Welcome 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, we paid tribute to the late Russ Heath, who died last week aged 91. Marvel also announced the new “Conan the Barbarian” creative team, and the return of the original Defenders.
– Dark Horse have announced they will publish “Disney’s Moby Dick, Starring Donald Duck,” on November 21. A Duck-style take on Herman Melville’s classic, the comic also features Hewy, Dewy, and Louie, and Scrooge McDuck as Captain Quackhab, who swears revenge on the white whale for stealing his lucky dime. The graphic novel, written by Francesco Artibani with art by Paolo Mottura, was originally published in Italy in 2013.
– Cassady McClincy (Love, Simon, Castle Rock) has joined the cast of The Walking Dead season 9 as Lydia, the daughter of new main villain Alpha (Samantha Morton). In the comic book, Lydia became romantically involved with Rick’s son Carl, but how this storyline will play out onscreen after the character was written out of the show remains unknown.
– Actor Anthony Konechny (Almost Human) has been cast in a recurring role on Supergirl season 4 as Agent Jensen, the DEO’s newest recruit. He will debut in the season premiere on October 14. Meanwhile, contortionist Troy James (America’s Got Talent) will play supervillain Rag Doll on the fifth episode of The Flash season 5.
– Marvel released “Born Ready,” the theme song for the upcoming animated TV film Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors, sung by Spider-Gwen Ghost-Spider voice actress Dove Cameron. They also announced the film will premiere simultaneously on Disney Channel and Disney XD on Sunday, September 30.
– LOST and Lord of the Rings star Dominic Monaghan will reunite with J.J. Abrams for a role in Star Wars: Episode IX. “The galaxy far far away has had almost as much influence as the one I live in, so I am delighted to be involved,” he said.
– Last year, the Salt Lake Comic-Con were forced to rebrand as the FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention after a judge ruled they had infringed on San Diego Comic-Con’s “Comic-Con” trademark. Salt Lake asked U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Battaglia to put aside the previous ruling and preside over a new trial, but he has now upheld the verdict, and ordered the convention to pay $4 million in attorneys’ fees. The Hollywood Reporter noted that “while certainly a victory for San Diego, the attorney fee award could make an appeal more likely.”
– The Comics Journal reported last week that indie publisher Cody Pickrodt has filed a defamation lawsuit against 11 individuals who have accused him (or passed on the allegations) of rape, sexual harassment, anti-Semitic remarks, and withholding payment of royalties to artists whose work he’s printed. His lawyers are demanding $2.5 million, and that the defendants have under a month to mount a response or they will have to forfeit. Uncivilized Books publishers Tom Kaczynski and Jordan Shiveley, who are among those being sued, have tweeted that the “CBLDF has been in contact and helpful behind the scenes.”
– On Friday, we asked which of last week’s Hugo Award winners do you most want to see join the comics industry? 73 percent of you voted for author N.K. Jemisin, followed by a tie between Suzanne Palmer and Sarah Gailey.
