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, we had an exclusive preview of Marvel’s “Sword Master” #10.
– Writer and artist Ronald Wimberly has taken to his Patreon feed to share a comic that was cancelled before it could run this Sunday. The comic, which was set to be published in The Diary Project Series on the back page of the Arts page of this Sunday’s issue of New York Times, was pulled, according to Wimberly, due to concerns from the paper about “editorializing violence.” Although he was offered the chance to remove the violent image in question — a drawing of an NYPD vehicle on fire — to have the piece run, Wimberly opted to share it online for free instead. He also shared a process thread for the comic, which is available to his Patreon subscribers.
– Emad Hajjaj, a Jordanian cartoonist for the Qatari-funded news website Al-Araby al-Jadeed, was arrested on Wednesday over one of his cartoons. The Committee to Project Journalists has the full write up on his arrest, which was sparked by Hajjaj’s cartoon criticizing the Abraham Accords, a recent deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates to formally normalize the Arab state’s relationship with Israel. According to his employer, Hajjaj was arrested on his way to the Jordanian capital of Amman. He has been charged with “disturbing relationships with a sister country” under Jordan’s counter-terrorism laws, specifically a controversial 2018 cybercrimes law that expanded the government’s ability to penalize expression online. If convicted, the crime carries a minimum sentence of 10 years hard labor.
– Marvel Comics has struck up a big partnership with Fortnite publisher Epic Games. Via ComicBook.com, Epic Games released Fortnite Chapter 2 – Season 4, a full Marvel-themed event that will feature a number of Marvel characters, properties, and locations. Although Fortnite and Marvel had previously collaborated, with their partnership seeing the likes of Deadpool and Captain America coming to the game, this is their most extensive partnership to date. The purchase of a Battle Pass for Season 4 will include She-Hulk, Thor, Storm, Mystique, Iron Man, Doctor Doom, and more. In an additional twist, the partnership has also crossed over into current Marvel continuity. courtesy of a comic from Donny Cates, Greg Land, Jay Leisten, and Frank D’Armata, that sees Thor and Galactus breaking into the world of Fortnite in a story set during Cates’s current run on “Thor.”
– During an interview with io9, The New Mutants director Josh Boone responded to the film’s whitewashing controversy. When asked about the criticisms the film has received for the casting of Henry Zaga, a light-skinned Brazilian actor, to play Sunspot, a character who was written as Afro-Brazilian in his original appearances in the comics, Boone responded that his choice of casting Zaga was not made on the color of his skin. “I didn’t care so much about the racism I’ve heard about in Brazil, about light-skinned versus dark-skinned,” Boone said. “To me, it was I wanted to represent Brazil in a positive way and I wanted to find somebody who seems like he could look like a guy who’s had the silver spoon in his mouth, who has like a really rich dad and [Henry] just exemplified all these things.” Only days before the film’s release, the response was not received well on social media, making this the latest in the film’s series of delays and misfortunes on its long path to release. The New Mutants finally opens in a limited set of theaters today, August 28, more than two years after its originally planned release date in April 2018.
– Via The Beat, the publisher Humanoids has announced plans to donate the proceeds from the sales of their series “Omni” on comiXology to Black Lives Matter. The sale, which will run through September, will see issues 1 through 4 of the ongoing series on sale for $.99, with 100% of the royalties going to support the protest organization. “Omni,” from writer Devin Grayson, artist Alitha E. Martinez, colorist Bryan Valenza, and letterer A Larger World Studios, follows a doctor who is given superpowers, and uses them to tackle real world socio-political problems.
Continued below– Animator, writer and producer Joe Ruby, who created Scooby Doo alongside his longtime creative partner Ken Spears, has passed away at 87. From Variety, the duo created other shows during their time at Hanna-Barbera Productions, including Dynomutt and Jabberjaw, but their most successful by far was Scooby Doo, Where Are You!, which premiered in 1969 on CBS. Ruby and Spears served as story supervisors for the series, which lived on past its initial two season run to become a pop culture phenomenon. After Scooby Doo became a hit, Ruby and Spears formed Ruby-Spears Productions, and oversaw a slate of new animated programming at CBS, including Mister T, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Superman, and Thundarr the Barbarian. Ruby and Spears continued developing projects up until Ruby’s death. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Carole, four children, and ten grandchildren.
– Artist Ron Garney has long worked solely for Marvel and DC, but his first work outside the Big Two publishers in a long while is coming courtesy of Keanu Reeves. Via GamesRadar, Garney will be taking on art duties for the BOOM! Studios series “BRZRKR,” a project co-conceived by Reeves alongside writer Matt Kindt. Reeves will “star” and co-write the book alongside Kindt, which will feature colors by Bill Crabtree and letters from Clem Robins. Garney is taking over for the originally announced artist Alessandro Vitti. “BRZRKR” #1 releases October 7.
– Scott Snyder and Tony S. Daniel’s recently announced comic has a new name. Via io9, the former “Nocternal,” which blew past its funding goal in the first day after its announcement, is now titled “Nocterra.” According to Snyder, the change comes due to similarities between their initial title, and titles from other creators. “It’s come to our attention that other creators had story titles that were too similar to ‘Nocternal.’ Even though the subject matter and spelling were different, we’re changing the name of our series, both out of respect to the other creators and to not cause confusion for fans,” Snyder explained. “The series will [now] be called ‘Nocterra,’ and we can’t wait to share it with you.” The Kickstarter for the series, which will provide an early collector’s edition sneak peek at the book, closes on September 17, with “Nocterra” #1 from Image Comics reaching shelves in early 2021.
– The cartoon duo Sam and Max is getting a VR reboot. From IGN, the franchise, which debuted in a comic series by cartoonist and animator Steve Purcell in 1987, has seen a number video game adaptations over the years, including a series from Telltale Games that began in 2006. The trailer for the upcoming Sam & Max – This Time It’s Virtual was unveiled at this year’s gamescom, and is set for release in 2021.
– Finally, the first comic book entry in the upcoming multi-platform Doctor Who story ‘Time Lord Victorious’ has a new trailer ahead of its release next week. The large crossover event, which is set to feature the Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Doctors in stories spread across comics, books, audio dramas, theater, and games, technically began back in March with an escape room experience that was only available in the UK, but next week’s comic from publisher Titan Comics will be the worldwide launch for the initiative. “Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious” #1 hits shelves and digital platforms on September 2. The book’s creative team of writer Jody Houser, artist Roberta Ingranata and colorist Enrica Angiolini were announced last week as staying on for Titan’s upcoming relaunch of the long running “Doctor Who” ongoing.
