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, Z2 Comics have announced “Blondie: Against The Odds;” Drawn & Quarterly announced they will be publishing a new graphic novel by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki; and BOOM! Studios imprint Archaia announced “The Short While.” We also have an exclusive preview of next week’s “King in Black: Thunderbolts” #3.
– Via The Beat, as part of the ongoing partnership between comiXology and Dark Horse Comics, Michael W. Conrad and Noah Bailey’s “Tremor Dose” will get a print release later this year. The sci-fi horror graphic novel was orginally published digitally as a comiXology Originals exclusive title back in 2019. “Tremor Dose” follows Ginn, a young college student who has been having wildly disturbing nightmares featuring a man she has never met. When she finds a flyer with his picture, she submits to an interview that begins to unravel her perceptions of reality. “Tremor Dose” is the latest comiXology Original to get a print edition at Dark Horse. Look for the print edition of “Tremor Dose” to arrive from Dark Horse in November 2021.
– Variety reports that Michele Wells, who served as interim editor-in-chief at DC Comics with Marie Javins last year, is joining the digital publisher Tapas Media in the newly created role of chief content officer. Wells will oversee Tapas’ development slate of all-new, original IP for both webcomics and novels, and shape the creative vision for the company. She starts on March 1. Before stepping into the interim editor-in-chief position at DC in 2020, Wells founded the company’s middle-grade and young adult graphic novel imprints, and was named VP and executive editor of those lines.
– Marvel released the first teaser trailer for M.O.D.O.K., and announced all ten episodes of the series will debut exclusively on Hulu on May 21, 2021. The stop-motion cartoon was created and written by executive producers Jordan Blum and Patton Oswalt, and stars Oswalt in the title role, as well as Melissa Fumero, Aimee Garcia, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ben Schwartz, Beck Bennett, Jon Daly and Sam Richardson. The show will follow M.O.D.O.K. after he’s ousted as A.I.M.’s leader, while also dealing with his crumbling marriage and family life. You can view the teaser trailer here.
– Deadline reports that Netflix will launch a new, CG animated My Little Pony series (dubbed My Little Pony G5). The series will follow the events of the streamer’s My Little Pony feature-length film, debuting in the fall. The show will center on Sunny Starscout, her friends and their adventures. Netflix is also rolling out a new Transformers animated comedy. Transformers: BotBots is a 20-episode series that follows the mischievous little robots, otherwise known as BotBots, based on Hasbro’s popular toy line of the same name.
– In more Transformers news, Deadline also reports Nickelodeon and Hasbro’s Entertainment One have ordered a new Transformers series. Described as an action-comedy, the series will star a new faction of Transformers, who must find their place and purpose among the Autobots, Decepticons, and the human family that adopts them. The 26-episode half-hour series will premiere exclusively on Nickelodeon in the U.S. before rolling out internationally.
– Via Deadline, a live-action TV series about Lady Jaye, the undercover operative in Hasbro’s G.I. Joe universe, is in the works at Amazon. Erik Oleson, the showrunner and executive producer of the upcoming second season of Amazon’s Legendary-produced Carnival Row, will create and showrun the series, and exec produce alongside Lorenzo di Bonaventura. The series will be a standalone story centered around Jaye, which will also connect to the larger G.I. Joe universe. Jaye first appeared in the 1984 animated series and was later turned into an action figure and written into the comics. Jaye was portrayed by Adrianne Palicki in the 2013 feature film G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
– Variety reports Rachel Zegler will play a mysterious key role in Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Zegler is the second Colombian American to be cast in a DC superhero project, following Sasha Calle, who was announced as Supergirl in the upcoming Flash film. The new film will continue the story of Billy Baston, who can transform into the godlike superhero upon saying the magic word, “Shazam!” The sequel, starring Zachary Levi as Shazam and Asher Angel as Billy, is due for release on June 2, 2023.
Continued below– Via ComingSoon.net, Oscar winner Helen Mirren has joined the cast of Lionsgate’s White Bird: A Wonder Story. Based on R.J. Palacio’s 2019 graphic novel, the story centers on Julian Albans, the 11-year-old bully who left Beecher Prep, when he is visited by his Grandmère from Paris, and is transformed by her remarkable story of compassion and courage during World War 2. Mirren joins Gillian Anderson, Ariella Glaser, Bryce Gheisar and Orlando Schwerdt. Marc Forster is set to helm the film.
– Via Variety the Art Directors Guild announced nominations for this year’s awards show, which will be held in a virtual ceremony on April 10. Wonder Woman 1984 and Birds of Prey scored nominations for Fantasy Feature Film, while The Mandalorian and Lovecraft Country were both nominated for One-Hour Period or Fantasy Single Camera Series.
– Finally, an article published in The New York Times focused on how little Japanese animators get paid for creating some of the world’s most popular anime series. The article states, “Thousands of lower-rung illustrators do grueling piecework for as little as $200 a month. Rather than rewarding them, the industry’s explosive growth has only widened the gap between the profits they help generate and their paltry wages, leaving many to wonder whether they can afford to continue following their passion.” To read the article in full, head on over the The New York Times.
