This article has been updated since its publication.
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, Jerry Craft’s graphic novels have been pulled in the school district of Katy, Texas.
– Camrus Johnson, the actor/writer behind Batwing/Luke Fox in Batwoman, and stories in “Batman: Urban Legends” and “DC Represent!,” is making his creator-owned debut with the sci-fi series “Tower” alongside co-writer Kelsey Barnhart, artists ChrisCross (“Firestorm,” “Captain Marvel”) & Loyiso Mkize (“Kwezi”), and colorist Andrew Dalhouse. The story draws heavily from video games, with three teens, Cassandra, Kimi, and Mac, finding themselves in the digital battle royale of ‘The Tower,’ barely surviving as they run from power-up to power-up. The first five-issue series releases from A Wave Blue World in 2022. “What’s funniest to us is that these issues of Tower are really just the prequel to the real story!” Johnson said. “What our readers will soon realize is that, in video game terms, this is simply the beta test of what the actual game will become when it goes from a secret experiment to every home and hospital on the globe.”
– The Bloodstone family will reunite in January with the new Marvel one-shot “Death of Doctor Strange: Bloodstone,” by Tini Howard (“Excalibur,” “Thanos”) and Ig Guara (“Rose,” “Ghost-Spider”). The one-shot features Elsa Bloodstone and her younger brother Cullen working together to help protect the world now that it’s been stripped of Doctor Strange’s magical safeguards, and meeting an unknown Bloodstone sister along the way. “‘Death of Doctor Strange: Bloodstone’ is a must-read for Bloodstone fans, and a great introduction to the family for curious readers,” said Howard. “There’s even a mysterious new family member you’ll get to meet right along with Elsa and Cullen, as the death of Doctor Strange breaks pacts all over the cosmos.” The issue releases January 12 with a cover by David Nakayama.
– Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC) announced the winners of the Tom Spurgeon Awards in its inaugural year, with Mollie Slott, Orrin Evans and Kim Thompson all being honoured posthumously. Tom Spurgeon was an acclaimed comics journalist and the executive director of CXC, who passed away in November 2019. The award honors valuable non-creator members of the comics community. Mollie Slott was the vice-president and director of the Chicago Tribune-New York Daily News syndicate, becoming one of their only women in a major position, and pushed for the serialization of cornerstone comic strips like “Dick Tracy” and “Gasoline Alley.” Orrin Evans published “All Negro Comics” in 1947, the first ever comic magazine fully written and drawn by African American creators. Finally, Kim Thompson served as the editor, translator, and co-publisher of Fantagraphics, bridging a wide and prolific gap across age groups and publishing regions until his death in 2013. The award was delivered alongside the usual cartoonist awards at CXC, with Shary Flenniken, Alison Bechdel (for her graphic novel “Fun Home”) and Robyn Smith winning Master Cartoonist, Transformative Work, and Emerging Talent, respectively. This was the first year where the full swathe of awards have been won by women.
– The new relationship between Marvel and Penguin Random House, who serve as their primary distributor, is off to a rocky start with many shipments missing or damaged. One particular order to Discount Comic Book Service was lost in transport, stalling their entire process of shipping. Marvel moved away from Diamond as its wholesale distributor in March of 2021 after DC’s shift to Lunar Distribution in June of last year. Neither Marvel nor Penguin Random House have made a statement on the damages as of yet.
– The Comic Book Legal Defence Fund officially has three new additions to its board of directors, following the string of departures in mid-2020. The new introductions include writer Amy Chu (“Wonder Woman,” “Sea Sirens”), Heavy Metal’s executive editor Joe Illidge, and designer/journalist Pam Noles, who’s worked with both Comic-Con and the ACLU. The CBLDF faced major fallout in June of last year, when its executive director Charles Brownstein resigned following a well documented history of sexual assault and harassment through his career. Following his resignation, many members of its board also departed, with other major creators boycotting the non-profit. Illidge and Noles will officially begin their tenure at CBDLF now, with Chu set to begin her duties in January of 2022. Other CBLDF directors currently include Christina Merkler, Chris Powell, Dale Cendali, Jen King, Bob Wayne, and Gene Luen Yang.
Continued below– With the Harvey Awards set to run at New York Comic Con this week, five new inductees have been added to the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame. The new additions are prolific creators Bernie Wrightson, William Kaluta, Barry Windsor-Smith, Rumiko Takahashi, and Jeffrey Catherine Jones. They will join previous alumni of the award including Darwyn Cooke, Alison Bechdel and Dave Gibbons. “I am delighted to see Bernie’s accomplishments in the field of comics and illustration honored by the Harvey Awards committee,” said Liz Wrightson, the wife of the late creator. “His legacy continues to burn bright, and his memory lives on in our hearts.” The new inductees will be honored at the Harvey Awards ceremony this Friday.
– Actress Letitia Wright, known for her roles in Small Axe and Black Panther, has reportedly been spreading vaccine misinformation on the set of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The actress has become notorious for her denialist opinion on the COVID-19 pandemic, sharing xenophobic and transphobic sentiments all in an effort to sow doubt around vaccination. This also comes after Wright was injured during stunt work on set in August of this year. For those seeking more information on vaccination, you can check the CDC FAQ here.
– Wentworth Miller, the actor behind Leonard Snart a.k.a Captain Cold on CW’s The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, is officially returning for the 100th episode of Legends of Tomorrow. The anniversary episode will look through the show’s past, with Miller appearing alongside series regulars Matt Ryan, Tala Ashe, Jes Macallan, Olivia Swann and more, as well as Amy Louise Pemberton as the human embodiment of the A.I. Gideon. The episode airs October 27, with series star Caity Lotz directing.
– Netflix have released a new trailer for Locke & Key season 2, continuing the adaptation of the comic series by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. Deadline have also confirmed that Kevin Durand will be joining the show as a series regular through seasons 2 and 3 as a Revolutionary War captain, who bears a unique history with the secrets of Keyhouse. Captain Frederick Gideon is described as ruthless and charismatic, acting as the newest force against the Locke siblings. Locke & Key season 2 releases on Netflix on October 22.
– After launching at the start of September, a live-action fan production of “Wayne Family Adventures” is already in the works from Ismahawk, the studio behind the acclaimed Nightwing fan series. The Webtoon series was hugely popular from launch and features familial interactions between Batman and his wards in the Wayne Manor and Batcave. This will carry on in the Ismahawk series, which will feature Jonathan Bentley as Batman, Yoshi Sudarso as Nightwing, Lisa Foiles as Oracle, Tim Neff as Red Hood, Peter Sudarso as Red Robin, Meghan Camarena as Spoiler, Gemma Nguyen as Orphan, Carter Rockwood as Robin, Du-Shaunt “Fik-Shun” Stegall as Signal, and Marcus Weiss as Alfred Pennyworth in a three-part series. The show will release in mid-October on the Ismahawk YouTube channel. You can check out a bundle of behind-the-scenes pictures on IGN.
