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.
We begin with four cases of harassment, as the Weinstein effect continues to be felt across the world. Be aware that the links in this list contain graphic language and descriptions:
– DC Group Editor Eddie Berganza has been suspended after an exposé by BuzzFeed News. Allegations about Berganza’s behavior have gone on for years, with DC only commenting last year, but without acknowledging his name. It seems the scrutiny of an outlet as big as BuzzFeed finally forced DC’s hand.
– Andrew Kreisberg, co-creator of Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow, was suspended after reports of inappropriate behavior emerged from no less than 15 women and four men who worked with him.
– Gal Gadot has reportedly requested Brett Ratner’s company, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, be removed from the list of financiers on the Wonder Woman sequel. It comes after Warner Bros. severed ties with him following sexual allegations from several actresses, including X-Men: Apocalypse‘s Olivia Munn, and Ellen Page, who took to Facebook to describe how Ratner treated her on the set of X-Men: The Last Stand.
– George Takei, aka Star Trek‘s Mr. Sulu, was accused of sexual assault by model Scott R. Brunton. Brunton claims the incident took place in 1981, and is asking for an apology from Takei. The actor denies the allegation, claiming to have no memory of Mr. Brunton. Takei’s life story was set to be told in a graphic novel by IDW; it is unknown what impact this will have on the project.
We now move on to more pleasant fare:
– DC Comics have announced “Young Monsters in Love,” an anthology for Valentine’s Day. The contributors include writers like Paul Dini, James Robinson, Jeff Lemire, Steve Orlando, Mark Russell, Kyle Higgins, and Alisa Kwitney (“Mystic U“), and artists like Kelley Jones, whose cover features Swamp Thing and the Bride of Frankenstein making out. The 80-page book is out February 7.
– David Hine and Mark Stafford (“The Man Who Laughs“) have shared artwork, script pages and more from their upcoming graphic novel for SelfMadeHero, “Lip Hook.” The book is inspired by the cult that surrounded Mexican serial killer Magdalena Solís in the 1960s, but relocates the story to rural England, and follows a teenage boy as “he observes the conflict between traditional patriarchy and the powerful and mysterious women who gradually overturn the system, inflict chaos and ultimately take control of the [local] village.”
– Hiromu Arakawa has created a prequel comic for the upcoming film adaptation of her manga “Fullmetal Alchemist.” The book, which is the first addition to the manga since it ended in 2010, will be given to Japanese moviegoers until stocks last. The film comes out in Japan on December 1.
– The Naval Institute Press announced last month they were starting a comic book imprint called Dead Reckoning. The imprint will launch in Fall 2018 with five titles, and will specialize in military graphic memoirs as well as reprints of classic war comics. An email sent out to mark Veterans Day showed that Carl Potts (“Alien Legion”) and Bill Reinhold (“Earth X”)’s book “The Flying Press” (which chronicles Potts’s family’s experiences in the Philippines during World War II) is among the comics Dead Reckoning have in the pipeline.
– Trailers for Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season five and the next Injustice 2 DLC were released. The last one reveals that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who are no stranger to DC crossovers, will be joining the game with the Atom and Enchantress.
– Talks to sell 21st Century Fox to Disney are reportedly still on. ComicBook.com have a breakdown of what the deal would mean for Marvel Studios, Netflix, and Hulu, though not the impact it could have on comic book licensees like Dark Horse and BOOM! Studios, which Fox has a minority stake in.
– The Writers Guild of America’s Animation Caucus have voted for Len Wein to posthumously receive a lifetime achievement award at their ceremony on November 28. Wein, who died on September 10, 2017, wrote for various DC, Marvel, Transformers and Ben 10 cartoons, as well as ReBoot, Mummies Alive!, Godzilla and Street Fighter.
