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.
– The bestselling middle-grade prose novels Sweet Valley Twins are being adapted to graphic novels at Penguin Random House, by writer Nicole Andelfinger and artist Claudia Aguirre. The novels spun out of the well known Sweet Valley High series, forming their own independent following. The series is centered on identical twin sisters navigating the social life of Sweet Valley Middle School in California, with each graphic novel chronicling the events of four of the original books. The first book, “Sweet Valley Twins: Best Friends,” is set for a Fall release and follows the twins Jessica and Elizabeth as they settle into their own identities, drifting apart in the process. “Sweet Valley Twins: Best Friends” releases November 1, 2022, with the second OGN, “Sweet Valley Twins: Teacher’s Pet” following in 2023.
– DC Comics announced this year’s Round Robin finalists will be “Suicide Squad: Dark” (by writer Zac Thompson and artist Garry Brown), and “Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow” (by Kenny Porter and Jahnoy Lindsay). Details on the fourth and final round of voting have yet to be announced, while the winner will become a digital-first miniseries this fall. In the meantime, you can check out the descriptions for both series pitches at CBR.
– The GLAAD Award-nominated “Fence” series is returning with “Fence: Rise,” from C.S. Pacat, Johanna the Mad, and Joana LaFuente. The OGN follows Nicholas and the Kings Row team on their trip to the prestigious Halverton Training Camp, where they face familiar foes and grow their resilience. “Rise” is the fifth book in the series, and releases through BOOM! Box; head here for a six-page preview for the book, which releases this August.
– Writer Joe Glass has won Gayming Magazine‘s Best LGBTQ Comic Book Moment award for his creator-owned series “The Pride.” He was nominated alongside “DC Pride” #1, “X-Factor” #10, and “Killer Queens.” “The Pride” follows a queer superhero team working to receive the equal recognition they deserve, and features the artistic talent of Cem Iroz, Hector Barros, Jacopo Camagni, Ryan Cody, and more. You can read the full list of the year’s winners here.
– Oxford, England’s Story Museum will soon be opening its newest exhibit, KA-BOOM! The Art of Creating Comics, a collaboration between The Phoenix Comics, Rebellion and DC Thomson. The interactive exhibition will look a the construction of comics through the form of a giant comic strip, with features from comic artists like Neill Cameron, Ramzee, Laura Howell and Jamie Smart, and characters like Dennis and Gnasher, Cadet Judge Dredd, and Minnie the Minx. Guests will be seen to by ‘Octoboom,’ a character created by nine-year-old Eddie Tilling with Neill Cameron. The exhbition will open May 30 as part of the Phoenix Comic Festival.
– The Walking Dead Daryl & Carol spin-off has been cut in half, after Melissa McBride exited the series. She was initially set to co-star with Norman Reedus. “Melissa McBride has given life to one of the most interesting, real, human and popular characters in The Walking Dead Universe,” read a statement from AMC. “Unfortunately, she is no longer able to participate in the previously announced spinoff focused on the Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier characters, which will be set and filmed in Europe this summer and premiere next year. Relocating to Europe became logistically untenable for Melissa at this time. We know fans will be disappointed by this news, but The Walking Dead Universe continues to grow and expand in interesting ways and we very much hope to see Carol again in the near future.” Arc 2 of Season 11 of The Walking Dead has concluded, with the final arc set to release later this year.
– After recently bringing forward its release date, Shazam! Fury Of The Gods will now be delayed five days, to avoid sharing a premiere with Avatar: The Way of Water. This comes after the first synopsis and details for the Avatar sequel were revealed at CinemaCon; the film is expected to be a tentpole release for Disney, with three other sequels following. Shazam! Fury of the Gods features returning director David F. Sandberg and stars Zachary Levi and Jack Dylan Grazer. It will now release December 21.
Continued below– Netflix has announced a huge slate of its film releases, including confirmation Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie will release August 5. The film acts as a sequel to the series of the same name, and has Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo fighting Krang after a visit from a time traveler from the future. The film is directed by Ant Ward and Andy Suriano.
– Variety reports that HBO Max has ordered the Harley Quinn spin-off series, Noonan’s, to series. Dean Lorey, one of the co-creators of Harley Quinn, will showrun the series, executive producing alongside fellow co-creators Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, and Harley Quinn voice actress Kaley Cuoco. The show focuses on Kite Man (Matt Oberg) after he was abandoned at the altar by Poison Ivy, and will see him and his new partner Golden Glider open a dive bar, Noonan’s, for Gotham’s criminals and supervillains. The ten-episode season is currently in production, while season 3 of Harley Quinn is set to release this summer.
– Finally, Lucasfilm have unveiled the panel schedule for this year’s Star Wars Celebration, which quietly revealed Tales of the Jedi, a new animated anthology, will be unveiled at the event. It also disclosed “Star Wars” comic writer Charles Soule has become a creative consultant at Lucasfilm, something he acknowledging tweeting “it’s been a blast so far, and is letting me do some really cool stuff in the galaxy far, far away.” Star Wars Celebration Anaheim 2022 will begin Thursday, May 26, and you can read the schedule here.
