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, the Thor: Love and Thunder teaser trailer was released, while Image Comics announced “Above Snakes” and “Supper Club.”
– Marvel and SiriusXM have launched another narrative podcast, Marvel’s Squirrel Girl: The Unbeatable Radio Show!, which reunites “The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl” writer Ryan North with the character (voiced by returning Squirrel Girl actor Milana Vayntrub.) The podcast series follows a radio show set up by Doreen Green aka Squirrel Girl after her secret identity is revealed, and she brings her double lives together. The six-episode series is directed by Giovanna Sardelli, with original music by Justin Huertas and Steven Tran. Alongside Vayntrub, the cast includes Crystal Lucas Perry as Doreen’s best friend Nancy Whitehead, Leo Sheng and Davied Morales as the superhero duo Koi Boi and Chipmunk Hunk, Peter Hermann as Brain Drain, Erica Schroeder as Tippy T. Squirrel, and Tina Benko as Rachel Oskar/Ratatoskr.
“Of course, once we started recording, my favorite part was hearing the actors bring these characters to life,” said North. “Milana and Crystal are Doreen and Nancy, and the way Leo and Davied and Peter brought Koi Boi, Chipmunk Hunk, and Brain Drain to life was just exceptional. The podcast continues right where the comics left off, so long-time fans will feel instantly at home, but it’s also built for new people who maybe have never encountered the world of the ‘Unbeatable Squirrel Girl’ before.” North also collaborated with regular “Squirrel Girl” artist Derek Charm for a prequel comic on Marvel Unlimited, which is available now.
– With Pride Month on the horizon, DC Comics has revealed that Ro Stein and Ted Brandt’s 8-page story in “DC Pride 2022” will reveal Connor Hawke to be an asexual hero. The story, ‘Think of Me,’ features a creative team of purely ace creators, and follows the son of Green Arrow as he drafts a coming out letter to his mother. Created by Kelley Puckett and Jim Aparo in 1994, Hawke was always treated as largely aromantic, something originally attributed to his upbringing in a monastery. This characterization stayed with the character however and has been a defining part of his identity. The cartoonist pair will also be introducing the Batman: The Brave and the Bold villain Music Meister into Prime Earth continuity for the first time in their story. “DC Pride 2022” releases May 31 and features a wide array of LGBTQIA+ creators.
– Comics publisher Yen Press has announced its new imprint Ize Press, a collection of print adaptations for Korean webcomics. The imprint is a collaboration between Yen Press, REDICE Studio, and Riverse, and was announced at Sakura-Con on Friday, with nine launch titles confirmed. The debut stories come from Webtoon and Tapas, most notably including the collaborations between Hybe and a number of K-Pop sensations, such as “7Fates: Chakho” with BTS, “Dark Moon” with Enhypen, and “The Star Seekers” with Tomorrow X Together. Ize will also publish “Tomb Raider King” by Yuns and 3825, “The World After the Fall,” by singNsong, S-Cynan and Undead Potato, “The Boxer” by JH, “Villains Are Destined To Die” by SUOL and Gwon Gyeoeul, “My Gently Raised Beast” by Early Flower, Teava and Yeoseulki, and “The Remarried Empress” by Alphatart and Sumpul. Covers and synopses for all releases are available here, with publishing set to begin this fall.
– Editor Scott Dunbier has assembled a group of prolific comic creators for the anthology OGN “Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds,” all the proceeds of which will go towards supporting Ukrainian refugees. The project will release through Zoop and has raised US$35,000 as of time of writing. The 96-page anthology has a cover from Alex Ross, with softcover variants by Arthur Adams, Dave Johnson, and Bill Sienkiewicz, and features stories by Stan Sakai, Kurt Busiek, Howard Chaykin, Brent Anderson, Dave Gibbons, Louise and Walt Simonson, Rob Guillory, Sergio Aragones, June Brigman, Joshua Dysart, Mark Evanier, Emil Ferris, John Layman, Gabriel Rodriguez, Chris Sprouse, Jill Thompson, Matt Wagner, Mark Waid, and more. Busiek, Sakai, Wagner, Aragones and Guillory will even be creating original stories from the pages of “Astro City,” “Usagi Yojimbo,” “Grendel,” “Groo” and “Chew,” respectively.
Continued below– Kyle Strahm and Jake Smith are collaborating at Dark Horse on “Into Radness,” an action sci-fi graphic novel about the reality of viral entertainment. The comic follows a group of teens passionate about their failing YouTube channel, who decide to fight monsters in the hopes of gaining views. “’Into Radness’ is a story for anyone who’s ever created something and tried to get people to pay attention,” said Strahm. “It’s about the rewards and consequences that come with going viral and ultimately, an exploration of why we make things in the first place. Plus, monster fights.” The OGN releases in comics stores June 15, and bookstores June 28 for for $19.99.
– The Vertigo Comics series “Air” by G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker is being republished at Dark Horse’s Berger Books. The creative duo’s 24-issue series was first published in 2008, under then-Vertigo Executive Editor Karen Berger, and was nominated for the Eisners’ Best New Series in 2009. The comic follows a flight attendant with a fear of heights, who discovers the ability to fly, and becomes embroiled in a technological conspiracy. “Air” Volume 1 releases at comics stores on September 14, and bookstores on September 27 for US$19.99.
– Dan DiDio is making his prose fiction debut with the superhero family drama Hide and Seek. Created with Kenneth Rocafort, who will also provide cover art for the book, Hide and Seek follows a boy whose superhero father is killed, forcing him to go into witness protection, where he unravels a mystery in an artificial and suspicious town that gradually becomes his prison. It will be released from Permuted Press in April 2023.
– Finally, The Beat and the Center for Cartoon Studies announced the winners of the tenth annual Cartoonist Studio Prize Awards. “Stone Fruit” creator Lee Lai won the Prize Award for Print Comic, while “Blind Alley” cartoonist Adam de Souza won the Award for Webcomic. Both creators won a $1000 prize, and a Wacom One Creative Pen Display.
