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.
– Publishers Weekly reports Viking Press will publish “Anzu and the Realm of Darkness,” a two-part middle-grade graphic novel by “Pilu of the Woods” creator Mai K. Nguyen. The books follow a Japanese American girl who must find her way home, after falling into the Shinto underworld during the festival of Obon. Publication of the first book is planned for 2024; in the meantime, you can check out early artwork here.
– PW also reported Razorbill will publish “Hellaween,” a middle-grade graphic novel series by Netflix storyboard veteran Moss Lawton. The series, which marks Lawton’s first graphic novel, will follow an aspiring witch, and her two best friends, a werewolf and a vampire, whom she’s only able to hang out with on Halloween. The first book will be released sometime in Summer 2023, and you can check out artwork of the characters before then here and here.
– Taiwan’s Central News Agency reports Wu Shih-hung has become the first non-European artist to win the Raymond Leblanc Prize, the most lucrative comic book prize in Europe. Wu was awarded the €10,000 (US$11,825) prize for “Storms over Hills and Ocean,” an adaptation of the late Yang Mu’s essay about the earthquakes that struck Taiwan in 1951. The Association Raymond Leblanc’s jury praised Wu’s use of Chinese water and ink techniques and water coloring. Wu, 40, is an animation veteran, and the project marked his first comic book; it is now expected to released for retail in Mandarin and French after his win.
– The Hollywood Reporter states Marvel’s “Amazing Fantasy” #15 (the first appearance of Spider-Man, cover dated August 1962) has become the most expensive comic book ever sold, after being auctioned for $3.6 million on Thursday. According to THR, the copy was “graded CGC 9.6 and is one of only four copies known to exist in that near mint condition. There are no copies in CGC 9.8, which is the next grade above.” The previous record holder, “Action Comics” #1 (1938), was sold privately for $3.25 million earlier this year.
– Marvel announced Jason Aaron and Aaron Kuder’s forthcoming “Avengers Forever” will be an ongoing series, “operating in lockstep” with Aaron’s “Avengers” run. “Avengers Forever” will see Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes) finding himself stranded on an apocalyptic Earth after the events of November’s “Avengers” #50, a world where the only hero is wanted archaeologist Tony Stark, aka the Invincible Ant-Man. The first issue will be released on December 22.
– HBO Max released the first trailer for Aquaman: King of Atlantis, the three-part animated series that continues the story of the 2018 film. Cooper Andrews (The Walking Dead, Shazam!) will fill in for Jason Momoa as the voice of the newly crowned Arthur Curry, while Gillian Jacobs, Thomas Lennon, and Dana Snyder will respectively voice Mera, Vulko, and Orm. Chapter 1 will be released on the streaming service on October 14.
– Marvel Studios won their first Emmy Awards for WandaVision, winning three for Outstanding Production Design For A Narrative Program (Half-Hour), Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes, and Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics (for “Agatha All Along.”) The Mandalorian season 2 also won seven awards, incuding Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Original Dramatic Score), Outstanding Special Visual Effects In A Season Or A Movie, and Outstanding Stunt Coordination. The Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards were held this weekend ahead of the main awards ceremony, which will be held on Sunday, September 19.
– Disney confirmed The King’s Man, Marvel’s Eternals, and the rest of their upcoming film releases will have an exclusive theatrical window of 45 days. The announcement comes after Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings performed above expectations, following a similarly exclusive theatrical release. Eternals hits theaters on November 5, while The King’s Man will be released on December 22.
– Per Anime News Network, Gou Tanabe will launch a manga based on H.P. Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror in the next issue of Monthly Comic Beam magazine on October 12. Published in 1929, The Dunwich Horror tells the story of “the Whateley family and a mysterious monster in the isolated village of Dunwich, Massachusetts.” Tanabe has previously adapted many of Lovecraft’s other stories, including an Angoulême Award-nominated take on At the Mountains of Madness, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, and The Call of Cthulhu.
– Finally, if you’re in the UK and planning to attend the BFI London Film Festival, you might get the chance to check out Oscar-winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia’s virtual reality animation project Laika. Based on Nick Abadzis’s graphic novel about the first dog to orbit Earth, Laika will be screened at the BFI Southbank multiple times on October 7, with tickets going on sale next week. Screen International also shared that Kapadia will be on hand to present the project in-person.
