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.
– Dark Horse Comics unveiled the Mike Mignola-drawn covers for five upcoming Mignolaverse collected editions releasing between November 2022 and January 2023. These included the latest collections for the ongoing “Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.” series, “Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Return of Effie Kolb and Others,” which will collect the title story and more, and “Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1957,” which collects all five of the one-shots released under the title, such as ‘Family Ties’ and ‘Forgotten Lives.’ Across both collections, the stories play host to a wealth of creators including Matt Smith, Laurence Campbell, and Adam Hughes. Rounding out the cover announcement were the covers for the “Our Encounters with Evil Library Edition” hardcover, the comprehensive “Hellboy: Weird Tales” trade paperback, and the third volume in the “B.P.R.D.” Omnibus series. You can check out all of the covers and full details for all of the collections here.
– Publishers Weekly reported on three graphic novel deals this week. Firstly, HarperAlley acquired a graphic novel adaptation of the Webtoon series, “Encore!,” by its creator Miles Burks (theonlycaliroll), which will follow the journey of two former best friends as they are brought together again in a theater class, only for their old emotions to conflict with their burgeoning new ones.
Next, Astra/Calkins Creek became the home of an untitled graphic memoir by writer Raymond Santana, one of the Exonerated Central Park Five, and artist Keith Henry Brown; while Lerner/Graphic Universe bought a pair of nonfiction graphic novels by Ernesto Saade, “Just Another Story” and “Red Stones.” These will respectively depict the story of Saade’s cousin’s migration from El Savador to the US, and the first years of the Salvadoran Civil War, from the perspective of a 13-year old messenger. Three of the graphic novels are set for 2024: “Just Another Story” will debut first in the spring, “Encore!” in the summer, and then Raymond Santana’s graphic memoir in the fall, whilst “Red Stones” is scheduled for Fall 2025.
– Connor Goldsmith, literary agent and host of the X-Men podcast, Cerebro, revealed that he has written an essay for the upcoming “Marvel’s Voices: Pride” trade paperback. The essay, which has not had its title revealed, reflects on Goldsmith’s experiences reading Chris Claremont’s X-Men stories “as a closeted gay kid in the 90s,” and “about Mystique and Destiny, Rachel Summers, and the unexpected joy of seeing the gay subtext I held so dear as a child slowly becoming text.” Further non-comic accompanying materials to be included in the collected edition have not been detailed, with the collection currently set to include “Marvel’s Voices: Pride” #1 (2021), “King in Black: Wiccan and Hulkling” #1, unspecified selected material from “Marvel’s Voices” #1 (2020), and “United States of Captain America” #1. “Marvel’s Voices: Pride” TPB is scheduled for release on Wednesday, June 15.
– Comic-Con International announced the nominees for the 2022 Russ Manning Award, which is given to an artist “who, early in his or her career, shows a superior knowledge and ability in the art of creating comics.” The five nominees are Matthew Clarke, the co-creator and artist of “Hardears;” the co-creator and artist of “Inkblot,” Emma Kubert; Meredith Laxton, the artist for “MPLS Sound;” the “Bolero” artist, Luana Vecchio; and Audra Winslow, the writer and artist behind “Jo & Rus.” The nominees were selected by a group of Comic-Con International board and committee members, and a local comics retailer, with the winner set to be selected by previous winners of the award, and Russ Manning’s surviving assistants. The winner will be awarded as part of the Eisner Awards Ceremony at SDCC on July 22.
– Amazon Prime Video renewed The Boys for a fourth season, a week after the debut of its third. The series, based on the comics by writer Garth Ennis and artist Darick Robertson, has continued to grow in viewership, with Amazon stating that the series’s audience has expanded by 17% compared to Season 2, and a 234% increase compared to Season 1 (based on the statistics for the third season’s first three days, when compared with the previous series’s respective comparable periods). The series continues to air weekly on Fridays on the streaming platform.
Continued below– The upcoming sequel to Netflix’s The Old Guard, currently titled The Old Guard 2, gained new cast members in the shape of Uma Thurman and Henry Golding. Like the film’s plot details, both actors’ roles are not yet known. Victoria Mahoney will be taking the directorial reigns from Gina Prince-Bythewood, whilst the original’s stars, such as Charlize Theron, are set to return. Greg Rucka, the writer of the synonymous source material comic series, has provided the screenplay for the sequel, as he did the first, whilst the comic’s artist, Leandro Fernández’s involvement has not yet been confirmed. Filming on the sequel is due to begin shortly in Rome.
– In celebration of Spider-Man’s 60th anniversary, Spider-Man: No Way Home: The More Fun Stuff Version is set to debut in theaters in the US and Canada on September 2. Specific details as to what the new version of the film will include have not been announced, nor has the impact on the film’s runtime despite the version seemingly being an extended cut of the film. With deleted scenes that were previously advertised for the home release of the film not arriving with it, it is possible that these scenes will be included in the theatrical re-release. Tickets are scheduled to be released on August 9, with details regarding the More Fun Stuff Version‘s release in other countries arriving in due course. You can check out the short announcement clip here.
– Ben Barnes, who portrays General Kirigan in Shadow & Bone, will be narrating the audiobook adaptation of “Demon in the Wood,” the first Grishaverse graphic novel, it was revealed. Barnes will lead a full cast of voice actors. Based on a short story by Leigh Bardugo, writer Kyla Vanderklugt and artist Dani Pendergast’s “Demon in the Wood” will chronicle the life of “a lonely boy burdened by an extraordinary power” prior to his taking of the name Kirigan. The graphic novel and its audiobook adaptation are scheduled for release on September 27.
– Finally, The Beat spoke to writer Karama Horne and writer/artist Shawn Martinbrough about the exhibition they have curated for the Society of Illustrators, The Artist’s Experience: From Brotherman to Batman. The aim of the exhibition is to spotlight Black comic book creators, and “provide an exclusive look into their creative processes,” Martinbrough said, with Horne adding, “It was very hard to narrow down the list, but the artists featured have either won awards for their illustrations or have created groundbreaking artwork which deserves to be recognized.” Artists included in the line-up are Dawud Anyabwile, Denys Cowan, and Afua Richardson. The Artist’s Experience: From Brotherman to Batman opens on June 15 and runs until October 29.
