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.
– Controversy broke out over Friday’s Eisner Awards ceremony: according to The Hollywood Reporter, “the day after the awards were given out, those who attended were talking more about what was wrong with the ceremony than who won any category. Complaints included an ill-considered joke about ICE agents coming for MAD Magazine cartoonist Sergio Aragones, multiple presenters complaining about the difficulty they had with nominees’ names and commentary about how easy the convention has to be for hot girls.” Indie publisher Drawn & Quarterly were among those who criticized the presentation of this year’s awards.
– The New York Post reported the New York City Council voted to co-name University Avenue (located in the Bronx between Brandt Place and West 176th Street) “Stan Lee Way.” The late Marvel creator, who passed away last year aged 95, lived in the area and was an alumni of DeWitt Clinton High School. The proposal now needs to be signed off by Mayor Bill de Blasio to become official.
– In other tribute news, Japanese publisher Futabasha released a memorial book this week about manga creator Caribu Marley (the writer of “Old Boy”); the book contains testimonies from various creators about the late mangaka (who passed away last year at the age of 70), including Rumiko Takahashi (“Urusei Yatsura”), Naoki Urasawa (“Pluto”), Harold Sakuishi (“Beck”), and “Old Boy” artist Nobuaki Minegishi.
– Netflix will produce a live-action series based on the manga “Alice in Borderland,” directed by Shinsuke Satō (the live-action Bleach, Kingdom films). The comic, created by Haro Aso, follows three friends who finds themselves cast into an empty, alternate world where they’re forced to compete in survival games. The show will premiere in 2020.
– Meanwhile, cartoonist Lisa Hanawalt took to Twitter to announce Netflix has passed on a second season of her animated sitcom Tuca and Bertie. “Tuca & Bertie is everything I wanted it to be: beautiful, funny, fresh, loving, horny, weird, experimental, comforting, and deep,” she said. “The whole team put our hearts and asses into this show, and I’m so proud of it.” All ten episodes of the surreal show, based on Hanawalt’s online comic “Tuca the Toucan” and starring Tiffany Haddish, Ali Wong and Steve Yuen, premiered earlier this year.
– The Wrap reports Alexandre Aja (Crawl) will direct a short-form series of Junji Ito’s horror manga “Tomie” for the mobile platform Quibi. This take (the latest following several Japanese films and TV series), is described as the story of a missing girl whose disappearance “turns into something even more horrific.” Quibi launches April 6, 2020.
– On Instagram, EC Comics announced they will team up with Pocket Universe Productions on a podcast adaptation of classic horror anthology title “The Vault of Horror.” The series, which will star Kevin Grevioux as the narrator the Vault Keeper, will debut in October.
– In further adaptation news, director Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) has signed on to helm the movie version of Natasha Alterici’s “Heathen” for Constatin Film. The comic, published by Vault, tells the story of a lesbian Viking who declares war on Odin after she is cast out of her village over her sexuality.
– Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker movie, and Marjane Satrapi’s Marie Curie biopic Radioactive (starring Rosamund Pike and based on the graphic novel by Lauren Redniss), will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, held from September 5 to September 15, 2019. Joker hits theaters October 4, 2019, while Radioactive will be released globally sometime in 2020.
– Finally, Dutch actor Rutger Hauer passed away at his home last week after a short illness. Hauer, who was 75, portrayed Cardinal Roark in 2005’s Sin City and Wayne Enterprises CEO William Earle in Batman Begins, but was best known for his roles in Blade Runner, Ladyhawke, and The Hitcher. He is survived by his wife and daughter.
