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, the “Giant Days” team are reuniting for a new series called “Wicked Things,” Image announced “Pulp” by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, and Marvel released the first trailer for the Black Widow movie. We also interviewed Bob Layton about the legacy of Valiant and more. Lastly, Star Trek writer D.C. Fontana passed away after a short illness at the age of 80.
— Hideout Pictures has acquired the rights to “Kill Whitey Donovan,” Dark Horse’s upcoming comic series created by Sydney Duncan and Natalie Barahona. Sigrid Gilmer (Claws, A Series of Unfortunate Events) will adapt the comic into an action film. Set in the last days of the Civil War, the series follows two women who are out to seek justice against plantation owner Jim “Whitey” Donovan.
— DC released first looks for two of its upcoming middle grade graphic novels set to debut in Summer 2020. The first is “Lois Lane and the Friendship Challenge” by Grace Ellis and Brittney Williams, and the second is “Primer” by Jennifer Muro, Thomas Krajewski, and Gretel Lewsky.
— The Otago Daily Times, a New Zealand newspaper, issued an apology for a cartoon it ran making light of the measles outbreak in Samoa. Drawn by cartoonist Garrick Tremain, the cartoon faced backlash for what readers described as “insensitive” and “distasteful” treatment of a public health crisis which has so far killed 55 people, many under 4 years old.
— A 53-year-old Russian transgender woman was sentenced to three years in prision for posting hentai (for the uninitiated, that’s erotic manga) to the social network VKontakte. The woman, known only as Michelle, was convicted of “distributing pornography depicting minors,” a crime that can carry up to a six-year sentence. The indictment against her included an “expert examination” undertaken by the Center for Sociocultural Expert Examinations, which has also provided support in the high-profile case against Pussy Riot, as well as cases against Jehovah’s Witnesses and a prominent Gulag historian accused of possessing child pornography.
— Finally, Disney announced a new Star Wars show set to stream exclusively on Disney+. Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge is a kids game show hosted by Ahmed Best, who will play a Jedi Master, and his sidekick, a humanoid droid voiced by Mary Holland. According to StarWars.com, the show will “test young contestants’ abilities in the core Jedi principles of strength, knowledge, and bravery as they face thrilling and fun obstacles in an attempt to achieve the rank of Jedi Knight.” It will stream in 2020.
