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.
– IDW Publishing revealed “Kingdom Riders,” a young adult graphic novel by writer Shannon Eric Denton, artist Marcus To, colorist Luis Antonio Delgado, and letterer Andworld Design. The fantasy book revolves around the Kingdom Races, “an epic, dangerous race that brings riders from all across the kingdom to race on behalf of their homes, and their greatest wishes,” where they ride monsters, giant animals, and other bizarre steeds. Protagonist Kayla and her giant frog Grok enter the race “to save her friend Mal from a life of debt and servitude.” It will be released in May 2024.
– Dark Horse and clothing brand Portland Gear are teaming up for “Saint John,” a four-issue superhero series by writer/artist Dan Schkade, co-writer/colorist Brennan Wagner, and letterer Frank Cvetkovic. The book follows writer Tori Slate, who travels to Portland, Oregon, to uncover the identity of the mysterious hero Saint John. Marcus Harvey, the founder and owner of Portland Gear, conceived the project as a love letter to his hometown, describing Saint John as “an individual radiating positivity and dedicated to community building.” The first issue will be released on September 20.
– Vault revealed in their solicits that they will launch “Lone” on September 13. The supernatural middle-grade series, written with art by Angie Maria Hewitt, follows an eighth-grader who is the only one who realizes the lake in her town has disappeared. She and her best friend team up to solve the mystery, which deepens as more items in the town disappear. The comic was originally intended as a graphic novel for the children’s imprint Wonderbound, and its first issue will be 40 pages long.
– Oni Press acquired the rights to “Hey, Mary,” an LGBTQ+ coming-of-age story by writer Andrew Wheeler and artist Rye Hickman. The young adult graphic novel follows Mark, a gay, 16-year old Catholic struggling to reconcile his faith and sexuality. “Through conversations with his crush, his priest, and a friendly drag queen, along with imagined encounters with famous figures from history and scripture, Mark comes to a new understanding about his identity.” It will be released in the fall of 2025.
– Marvel launched a few Infinity Comics arcs, namely the six-part “Love Unlimited: Captain Marvel and War Machine” by Sean McKeever, Lorenzo Susi, and Pete Pantazis; “Marvel’s Voices: Runaways,” another six-parter starring Karolina Dean by Terry Blas, Bruno Oliveira, and Dee Cunniffe; and the four-part “X-Men Unlimited: Madrox Family & Fantastic Four Team-Up” by Jason Loo and Antonio Fabela. All are available to read now on Marvel Unlimited. The company also outlined this year’s three “Strange Academy” specials, revealing each issue will co-star Miles Morales, Moon Knight, and Peter Parker; they will be released respectively in August, September, and October.
– Vulture ran a report on the production of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, alleging poor management on the sequel, with animators saying they worked 11 hours, seven days a week to complete the film, while co-writer/producer Phil Lord continued to rewrite shots. Producer Amy Pascal responded dismissively, saying, “If the story isn’t right, you have to keep going until it is. I guess, ‘Welcome to making a movie.'” Tellingly, there are two subtly different versions of the film in theaters. The report also states nothing has been completed on the third film, Beyond the Spider-Verse, still due for release on March 29.
– In animated TV news, Warner Bros. announced Harley Quinn season four will premiere on Max on July 27; while Paramount canceled Star Trek: Prodigy. The latter, which was the first in the franchise to be aimed at children since the 1970s cartoon, was among several Paramount+ shows axed for tax write-offs last week. The nearly completed second season will be shopped to other platforms, while the first will be pulled from the streaming service; it will not be aired on Nickelodeon (the show’s broadcast home) either.
– Via Variety, several studios have preemptively canceled plans for San Diego Comic-Con as a result of the potential SAG-AFTRA strike, including Disney, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Netflix, and Sony. Warner Bros. is waiting to see how events shake out before announcing any panels, although HBO will not be holding any, while Paramount has one planned for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, but not confirmed any for Paramount+’s shows, including the Star Trek series. Amazon and NBC are similarly taking a wait-and-see approach, although Universal will not be attending. Schedules for the convention, held July 20-23, will be announced starting July 5.
Continued below– In awards news, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever won Best Film at the BET Awards, and Angela Bassett won Best Actress; while Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran’s graphic novel “Chivalry” won the 2023 Locus Award for Best Illustrated and Art Book. The book, based on Gaiman’s short story, follows an elderly widow who buys what turns out to be the Holy Grail. Head to the links to check out all the winners from both ceremonies.
– A movie spin-off of Spy x Family, titled Spy x Family Code: White, is set to be released in Japan on December 22. A teaser clip and visual for the anime film were released this weekend, revealing a new adventure for master spy Loid Forger, his fake wife and assassin Yor, adopted daughter and psychic Anya, and dog Bond. Tatsuya Endō, creator of the manga it is based on, is supervising the film, which has an original story. It will release shortly after the second season of the TV series premieres in October.
– In news we missed last month, shooting has begun on El Eternauta (The Eternaut), a Netflix series based on the classic Argentine comic by Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Francisco Solano López. The Spanish-language show will star Ricardo Darín (Argentina, 1985) as Juan Salvo, the survivor of a deadly snowstorm created by aliens to pave the way for an invasion. Filming is taking place in Buenos Aires under director Bruno Stagnaro, who wrote it with Ariel Staltari, while Martín M. Oesterheld, grandson of the comic’s writer, is also serving as a consultant on the series. The first season will consist of six episodes.
– Finally, readers may recall last month that a group called the Independent Comic Book Creators Association (ICBCA) was formed to help distribute self-published comics. However, when cosplayer Renfamous pointed out one of their founders, Phil Avelli, has had comics published by white supremacist Vox Day, its PR firm, Don’t Hide, “immediately severed” their contract with the group. The ICBCA’s website subsequently went dark, while ICv2 deleted their story on the group.
