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James Gunn’s Adopted Dog Inspired Krypto in ‘Superman’ and “Changed the Shape of the Story”

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Eileen Gonzalez

Contributing Editor

Eileen's primary literary love is comic books, but she’s always on the lookout for her next literary adventure no matter what form it takes. She has a Bachelor's in media studies, a Master's in digital communication, a smattering of published short stories, and a seriously cute dog. Follow her on Bluesky.

Welcome back to The Stack! Here are some of the highlights of graphic novel news that you might have missed since the last digest.

News From DC and Marvel

  • We have a new Green Lantern, everybody! Variety reports that Aaron Pierre, who previously featured on the series Krypton, will play John Stewart on the upcoming series Lanterns. He joins Friday Night Lights‘ Kyle Chandler, who was cast as Hal Jordan in September.
  • Marvel has announced a new kids’ series, Iron Man and His Awesome Friends, that will debut on Disney Jr. and Disney+ next summer. It will feature Iron Man (duh), Ironheart, Iron Hulk, and, most importantly, GAMMA THE IRON PUP.
  • In more absolutely essential superdog news, James Gunn has announced that Krypto will be appearing in his film Superman, also scheduled for release next summer. In a Twitter thread, he explained that the decision to include Krypto was inspired by his own experiences adopting a troublesome (but, thankfully, non-powered) dog.

News From the Wider Comics World

  • At this point in the U.S. election cycle, you’ve probably heard of Project 2025 at least once. To help voters better understand what that is and why its proponents (i.e., Republicans) must never be given the chance to implement it, comics creators donated their time and talents to Stop Project 2025, a free online comic that explains the implications of different aspects of the Project. Forbes published a neat article about how the project was developed.
  • New York Comic Con was last week! Popverse has a convenient round-up of all the big headline makers from this year’s convention.
  • Speaking of NYCC, the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame has five new members, and they’re big ones: Arthur Adams, John Buscema, Sergio Aragonés, Larry Hama, and Akira Toriyama — legends all — were inducted at this year’s Con.
  • The European and International Booksellers Federation released the results of a study of people’s reading habits. They show that, across the 19 countries included in the study, comics made up 10% of all book sales. That number was considerably higher in France (22%) and Italy (20%). Everyone else needs to get on their level!
  • Book Riot revealed the cover of the upcoming Trans History: A Graphic Novel, an exciting look back at the many transgender and gender-nonconforming people who have left their mark and paved the way for future generations.
  • The Intelligencer offered an interesting perspective on the kerfuffle that ensued when the owner of a Snoopy fan account used the platform to promote xenophobic, pro-Trump rhetoric.
  • Japanese video game publisher Bandai Namco is pulling the plug on games based on popular manga like Naruto and One Piece. According to The Gamer, this is part of a larger downsizing trend that has seen many workers lose their jobs.