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, we interviewed Matt Lesniewski about his new project, “The Faceless and the Family.”
– Marvel Comics announced their upcoming Free Comic Book Day titles, releasing May 6, 2023: “Free Comic Book Day 2023: Avengers/X-Men,” “Spider-Man/Venom,” “Marvel’s Voices,” and “Spidey & Friends.” No creative teams were confirmed, but expect “Avengers/X-Men” to set up ‘Fall of X,’ a new team book, and Jonathan Hickman and Valerio Schiti’s untitled mystery project; “Spider-Man/Venom” to do the same for upcoming “Amazing Spider-Man” storylines and the ‘Summer of Symbiotes’ crossover; and “Marvel’s Voices” to feature a new story as well as reprints of previous ones.
– Marvel also released “Avengers: Electric Rain” #1 on Unlimited, marking the first time the 2014 Korean series has been released in English. Created by Go Yeong-Hun and Black Monkey, and translated by Amy Chu, the series contains the first appearance of White Fox/Ami Han. The release coincides with the first issue of Emily Kim and Creees Lee’s South Korean superhero title “Tiger Division,” which Marvel have also given a special early release on Unlimited.
– Netflix have officially renewed The Sandman for a second season. It was not stated how many episodes the second season will consist of (the first consisted of ten, and an additional episode released two weeks later), but co-creator Neil Gaiman softly confirms in the press release that it will adapt ‘Season of Mists.’ The news comes three months after the premiere of the first season: Gaiman previously indicated the series took longer than usual to renew because of the expense of the show, which cost $15 million an episode to produce.
– Via The Hollywood Reporter, Aubrey Plaza has joined the cast of Agatha: Coven of Chaos in an undisclosed role. The project reunites her with her Parks and Recreation co-star Kathryn Hahn, and marks her second Marvel role after Legion. Agatha: Coven of Chaos, also featuring Joe Locke and Emma Caulfield, will premiere on Disney+ in Winter 2023.
– Lisa Hanawalt announced her animated series Tuca & Bertie has been canceled for a second time, after Adult Swim declined to pick it up for a fourth season. The show, which originally ran on Netflix for one season in 2019, starred the voices of Tiffany Haddish, Ali Wong, and Steven Yeun. In a statement, Hanawalt expressed gratitude to her colleagues, as well as Adult Swim, and expressed hope she could one day finish the story of the title characters on her own terms. “In the meantime, I’m not done creating,” she said. “I’ve witnessed so many people connecting with this show on a profound level, and I intend to keep telling stories like this, no matter what.”
– Variety shares cartoonist/filmmaker Vincent “Winshluss” Paronnaud (Persepolis) will adapt his comic “Into the Wonderwoods” into an animated film. The film will follow Angelo, a boy who is accidentally left behind by his parents at a rest stop, prompting him to traverse a magical forest to find them. The film will be released in France sometime in 2024.
– Reimena Yee released “The God of Arepo,” a comic based on the viral Tumblr short story of the same name. The comic and story follows a sower who builds a small shrine in his field, in the hope it will draw in a god who’ll bless him. Yee commented, “I’m so excited to finally present this adaptation of my favourite short story ever!! The first time and every time I see it on Tumblr, the story never fails to leave me with tears.” You can read the comic for free, and purchase an ebook copy here.
– Finally, Variety reports a judge has dismissed charges against Stan Lee’s former business manager, Keya Morgan, after a jury could not come to an agreement over his case. The jury was split but mostly in favor of acquitting Morgan, who was charged with stealing over $200,000 from Lee. Judge George Lomeli declared a mistrial, but also dismissed the case “in the interests of justice.” Morgan was arrested and had a restraining order placed on him, requiring to maintain his distance from the late Marvel creator and his family; he was subsequently charged with falsely imprisoning Lee, grand theft of an elder/dependent adult, fraud, forgery, and elder abuse, although most of these were dismissed before the trial.
