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 revealed that “Star Wars” will end with issue #75 and Dynamite announced “KISS: Zombies” and a second “Red Rising Sons of Ares” graphic novel. We also have exclusive previews of next week’s “Marvel’s Spider-Man: Velocity” #1 and “Captain America” #13.
– Small Press Expo announced the nominations for this year’s Ignatz Awards. There are ten categories for the Ignatz Awards, all of which aim to highlight the outstanding achievements in independent comics and cartooning. “Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me” by Mariko Tamaki & Rosemary Valero-O’Connell, and “Woman’s World” by Aminder Dhaliwal, have both been nominated for Outstanding Graphic Novel and Outstanding Story. You can find the full list of nominations here. The winners will be announced at a ceremony during this year’s Small Press Expo on September 14 and 15.
– DC Comics announced a new hardback collected edition called “Super Friends: Saturday Morning Comics Vol. 1,” which will contain stories inspired by the Hanna-Barbera cartoon of the same name, written and drawn by a variety of creators, including E. Nelson Bridwell and Ric Estrada. (The cover art will be a piece by Alex Toth.) The comics being collected are “Super Friends” #1-26, the Super Friends feature from “Limited Collector’s Edition” #C-41 and #C-46, and “Aquateers Meet the Super Friends” #1. Super Friends ran for a total of 109 episodes between 1973 and 1985. “Super Friends: Saturday Morning Comics Vol. 1” will be 520 pages long and released on December 25.
– G. Willow Wilson confirmed that she will be leaving “Wonder Woman” in October in order to work on her “bucket-list-dream-project.” She also revealed that Steve Orlando (“Martian Manhunter”) will be taking over the writing duties on the title, with his first solicited issue set to be “Wonder Woman” #83 in November. Wilson took over “Wonder Woman” with issue #58 in November 2018.
– Artist Bryan Talbot announced plans for a third Luther Arkwright graphic novel. Currently, Talbot has finished the script for the third entry of the series and just begun drawing it, with the aim of publishing it in 2022. The book will be published by Dark Horse Comics in the US, and Jonathan Cape in the UK. The first Arkwright graphic novel, “The Adventures of Luther Arkwright,” introduced audiences to the title character, an agent who is able to travel between parallel universes at will in order to stop the Disruptors, a force trying to destabilize the multiverse.
– Zainab Akhtar, creator of Shortbox, revealed that she is currently working on an anthology collection called “ShortBox Showcase.” The anthology will be made up of eight-page comics, although the creators involved have not currently been announced, with Akhtar only teasing that “your favourite cartoonists” will be contributing to the anthology. For those who are unfamiliar with Shortbox, it is an independent comic publisher that releases five comics in a curated box quarterly. The “Shortbox Showcase” is due for release in 2020.
– Dark Horse Comics released a “Lifeformed” short comic, called ‘Party Crashers.’ The comic is by the series’ creators, Matt Mair Lowery and Cassie Anderson, and introduces the audience to the series’ protagonist, Cleo, as she joins the fight for Earth in the wake of an alien invasion and her father’s death. The second volume of the series, titled “Hearts and Minds,” is set for release on September 4, but in the meantime you can read ‘Party Crashers’ here.
– Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, Iron Man director Jon Favreau and head of Marvel TV, Jeph Loeb were named as individuals set to be honored at this year’s Saturn Awards. Feige is set to receive the inuagural Stan Lee Builder Award, which is to be awarded to an individual who has constructed a narrative world and characters “that have amazed and engaged fans worldwide at the most galactic level.” Favreau will receive the Saturn Visionary Award, to recognise him as both a “groundbreaking visual artist” and a “vital voice in modern cinema.” Finally, Loeb has been chosen for this year’s Dan Curtis Legacy Award, which highlights an individual’s achievements in genre television. The 45th Annual Saturn Awards ceremony will take place on September 13.
Continued below– Elena Satine (The Gifted) was cast as Julia in Netflix’s upcoming Cowboy Bebop. She will be joining the previously announced cast of John Cho, Mustafa Shakir, Daniella Pineda and Alex Hassell. Julia is described as “a sultry beauty” who is the “dream-like object of Spike Spiegel’s desire.” The live-action series is an adaptation of Sunrise’s anime of the same name, which tells the story a crew of bounty hunters aboard their ship, the Bebop. Cowboy Bebop does not currently have a release date scheduled.
– Finally, according to Deadline, Brandon Routh and Courtney Ford will be leaving Legends of Tomorrow as series regulars. Routh has played Ray Palmer/the Atom since the first season and beforehand on Arrow, while his wife Ford started playing Nora Darhk during the third season. “I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to bring the big-hearted and humorous Ray Palmer to life for our fans over the last five years, but unfortunately, his storyline is pointed in another direction,” Routh said in a statement. “I’m saddened to see Ray’s journey end for now but wish my Legends family well.” Ford added, “I understand that stories run their course, and I’m grateful for the time I did have bringing Nora to life on Legends of Tomorrow.”
– Legends of Tomorrow season 5 premieres this January, and Routh will also reprise the role of Superman in the ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’ crossover. The producers hoped that Routh and Ford could return to the show at some point, saying “We love these characters and hope to check in with them in future seasons, to see how life off the ship has transformed them for better or worse.”
