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 started our 520 Weeks interview series, which explores DC’s New 52 initiative ten years on from its debut; our first interview is with “Voodoo” writer Ron Marz.
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– IDW announced a new four-part series called “Sonic the Hedgehog: Imposter Syndrome,” by writer Ian Flynn and artist Thomas Rothlisberger. The series will see Sonic battling Surge and Kit, doppelgangers of himself and Tails that have been created by Doctor Starline. Flynn described the series as set to “[build] upon the core fundamentals that led to Dr. Starline’s creation as a character.” The series will continue Starline’s story after he was fired as an apprentice to Dr. Eggman, with Starline now seeking to be more nefarious than his former mentor. “Sonic the Hedgehog: Imposter Syndrome” #1 is set for release in November, with the series set to alternate its publishing schedule with “Sonic the Hedgehog” for the entirety of its run; both series will build to “Sonic the Hedgehog” #50, which is set for June 2022. You can check out Evan Stanley’s retailer incentive variant cover here.
– Marvel Comics unveiled the fourth one-shot in writer/artist Peach Momoko’s five-part “Demon Days” series will be “Demon Days: Rising Storm” #1. The one-shot will continue to follow Mariko Yashida on her journey through the “Momoko-verse” (the Marvel Universe combined with Japanese folklore), and see her meeting Thor and Storm. A special edition of the first issue, “Demon Days: X-Men” #1, dubbed the “Creator’s Cut,” featuring black-and-white artwork and a glimpse into the development process, was also announced. Both “Demon Days: Rising Storm” #1 and “Demon Days: X-Men Creator’s Cut” #1 are set for release in December. You can see character designs for Thor and Storm as well as the cover for the “Creator’s Cut” over at Newsarama.
– Fantagraphics announced they have acquired the worldwide publishing rights to cartoonist Jordan Crane’s (“Uptight”) latest project, a graphic novel called “Keeping Two.” The graphic novel will depict a day in the life of a young couple, when both individuals have to confront their feelings of loss, grief, fear, and insecurity, resulting in their relationship either becoming much stronger or being broken in two. Specifics for the story have been largely kept under wraps, though the press release teases that Crane will “[thread] several timelines and the interior and exterior lives of its protagonists together to create an increasing, almost Hitchcockian sense of dread and paranoia” in the graphic novel. “Keeping Two” is scheduled for release on March 20, 2022. You can check out the cover here.
– Fantagraphics also announced that they will be collecting the original Sunday “Popeye” newspaper strip into four comic book volumes. The character of Popeye the Sailor Man first appeared in the “Thimble Theatre” strip by Elzie Crisler Segar in 1929, before becoming so popular that the strip became “Popeye” in 1931. Fantagraphics’s first volume of the collection, subtitled “Olive Oyl and Her Sweetie,” covers the strips published between 1931 and 1932, and focuses on the relationship between Popeye and Olive Oyl. The first volume will feature introductions by cartoonists Sergio Ponchione (“Memorabilia”) and Cathy Malkasian (“Eartha”). “Popeye Volume 1: Olive Oyl and Her Sweetie” by E.C. Segar is scheduled for publication on November 2, with release dates for the other three volumes not currently announced. You can check out a trailer for the collected volume over at Screen Rant.
– The entirety of Tim Barela’s “Leonard & Larry” story will be collected in a single edition by Rattling Good Yarns Press, CBR reported. The mould-breaking comic follows the lives of the titular gay couple, who debuted as minor characters in an unsuccessful strip in the early 1980s before becoming the focus of a multi-page strip in “Gay Comix” #5 in 1984. The pair’s stories continued until 2003. The new edition will include the four volumes collected by Palliard Press, in addition to Barela’s “Mountain Man” and “Grizzly ‘N’ Ted” stories, and forewords by Charles Solomon and Andy Mangels as well as an introduction by Barela. The second volume of the previous collections, subtitled “Kurt Cobain & Mozart are Both Dead,” was a Lambda Literary Award nominee in 1997. “The Complete Leonard & Larry Collection” is scheduled to be released in both hardcover and paperback editions on September 30.
Continued below– Variety reported that HBO Max have ordered a pilot for a series focusing on the Dead Boy Detectives, characters who were created by Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner for DC’s “The Sandman.” In the comics, the Dead Boy Detectives are Charles Rowland and Edwin Paine, two deceased children that decide to persist on Earth to investigate paranormal crimes instead of moving onto the afterlife. Both characters are set for appearances in the third season of Doom Patrol, where they will be played by Sebastian Croft (Rowland) and Ty Tennant (Paine), but neither actor is attached to the pilot, suggesting this is not a direct spin-off from the series. Steve Yockey (The Flight Attendant) will serve as a writer and executive producer on the pilot, with Jeremy Carver, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and David Madden all set to join Yockey as executive producers. The pilot does not yet have a director. The Dead Boy Detectives pilot is set to be filmed in November.
– Variety also reports Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings performed above expectations after its theatrical release on Friday, setting a record for the Labor Day weekend with a $71.4 million haul in North America. The opening weekend total is expected to rise today to $83.5 million, well above the $45-50 million predictions from box office analysts. Globally, the movie has pulled in a total of $127.6 million, and will likely lead to Disney and Marvel Studios preserving an exclusive theatrical release for Eternals on November 5. Shang-Chi is set to have a 45 day release window, meaning it will be likely added to Disney+ after October 18, 2021.
– Aquaman director James Wan posted a photo of Jason Momoa in a new “stealth suit” from the upcoming sequel, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Wan described it as a homage to the blue camouflage suit Neal Pozner and Craig Hamilton created for the character’s relaunch in 1986, and stated that this version is “Atlantean tech based on [a] cephalopod’s camouflaging ability.” Unlike its comics counterpart, the movie’s stealth suit has a symmetrical, dark blue appearance, with metal accents. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will be released in theaters on December 16, 2022.
– Finally, it was revealed that comiXology Submit is being integrated into the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform. This news follows on from the announcement that comiXology will be increasing its integration with the rest of the Amazon framework last week. Creators that use Submit will see their publication process change in several ways following the integration, namely they will become responsible for establishing the Guided View for their publications instead of it being done automatically and, according to creator Jodie Troutman, the regular Kindle royalties split of 35% to the publisher applying, instead of the 50% paid to the publisher through comiXology submit. The transition period between Submit and KDP is set to run until “late October,” with comics uploaded via Submit and not re-uploaded via KDP no longer being available for sale after this time. You can check out the FAQs page relating to the transition here.
