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, DC has set “Robin & Batman” and “Robins” miniseries for November.
– The late Kentarou Miura’s “Berserk” manga is set to receive a new chapter next month. Via Anime News Network, the new chapter comes in the form of a full issue of Hakusensha’s Young Animal magazine that will be a memorial issue dedicated to Miura. Miura passed away in May of an acute aortic dissection at the age of 54. “Berserk” follows Guts, a lone mercenary with superhuman strength who wanders a dark fantasy medieval world, contending with horrific demons and corrupt nobility. The posthumous Chapter 364 will be Young Animal’s 18th issue, and will be published on September 10.
– The upcoming Titan Comics & Hard Case Crime series “Gun Honey” is being developed for a television adaptation. Via CBR, the project is coming together via the production companies Piller/Segan and Double Vision. The book comes from Hard Case Crime co-founder Charles Ardai with art by Ang Hor Kheng, and follows weapons expert Joanna Tan on a manhunt to catch the convict she freed from prison. Piller/Segan is best known as the production company behind the ABC Family series Greek and Wildfire, as well as the Syfy drama series Haven. “Gun Honey” #1 hits shelves on September 22.
– Via Crunchyroll, “Naruto” creator Masashi Kishimoto has created a unique gift for tennis star Naomi Osaka. After watching Osaka lighting the Olympic flame during the Tokyo opening ceremonies last month, Kishimoto provided Osaka with a shikishi (a signboard) depicting Osaka alongside Naruto and Sakura, two of the main characters from the series. Osaka shared the image as part of a roundup of her Olympic experience in Tokyo. She is a professed fan of “Naruto,” telling Highsnobiety last year that she identified with the character of Naruto, saying, “Just watching as an outsider and seeing all the work that he put in, was really cool when I was younger. He was the outcast, and then he proved himself to people, and we started believing in him. That stubbornness is something maybe I have a little bit.”
– Diamond Book Distributors, a division of Diamond Comic Distributors dedicated to distributing comics in bookstores, has settled on a new president. Via ICv2, the company has picked up Tony Lutkus from Penguin Random House as its new President. Lutkus brings 25 years of experience in the book business to the company, including seven at Penguin – most recently as Senior Director, Marketing and Imprints Sales, International – and a long stretch at Hachette. Lutkus will take his new position on August 16.
– In honor of the 25th anniversary of Superman: The Animated Series, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will be releasing a re-mastered Blu-ray and Digital Box Set of the full series this year. Via CBR, the set will include all 54 episodes of the series alongside several hours of bonus features, including a new documentary about the creation of the cartoon titled Superman: Timeless Icon. Also included in the special features are audio commentaries from producers Bruce Timm, Paul Dini and Alan Burnett, director Curt Geda and art director Glen Murakami for the episodes “Stolen Memories,” “The Last Son of Krypton – Part 1,” and “The Main Man – Part 2.” The remastered series hits Blu-ray on October 12.
– The new graphic novel “.357 Magnum Opus” from writer Ghezal Omar and illustrator Mingchen Shen will launch at Artists Alley during Awesome Con. The story follows two bounty hunters named Sexx Pistol and Kassius Del Mar as they attempt to bring in Vegas crime boss Lyndon Baines. The graphic novel will be published by Artillery Network, an independent graphic novel publisher located in San Francisco. Awesome Con will take place August 20-22 in Washington D.C.
– Finally, Tituss Burgess has signed on to join the NBC production Annie Live!. Via The Hollywood Reporter, the six-time Emmy nominee joins a cast that includes Taraji P. Henson as Miss Hannigan, Harry Connick Jr. as Daddy Warbucks, and Nicole Scherzinger as Grace. Burgess will portray Rooster, Miss Hannigan’s underhanded brother. Although the character of Annie is often better remembered from the Broadway musical or its several film adaptations, all of those properties were based on the Harold Gray comic strip “Little Orphan Annie.” Annie Live! is scheduled to premiere on December 2 on NBC.
