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.
In case you missed it, DC announced Tom Taylor and Nicola Scott are relaunching “Titans,” as well as the creative teams for the upcoming “Cyborg” and “Green Lantern” series.
– French cartoonist Riad Sattouf was awarded the Grand Prix at the Angoulême International Comics Festival last night. Sattouf, 44, is best known for the autobiographical series “The Arab of the Future” (pictured above), and “Esther’s Notebooks.” He is one of the youngest winners of the lifetime achievement award to date, and (being Syrian on his father’s side) the first Arab to win the award. Other finalists for this year’s Grand Prix were Catherine Meurisse, and American cartoonist Alison Bechdel. The 50th annual Angoulême International Comics Festival runs from today until Sunday, January 29.
– In further European comics festival news, Italy’s Lake Como Comic Art Festival (LCCAF) announced the fourth edition of the event, which will be held May 12-14, 2023. Guests for the festival, which is being held at Villa Erba in Cernobbio, currently include Stanley ‘Artgerm’ Lau, Ryan Ottley, Peach Momoko, Jenny Frison, Eric Powell, Sozomaika, Frank Cho, Emanuala Lupacchino, Cat Staggs, Art Adams, Gabriele Dell’Otto, Lee Bermejo, Travis Charest, Geof Darrow, Joyce Chin, Olivier Coipel, Simone Bianchi, Humberto Ramos, Liam Sharp, Esad Ribic, Enrico Marini, and Milo Manara. The LCCAF was first held in 2018 and 2019, and resumed in 2022.
– Source Point Press will launch Maggid Comics, an imprint for Jewish stories by Jewish creatives, headed up by Israeli American filmmaker and editor-in-chief Arnon Z. Shorr. The first release will be “Ben Mortara and the Thieves of the Golden Table,” an all-ages adventure written by Shorr with art by Kat Baumann (“20 Fists”), that follows archaeology professor Ben Mortara as he travels to Spain to solve the mystery of the Map of Solomon. Issue #1 will be released on March 22, 2023.
– Image Comics announced “Junk Rabbit,” a dystopian new series by writer/artist Jimmie Robinson (“Bomb Queen”), that tells the story of a vengeful hero who emerges in a future overrun by garbage, climate change and homelessness, as well as “how one family can change the future by unlocking the secret of the Junk Rabbit.” The series will launch from the Shadowline imprint on April 5.
– Mad Cave Studios unveiled “Monomyth,” a fantasy series by writer David Hazan, artist Cecilia Lo Valvo, colorist Marissa Louise, and letterer Lucas Gattoni. Set in a future where magic is nearly extinct, it sees the last wizard cast “a final desperate spell to summon the descendants of ancient bloodlines to a school for magic now in disrepair… [where] those chosen ones find a horror of the likes they’ve never experienced. They will have to confront the deepest parts of themselves, their tragic pasts, and defeat each other in order to survive the ordeal.” Issue #1 releases in May.
– Titan Comics have been criticized over the quality of the English release of “Kamen Rider Kuuga,” with readers pointing to an inferior translation of the manga than preview pages released over the summer. Titan have responded saying, “Early draft pages (three pages for Volume 1 and four pages for Volume 2) were translated for marketing purposes, as we wanted to get the artwork out as soon as possible for the fans. These may still be circulating on the web. The actual translation for the printed books (approved by Titan and licensors) were worked on by two highly respected translators in the business.”
– Real-life acting couple Ethan Embry and Sunny Mabrey have joined the cast of Gotham Knights as Stephanie Brown’s parents, Arthur and Crystal Brown. Arthur, who in the comics is the supervillain Cluemaster, will be portrayed as the host of the nightly quiz show Quiz Bowl, while Crystal is described in the press release as “battling a secret addiction.” Both will appear in a recurring capacity on the show, which begins on The CW on Tuesday, March 14.
– Finally, in quite the coincidence with DC’s announcement, HBO Max disclosed the fourth and current seasons of Titans and Doom Patrol will be their last. A spokesperson said, “While these will be the final seasons of Titans and Doom Patrol, we are very proud of these series and excited for fans to see their climactic endings.” According to Variety, the creators of both shows knew about the decision in advance, and planned their finales accordingly. Titans and Doom Patrol, which respectively began on DC Universe Infinite in 2018 and 2019, will conclude their final seasons with their 12th episodes later this year.
