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, Image announced they are changing their North American bookstore distributor to Simon & Schuster.
– Image revealed “Killadelphia” will return with issue #31 in November. The vampire series, by writer Rodney Barnes and artist Jason Shawn Alexander, has been on hiatus since its 30th issue in April, where Todd McFarlane’s longtime Image character Spawn entered the fray. Spawn is shown prominently on the cover for the next issue, which will pick up with Philadelphia being “ravaged by the war between Heaven and Hell,” and the heroes lying dead. “But from the ashes of despair comes the spark of hope that will set up a bold new direction for this series.”
– DC will publish “Batman Beyond: The Animated Series Classics Compendium,” an omnibus of the show’s tie-in comics to mark its 25th anniversary next year. The 700-page paperback will collect the initial six-issue series from 1999, and the subsequent ongoing that ran for 24 issues until the show concluded in 2001. Written by Hilary J. Bader with Jason Hernandez-Rosenblatt and Paul D. Storrie, and featuring art by Rick Burchett, Joe Staton, Craig Rousseau, Min S. Ku, and Terry Beatty, the “Compendium” will be released on March 5, 2024.
– Marvel announced they will mark Hispanic and Latin Heritage Month with four back-up stories in October’s titles, showcasing Latine characters and creative teams. The stories will consist of a Roswell adventure for former Avenger Firebird, by Kalinda Vazquez and Alba Glez; a Shark-Girl and Sunspot team-up by Raphael Draccon, Carolina Munhóz and Marcelo Costa; a battle between Victor Alvarez/Power Man and the Hulk by Vita Ayala and Alitha Martinez; and a spotlight on Strange Academy student Eva Quintero by Juan Ponce and Ig Guara. They will respectively appear in “Avengers” #6, “X-Men Red” #16, “Incredible Hulk” #5, and “Scarlet Witch” #9, which will all have ‘Comunidades’ variant covers by Ernanda Souza featuring the Latine heroes.
– Meanwhile, Marvel Studios released the trailer for I Am Groot season two, revealing the next five short films will be added to Disney+ on September 6. The first five shorts in the series, directed by Kirsten Lepore and starring Vin Diesel as Baby Groot, were released last year. Along with Baby Groot’s new misadventures, the second season will feature the first live-action appearance from Uatu the Watcher, whom Jeffrey Wright portrays on the 2D animated series What If…? (the second season of which does not have a confirmed premiere date.)
– Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, which opened on Wednesday, has grossed $43 million domestically against a $70 million budget. The film, which has so far grossed a worldwide total of $51.5 million, is expected to break even, guaranteeing a sequel as well as the spin-off show Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Also released this weekend, albeit in a much more limited capacity, was Shortcomings, which grossed $316,403. The indie film, directed by Randall Park and adapted by Adrian Tomine from his own graphic novel, is reportedly attracting strong word-of-mouth and a young, diverse audience.
– Random House Children’s Books romance imprint Joy Revolution will release “To Dance the Moon and Stars,” a YA graphic novel by writer Barbara Perez Marquez (“The Cardboard Kingdom”) and artist Tasia M S. Inspired by Indian and Middle Eastern folklore, the book follows a teenage girl who “must figure out how to ascend into her kingdom’s most prominent role of high priestess, before dark forces break through a barrier between worlds during the biggest event of the year.” It will be published in Spring 2026.
– A sneak peek at Star Trek: Prodigy season two was released at the annual Las Vegas Trek convention, revealing Robert Picardo will reprise his role as the Doctor from Voyager. Despite the preview, it still hasn’t been determined where the new season will air after the show was pulled from Paramount+. And in further animation news, a fourth My Hero Academia film was announced in Japan, although no further details were given. The last film, World Heroes’ Mission, was released in 2021, and a seventh season of the TV series is also in production.
– The AFP reports Arianna Meloni, the sister of far-right Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, has filed a defamation lawsuit against newspaper cartoonist Mario Natangelo. The suit was filed over a cartoon depicting a woman (presumably her) having an affair with a Black man, mocking comments by her husband Francesco Lollobrigida — the country’s agriculture minister — about the “ethnic replacement” of Italians. The cartoon, published in May, had already been retracted following legal concerns, and criticism that the cartoon was sexist. Natangelo had no comment, saying “I prefer to let my cartoons speak for me. And my lawyers.” The lawsuit is one of several that have been filed by the Meloni family, raising concerns over freedom of speech in Italy.
– Finally, veteran actor Mark Margolis died after a short illness last week, aged 83. Best known for his Emmy Award-nominated portrayal of drug lord Hector “Tio” Salamanca on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Margolis was a prolific character actor, who appeared in several Darren Aronofsky films, Scarface, The Equalizer, Oz, Quantum Leap, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and numerous Off-Broadway plays. His comic book-related roles included the Kingpin’s mentor in 2003’s Daredevil (where he went uncredited), Felix Faust in NBC’s Constantine, the Joker’s father on Gotham, and Old Ivan on Snowpiercer. He is survived by his wife Jacqueline, their son Morgan, and three grandchildren.
