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, Congressman John Lewis, co-writer of the graphic novel trilogy “March,” died on July 17, 2020. Also, Z2 Comics have announced “The Final Symphony: A Beethoven Anthology;” actor Keanu Reeves is making his comic book debut with “BRZRKR,” a 12-issue maxiseries that will be published by BOOM!; and Skybound/Image have announced “Summoners War: Legacy” #1.
– Via Newsarama, DC have revealed that writer Kevin Shinick (“Superior Carnage”) and artist Clayton Henry (“Batman/Superman”) are taking over as the new creative team for “The Flash” with issue #763, following Joshua Williamson’s four-year run. The villain for #763 will be the Trickster, while Dr. Alchemy will feature in #764. “The Flash” will continue its twice-monthly pace and you can see the full plot summaries and covers to “The Flash” #763 and #764 in DC’s October 2020 solicitations.
The solicitations also confirm that three ongoing titles, “Batgirl,” “Batman and the Outsiders,” and “Justice League Odyssey” are set to end in October. “Batgirl” writer Cecil Castellucci will close out this volume of “Batgirl” with issue #50, a 48-page story, joined by artists Emanuela Lupacchino, Marguerite Sauvage, and Aneke. “Batgirl” #50 will be available October 27, 2020. Bryan Hill and Dexter Soy’s “Batman and the Outsiders,” which sprung out of Hill’s brief “Detective Comics” arc, will end on October 13 with issue #17. “Dan Abnett and artist Will Conrad will close out “Justice League Odyssey” with issue #25 on the same day. We’ll have more on DC’s October announcements in our Soliciting Multiversity column next week.
– Marvel has cancelled the ongoing series “Strikeforce,” from Tini Howard and Germán Peralta, with August 5th’s “Strikeforce” #9 serving as the series finale, reports Newsarama. The series launched in the aftermath of “War of the Realms,” and featured Blade, Angela, Spider-Woman, Wiccan, the Winter Soldier, Monica Rambeau, and Daimon Hellstrom. Prior to the comics industry’s pause due to COVID-19, a tenth issue of “Strikeforce” was solicited. “Strikeforce” #9 will be available August 5, 2020.
– And lastly from Newsarama, Marvel has also revealed the Swordbearers of Arakko, the villains of Marvel’s X-Men crossover, ‘X of Swords.’ Teased on the cover to “X of Swords: Stasis” #1 by Pepe Larraz, Marvel released a graphic with the identities of the Swordbearers. As the graphic shows, there are ten of them: Pogg Ur-Pogg, the White Sword, Solem, Isca the Unbeaten, Bei the Blood Moon, Redroot the Forest, Sumonner, War, Death, and a still classified Swordbearer. “X of Swords” kicks off with “Excalibur” #20, available September 16, 2020. The event will span through November across 24 parts.
– CBR reports that Robert Kirkman announced the entirety of “The Walking Dead” will be re-released in color with special bonus content. Announced during the “Skybound: Past, Present, and Future” panel at Skybound Xpo, the colorized version of “The Walking Dead” will begin releasing on October 7. Colored by Dave McCaig, the rerelease will feature variant covers by David Finch, Tony Moore, Julian Totino Tedesco and Arthur Adams. Each re-issue will feature new content, dubbed “The Cutting Room Floor,” which is described as “Kirkman’s original handwritten plots along with commentary on abandoned storylines and plot points that may have changed along the way.” It was also announced that these re-issues will not be collected in trade paperback anytime soon.
– It was also revealed at the Skybound Xpo that Zachary Quinto and Khary Payton have joined the voice cast of Amazon’s animated Invincible series. According to Variety, Quinto will voice Robot, one of Mark Grayson/Invincible’s allies, and Payton will play superhero Black Samson. The show will premiere later this year, and stars Steven Yeun as Mark, as well as J.K. Simmons and Sandra Oh as his parents, and Mark Hamill, Seth Rogen, Zazie Beetz, Gillian Jacobs, Chris Diamantopolous, Grey Griffin, Jason Mantzoukas, Walton Goggins, Andrew Rannels and Kevin Michael Richardson.
– CBR also has an exclusive first look at Lauri-ell, Carol Danvers’s Kree half-sister, who is set to make her debut in “Captain Marvel” #18. CBR showcased two panels from the comic, along with a design sheet for Lauri-ell by artist Cory Smith. Smith’s design sheet offers a closer look at different design choices for Lauri-ell, including her Kree armor, gear, hair and weapons.
Continued below– The Jewish Chronicle reports that Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell will leave the Guardian after 40 years with the newspaper. Bell has repeatedly faced claims that some of his drawings were antisemitic and racist throughout his career. You can read about the controversial cartoonist and some of his exploits here.
– Variety confirms that Disney+’s Falcon and Winter Soldier has been delayed. It’s unclear when the series will premiere, or when production will resume. The show was about a week into filming in Prague when COVID-19 caused productions across the globe to halt. The cast and crew were recalled to Atlanta, where Marvel shoots the majority of its projects. Disney has also paused production for Loki and WandaVision, which stars Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, and is slated to be released closer to the end of 2020.
– Finally, Variety reports Japanese actor and singer Haruma Miura, who played Eren Yeager in the live-action Attack on Titan films, has died at the age of 30. Police suspect the cause of death was suicide, although this has yet to be officially confirmed. Miura, who was born on April 5, 1990, began as a child, and received an award for playing Lola in the Japanese adaptation of Kinky Boots in 2016. He only began his singing career last year.
