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.
– Norm Konyu’s graphic novel “The Junction” has been acquired by Titan Comics. The story of a missing 11-year old returning home after 12 years, seemingly without aging, will hit shelves in April 2022. The comic was previously only available on Konyu’s website, but has garnered substantial acclaim, including AP2HYC’s favorite indie comics of 2020, and Pipedream Comics’s second-best indie comics of 2020. Broken Frontier listed Konyu as one of the Top 6 creators to watch in 2021.
– Top Shelf will publish “Red Panda & Moon Bear (Book 2): The Curse of the Evil Eye,” the next installment in the middle-grade series. The story follows two Cuban American siblings battling monsters and curses with the help of their magic hoodies. The book is available for preorder now, and will release in paperback on February 1, 2022.
– In May, the French government launched the Culture Pass app, granting 18-year olds €300 to spend on cultural events and media ranging from dance classes and cinema, to literature and museum visits. According to The New York Times, they’re mostly using it for comic books. French press outlets are writing about a “manga rush,” redubbing the app “Manga Pass,” with two-thirds of all books purchased being Japanese graphic novels. Book sales alone make up 75% of all purchases via the app.
– “Hellboy” creator Mike Mignola is producing a series for the Echoverse podcast studio. Mignola will be adapting Grim Death and Bill the Electrocuted Criminal, the novel he wrote with Thomas Sniegoski, into an audio drama, alongside Pete Donaldson. The book, published in 2017, is a pulp-inspired adventure about a supernatural vigilante who serves the angel of death. The studio is set to launch its first series this fall.
– The popular young adult romance film and book series After is set to be adapted into comic form. Written by series author Anna Todd, with art from Pablo Andrés, “After: The Graphic Novel” will be published by Frayed Pages Media in partnership with Wattpad and Hugo Publishing. The book follows the tumultuous beginnings of Tessa and Hardin’s romance, though Todd admits some parts needed reworking for the new format. “It’s been really fun and so cool to shape the story into a graphic form,” she teases. “You’ll have to read it to find out [how it differs from the novel].” The first volume is due out on March 22, 2022, with the second slated for the following fall.
– Finally, in their weekly comics column, Syfy Wire reports that “Lost Falls” from writer Curt Pires and artist Antonio Fuso will debut on comiXology next week. The series is described as a “socially minded thriller,” and follows amnesiac detective Daniel Pynchon as he wakes up in the titular town. You can read our original coverage here.
