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 they will mark their 80th anniversary with August’s special one-shot “Marvel Comics” #1000.
– The winners of the 2019 Doug Wright Awards, honoring the year’s best English language Canadian comics, were announced at this weekend’s Toronto Comic Arts Festival. The Best Book Award went to Hartley Lin’s “Young Frances,” while Ariane Dénommé was awarded the Spotlight Award – highlighting a creator who deserves wider recognition – for “100 Days in Uranium City.” The Pigskin Peters Award, which recognizes the year’s most experimental work, went to “Retomber” by Xiaoxiao Li. For more on this year’s awards, head over to The Beat.
– Lerner Publishing released their solicitations for Fall 2019, which includes books like Shing Yin Khor’s memoir “The American Dream? A Journey on Route 66,” J.N. Monk and Harry Bogosian’s sci-fi fantasy “Topside,” Melanie Gillman’s queer Western “Stage Dreams,” and more. The target audiences for these titles range from Artur Laperla’s “Super Potato’s Mega Time-Travel Adventure,” aimed at ages 7 and up, to Alice Milani’s “Marie Curie: A Life of Discovery,” which is suitable for readers aged 14.
– The fallout from the Lion Forge/Oni Press merger continues, with Lion Forge’s Production and Logistics Coordinator Kayra Tan reported to be among those who have departed the company. Meanwhile, Oni Press’s former Director of Publicity Melissa Meszaros is seeking help to cover medical costs.
– The role of bartender Grey McConnell on ABC’s adaptation of Greg Rucka, Lee Loughridge, and Matthew Southworth’s “Stumptown” is being recast. Actor Mark Webber, who played the part on the pilot, tweeted he was being replaced as executives did not consider him handsome enough, while elaborating on how “a lot of us [male actors] generally stay silent with our challenges in this arena.” The untitled series, starring Cobie Smulders, was picked up by ABC for the 2019-20 broadcast season last week.
– Warner Bros. Japan announced a promotional DC Hero campaign with Monkey Punch, the late creator of “Lupin the Third.” Not much is known about the campaign, which will kick off in June, but it features new illustrations from the late artist of characters like Zachary Levi’s Shazam. Monkey Punch (real name Kazuhiko Katō) died on April 11, 2019, aged 81.
– PRWeek interviewed Archie Comics’ digital marketing manager Ron Cacace about the company’s Twitter reaction to last week’s Royal baby news. The interview goes into the intense round of messages at the company that went into composing the right reaction, which became the meme “‘I’m baby.'” At the time of writing, the tweet has received 12,117 retweets, and 51,674 likes.
– Netflix announced the third season of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power will be released on the service on August 2, 2019. They also revealed Academy Award-winning actress Geena Davis will join the cast as the voice of Huntara, the Silaxian warrior hired by Hordak to capture She-Ra in the original series.
– Jewish news organization The Forward has a report on the events last week at Stanford University, when members of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) posted flyers with cartoons by Eli Valley, the Jewish cartoonist known for his provocative drawings of right-wing figures. A storm ensued when anti-Semitic cartoons from Nazi Germany-era newspaper Der Stürmer were posted alongside Valley’s work. For more on the controversy, head on over to The Forward.
– Spider-Man screenwriter Alvin Sargent died of natural causes on Thursday, May 9, 2019, aged 92. Sargent, who was the widower of Spider-Man producer Laura Ziskin, performed an uncredited script polish on the 2002 movie, and co-wrote its two sequels, as well as the 2012 reboot The Amazing Spider-Man. He was also the screenwriter of Paper Moon, Julia, and Ordinary People, the latter two of which earned him two Academy Awards. Sargent is survived by his two daughters, a stepdaughter, four grandchildren, and his great-grandson.
– Finally, we asked which creative team on “Marvel Comics” #1000 you were most excited for. 9.4 percent of you voted for Jeff Lemire, while 6.3 percent voted for Jonathan Hickman and Dustin Weaver. Thank you for voting, and stay tuned on Friday for our next Reader Poll.
