Welcome back to The Rundown, our daily breakdown on comic news stories we missed from the weekend. Have a link to share? Email our team at rundown@multiversitycomics.com.
– Gaspar Saladino, the legendary letterer and logo designer, has passed away. A veteran of the industry, Saladino mostly spent his 60 year career at DC Comics, designing the logos for titles like “Swamp Thing,” “Metal Men,” “Adam Strange,” and “Green Lantern.” He also lettered books like “Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth,” “Strange Adventures”, “Justice League of America” and so much more. He won the Shazam Award in 1971 and 1973. He was 88.
– So Suicide Squad finally came out and we were all probably a bit bummed, but probably not all that shocked, to find that it sucked. Also not surprising: it topped the box office this weekend, opening with $135 million. This gives Suicide Squad the largest August opening weekend ever, topping Guardians of the Galaxy from 2014. Despite hitting hard, DC Entertainment’s other superhero movie this year saw a 69% drop in audience from its opening to its second weekend, and apparently the box office pundits are predicting the same thing for Suicide Squad. It probably doesn’t help the Warner Brothers head, Kevin Tsujihara, comes from a marketing background rather than a creative background, so he’s all too focuses on franchises and already established properties than developing anything new. It also doesn’t help that a company who cuts together trailers was hired to edit this movie. And we’re all aware of how terrible trailers tend to be.
– Brie Larson, recently cast as Carol Danvers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Larson has been making sure to do her research.
– TriStar is looking to remake The Phantom Tollbooth. The 1961 novel by Norton Juster and illustrated by prolific cartoonist, Jules Feiffer, is about a boy who goes to the land of dad jokes. Actually, it remains one of my favorite books. It was previously adapted into a Chuck Jones movie in 1970, which Juster apparently hated.
– DC is releasing another special edition of “Watchmen.” Similar to what they’re doing with that “Master Race” special edition thing, DC plans to release each issue of “Watchmen” in its own hardcover volume and shove them into a box. It’s listed for $125.
