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.
If you have not already done so, check out our recap of the Image Expo announcements, as well as our exclusive interview with Chynna Clugston Flores about her bringing “Scooter Girl” and “Blue Monday” (with new “BM” material to follow) over to Image. I’ll still be here when you’re done.
Back? OK, let’s get started…
– Last seen in the pages of “Dark Horse Presents”, “Nexus” co-creator Steve ‘The Dude’ Rude is Kickstarting the character’s return as a newspaper strip! And not just a tiny sliver of comics in any old paper; this will be a 35-week run in its own 8-page newspaper. Exact details are still being revealed, but the papers will also include printed bonus material, so it’s not likely to be 8 pages of “Nexus” in every issue. But this will still be newspaper-sized, so imagine “Wednesday Comics” but with Nexus! And while Rude is spearheading the project, the entire “Nexus” crew is on board: writer Mike Baron, inker Gary Martin, colorist Glenn Whitmore, and designer Mike Jones. Also, once the “Nexus” run finishes up, The Dude will roll right on into another serial with his other prominent creation: The Moth! There are also tons of extras, incentives, and even a digital option. “Nexus” has been one of the true gems of independent comics since its 1981 debut and I could not be more excited to have it back AND in such a unique way.
– Via Tom Spurgeon, it looks like SDCC will keep on being the San Diego CC for at least 3 more years, up through 2018. San Diego mayor Kevin L. Faulconer announced the news via press release thusly:
“Fans near and far can rejoice that their favorite superheroes and celebrities will continue to gather under the San Diego sun,” said Mayor Faulconer. “San Diego and Comic-Con are a natural pair and we’re both extremely pleased to continue our four-decade partnership. And San Diego residents can take heart knowing that the world-famous convention will continue to pump tens of millions into our economy to support local jobs, street repair and neighborhood services.”
While it’s true the convention has been in San Diego for 45 years, I’m not exactly sure I’d call it a “four-decade partnership.” The convention didn’t move to the Convention Center until 1978, almost a decade into its run, and I’m sure it was a while longer before the city started to notice enough of a money bump to actually make any kind of special arrangement with the show on a city-logistical level. Maybe the mid-90’s? They’ve certainly made up for lost time and want to assure scared business owners the pop culture dollars will continue to flow a little while longer at least. But surely I’m just being a cynic about this whole thing…
– Tim Burton and Nicolas cage were attached to do a Superman movie (Superman Lives) for most of the 1990’s. That film never came to pass, but director Jon Schnepp is putting together a documentary about that failed production, and has released a clip including some vintage video of one of the early costume fittings with Cage & Burton. I won’t say we dodged a speeding bullet with this movie never being made, and I won’t say missed out on a masterpiece like Jodorowsky’s original Dune, but knowing what we know now and seeing how excited Cage & Burton seem to be… I think I wouldn’t mind visiting one of the parallel universes out there where Superman Lives actually came to fruition. Not live there, per se, but maybe visit for two hours and see how things turned out.
– Both Rick Remender and Kieron Gillen are scaling back their Marvel work-for-hire output to focus more on creator-owned properties. This is completely unsurprising considering the sheer amount of pages they’ve typed in service of that superhero universe, and they aren’t the first or the last high-profile creators to do so. Gillen will still be writing “Darth Vader” (because, come on…) for Marvel as well as splitting time between projects at Image and Avatar Press. Remender makes no specific mention of what his future plans hold, but he currently has three ongoing series at Image (“Deadly Class”, “Black Science”, and “Low”) plus “Tokyo Ghost” already announced for September. No new series announced yesterday for Remender, but given his superhero-schedule-honed writing chops, I wouldn’t be surprised to see something else pop up at Image Expo 2016 if not sooner.
– For all the (well-deserved) press Archie Comics has gotten for their Riverdale revamp, it’s easy to forget they have also been updating their superhero line with considerable talent. And now The Web joins the Dark Circle line alongside The Fox, Black Hood, The Hangman, and The Shield. Featuring a 14-year-old girl who discovers she has mysterious powers like her idol The Web, this series will be written by novelist Dave White, drawn by Szymon Kudranski, and debut early next year.
