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.
– Kicking off, the will they won’t they of the DC Extended Universe continues, with Batman solo movie director Matt Reeves clarifying his recent comments on his movie’s placement within the DCEU. Reeves took to Twitter today to express his frustration that many outlets reported Batman would take place outside the DCEU (which probably stemmed from the announcement of a separate DC movie universe and the possibility of a Scorsese Joker film). Reeves further stated of course Batman takes place in the DCEU, but would only include Batman and not the rest of the Justice League.
– In more DCEU news, Wonder Woman is returning to select IMAX theaters this weekend. The movie has already become the highest grossing live-action movie directed by a woman, and also the highest grossing superhero origin movie ever. Find out if it’s playing near you here.
– Continuing on the DCEU train, the directorless Suicide Squad 2 is supposedly being fast-tracked by Warner Bros. and will begin production in the middle of next year and shoot for a 2019 release. Both Jaume Collet-Serra and Mel Gibson have passed on directing the movie, and original Suicide Squad director David Ayer will allegedly direct Gotham City Sirens (which also has no timeline or release date). We have more Joker and more Harley movies than concrete dates. DC we want answers!
– Aline Brosh McKenna, one of the creators of The CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, is continuing her relationship with BOOM! Studios, adapting Charlotte Bronte’s classic 1947 novel Jane Eyre in a graphic novel format. McKenna will be teaming with Eisner Award-winning artist Ramon K. Perez on the project, which sees Jane, now a struggling art student, in a contemporary New York City setting, trying to decide if she can trust the man she’s in love with. The 240-page graphic novel comes out from BOOM!’s Archaia imprint on September 13th in comic stores and the 19th everywhere else.
– With the success of Marvel’s other television projects, Karim Zreik Marvel Television SVP of Original Programming has teased that they are looking into creating “more female-skewed shows.” Zreik at the Edinburgh International Television Festival stated that Marvel Television is currently in development with ABC in creating a “Jessica Jones-esque” project. She also talked about New Warriors and how they are looking at creating more comedies with Marvel characters.
– Chris Sebela, Robert Wilson IV, and Nick Filardi’s series from Oni Press, “Heartthrob,” has been optioned for the small screen as announced today. Sebela took to Twitter to express his excitement over his first series to make it this far. The series has been acquired by new production company Felix Culpa and is one of three projects they are taking on. “Heartthrob” follows Callie Boudreau after a heart transplant following a lifetime of illness and the new life of crime she feels compelled to take on.
– The first annual Letterer’s Appreciation Day is coming up next week on September 1st in honor of famous letterer Gaspar Saladino who passed away in August of last year. Saladino worked at both Big Two companies and did lettering and logos for many series including designing the logo for Swamp Thing, revamping the logo for Green Lantern, and doing the lettering for Grant Morrison and Dave McKean’s “Arkham Asylum.” It feels appropriate in a medium centered on the visuals we make sure to include all persons associated with the art, not just the main artist or writer. Make sure on the 1st to tweet at or send some love to your favorite letterers, to learn their names, and acknowledge the impact they have on your favorite comics!
– Dynamite Entertainment has announced a new holiday-themed James Bond one-shot for the end of November from wrtier/artist Ibrahim Moustafa (“Savage Things,” “Jaeger”) dubbed “James Bond: Solstice.” The 30-page one-shot description reads, “007 accepts a mysterious, unofficial mission in Paris. He’s to pursue a dangerous Russian, and do…what is necessary. But is Bond the hunter, or the hunted?” The one-shot hits stores November 27th.
Continued below– Hellboy is finally getting the Funko Pop! figure we have all been waiting for in December, and are kicking off a new line of Pop! “Comics” figures. The “Hellboy” figures are debuting as the first six figures in the collection and include Lobster Johnson, Liz Sherman, Abe Sapien, Grigori Rasputin, The Queen of Blood, Nimue, and of course Hellboy (with one out of six preorders receiving a figure with horns). Speculate away as to what series comes next!
– In solicit news, after the DC Comics November solicits came out earlier this week, still showing Bryan Hitch writing “Justice League” despite his assurance he’s leaving after issue #31, it has been announced that Robert Venditti will be writing issue #32, the second part of the Metal tie-in crossover “Bats Out of Hell” with art by Liam Sharp. Venditti will write part three as well in his ongoing “Hal Jordon and the Green Lantern Corps” and Joshua Williamson will write parts one and four in “The Flash” #33 and “Justice League” #33. Also announced today, the “Vote Harley” arc in “Harley Quinn” has been delayed an issue, now starting in #27, with #26 including a fill-in story with Amanda Connor, Frank Tieri, and Eleonora Carlini.
– Finally, the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants is creating a new graphic novel set to combat sexual violence in immigrant communities in which conversation on the subject is still considered taboo. The graphic novel “Telling Our Stories: Immigrant Women’s Resilience,” will feature the stories of four refuge or immigrant women based on their experiences with sexual violence. The stories also seek to educate bystanders on how they may help to be more aware and to intervene in situations in which sexual violence occurs. The novels, which were first published in English and French, will now also be available in nine other languages including Urdu, Punjabi, Dari, Arabic, Tamil, Armenian, Somali, Chinese, and Spanish.
