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, comiXology Originals is releasing four brand new creator-owned miniseries beginning in September. We also have an interview “Chango: The Broken Veil” writer Ben Goldsmith, and a preview of Vault’s “The Necromancer’s Map” #1.
– Image Comics announced a surprise early release date for the “Saga Compendium One,” which was slated for release in September and is now being sold well, today! The paperback collects issues #1-54 (i.e., all of the issues published so far) giving readers over 1,200 pages of comics. Creators Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples are currently taking a break before returning to “Saga.”
– Marvel has unveiled a new direction for “Runaways” beginning with issue #25 in September. Following the teaser image of Doc Justice and the J-Team (which was revealed to be the cover to “Runaways” #27), editor Nick Lowe announced that the Runaways are going to try their hands at superheroing. Artist Kris Anka will rejoin writer Rainbow Rowell for issue #27 when Doc Justice, a venerable Los Angeles superhero, recruits the Runaways as his superhero support team.
– Anime News Network reported a new “Ghost in the Shell” manga entitled “Ghost in the Shell: The Human Algorithm” will begin in next month’s issue of Kodansha’s Young Magazine (out September 20th). Writer Jun’ichi Fujisaku (“Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex”) stated the project will be set after the events of “Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error Processor.” The new manga will center on Section 9 after the disappearance of the Major.
– Comic Book Resources states Baltimore Comic-Con is holding a naming contest for their new Frank Cho-designed mascot. The mascot is a red crab with a blue cape exclaiming, “Holy Crab! It’s Baltimore Comic-Con Time!” Fans can submit names for the new character for a chance to win two VIP tickets to Baltimore Comic-Con 2019. Voting will end on August 27th and the convention runs from October 18th-20th.
– Deadline broke word of a financial standoff between Disney and Sony over the future of Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The current impasse in the negotiations has resulted in Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige no longer producing future Spider-Man films which would, as Variety reported, “remove Tom Holland’s Spider-Man from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.” Sony are currently planning two more films with Holland and director Jon Watts, who helmed both Homecoming and Far From Home.
– TheWrap reported that Disney has also pushed back the release of three of their films including Empty Man, based on the BOOM! Studios comic book by writer Cullen Bunn and artists Vanesa R. Del Rey and Jesús Hervás. The comic book series is set in a present day dystopia where a disease causes people to enter an “empty” state of catatonia which prompts the rise of death cults. The Fox film is now set to release August 7th, 2020.
– Comicbook.com detailed the upcoming “Marvel Knights: Curse of the Vampire” downloadable content for the video game Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order. The DLC will be available September 30th and will feature new playable characters including Blade, Moon Knight, and the Punisher. There will also be two new modes creating new challenges for co-op games. “Marvel Knights: Curse of the Vampire” is the first of three DLC additions that are part of the game’s Expansion Pass.
– Comicbook.com also reported that Michael Mosley has been casted as Doctor Light in the second season of DC Universe’s Titans. Mosley is the latest in a series of new additions to the show including Bruce Wayne (played by Iain Glen), Deathstroke (Esai Morales), Ravager (Chelsea T. Zhang), and Aqualad (Drew Van Acker). The first episode of season 2 will premiere next month.
– Finally, Variety announced a fourth Matrix movie in development from Lana Wachowski, with Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Ann Moss reprising their roles as Neo and Trinity. Warner Bros. Pictures executive Toby Emmerich revealed that Wachowski will be directing, co-writing, and co-producing the new movie. Sources say the film is planned to begin production in early 2020. Comic book artist Geof Darrow (“Shaolin Cowboy,” “Hardboiled”) announced on Twitter that he has also returned to work with Steve Skroce (“We Stand on Guard,” “Maestros”) on developing conceptual designs for the film. The pair worked together previously on The Matrix trilogy, providing storyboards and designs.
