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.
– This year’s annual Observer/Faber graphic short story prize was awarded to cartoonist Anna Readman (“2000 AD”) for the comic “Dancing Queen.” An autobiographical strip, “Dancing Queen” is a surreal, Charles Burns-inspired reflection on a friend who died from an undiagnosed heart condition shortly before she would’ve turned 18. The judges stated the story’s “edgy gloom stood in stark contrast to the sweetness of a lot of this year’s entries, so many of which were about beloved pets, and even beloved cuddly toys.” In second place was “Safe Passage,” by British-Filipino author Candy Gourlay (“Tall Story”), which follows a mother and her children fleeing to the Filipino countryside during World War II.
– Dark Horse Comics announced “Whodunnit?,” an anthropomorphic murder mystery by writer El Torres (“The Ghost of Gaudi”), artist Vicente Cifuentes (“Murdervale,” “Batgirl”), and colorist Ulises Arreola (“Ninjak,” “Halo: Legacy Collection”). Due out July 16, 2024, the 96-page graphic novel follows a bulldog chief inspector as he unmasks the murderer of a wealthy family patriarch, while a maid who started working for him on the day he died seeks to protect “a secret of her own.”
– DC will rerelease the first two issues of Tom King and Daniel Sampere’s “Wonder Woman” run in “Wonder Woman: Outlaw.” The 64-page compendium, due out November 28, will also include a nine-page preview of the third issue, which will actually arrive in comic book stores the week before. The decision to reprint both issues together came after both comics (including the second run of issue #1) sold out.
– Marvel Studios released the trailer for Echo, revealing the Hawkeye spin-off will be rated TV-MA, and that all five episodes will be released on Hulu as well as Disney+ on January 10; it will be available on the non-Disney branded streaming service until April 9. It marks the first Marvel Studios (not Marvel TV) project to be rated TV-MA. It was subsequently announced the show will mark the first project to be released under the Marvel Spotlight banner.
Named after the 1970s comic book anthology, the label, which has its own fanfare from composer Michael Giacchino, seeks to emphasize to lapsed MCU viewers that this will be a less continuity-heavy series. It was also disclosed that Maya Lopez’s powers have been changed for the show, and that she will be Choctaw, not Cheyenne, something further confirmed by the release of a trailer with Choctaw subtitles, and a screening at the nation’s annual powwow.
– Gene Luen Yang was awarded the 2023 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature on October 25, becoming the first cartoonist to win the award. The biennial lifetime recognition award, established in 2003, is an offshoot of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, and is sponsored by the University of Oklahoma’s World Literature Today. Trung Le Nguyen nominated Yang for the prize, and chose “American Born Chinese” as the representative text for the jury to read. The prize includes $35,000, a silver medallion, and a certificate of recognition; you can learn more about the award, and find out this year’s other finalists, here.
– Finally, Black Panther stuntman Taraja Ramsess was killed in a car accident, along with two of his daughters, on October 31; his son also died from injuries sustained in the crash on Saturday, November 4. Ramsess, 41, worked as a set dresser before becoming a stuntman, and performed stunts on Wakanda Forever, Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, Black Lightning, The Suicide Squad, Black Adam, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, among others. The accident occurred near Atlanta, while Ramsess was taking his children home from Halloween festivities, when his truck collided with a tractor-trailer on Interstate 20. His survivors include three daughters (one of whom is still in a critical condition after the accident), his brothers, and his mother Akili, whom you can donate to a GoFundMe for here.
