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, Iman Vellani is co-writing Kamala Khan’s return in “Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant,” while IDW announced John Ridley and Stefano Raffaele’s sci-fi actioner “The Ministry of Compliance.”
– Dark Horse announced “The Midnite Show,” a four-issue horror adventure by “The Sixth Gun” writer Cullen Bunn, artist Brian Hurtt, and colorist Bill Crabtree, plus letterer Jim Campbell. The book follows a group of horror fans who attend a screening of a long-lost movie, when “classic horror monsters manifest to wreak havoc and terror on the unsuspecting populace.” Bunn describes the book as a homage to Universal Pictures’ 1930s-40s horror film universe, saying, “Brian and I didn’t just throw a group of random monsters together for this book. We created a detailed history for them, a detailed history of Midnite Studios. In many ways, we’ve created a new horror universe within a horror universe!” Issue #1 releases October 4.
– Coincidentally, Robert Kirkman and Universal aren’t done with the studio’s classic monsters after Renfield (which originated as a Kirkman pitch): the writer’s imprint, Skybound, revealed a line of ‘Universal Monsters’ comics, beginning with a four-part adaptation of the 1931 Dracula film by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds (the team behind the Eisner-nominated “The Department of Truth”). The line will presumably help Universal hold onto their trademarks for the films, which are set to begin entering the public domain in 2027. The first issue of “Universal Monsters: Dracula” will be released by Skybound and Image Comics on October 25.
– In further licensing news, Mad Cave acquired the rights to Gatchaman, aka Battle of the Planets. A futuristic Japanese cartoon created by Tatsuo Yoshida in 1972, Gatchman revolves around a superhero ninja team fighting a terrorist organization trying to control Earth’s natural resources. It will mark the series’ third comic, following Gold Key’s 1979 “Battle of the Planets” run, and Top Cow’s 2002-05 series, as well as the first based directly on the original Japanese version. More details on the new iteration, which will begin in 2024, will be announced at a later date.
– BOOM! Studios will publish “Slow Burn,” a thriller written by Ollie Masters (“The Kitchen,” “Old Haunts”) with art by Pierluigi Minotti (“Lost Falls”). The book follows a junkie, her dying partner, and an old man with dementia laying low in a deserted mining town after a botched robbery in New York. “Obscured by the caustic vapors spewed forth from a still burning coal-seam fire from the 1960s, Trier seems like the perfect place for the trio to lay low, maybe score a fix, and potentially take a hostage. But this ghost town might prove more lively than any of them think.” Issue #1 releases October 25.
– A documentary about British artist Dean Ormston, titled Dean Ormston: Working Class Superhero, will premiere online at 6:45pm UK time on Thursday, June 20, before a screening and panel at San Diego Comic-Con at 5:10pm local time. The 40 min film, which was directed by Paul Ross and crowdfunded via Kickstarter, follows the co-creator of “Black Hammer” during his recovery from a brain injury that left him unable to draw. You can watch the first four minutes here in the meantime.
– The SAG-AFTRA strike has shut down production on multiple projects, including those that might’ve been rendered exempt by UK anti-trade union laws, like Deadpool 3, Venom 3, and The Sandman season two. They had all begun filming in the UK during the past two months, and without their writers thanks to the WGA strike. All three were expected to be released next year, with Marvel Studios having ironically moved up Deadpool 3 to May 3, while delaying Captain America: Brave New World — which has finished filming — to July 26, 2024.
– Hayao Miyazaki’s final film has been acquired by distributor GKIDS, and retitled The Boy and the Heron for its Stateside release. The film was released under the title Kimitachi wa Do Ikiruka (lit. How Do You Live?) in Japan last week, where no information or promotional material other than a poster was released before it bowed in theaters. “In keeping with this policy, GKIDS will not release any further details or marketing materials at this time.” The movie will arrive in North American theaters sometime later this year.
Continued below– To mark Bastille Day, AMC announced The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon will premiere on Sunday, September 10 at 9pm ET/PT. The six-episode series follows Norman Reedus’s character after he washes ashore in post-apocalyptic France, and will also star Clémence Poésy and Adam Nagaitis. In the meantime, The Walking Dead: Dead City, which follows Maggie and Negan after the events of the original show, will conclude with its sixth episode on July 23.
– Ms. Marvel will become the first Marvel Disney+ series to air on broadcast TV. Disney announced the first three episodes will air in a three-hour block on ABC on Saturday, August 5, starting at 8pm ET/PT, while the next three will air the same time the following week on August 12. The decision will give Iman Vellani’s MCU heroine greater exposure following the series’ three Emmy nominations last week, and before the release of The Marvels on November 10. The news prompted series co-producer/writer A.C. Bradley to comment that she hoped it would lead to all of the show’s staff receiving network residuals.
– Lastly, if you need further reminders of why the WGA and SAG-ATRA are on strike, Daredevil season one showrunner Steven DeKnight tweeted part of his deal with Netflix meant he would receive royalties from the show, and that he is now part of an audit looking into what he is owed after it was moved from there to Disney+. Likewise, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law writer Cody Ziglar shared his residual check from his episode was only $396, while Snowpiercer cast member Lena Hall stated the show’s regulars were asked to do full body scans and emotion capture, without “ever telling us the real reason why. NOW I know why and it’s really disturbing because I didn’t consent.”
