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, AfterShock announced the dystopian noir “Bylines in Blood,” and we had an exclusive first look at Mad Cave Studios’ “The Last Session” #1.
Arif Prianto
– Valiant Comics announced next year will mark ‘The Year of Valiant,’ celebrating ten years since their revival “with the return of characters that fans continue to anticipate and love.” 2022 will kick off with “Shadowman” #5, by Cullen Bunn and artist Pedro Andreo, which will begin the ‘Deadside War’ arc and see the return of Punk Mambo and more familiar faces. More announcements will unfold in the coming months.
– Dark Horse unveiled “Motherbridge: Seeds of Change,” an original graphic novel by writer George Mann and artist Aleta Vidal. The post-apocalyptic fantasy comic takes place after “the World Mother awoke, forming an enormous ‘worldbridge’ from manmade ruins and knotted vegetation that spanned the globe. Borders fell, millions migrated, and legendary creatures returned to the forests. But recently, the World Mother has gone silent, and the worldbridge has begun to wither. Borders are being reinstated. Now, one woman, cast out by her adoptive nation, must assemble a team of outcasts to reawaken the World Mother.” The book will be released in comics stores on May 18, 2022, and in bookstores on Tuesday, May 31, 2022.
– Via The Beat, writer/artist Jeremy Bastian is returning to BOOM! Studios with “Cursed Pirate Girl: The Devil’s Cave,” a new one-shot that will continue the story of the title character, as she attempts to bring back her father, the Dread Pirate Captain Douglas. “Cursed Pirate Girl” was originally a self-published series that BOOM!’s Archaia imprint collected in OGN format in 2012; the last chapter, “Cursed Pirate Girl Annual,” was released in 2015. “Cursed Pirate Girl: The Devil’s Cave” releases January 2022.
– Per Variety, Tubi have acquired the adult animated series The Freak Brothers. Based on Gilbert Shelton’s underground comic “The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers,” the show follows a group of stoners — Freewheelin’ Franklin Freek (Woody Harrelson), Phineas T. Freakers (Peter Davidson), Fat Freddy Freekowtski (John Goodman), and their cat Kitty (Tiffany Haddish) — who wake up in the present day after smoking some magic weed in 1969. Tubi will premiere the first two episodes (of eight) on Sunday, November 14.
– Apple TV+ released the trailer for Snoopy in Space: The Search for Life, the second season of the show, which will see the Peanuts gang explore the question of life outside Earth. All twelve episodes will be released on the streaming service on November 12. In other trailer news, Disney released the trailer for Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the CG animated movie based on the books by Jeff Kinney (coming to Disney+ December 3), while the CW unveiled the first footage from the next seasons of The Flash and Riverdale, both premiering November 16.
– The BBC reports British composer and lyricist Leslie Bricusse, who co-wrote John Williams’s “Can You Read My Mind (Love Theme)” from Superman, has died at the age of 90. Bricusse was a prolific songwriter, whose other credits included “Goldfinger,” “You Only Live Twice,” “Feeling Good,” and the soundtracks for Doctor Dolittle, Scrooge, and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. He is survived by his wife, actress Yvonne Romain, and their son, Adam.
– Anime News Network shares that prolific voice actor Jack Angel also passed away, aged 90. A former radio personality, Angel played various characters on Super Friends, The Transformers and G.I. Joe, and many more cartoons, video games, and animated films; he was also the voice of Teddy in Steven Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence. He is survived by his second wife, talent agency owner Arlene Thornton, and their three children.
– Finally, voice actor Chris Ayres died on Monday, October 18, aged 56. Best known for playing Frieza in every English Dragon Ball dub since 2010, Ayres passed away four years after being diagnosed with end-stage COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) in 2017, and two years after receiving a lung transplant. His other credits included Saint Seiya, Gantz, Fairy Tail and Golgo 13; he was also a stage actor and director, ADR director, fight choreographer, and screenwriter. He is survived by his girlfriend, Krystal LaPorte, and his brother, Greg Ayres, both of whom are also voice actors.
