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.
– Brenton Thwaites (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man Tell No Tales’, Gods of Egypt) has been cast as the Boy Wonder Dick Grayson in the upcoming Titans television show. No word on whether Thwaites’s Dick Grayson will be Robin or an older Nightwing but he will be joined Anna Diop (24: Legacy, The Messengers)’s Starfire and Teagan Croft (The Osiris Child, Home and Away)’s Raven in the live-action series which is being executive produced by DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns (“Justice League,” “Flashpoint”) and the CW’s Greg Berlanti (Arrow, Supergirl) and will debut sometime in 2018 on DC’s unnamed digital streaming service.
– Alright I’m just going to say it: the number of Nazi superheroes is too damn high. Melissa Benoist (Supergirl, Whiplash) has been cast as Overgirl the Nazi-Supergirl of Earth X in the upcoming animated CW Seed show Freedom Fighters: The Ray. The show will explore a world in which the Nazi’s won the second World War with the help of superheroes like Overgirl and her cousin Overman (nazified Kal-El). The show will see many of our favorite CW heroes reimagined as nazi’s including The Flash and Green Arrow. Freedom Fighters: The Ray will be debuting later this year on CW Seed.
– Love puke inducing amusement park rides and DC superheroes? Well if so then you’re in luck because Six Flags has announced plans for a gyroscopic triple axis ride inspired by Justice Leaguer, and also Teen Titan alumni, Cyborg called The Cyborg Cyber Spin. The ride is planned to be installed in the Metropolis section of the Six Flags Great Adventure park adjacent from the Justice League: Battle for Metropolis ride.
– Comic book artist John Herbert (“Punisher War Zone,” “Nomad”) has recently announced his candidacy for the Democratic nominee in the Albany, New York County Legislator race. Herbert, who is known for his work on the Punisher, will no doubt be answering many questions regarding his gun and vigilante policy during the election. If you have any questions about his campaign or would like to support his candidacy you can find more information here.
– Speaking of comic books and public service, “No Small Plans” a new Graphic Novel from the Chicago Architecture Foundation aims to entice a new generation of city planners. The comic which was funded via Kickstarter will be distributed for free to five thousand Chicago teens. The books title is inspired by the Daniel Burnham’s “Plan of Chicago” from 1909 in which he states “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized.” The comic beautifully illustrates what Chicago looked like in 1928, what it looks like now in 2017 and what it could look like in 2111 and is available for purchase right now here.
– Fans of Wonder Woman will be happy to learn that the upcoming biopic Professor Marston and The Wonder Woman about Wonder Woman creator Dr. William Moulton Marston will be debuting earlier than expected. The film which explores how Martson’s polygamous relationship between his wife Elizabeth Martsona and his Wonder Woman muse Olive Bryne as well as his interest in the burgeoning bondage sub-culture of the 40’s impacted his work on “Wonder Woman.” The news which came directly from the films director Angela Robinson (D.E.B.S., The L Word) was accompanied by several posters of the films stars lit in heroic blues, yellows and reds. Professor Marston and The Wonder Women debuts October 13 in limited theaters.
– Writer Fabian Nicieza (“New Mutants,” “Cable & Deadpool”) and artist Reilly Brown (“Cable & Deadpool,” “Slapstick”) have announced a new digital comic series for LINE Webtoon called “Outrage.” The series from Moon, co-creator of Deadpool, and Brown centers on a mysterious individual with the ability to travel via the internet and the ability to physically manifest at any terminal where digital injustices are being done i.e. trolling, cyber-bullying or hate speech. Moon described the series as The Office meets Mr. Robot with elements from Moon and Brown’s run on “Cable & Deadpool.” The first issue of “Outrage” will be available on the LINE Webtoon app for iOS and Android.
Continued below– It’s Force Friday today so of course Disney had to roll out all of the fabulous new toys for Decembers Star Wars: The Last Jedi. YOu can count on some a litany of BB-8, Rey, Kylo Ren and Finn figures, legos and Funko Pops for the holiday season. And is those arent enough you can find a slew of Porgs and BB-9E toys that will hopefully fill that Last Jedi shaped hole in your heart, at least until the films debut December 15.
– If you still cringing at that Netflix adaptation of the critically acclaimed manga “Death Note” you may want to check out the upcoming 12 hour audio drama adaptation from German publisher Lübbe. Many fans were unimpressed with the rushed nature of Netflix’s origin story film which adapted the much beloved story of Light, a super intelligent high schooler who finds a notebook which gives him the ability to kill crimminals in any manner he likes simply by writing their name down. The audio drama will reportedly be adapting the anime series rather than the manga for which it was based on and will be debuting in 2018.
– IMPS, the studio which produced the original The Smurfs series in conjunction with legendary animation studio Hanna-Barbera has announced plans for a new series featuring cartoonist Peyo’s iconic blue Smurfs. The studio, which has held the rights to The Smurfs since 1984, made the announcement yesterday that they will be working new 13 minute episodes featuring an updated Smurf village following the success of three feature films.
– Writer Brenden Fletcher (“Gotham Academy,” “Motor Crush”) announced yesterday via twitter that a brand new EP is available from the Black Canary. The EP, which is the second of its kind, debuts well after Fletcher and artists Annie Wu (“Hawkeye,” “Batman Beyond: Batgirl Beyond”)’s 2015 run on “Black Canary” has ended; nevertheless, the EP is a welcome addition to the world Fletcher and Wu created for Black Canary and hopefully will draw in more people to read their awesome run on the series which saw Diana Drake reimagined as an indie rocker while fighting crime with her hyper-sonic voice. The new EP as well as the first one can be found on Black Canary’s Bandcamp page.
