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, Marvel announced a new ongoing “Blade” series. We also ran a preview for next week’s “Star Wars: Hidden Empire” #5.
– Kate Beaton’s “Ducks” has become the first graphic novel to win the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Canada Reads. The annual competition features celebrity panelists debating and defending the book they believe every Canadian should read. “Ducks” was defended by Jeopardy! champion Mattea Roach. You can read our review of the book here.
– In more awards news, the 34th annual GLAAD Media Awards named G. Willow Wilson and Marcio Takara’s “Poison Ivy” Outstanding Comic Book of the year, and A Wave Blue World’s anthology “Young Men in Love” Outstanding Original Graphic Novel/Anthology of the year. The awards, which are held by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to honor LGBTQ representation in media and the arts, are split into two ceremonies, the second of which will be held on May 13. You can check out the full list of last night’s winners here.
– Mad Cave announced “Confetti Realms,” an original graphic novel written by Nadia Shammas, with art by Karnessa, and colors from Hakto Oshiro. The story follows a group of teenagers sent to the title parallel dimension on Halloween to collect teeth for a sentient puppet. The book will be published through Mad Cave’s young adult imprint Maverick. It’s due out October 31, 2023.
– Gwenpool is starring in a new arc of Marvel Unlimited’s “Love Unlimited,” created by Jeremy Whitley, Bailie Rosenlund, and Kelly Fitzpatrick. The arc, simply called “Love Unlimited: Gwenpool,” sees her fall in love with Wither, the mutant who kills everything he touches. Issue #43, the first part of the story, is available now, with the next five chapters releasing every Thursday.
– Netflix is reuniting the cast of 2010’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World for Scott Pilgrim: The Anime. Everyone from Michael Cera (Scott Pilgrim) to Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Ramona Flowers) to Ellen Wong (Knives Chau) will reprise the roles they played in the Edgar Wright film. The show will be written and executive produced by BenDavid Grabinski and original “Scott Pilgrim” creator Bryan Lee O’Malley. Wright will also executive produce, saying O’Malley’s idea for the series is “way more adventurous than just a straight adaptation of the original books.” Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game soundtrack band Anamanaguchi will produce original music. No release date has been announced.
– New series Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has been officially ordered at Paramount+. The series has been in development in one form or another since 2018. Gaia Violo writes and executive produces alongside Alex Kurtzman, who will showrun with Noga Landau. The logline for the show claims it “will introduce us to a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism.” It’s due to begin production in 2024.
– Former Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada has signed a first look TV and film deal with Amazon Studios. Quesada will develop projects for the studio under the contract, specifically adapting new and existing comic properties. He praised the Amazon team, citing their “collaborative environment” and “unique methodology.”
– Fangoria Studios is set to adapt Junji Ito’s “Bloodsucking Darkness” as a live-action film. Haunting of Hill House writer Jeff Howard is developing the project, the first of three taken from the manga creator’s “Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection.” Ito will produce the series, stating he was “so excited to see how it will turn out,” and hoping he would “get to see the trailer in my dreams tonight.”
– Finally, according to this week’s Publishers Weekly children’s book rights report, HarperAlley has acquired the rights to two middle-grade graphic novels from Eisner winner Hope Larsen. While no information was released about the second, the first is “The Absolute of Verity,” and follows an overachieving eighth grader struggling with dyscalculia (often referred to as “math dyslexia”). It’s due out Summer 2025.
IDW also picked up two titles: “A Worm’s Tale” by Konstantin Nien Shen Steshenko (due out Fall 2026), which follows a earthworm who dreams of becoming a knight to protect his insect kingdom, befriending a sentient suit of armor along the way. “Desert Rain” (due out Spring 2027), meanwhile, is the debut YA graphic novel from Kristin Kemper. It follows two clones as they “navigate questions of gender and identity,” and discover the dark secret behind their utopian home.
