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, Paul Rainey won the 2020 Observer/Cape/Comica graphic short story prize.
– A Wave Blue World announced the second original graphic novel in their YA line, “The Orphan King,” by writer Tyler Chin-Tanner, artist James Boyle, colorist Andrew Dalhouse, and letterer Pete Carlsson. Nicola Black Design LLC provided the logo. “The Orphan King” is intended as a twist on the Arthurian epics, with Prince Kaidan returning to his kingdom after secretly training with his magic-wielding aunt, Lady Taleissa, only to find it destroyed and his parents missing. With the monarchy overthrown, Kaidan’s lineage is worthless, so he sets out to build something new for the kingdom. “The Orphan King” will be released on June 2, 2021 in physical and digital comic shops, with a book shop release on June 15, 2021. The first book in A Wave Blue World’s YA line, “Averee,” is scheduled for April 2021.
– Writer Joseph Tychonievich and artist Liz Anna Kozik announced “The Comic Book Guide to Growing Food.” The graphic novel is set to detail how to grow a successful garden through the stages of planning to harvesting, by telling the story of a young professional named Mia, who learns how to grow her own vegetables under the guidance of her retired neighbour, George. “The Comic Book Guide to Growing Food” is scheduled for release in February 2021.
– Koyoharu Gotouge apologized for errors being printed on the wraparound jacket band as well as the publisher’s preview for the 23rd and final volume of “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” via the manga series’ official Twitter account. The errors specified that the volume will have an additional 14 exclusive pages added to the epilogue, with Gotogue clarifying that the final volume only contains extra material that was previously cut during the manga’s original serialization, as well as pages not included in the main story. These additional pages have been included within the main story, not after it. You can read the full list of additional material as detailed by Gotouge here.
– Michelle Yeoh confirmed she is set to appear in the upcoming Marvel Studios film, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in an unspecified role. In an interview with the BBC for their 100 Women List, Yeoh stated “I am very very happy that finally we have our own superhero.” Yeoh previously cameoed as Aleta Ogord in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 . Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, and starring Simu Liu as the titular character, with Tony Leung as the Mandarin, is currently scheduled for release on July 9, 2021.
– Disney changed the opening Marvel Studios logo on the Disney+ version of Black Panther, to a tribute version for the late Chadwick Boseman on November 29, on what would have been his 44th birthday. The updated edition features concept art as well as dialogue from its script before clips of Boseman as T’Challa/Black Panther in his Marvel Studios appearances. Boseman died on August 28 at the age of 43, after a four-year battle with colon cancer.
– A third film in the My Hero Academia franchise was confirmed, with it set for release in the Summer of 2021. The currently untitled film was confirmed in last week’s issue of Weekly Shonen Jump, with a poster featuring Izuku, Bakugo, and Todoroki and the film’s logo, the tagline “He will meet ‘The Three Musketeers!,'” and the release window. Speculation about a third film had started a week earlier, when the characters started getting their own posters, which combined to form the image featured in the latest poster. You can see the full poster for yourself over at ComicBook.com.
– Amazon cancelled Utopia after one season. The series followed a group of comic book fans who, upon discovering a graphic novel with a cult following, are targeted by a secret organization, as well as tasked with saving the world. The series, a remake of a British series by the same name, had endured a long development period. It was originally set for one season at HBO in 2014 with David Fincher and Gillian Flynn onboard, before it moved to Amazon in 2018, with Fincher departing. The series debuted on Amazon on September 25.
– Valhalla – The Legend Of Thor, the Danish film adaptation of Peter Madsen and Henning Kure’s Carlsen Comics series, was added to the Amazon Prime Video catalogue. It tells the story of a young farm girl, Røskva, who travels to Asgard to save her brother, Tjalfe, after he was tricked by Loki into becoming Thor’s slave. The film was first released in 2019, and is the second adaptation of “Valhalla,” having first been made into an animated feature film in 1986, nine years after the series was published by Carlsen Comics. The film is available here.
– Finally, David Prowse, the actor best known for his role as Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, died at the age of 85 following a short illness. Prowse was a 6-foot-7 champion weightlifter and bodybuilder who provided the physicality required for the role of Vader, with James Earl Jones’s voice being added over the top of his performance at a later date. He is also known for his role as Frankenstein’s monster in three films, including The Horror of Frankenstein, and the muscular manservant to Frank Alexander in A Clockwork Orange. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2000 for his work between 1967 and 1990 as the Green Cross Code Man, a figure in UK public service advertisements about safely crossing roads. Prowse is survived by his wife Norma and their three children.
