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 will publish “Aquaman/Green Arrow: Deep Target.”
– Tom King (“Mister Miracle,” “Sheriff of Babylon”) and Greg Smallwood (“Moon Knight,” “Vampironica”) have announced they will be collaborating on the DC Black Label miniseries “Human Target,” starring private eye Christopher Chance. The cover by Smallwood suggests that the character will be evading the Justice League International, a super-team from the 1980s created by J. M. DeMatteis, Keith Giffen and Kevin Maguire, whose series Tom King has previously cited as a major influence on his work and outlook. Human Target was created by Len Wein, Carmine Infantino, and Dick Giordano in 1972 as a PI/bodyguard who masquerades as his clients to lure away anyone looking to harm them. More information on the title will be available in DC’s upcoming October 2021 solicitations.
– “Strange Academy” will tie into “The Death of Doctor Strange” this fall with “Strange Academy Presents: The Death of Doctor Strange” #1. The one-shot will be written by series writer Skottie Young (“Deadpool, “Middlewest”), with art by Mike Del Mundo (“Thor,” “Weirdworld”), and a cover from series artist Humberto Ramos. The one-shot will follow Asgardian brothers Iric and Alvi after the school closes due to the death of its headmaster. The two return home to their mother, Amora the Enchantress, and realize their part in her nefarious plans. “Strange Academy Presents: The Death of Doctor Strange” #1 releases October 2021.
– John Ridley and Juann Cabal’s upcoming “Black Panther” series has been delayed for three months with a new expected release date of November 3. No reason was provided for the delay, but it continues a string of setbacks for the character, following repeated hiatus and delays for the end of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Daniel Acuna’s “Black Panther” series, ‘The Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda.’ Coates and Acuna’s run suffered an 11-month gap between issues #22 and #23, and a further 3-month gap between #24 and the finale, issue #25. Ridley and Cabal’s “Black Panther” #2 will also release December 1.
– Viz Media have released a slew of new manga announcements, with English translations of “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba–Stories of Water and Flame,” “Alice in Borderland,” “Deadpool: Samurai” and “Came the Mirror & Other Tales” all releasing in Spring 2022. “Stories of Water and Flame” is a wholly new manga spinning out of “Demon Slayer,” with no creators announced as of yet except for a cover by “Demon Slayer” creator Koyoharu Gotouge. “Alice in Borderland” was originally published from November 2010 to March 2015 by Haro Aso; this new edition comes after the release of Netflix’s live-action adaptation of the manga. “Deadpool: Samurai” originally ran for eight chapters, beginning in December 2020, and sees Wade Wilson move to Tokyo, giving his usual misadventures a shonen twist. Finally, “Came the Mirror & Other Tales” will collect short stories by prolific creator Rumiko Takahashi, including an autobiographical account of her history with manga.
– In more “Demon Slayer” news, Ufotable Inc., the studio behind the Demon Slayer anime films and series, have been indicted for tax evasion by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office. The lawsuit was levied against Ufotable president Hikaru Kondo and his company for evading ¥137 million in tax between 2014 and 2018. Ufotable allegedly hid revenue accrued at their chain of cafes and restaurants, using the hidden profits to fund and enrichen the company. The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau originally filed the motion against Ufotable in February.
– ICv2 released a report last week on the increasingly apparent manga shortage in North America brought on by the pandemic. Due to a lack of English-language printings, strained delivery services, and a massive spike in readership, many comic stores and retailers are struggling to restock titles, with most major series and concluded titles sold out at the publisher level. The article specifically cited some of the most popular concluded titles like “Demon Slayer,” “Chainsaw Man,” and “Attack on Titan.” “There are two key reasons why this is happening now,” Yen Press publisher Kurt Hassler told ICv2. “The first is that printers have been struggling with capacity issues for some time, an issue that is not limited to just the manga market. Over the past two to three years, we’ve seen our printing lead time increasing steadily and substantially. This has been compounded by the dramatic increase in manga sales this year, with large orders from key accounts depleting inventory levels that would historically have been sufficient for a year or longer.” Manga sales were the highest they have ever been in 2020, reaching almost US$250 million in value.
Continued below– Through TVLine, DC have released a first look at Tim Drake from Titans season 3. The newest Robin, played by I May Destroy You‘s Jay Lycurgo, will follow the character’s classic origin, using his natural detective skills and intellect to deduce the identity of Batman and his prior Robins. Lycurgo also has a role in Matt Reeves’s The Batman, releasing in March 2022. In season 3 he will be joined by fellow newcomers Savannah Welch as Barbara Gordon and Vincent Kartheiser as Scarecrow. The first three episodes of the third season will premiere August 12, with the series releasing weekly going forward.
– “Aztlán,” Eduardo Ancer and Pablo Polanco’s Mesoamerican fantasy graphic novel series, is being adapted to TV by actor Wilmer Valderrama for CBS. The comic was originally published through Kickstarter in 2017, with a second book releasing in 2020 and a third on the way. It tells the story of the end of the world, adapting the legend of the Five Suns to comics. Valderrama, who is best known for his role in That ’70s Show, has previously worked as a producer, and will executive produce Aztlán alongside Kaitlin Saltzman through his company WV Entertainment. The series is currently searching for a writer as a part of its pre-production process.
– Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy, the respective writer/director and producer behind The Haunting of Hill House and Doctor Sleep, are reteaming for a Netflix TV adaptation of Something is Killing the Children. The horror comic by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera tells the story of monster hunter Erica Slaughter, as she protects the world from monsters only children can see. Published by BOOM! Studios, the comic is one of the most recent series to win an Eisner, Harvey and Ringo Award in the same year. Flanagan and Macy will serve as co-executive producers and co-writers for the pilot episode under their Intrepid Pictures label. Flanagan will be directing the pilot, and should the show be greenlit for a full season, both he and Macy will serve as showrunners. They will be working alongside a ring of other executive producers including Tynion, Dell’Edera, Intrepid’s Adam Fasullo, and BOOM!’s Stephen Christy, Ross Richie and Mark Ambrose.
– Finally, Black Widow broke a box office record on Thursday, enjoying the highest grossing domestic preview night since the start of the pandemic, with sales reaching US$13.2 million. So far it has earned $22.4 million in its opening weekend, with many countries still waiting for suitable conditions in which to open theaters and screen the movie.
