Broussards, as they migrate from Canada and settle in a plot of unwanted land that’s said to be cursed by the locals. The 36-page story is told in a flipbook format, with half of the story featuring the viewpoint of the family, and the other half featuring the monster’s point of view. “Intrusion” drops on September 22.
– Artist Shangomola Edunjobi has launched the new fantasy webcomic “Dragondown” on Instagram. Via Broken Frontier, who named Edunjobi as one of their Six to Watch artists in 2020, “Dragondown” follows a boy who dedicates himself to slaying the dragon that terrorizes his town. The first chapter of the story is available here.
– Netflix’s Geeked Week continues to provide details on some of the streamer’s highly anticipated nerdy properties and adaptations. Via IGN, yesterday’s announcements included a table read with the cast of Lucifer and new tidbits from the upcoming fourth season of Stranger Things. The latter show has added four new members to the cast: Amybeth McNulty (Anne with an E) as the young band nerd and romantic interest Vickie; Myles Truitt (Black Lightning, Queen Sugar) as the Hawkins basketball star Patrick; Regina Ting Chen (Queen of the South) as the school guidance counselor Ms. Kelly; and Grace Van Dien as Hawkins High’s lead cheerleader Chrissy. Season 4 of Stranger Things doesn’t have a release date yet, but in the meantime you revisit season 1 and check out our Summer TV Binge of Stranger Things.
– In addition to the Stranger Things casting announcements, Netflix also unveiled a scripted podcast prequel series. Rebel Robin: Surviving Hawkins hails from Lauren Shippen (The Bright Sessions, Marvels) and follows season 3 breakout Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke). The six-episode podcast will serve as a companion to the novel Rebel Robin by A.R. Capetta. The podcast premieres June 29.
– The newsletter platform Substack has hired “Captain America” and “Amazing Spider-Man” writer Nick Spencer to launch a new comics imprint. According to a report from Business Insider (summed up by Bleeding Cool), Substack aims to offer a “new revenue model” that draws from typical book publishing deals, offering creators an advance and a percentage of subscription fees after the first year. The company approached Spencer to act as a sort of ambassador for the program, to help bring in more names from the comic world. No details have been made available yet about the imprint’s branding or the date it is expected to roll out.
– Via Geektown, the UK premiere of season 2 of the animated series Harley Quinn has been announced by E4. Season 2, which premiered in the US in early 2020 on the now-defunct streaming service DC Universe before moving over to HBO Max later that year, finds Harley and her crew clashing with a new Injustice League for control of a ruined Gotham after the destructive season 1 finale. Harley Quinn season 2 hits E4 on Monday, June 21 at 10:30 pm.
