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 announced that “Birds of Prey” is relaunching this October, Image has a new supernatural series titled “Nomen Omen,” Dynamite has a new deal to release graphic novels of novelist F. Paul Wilson’s Repairman Jack character, and Aaron Mahnke’s popular Lore podcast is expanding into the comics world. Also, Dark Horse is releasing “Count Crowley: Reluctant Midnight Monster Hunter” this October, and a new “Stranger Things” graphic novel in 2020, while Random House Graphic announced four new graphic novels. Plus, we have an exclusive look at the second and final omnibus collection of Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden’s “Baltimore.”
— “Red Sonja & Vampirella Meet Betty & Veronica” has been extended to a 12-issue series, according to a press release issued by Dynamite and Archie Comics. Writer Amy Chu, artist Maria Sanapo, colorist Vinicius Andrade, and letterer Taylor Esposito will pick the story back up with issue 7, set to debut this November.
— IDW Publishing President Chris Ryall is looking to reprint a 45-issue “Amazing Spider-Man” run published in Mexico that diverted from the U.S. Marvel Comics storyline. Created by artist José Luis González Durán, they included an issue published in 1973 that featured a dream sequence of Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy getting married. Ryall is currently trying to locate relatives of former Mexican publisher La Prensa to work out republishing rights.
— Bedside Press is launching a new initiative to mentor new comic book creators as they seek to fund projects either through crowdfunding or grants. Projects already accepted into the first round of the program include “Broodhollow” by Kris Straud, “Jed the Undead” by Andi Santagata and edited by Desiree Wilson, “Awkward Pause” by Ryan Harby, “Gothic Tales of Haunted Futures” curated by S.M. Beiko, and “The First Saturday in May” curated by Tia Vasiliou, with more titles to be announced in the near future.
— As previously reported, musician Ingrid Michaelson revealed that her ninth studio album, Stranger Songs, which is partially inspired by Netflix’s Stranger Things, is diving into the graphic novel realm. Each track on Stranger Songs has its own comic book lyric video created by a range of artists. All eleven are now available to watch on Michaelson’s YouTube channel.
— Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell is accusing his editors of “the specious charge of antisemitism” after they chose not to publish his latest strip about Labor deputy leader Tom Watson and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In the cartoon, Watson is depicted as the “antisemite finder general” for being critical of Jew-hate in the party; he encounters Netanyahu and calls him an “antisemitic trope.” Bell criticized his editors for not publishing the strip in an email in which he copied all of the the paper’s journalists.
— Snoopy’s space exploration continues! Two days after BOOM! announced a new graphic novel featuring the famous beagle traveling to Mars, Apple TV+ has announced Snoopy in Space, a new show that follows Snoopy as he and Woodstock seek to fulfill their dreams of becoming astronauts. Apple TV+ released a trailer for the show, which is set to debut this fall.
— Writer and Archie Co-President Alex Segura is teaching a class at LitReactor.com starting today. The class, Splash Page, teaches aspiring comic book creators how to turn their ideas into successful pitches. The class, which costs $175 and is limited to 16 students, takes place online and runs until August 1.
— Prentice Penny has signed on to executive produce and develop The Untamed, HBO’s fantasy show based on Sebastian A. Jones’s “Asunda” line of comics. It follows a character known as The Stranger as he returns to a town called Oasis to kill seven people in seven days. His mission is challenged, however, by a young girl named Niobe Ayutami. Penny will co-write the show’s pilot with Jones.
— Writer Ed Brubaker has also signed a deal with Legendary Television to adapt his own comics for TV, as well as create original content for the company. Brubaker, who is perhaps best known for creating the Winter Soldier for Marvel, has written various crime comics series like “Criminal,” “Velvet,” “Fatale,” and “Kill or be Killed,” and most recently created the Prime Video series Too Old to Die Young with Nicolas Winding Refn.
— Finally, Turok is returning to video games, but not in the way you might expect. Turok: Escape from Lost Valley is stylized more like Minecraft than the previous action-packed games. It’s available now from Pillow Pigs, though the official release date in July 25.
