Welcome back to The Rundown, our 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, legendary writer & editor Jim Shooter will take up his red pen again on the genre-bending Image Comics series “Slow City Blues.” Shooter will edit the ongoing series, working alongside writer Samuel Haine, artist Shawn Moll, inker John Livesay, colorist JD Smith, and letterer Thomas Mauer. Also, Dark Horse Comics have announced the June 2020 release of “Cuphead: Comic Capers & Curios,” a graphic novel written by Zack Keller, with art by Shawn Dickinson, and based on the popular Studio MDHR video game.
– Survivors and families of victims of the 2012 mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises have signed a letter to Warner Bros., urging the studio to “end political contributions to candidates who take money from the NRA and vote against gun reform,” and “use your political clout and leverage in Congress to actively lobby for gun reform.“ The letter arrives amid concerns over Warner’s upcoming release of its dark and violent Joker film, starring Joaquin Phoenix.
A Warner Bros. representative responded: “Gun violence in our society is a critical issue, and we extend our deepest sympathy to all victims and families impacted by these tragedies. Our company has a long history of donating to victims of violence, including Aurora, and in recent weeks, our parent company joined other business leaders to call on policymakers to enact bi-partisan legislation to address this epidemic. At the same time, Warner Bros. believes that one of the functions of storytelling is to provoke difficult conversations around complex issues. Make no mistake: neither the fictional character Joker, nor the film, is an endorsement of real-world violence of any kind. It is not the intention of the film, the filmmakers or the studio to hold this character up as a hero.” Meanwhile, Century Aurora and XD, the remodeled venue that was the site of the 2012 shooting, has elected at present not to screen Joker.
— In related news, the U.S. Army has warned service members about the potential for a mass shooter at screenings of Joker, after FBI intelligence officials uncovered social media posts related to extremist “incels” (involuntary celibate). The Army is unaware of any specific plots or suspects, and issued the warning purely as a precautionary measure.
— The CW is proceeding with an Arrow spin-off focusing on Mia Smoak, the daughter of Green Arrow, and Canaries Laurel Lance and Dinah Drake. The new series will star Katherine McNamara, Katie Cassidy and Juliana Harkavy, each reprising their Arrow roles, and will debut in a backdoor pilot episode during Arrow’s upcoming final season.
— Japanese publishers Shueisha (publisher of Weekly Shonen Jump), Kodansha (Shonen Magazine), Shogakkan (Shonen Sunday), and Kadokawa (Shonen Ace) have jointly filed a lawsuit against four piracy sites that the publishers are calling “successor sites” to Manga Mura, which they successfully sued to shut down back in July. The publishers seek damages for what they call “willful and massive [copyright] infringement,” and the shut-down of the sites, none of which are accessible since the filing of the suit.
— Britain’s Labour Party is facing fresh accusations of antisemitism after a signed copy of a controversial cartoon was given as a raffle prize during the party’s annual conference. The cartoon depicted Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, as a horseback-riding “antisemite hunter” who encounters Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and labels him “an antisemitic trope.” The cartoon had previously been rejected by The Guardian newspaper.
— Incoming writer/artist on IDW’s ”TMNT” Sophie Campbell revealed that Mona Lisa, who first appeared in the Turtles’ 1987 animated series, will appear in issue #101. Campbell posted elements of the character’s redesign on her Twitter, drawing from elements of Mona Lisa’s previous designs, combined with Campbell’s signature look.
— Dark Horse has announced a July 2020 release for “Blacksad: The Complete Stories,” which will bring together five of Blacksad’s biggest cases into a single volume. This edition of the Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido series will collect story pages from “Blacksad,” “Blacksad: A Silent Hell,” and “Blacksad: Amarillo,” and will feature new material never before published in English.
— Finally, Tony-nominated Daphne Rubin-Vega, who portrayed Mimi in the original Off-Broadway and Broadway productions of Rent, will play Luisa, the mother of a central character, on the CW’s upcoming Riverdale spin-off Katy Keene. The new series is expected to debut during CW’s winter/spring 2020 midseason.
