Major Lazer Year Negative One Featured News 

The Rundown: October 2, 2020

By | October 2nd, 2020
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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, Argentinian cartoonist Quino, best known as the creator of Mafalda, died at the age of 88. We also had an exclusive preview of “The Magnificent Ms. Marvel” #15.

Cover by Ferry Gouw

– The EDM trio Major Lazer is teaming up with publisher Z2 for a new graphic novel. Via ICv2, writer Alex di Campi will tackle “Major Lazer: Year Negative One” with Major Lazer’s longtime collaborator Ferry Gouw co-writing and illustrating. The graphic novel will feature the origins of Major Lazer, a one-armed Jamaican man from an alternate timeline where he was a commando in the Zombie War of 1984. When the “retro futuristic metropolis” of Nu Kingston in Jamaica is beset by gang lords who control zombie armies through a substance called Slime, Major Lazer rallies his fellow warriors to defeat them. The project will be released in three formats: a 22-page one shot, a 144-page trade paperback, and a limited edition, 2,000 print run slipcased hardcover accompanied by an exclusive vinyl picture disc of Major Lazer’s new album Music Is the Weapon. “Major Lazer: Year Negative One” will be released in all formats in March 2021.

– In a shocking bit of news (sorry) from The Hollywood Reporter, Academy Award-winner Jamie Foxx is reportedly in final talks to play Electro in the upcoming Spider-Man sequel from Sony and Marvel Studios. If that bit of news sounds familiar, that’s because Foxx previously portrayed the villain in the 2014 Andrew Garfield-fronted The Amazing Spider-Man 2, an expensive production that underperformed both critically and financially. The response to that film — as well as the fallout from the Sony email hack that same year — prompted the partnership between Sony and Marvel Studios that led to Spider-Man entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Story details surrounding Foxx’s return are sparse. If the deal clears, Foxx would be the second major actor to reprise their pre-MCU Spider-Man role in the current series, following J.K. Simmons’s surprise return as J. Jonah Jameson at the end of last year’s Spider-Man: Far From Home. Director Jon Watts and star Tom Holland are expected to return for the as yet untitled third film, which is currently scheduled for release on December 17, 2021.

– For the first time since Nielsen began tracking the viewership rankings of streaming services several months ago, Netflix has some company in the top 10. Via The Hollywood Reporter, Amazon’s The Boys jumped onto the list as the 3rd most streamed property in the United States for the week of August 31 to September 6, reaching 891 million viewed minutes following its September 4 premiere. The Boys, an adaptation of the Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson comic of the same name, came in behind two Netflix shows: the YouTube pickup Cobra Kai (with 2.17 billion minutes viewed), and fellow comic adaptation Lucifer (with 1.42 billion minutes viewed). One other non-Netflix property managed to break into the top ten as well, with Disney+’s live-action Mulan racking up 525 million minutes viewed, earning it a place at number 10.

– The Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table (GNCRT) of ALA and the Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation have opened up applications for the 2021 Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants for Libraries grant cycle. Via the American Library Association, the grants aim to encourage public awareness about the rise and importance of graphic literature by extending the reach and availability of those books in libraries. The organization will give out three grants of $4,000 each: two Will Eisner Graphic Novel Growth Grants, which provide support to libraries that would like to expand their existing graphic novel collection, services and programs; and one Will Eisner Graphic Novel Innovation Grant, which provides support to a library for the initiation of a new graphic novel service or program. The application and information about the Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants for Libraries can be found on the Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table Eisner Grants page. The application deadline is Sunday February 7, 2021.

Continued below

– Warner Bros. and production company Studio 8 are joining forces for a feature film adaptation of the Black Mask series “Black” from Kwanza Osajyefo and Tim Smith 3. Via Deadline, the script was penned by comics writer and Titans producer Bryan Edward Hill. Black Mask Studio’s Matteo Pizzolo and Brett Gurewitz will serve as producer and executive producer respectively, and Osajyefo and Smith will be involved as co-producers. “Black” follows Kareem, a young man who miraculously survives a police shooting and discovers he possesses superpowers — and that a secret consortium seeks to control the superpowers that only Black people possess. The search is currently on for a director to helm the project.

Deadline brings the news that the Netflix adaptation of Jeff Lemire’s Vertigo comic “Sweet Tooth” has added the young actress Stefania LaVie Owen to the cast as a series regular. Owen, who starred in Netflix’s Messiah and Hulu’s Chance, will portray Bear, a teenage activist and a leader of the Animal Army. Filming on Sweet Tooth has been underway since mid-September, after becoming one of a small number of Hollywood productions to be granted border exemptions by the New Zealand government to film in the country, despite the ongoing COVID-19 travel restrictions. Sweet Tooth follows Gus (Christian Convery), a boy/deer hybrid who leaves home to find the world ravaged by a cataclysmic event. The series also stars Neil Sandilands, Dania Ramirez, Christian Convery, Nonso Anozie and Adeel Akhtar, with Will Forte in a recurring role and James Brolin as the narrator. Production on Sweet Tooth’s eight episode season is expected to continue through December 2020, and no release date has currently been announced.

– Scout Comics and Entertainment have signed with film, TV, and streaming management firm Mosaic as they seek opportunities to adapt their properties. Via Deadline, the publisher has a number of their titles currently in some stage of development, including the already announced “Solar Flare” and “Unikorn.” “As Mosaic continues to branch out into the IP world, we feel like we found a real gem in the independent comic book landscape with Scout,” said Mosaic’s principal Jimmy Miller. “And as impressive as their catalogue is, we were more impressed with the team behind it, and look forward to working with them as they continue to grow and bring fantastic new content to readers and audiences alike.”

– The People’s Choice Awards nominations for 2020 have dropped, and a number of comic book adaptations have made the cut. Via Comicbook.com, Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn and The Old Guard are both in the running for The Movie of 2020, with the pair of films also earned nominations for Action Movie, and stars Margot Robbie (Birds of Prey) and Charlize Theron (The Old Guard) nominated for Female Movie Star and Action Movie Star. The Valiant adaptation Bloodshot also earned multiple nominations, with star Vin Diesel picking up nominations for Male Movie Star and Action Movie Star and the film earning a nod for Action Movie.

Though no comic book TV adaptations made the cut for the big prize, comics dominated the Sci-Fi/Fantasy category, with DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Locke and Key, Supergirl, The Flash and The Umbrella Academy all making the list. Both Riverdale and The Walking Dead were nominated for Drama, with Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart (Riverdale) and Danai Gurira and Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead) picking up notices for their performances. You can find the full list of nominees at the People’s Choice Awards website, and vote for your favorites before October 23. The People’s Choice Awards air on Sunday, November 15.


//TAGS | The Rundown

Reid Carter

Reid Carter is a freelance writer, screenwriter, video editor, and social media manager who knows too much about pop culture for his own good. You can find his ramblings about comics and movies at ReidCarterWrites.com and his day to day ramblings about everything else on Twitter @PalmReider.

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