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.
– DC Entertainment are to be honored at the GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network)’s Respect Awards on October 20 for their commitment to LGBTQ representation in their comics and TV shows. GLSEN singled out the creation of characters like Batwoman and Alysia Yeoh, and the presence of queer characters on Supergirl, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow and Gotham. DC president Diane Nelson will accept the Visionary Award on the company’s behalf.
– Following Damon Lindelof’s Instagram photo confirming writing has begun on HBO’s Watchmen series, the channel has announced the show is moving forward with a pilot, and that the writers’ room is now taking “back-up” submissions.
– The first full trailer for Netflix’s The Punisher was released during Jon Bernthal’s birthday (he turned 41). It’s a bloody and brutal montage set to Metallica’s “One” that still doesn’t disclose the show’s release date.
– Speaking of Netflix’s Marvel series, marketing analysis indicates last month’s The Defenders was the least watched show yet, and that it may have received just 17% of the views that Frank Castle’s debut in Daredevil season two had in its first month.
– Archie Comics are reviving Cosmo the Merry Martian for a new ongoing series called “Cosmo.” The team behind Archie’s “Sonic the Hedgehog,” writer Ian Flynn and artists Tracy Yardley and Matt Herms, will reunite for the character’s first solo title since he was created in 1958. The first issue is due out January 3, 2018.
– Valiant’s “Secret Weapons” is getting an #0 in January, which will tell the back-story of Nikki Finch a year before the events of the miniseries. The Hollywood Reporter have artwork from Adam Pollina and an interview with writer Eric Heisserer, who mentions he has more prequel comics in mind for other characters. In the meantime, “Secret Weapons” #0 is due out January 3.
– Turner Classic Movies and DC are teaming up for a free comic book titled “Batman in Noir Alley.” Written by Stuart Moore, the one-shot has Batman team-up with Eddie Muller, the host of TCM’s film noir programming block, to find the Maltese Falcon Moroccan Raptor when it goes missing from the Gotham City Museum. The comic can be found at the stores listed here, and will also be available at the New York Comic Con. No artist is listed, though the cover is by Dan Panosian.
– Dark Horse Comics have announced they are turning Geek & Sundry’s Critical Role, a webseries where voice actors play Dungeons & Dragons, into a six-issue digital comic. “Critical Role – Vox Machina: Origins,” which is written by game designer Matthew Colville (Evolve), and drawn by Danish artist Olivia Samson, portrays the beginnings of the titular team. The first issue is out now.
– In a Variety interview, 20th Century Fox CEO Stacey Snider talked about the tonal choices of Josh Boone’s New Mutants, whether or not Wolverine will be recast soon, and her Oscar hopes for Logan. The studio has already begun campaigning for the film, as last week Logan became the first DVD screener sent to members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for their consideration.
– Cartoonist Ramón Nsé Esono Ebalé was arrested in Equatorial Guinea on September 16, Human Rights Watch reports. In Equatorial Guinea, those who criticize President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and other top officials are liable to government prosecution due to outdated colonial laws. Ebalé had been living outside the country for several years but had returned to renew his passport. He continues to be held and interrogated without charge in excess of the 72-hour time limit allowed by Equatoguinean law.
