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 in Love,” which will explore the character’s relationship with his prose love interest Anastasia Bransfield. We also spoke to Dennis Hopeless about his new series, “Heart Eyes.”
– BOOM! Studios announced “Damn Them All,” a horror series by writer Si Spurrier (“John Constantine: Hellblazer”), artist Charlie Adlard (“The Walking Dead”), colorist Sofie Dodgson (“Bitter Root”), and letterer Jim Campbell (“All-New Firefly”). The series follows occultist-for-hire Ellie “Bloody El” Hawthorne, who is hunting down 72 demons that were loosed upon the world after the death of her uncle. “It’s hard boiled, it’s clever, it’s bleakly funny, but above all it’s angry to its core,” says Spurrier. “Angry at the world, at the injustice, at the £$%#s who run the show, and ultimately at the creator responsible for this utterly imperfect creation. This is a book about demons, in which — spoilers — the demons aren’t the bad guys.” Issue #1 will be released in October.
– Black Mask Studios announced “Rogue State,” a new series from writer and Black Mask publisher Matteo Pizzolo (“Calexit”), with art by Carlos Granda (“Calexit: All Systems San Diego”). Set in a United States divided and controlled by paramilitary militia groups, the book follows “Vya Of Brightstars, a mysterious freedom fighter rising from the unrest, and Clara Santos (she/her), a young professional who becomes activated in Vya’s movement when her fiancée Taylor Sanchez (they/them) is disappeared as militias take over their Mission District neighborhood.” The first issue, which releases in October, will have an ashcan copy available at this weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con.
– Dark Horse will publish the crossover special “Criminal Macabre/Count Crowley: From The Pit They Came,” created by writers Steve Niles and David Dastmalchian in collaboration with artist Lukas Ketner, colorist Lauren Affe, and letterer Frank Cvetkovic. The book will see Cal McDonald and Jerri Bartman, the respective protagonists of each comic, enter “the weirdly wonderful world of fan conventions as they seek to capture a rampaging creature from deep beneath the earth.” It will be released on October 26.
– Fantagraphics and Sunday Press Books are teaming up, with the former set to distribute Sunday Press’s previous titles from this month, and to begin publishing new books under their imprint from 2023. Sunday Press specializes in reprints of classic comics like “Krazy Kat,” “Thimble Theatre,” “Dick Tracy,” and “Little Nemo in Slumberland,” adding to Fantagraphics’ own reprints of titles like “Donald Duck,” “Peanuts,” and “Prince Valiant.”
– Apple TV+ released the trailer for Surfside Girls, the kids’ show based on Kim Dwinell’s Top Shelf series of the same name. It follows Jade (Miya Cech) and Sam (YaYa Gosselin), two girls who spend their summer vacation in the town of Surfside investigating a cursed treasure, and befriending a pirate ghost named Remy. The series will premiere on the streaming service on August 19.
– Via C21Media, Vancouver-based production company Slap Happy Cartoons (The Hollow) have partnered with Andrews McMeel Entertainment to develop the syndicated comic strip “Heart of the City” into a TV franchise. Created by Mark Tatulli in 1998, “Heart of the City” follows the adventures of Heart Lamarr, a young girl and theater kid from Philadelphia. The animated project was spurred into development after cartoonist Steenz, who took over the comic in 2020, rejuvenated its popularity by aging up the characters into middle school.
– Popverse published a report into Oni Press’s current situation, which saw various important staff members being laid off in the past month, and the cancellation of the Polarity LTD-owned publisher’s San Diego Comic-Con booth and panels. According to the site’s source, the company’s staff feel “demoralized,” and unpaid royalties had been an issue raised with then-publisher James Lucas Jones, and Polarity (which manages Oni’s human resources), for several months. Following the lay offs, Oni’s senior vice president of games and operations, Steve Ellis, is now reportedly acting as de facto chief operating officer.
– Finally, Rolling Stone ran a story on the use of bots by the #ReleasetheSnyderCut campaign, that led to the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League on HBO Max. According to research commissioned by the magazine and WarnerMedia, about 13 percent of online accounts campaigning for the rerelease were inauthentic, which is higher than average for most trending topics. The report paints a picture of the studio being suspicious of Snyder driving the movement, and towards Ray Fisher’s allegations about Walter Hamada after the executive disputed the decision to use Martian Manhunter, but also as being largely indifferent about harassment of their staff on social media. Snyder is quoted as responding, “I do not control my fans. They have their own will and their own opinions; you really give me too much credit,” and that “I am grateful to both the fan community and Warner Bros. for allowing this to happen. To dwell on negativity and rumors serves no one.”
