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, long-running comic strip “Jane’s World” came to an end, and Dead Reckoning announced their Spring 2019 slate of graphic novels. We also have a video interview with “She Could Fly” creators Christopher Cantwell and Martin Morazzo at New York Comic Con, and a preview of “Ninja-K” #13.
– James Bond has returned to the pages of Playboy magazine with ‘A Train to Catch,’ a six-page comic strip from the “James Bond: Origin” creative team of writer Jeff Parker, artist Bob Q, colorist Jordie Bellaire, and letterer Simon Bowland. Like the Dynamite series, the comic depicts 007 as a teenage recruit behind enemy lines during the Second World War. The latest issue of Playboy, which continues a long relationship between Bond and the magazine, is available now digitally, and print editions will go on sale October 30.
– Doug Jones’s Star Trek: Discovery character will be the focus of “Star Trek: Discovery – Captain Saru,” a new one-shot from IDW Publishing. Writers Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson will reunite with “Star Trek: Discovery – Succession” artist Angel Hernandez to explore the Kelpien officer, who took command of the USS Discovery at the end of the show’s first season. The 48-page comic will be released in February, a month after season 2 begins.
– “Green Arrow” writers Julie and Shawna Benson confirmed their run will end with issue #47 in December. It was announced in January’s solicitations that Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly (“Grayson”) would write the next issue, and Julie Benson confirmed they were brought on as DC disagreed with the sisters’ plans for the book. “Thank you to everyone who has read and appreciated our work,” Julie wrote, “particularly the recent gut-wrenching issue 45. We are very proud of that book and on our entire runs of ‘Green Arrow’ and ‘Batgirl & the Birds of Prey’ for DC Comics. We are focusing on our TV projects at this time and hope someday we can find the heart and opportunity to write comics again.”
– Marvel Studios have dropped a film planned for July 31, 2020 from their release schedule. The news comes in the wake of reports that filming on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was pushed back to 2021, and Disney postponing the release date of their Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt vehicle Jungle Cruise to July 24, 2020. Marvel still have two movies penciled that year for May 1, 2020, and November 6, 2020.
– Netflix have canceled Luke Cage, four months after the release of its second season, and just days after canceling another Marvel TV series, Iron Fist. Reportedly, the decision came after creative differences between the show’s writers and Marvel and Netflix emerged, including problems negotiating a shorter ten-episode season. Showrunner Cheo Hodarik Coker tweeted, “A lot [of] memories. A lot of individual thank you calls to make. Just want to say thank you to Marvel, Netflix, the best Writer’s room, cast, crew, the Midnight Hour, all those who graced the stage at Harlem’s Paradise and the most incredible fan base in the world. Forward always…”
– Meanwhile, Anna Brewster (Versailles), Sharlto Copley (District 9) and Michael Pitt (Boardwalk Empire) have joined the cast of Netflix’s The Last Days of American Crime. The film, directed by Olivier Megaton (Taken 2), is based on Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini’s 2009 miniseries, and will see Brewster and Pitt as thieves planning a huge heist before the government broadcasts a signal that renders everyone unable to break the law. The movie will also star Edgar Ramirez (The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story) as their partner-in-crime.
– British pop star and actress Paloma Faith (Peter and Wendy, St Trinian’s) has joined the cast of Pennyworth. The ten-part series, which will air on Epix, follows former SAS soldier Alfred Pennyworth (Jack Bannon) when he began working for Thomas Wayne (Ben Aldridge). Faith will play Bet Sykes, a “spirited, sadistic and sharp-tongued villain.”
Continued below– Archie have canceled all forthcoming issues of their “Marvel Comics Digest” series. The reprint line was launched in June 2017 as means of expanding Marvel’s “reach and exposure” outside the direct market. The last issues of “Marvel Comics Digest” were published in August.
– DC Comics have delayed the Absolute edition of “Daytripper” to July 24, 2019. The oversized hardcover of Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba’s 2010 series was originally solicited for release in February 2019. The award-winning 2010 Vertigo book followed aspiring writer Brás de Oliva Domingos, who finds himself saddled with writing obituaries.
– Finally, on Friday we asked you to vote for your favorite Archie Horror comic. “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” won with 43 percent of the vote, followed by “Afterlife with Archie,” which received 32 percent of your votes. Thanks again for participating, and be sure to join in this Friday’s next poll.
