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, we have an exclusive preview of ”Star Wars: Doctor Aphra” #34, and Mad Cave is partnering with King Features to produce new Flash Gordon comics. We also spoke to Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt about the upcoming return of “The Sixth Gun.”
– Federico Fellini’s unproduced script Napoli-New York will be adapted into a graphic novel, just as it’s finally being produced as a feature film. The comic adaptation will be released through Arancia Studio, with French comic writer Jean-David Morvian adapting the script, and art from Italy’s Ste Tirasso. The original story, co-written by Opium Den writer Tullio Pinelli, was one of the last pieces from the legendary Italian director. Set shortly after World War II, it follows two children (Celestina and Carmine) who leave what’s left of their home in Naples for America, searching for Celestina’s sister. The book will be available in 2024, while filming on the movie version, directed by Gabriele Salvatores, is currently underway.
– Writer Scott Snyder and artist Hayden Sherman are teaming up again for a new installment of “Dark Spaces.” Due out October 11, “Dark Spaces: Dungeon” follows a father who moves from New York City to the secluded woods of New Hampshire, only to discover a dungeon under his new home. It comes complete with weapons, torture devices, and a message on the wall reading “TELL NO ONE.” The next “Dark Spaces” series, Jeremy Lambert and Claire Roe’s “Dark Spaces: Hollywood,” will begin in the meantime on August 16, while Che Grayson and Kelsey Ramsay’s “Dark Spaces: Good Deeds” will conclude with issue #6 in November.
– Curt Pires will write a trio of new comiXology Originals, all three of which will begin Tuesday, July 18. The three series are “Money,” “Simulation. Theory,” and the second season of “Lost Falls.” Artist Luca Casalanguida joins Pires for the conspiracy thriller “Money,” which tells the story of five wealthy families that secretly control the planet, the meetings they have every ten years, and the end of the world. “Simulation. Theory” features art from Darryl Knickrehm, and follows a woman who uploads her consciousness into a “Nu Life” metaverse avatar. “Lost Falls: Season 2” continues the story of the amnesiac detective, and the mysterious town he seems to have washed up in, with Pierluigi Minotti returning to provide art. While they can be purchased individually, all three are also free to comixology Unlimited, Kindle Unlimited and Prime Reading subscribers.
– Production of Deadpool 3 may not be affected by the SAG-AFTRA strike, which was declared effective immediately from midnight last night. In a statement from UK-based performer union Equity, the organization spoke out against the “draconian” industrial relations legislation in the country, saying “The regrettable consequence of this framework is that what artists working in the United Kingdom – whether SAG-AFTRA and/or Equity members (or both) – can do, may be different from their comrades in the United States and other parts of the world.” Deadpool 3 is currently filming at Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire. Equity did wish victory to SAG-AFTRA, pledging to organize demonstrations in support for the American union in the coming weeks.
– Three Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonists have been laid off from McClatchy newspapers on Tuesday. These cartoonists were Jack Ohman (who won the prize in 2016) of The Sacramento Bee, the Lexington Herald-Leader’s Joel Pett (2000), and Kevin Siers (2014) from The Charlotte Observer. While Ohman and Siers have been relieved of duty, Pett says his last day will be later this month. No full-time editorial cartoonist has won the award since 2017. McClatchy says their papers will no longer print editorial cartoons.
– Oni Press released a preview of writer Tony Lee and artist Yishan Li’s multiversal epic “Army of One.” The graphic novel follows teenager Carrie Taylor, who learns she’s one of several shards of Sister Fortune scattered throughout parallel realities, and a great evil is coming to destroy them all. The book was first announced by Lion Forge Comics in 2019, shortly before its merger with Oni Press later that year. “Army of One” is due out March 5, 2024.
Continued below– Steve Niles and Piotr Kowalski’s newly announced horror graphic novel “Satan’s Swarm” can be best described as Jurassic Park meets Arachnophobia. It sees entomologists, young influencers, and a reporter get invited to a coastal research facility, only to find themselves at the mercy of a killer swarm of insects. It will be available from Dark Horse Books on April 2, 2024 (for bookstores) and April 3, 2024 (for comics shops).
– Archie Comics will examine the dark secrets that lurk just under the surface of its iconic setting in “Welcome to Riverdale.” Amy Chase and Liana Kangas will write and draw the horror one-shot, following new resident Ginger Snapp as she begins to suspect something sinister behind her overly friendly new home. It’s due out October 11, 2023.
– In TV news, Amazon Prime Video revealed in a preview of its fall releases that The Boys spin-off Gen V will premiere sometime in September. The series, starring Jaz Sinclair, follows trainee supes at a college run by Vought International. Netflix also released a trailer for The Witcher season three, volume two. The last three episodes of the season (and to star Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia) will release on July 27.
– Finally, the Hungarian government has hit national bookseller Lira Konyv with 12 million forints ($35,930) for selling Alice Oseman’s “Heartstopper” in its youth literature section. Under the 2021 “child protection” law, LGBTQ+ content is forbidden from being featured in media aimed at minors, including education settings. Books like “Heartstopper,” if displayed at all, must be in closed packaging. The fine came just before this weekend’s Budapest Pride march.
