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.
– Image Comics will be releasing “Thought Bubble 2017 Anthology” #6 this fall with all profits going to the children’s charity Barnados. The anthology book, which is a yearly tradition now at the Thought Bubble comic convention in Leeds England, will feature work from some of the top talent the industry today including Jason Aaron (“MIghty Thor,” “Southern Bastards”), Jody Houser (“Mother Panic,” “Faith”), Marley Zarcone (“Shade the Changing Girl,” “Effigy”) and many more. “Thought Bubble 2017 Anthology” #6 will be hitting shelves September 20.
– Jeff Smith (“Shazam and the Monster Society of Evil,” “Rasl”) has announced that he will be returning to the world of “Bone,” his Eisner award-winning all ages comic, for a new kids picture book called “Smiley’s Dream Book.” Graphix, who will be publishing the book, and Smith already have plans for a sequel book in the works. A film trilogy franchise is also in the works at Warner Bros. Animation. Look for the picture book sometime next summer.
– A new study by Carolyn Cocca, author of “Superwomen: Gender, Power, And Representation,” finds that the comic books we all love to read are, by and large, very sexist. The study which looked at 34,476 comic book characters found that of characters those characters only 26.7% are female and only about 12% of books feature female protagonists. The study also outlines the fact that female heroes are twice as likely to be referred to as “girl,” “lass,” “maid” or “gal” rather than “woman.” The study points to some very troubling trends that creators and companies will hopefully work to rectify.
– IDW Publishing has announced a new 5-issue weekly crossover mini-series between the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Ghostbusters coming this fall. The series will be a follow up the 2015 series “TMNT/Ghostbusters” and will feature the original writing team of Erik Burnham (“Ghostbusters,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe”) and Tom Waltz (“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Silent Hill”) with artist Dan Schoening (“Ghostbusters,” “Ghostbusters: Total Containment”). The first issue will be hitting shelves in November.
– Speaking of IDW, yesterday they teased on their Facebook account the return of the planet-sized Transformer villain Unicron. Unicron, who serves a villainous deity of sorts to the residents of Cybertron, first appeared in Transformers: The Movie and is notably one of film legend Orson Welles (Citizen Kane, The Stranger) last film roles. He famously said of the role: “I play a planet. I menace somebody called Something-or-other. Then I’m destroyed.”
– Variety Fair yesterday released their very first Geek Power List which featured some of the most powerful geeks working today. The list features comic creators like Brian K. Vaughn (“Saga,” “Runaways”) and Robert Kirkman (“Walking Dead,” “Invincible”), directors like the Russo Brothers (“Captain America: Civil War,” “Community”), and actors such as Gal Gadot (“Wonder Woman,” “Fast & Furious 6”) among many others. Mainstream media’s recognition of these geeks power is yet another victory for geeks everywhere in our ongoing quest to conquer the world.