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.
– Dark Horse Comics announced “Top Secret Service,” a sci-fi action comedy by writer Zack Keller (“Cuphead,” “Hotel REM”), artist Giovanna LaPietra (“Red Sonja”), colorist Valerio Alloro (“Hotel REM”), and letterer Frank Cvetkovic. Described as a cross between Men in Black and 21 Jump Street (two franchises Sony incidentally considered crossing over during the 2010s), the graphic novel follows two new Secret Service agents who are assigned to protect a former President. What initially seems like a dull task turns tough when a hit squad attacks, and it emerges the President was covering up the existence of aliens, as well as the dangerous technology they left behind. It will be released on January 31, 2024.
– Holiday House revealed “Table Titans Club,” a middle-grade graphic novel by Scott Kurtz. A kid-friendly prequel to Kurtz’s older-skewing webcomic “Table Titans,” the book will follow the temperamental young Valeria Winters, as she joins her school’s Dungeon & Dragons club. “When the future of the club is threatened, Val makes it her personal quest to save the Table Titans. She’ll have to face the fire-breathing wrestling coach and popular girl Kate, who seems out for revenge. Revenge for what? Val has no clue.” It will be the first in a series, and be released on March 5, 2024.
– Drawn & Quarterly will publish “Second Hand Love,” a romance by the late Yamada Murasaki, translated by Ryan Holmberg. Originally published shortly after Murasaki’s 1981-1984 serial “Talk to My Back,” the two-part manga follows a young woman who becomes a man’s mistress. The English edition will include an interview with Murasaki from 1985, “where her wit and wisdom are on shimmering display.” It will be released sometime in Spring 2024.
– Gal Gadot is still attached to star in Wonder Woman 3, ComicBook.com reports. The site shared the news from Gadot herself, in an interview conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike to promote her new film Heart of Stone. “I heard from James [Gunn] and from Peter [Safran] is that we’re gonna develop a Wonder Woman 3 together,” she said. Gadot’s future in the DC Studios universe had been in doubt following Patty Jenkins’s departure from the film last year, and Gunn and Safran’s intention to reset the series, resulting in David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan being cast as the new Clark Kent and Lois Lane in Superman: Legacy. The producers are also developing Paradise Lost, a Max series exploring the history of Themyscira, as part of their universe’s first “chapter.”
– Apple TV+ released the trailer for the next Peanuts special, Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie. The cartoon will follow the introverted Marcie after she’s unexpectedly elected class president, and goes into hiding as a result of her new responsibilities causing her anxiety to skyrocket. Meanwhile, her best friend, Peppermint Patty, is forced to compete in a school golf championship with Charlie Brown as her caddie instead of Marcie. It will be released on Friday, August 18.
– David Dastmalchian shed more light on his upcoming series “Knights vs. Samurai” in an interview with Screen Rant. The book, announced at San Diego Comic-Con, is being created in collaboration with Todd McFarlane and Fede Mele, and will be even more of a historical fantasy than the title implies, featuring dragons, wizards, oni, trolls, and giants. He adds it takes place in the late 1500s, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, and will reflect what was really going on during Japan’s Sengoku or Warring States period at the time. A release date has not been announced yet.
– The McDonald’s Happy Meal toy line for The Marvels has revealed who South Korean actor Park Seo-joon is playing in the movie. His character is Prince Yan, who first appeared in the comics in Kelly Sue DeConnick and David López’s “Captain Marvel” (2014) #9. The character, who inadvertently got engaged to Carol Danvers, can be seen in the trailers leading his forces into battle, and dancing with Carol at a ball. The film releases in theaters November 10.
– On a less positive note, NPR reported several extras on the set of WandaVision were scanned to create digital doubles, without it being made clear to them how or when they would be used. Disney declined a request for comment. The lack of transparency over how actors’ likenesses will be used by an increasingly AI-obsessed Hollywood is one of several that have prompted the SAG-AFTRA strike; Snowpiercer actress Lena Hall had also previously stated the show’s regular cast were asked to do full body scans and emotion capture, without it being made clear why.
