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, Archie Comics struck a deal to release their entire line on comiXology Unlimited, and Marvel is relaunching “S.W.O.R.D.” as part of their X-Men line with the “Empyre” team of Al Ewing and Valerio Schiti.
– HarperAlley acquired the publication rights to “Eat, and Love Yourself” creator Sweeney Boo’s young adult fantasy graphic novel “Over My Dead Body.” It will tell the story of Abby, a teenage witch at a magic academy whose classmate vanishes, and who gradually uncovers a mystery that’s haunted the school for decades while searching for them. The book will be published in 2022. For more, check out Publishers Weekly‘s blurb on the deal, and the full resolution cover art, at Boo’s Twitter account here.
– Iconic magazine Heavy Metal will be partnering with the Frazetta Art Museum to feature the artwork of sci-fi and fantasy artist Frank Frazetta. The Hollywood Reporter reports that the deal will grant Heavy Metal Entertainment the ability to feature Frazetta’s work in future issues, including the use of his pieces as variant covers, and spotlights on them in special features within the issue. A legend of sword-and-sorcery art, Frazetta’s oil paintings were enormously influential on the genre, appearing on book and album covers throughout the ’60s, 70s, and 80s, and illustrated a number of comics that appeared a wide variety of magazines including Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella and Heavy Metal. The first issue featuring Frazetta’s artwork, Heavy Metal #305, will hit shelves in February 2021.
– As COVID-19 continues to limit public gatherings, Disney has again shuffled the release dates of what were at one time some of 2020’s biggest releases. Via Variety, Marvel’s Black Widow has been pushed from its November 6 release date, and is now opening on May 7, 2021. The delay caused a ripple effect on other upcoming Phase 4 Marvel films, delaying Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Eternals deeper into 2021, with the former moving from May 7 to July 9, 2021, and the latter moving from February 12 to November 5, 2021. Meanwhile, the Kingsman: The Secret Service prequel The King’s Man has moved up two weeks, taking the date vacated by Eternals on February 12, 2021, and the adaptation of the BOOM! Studios horror series The Empty Man was brought forward from December 4 to October 23, 2020.
– James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad is getting an HBO Max spin-off featuring John Cena’s Peacemaker. Via ComicBook.com, Peacemaker has been given a straight-to-series order and will explore the origins of the titular character. James Gunn will write all eight episodes of the series, and will direct several episodes as well. John Cena will reprise his role. Filming is set to begin in early 2021, before Gunn heads off to film Guardians of the Galaxy 3 for Marvel. The Suicide Squad premieres August 6, 2021.
– In further HBO Max news, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is heading back for reshoots in October, more than four years after principal photography wrapped on the original film. Via The Hollywood Reporter, several members of the film’s cast, including Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, and Ray Fisher, will be returning for what will likely be 1-2 weeks of reshoots. Fisher’s inclusion in the reshoots is somewhat surprising, as the actor has been in a public dispute with Warner Bros. for the past two months regarding what he called a toxic environment on the Justice League set following Snyder’s departure. Popularly referred to as “the Snyder Cut” among Snyder’s fanbase, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is scheduled for release in mid-2021, and will take the form of a four episode miniseries that will eventually be combined into a four hour film.
– And in more DC TV news, via Deadline, Leah Gibson and Nathan Owens will be joining the second season of the CW’s Batwoman in recurring roles. Gibson, formerly of Jessica Jones, will play assassin Tatiana aka the Whisper, who will be one of the “most important henchwomen” for shadowy crime figure Safiyah Sohail (played this season by Shivani Ghai), and who “still harbors feelings for her powerful boss.” Owens (Devious Maids) will portray Ocean, “a zen gardner and thinker with a complicated past,” who moved to Gotham while looking for a fresh start. Batwoman will return, with new lead actress Javicia Leslie, in January 2021.
Continued below– The Barzinji Prize Foundation’s Hamzanama Comic Contest has extended its submission deadline through October 31, 2020. The contest, which we previously covered in our Rundown back in May, calls for comic submissions based on the Mughal epic The Hamzanama, and features cash prizes of up to $5,000. You can find more information about the contest and submission guidelines here.
– A new comics publisher with an admirable mission statement has arrived. Via a press release, the publisher Sigma Comics has launched with a dedication to fighting animal abuse, and they’re doing so with a recognizable symbol. The company’s logo features the “superhero” figure from comic book dealer Robert Bell, whose mail order comic ads were prominent fixtures in comic books from the ’60s through the ’80s. The figure is being used with Bell’s permission after a request from the company’s founder H.H. German. No specific details for the company’s first titles have been released, but they hope to have their first book on the shelves by Christmas.
– Via ComicBook.com, the fourth season of Attack on Titan seems to be on track to premiere in December. Reports that the show’s final season would stream on both Funimation and Crunchyroll later this year prompted fans to look for a more specific release date, which they potentially found in the form of a press release sitting on the anime’s official website. Though the show’s production company has not commented to verify the discovered press release, the fourth and final season of Attack on Titan appears to be premiering on December 7 in Japan — or December 6 in the US, given the time difference.
– A group of students at Ball State University presented their research in a unique way. Via PREVIEWSworld, Chemistry and Biology students at Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) at Ball State created a 133-page comic book to present the findings of their research, winning the prestigious Experts’ Choice Award from the National Science Foundation. The comic weaves together the abstracts, charts, and references of the students’ research projects with a narrative that follows four superheroes on their mission to rescue the LSAMP research from the evil Dr. Viktor Hazard. You can check out the award-winning comic here.
