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, Dark Horse announced “Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: Long Night at Goloski Station” by Mike Mignola, Matt Smith and Dave Stewart; Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch are reuniting for “The Batman’s Grave”; and Max Bemis, Matt Gaudio and Ruairí Coleman will be working on a new “Black Terror” series. The San Diego Comic-Con announcements kept on coming throughout the day, with Awesome Media & Entertainment announcing a new graphic novel studio and its first titles; IDW revealed that Rio Youers and Alison Sampson will be adapting Stephen and Owen King’s “Sleeping Beauties” into a comic book miniseries; and Marvel announced a new Ghost Rider series and more.
– In a press release, Dynamite teased a brand new “James Bond” series, with the creative team consisting of writers Vita Ayala and Danny Lore and artist Eric Gapstur. They also revealed that the new series will feature a number of connecting covers by Jim Cheung and feature “ongoing missions.” Gapstur illustrates the current main Bond series at Dynamite, written by Greg Pak. The new “James Bond” #1 is set for release in December, with more details about the series set to be released soon.
– DC Comics announced a new Year of the Villain one-shot, “Black Adam: Year of the Villain” #1 by writer Paul Jenkins and artist Inaki Miranda, with a cover by John Romita Jr. and Klaus Janson. The one-shot will see Black Adam defending his kingdom from Shazam!, who has been infected by the Batman Who Laughs. DC’s ‘Year of the Villain’ celebrations were announced earlier this year and started in May with “DC’s Year of the Villain Special” #1. “Black Adam: Year of the Villain” #1 will be released on October 23.
– Image Comics have teased “Dead Eyes,” by writer Gerry Duggan and artist John McCrea, stating that “You can’t keep a good comic down.” This teaser line refers to the pair’s comic series, “Dead Rabbit,” which had its first two issues published under the name before being cancelled and recalled in November after a potential trademark battle was noticed (the series and character name was shared with that of a bar in New York). John McCrea stated that “Dead Eyes” will be launching in October, with a specific release date, as well as further details about the series likely to be discussed later this week at San Diego Comic Con.
– Artist Rebecca Mock (“Compass South”) released a short comic depicting her experience growing up watching anime to accompany an article about the upcoming live action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop for Thrillest. In the comic, Mock expresses how when she started watching the series she learnt the “power of anime” was that it could tell a “completely unique story.” Netflix are currently remaking the anime series with John Cho, Mustafa Shakir, Daniella Pineda, and Alex Hassell all cast in lead roles. A release date for the series is yet to be announced.
– The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Taika Waititi will be returning to write and direct the follow-up to Thor: Ragnarok. However, as a result of Waititi being attached to the Thor sequel, the development of the long-awaited live-action adaptation of manga series “Akira” has been put on pause indefinitely. The “Akira” adaptation was set to be released on May 21, 2021, but the production dates for the projects were considered too close. Currently, Waititi remains attached to the “Akira” adaptation, which Warner Bros. hopes he will return to following his work on the Marvel sequel. There is no release date for Thor 4, although Marvel have previously announced films for May 7, and November 5, 2021.
– Niantic announced a new “One Piece” themed event for Pokemon Go. For those who aren’t acquainted with “One Piece,” it is an ongoing manga series by Eiichiro Oda, that follows Monkey D. Luffy as he searches for the One Piece in order to become the next Pirate King. The Pokemon Go event will see Pikachu wearing a straw hat, like the lead character and his crew in “One Piece,” spawning. In addition to this, “One Piece” statues will be installed in the Kumamoto Prefecture, in Kumamoto, Japan, and double as an in-game Pokestop where players will be able to obtain Luffy’s straw hat for their avatars. This event is part of an ongoing campaign to aid the reconstruction of Kumamoto City, which was hit by an earthquake in 2016. The event will run from Monday, July 22 until Monday, July 29.
– 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment announced that X-Men: Dark Phoenix will be released on Digital on September 3, with the 4K Ultra HD, Blu-Ray and DVD releases following on September 17. The home release will also have a host of special features, including a short feature with Beast (Nicholas Hoult) teaching “How to Fly Your Jet to Space,” and five deleted scenes. You can see the full list of special features, and a clip from “How to Fly Your Jet to Space” here.
– Indie-pop musician Ingrid Michaelson released a new lyric video for “Missing You,” which features artwork by Kevin Wada (“Iceman”). In an interview with Pride, Michaelson described how she wanted the artwork in the video to present the main character with an ambiguous gender in order for it “to be open to interpretation in terms of sexuality,” and described Wada as an “amazing artist [that] truly brought the song into its own world.” “Missing You” is taken from Michaelson’s latest album, Stranger Songs, which is inspired by Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things.
