Welcome back to The Beat Digest, a twice-weekly round-up of the biggest comics-related news stories we’ve missed every Tuesday and Friday. Is there a story out there you think we should cover? Be sure to let us know in the comments.
§ Writer Sean Gordon Murphy and artist Corin Howell (Lilith) will team up at Image on The Lost Bones of Lake Totem, a four-issue horror series starting January 6, 2027. Set in the 1990s, the comic follows a young girl on the trail of a lake monster that preys on children, after a Native American burial ground is discovered beneath an abandoned drive-in movie theater. “Nib, her best friend Elliot, and her trusty cat Ripley must follow the clues down a dark path of mythological conspiracy — the same path that destroyed the mind of her missing mother.”
§ Titan shared that Savage Sword of Conan #18 will celebrate three years of the series with an oversized 80-page release. The comic will include a 64-page sequel by Liam Sharp to his 2025 story “The Wuthering,” and the first Titan era comic featuring Robert E. Howard‘s Pictish hero Bran Mak Morn, by writer John Arcudi and artist Leno Carvalho. The book, which will also include the winner of Heroic Signatures’ first pin-up contest, and more, will retail for $9.99 on January 13, 2027.
§ Dynamite announced a line of 80-Page Giant books, collecting various comics starring different characters. The first two installments will star (perhaps unsurprisingly) Red Sonja and Vampirella, with the former reprinting 2009’s Red Sonja Annual #2 (by writer Christos Gage & Pablo Marcos); Kurt Busiek & Benjamin Dewey‘s Red Sonja: Black, White and Red #1 (2021) story “Seeing Red”; Ron Marz & Lee Moder‘s Red Sonja #30 (2008); and Eric Trautmann & Patrick Berkenkotter‘s Red Sonja #60 (2011).
The Vampirella 80-Page Giant will reprint Archie Goodwin & José González‘s Vampirella #12 (1971) segment “Death’s Dark Angel”; Alan Moore & Gary Frank‘s Vampirella/Dracula: The Centennial contribution “The New European” (1997); and the first issues of Nancy Collins & Patrick Berkenkotter‘s 2014 run, and Christopher Priest & Ergün Gündüz‘s 2019 series. Both books will feature original covers by Roberto Castro, and “retro” variants mixing his art with those from the comics inside.
§ EW shared excerpts from Joe Manganiello‘s new autobiography Bloodlines, discussing Ben Affleck‘s unproduced solo Batman film, where he would’ve reprised the role of Deathstroke. Manganiello says the movie was inspired by David Fincher‘s The Game, and would’ve seen Slade Wilson tear apart the Dark Knight’s life after blaming him for the death of his son, complete with killing Jim Gordon (J.K. Simmons). The project would’ve also featured (a presumably vengeful) Batgirl. Affleck was planning to direct and star in the film, before passing the baton to Matt Reeves. Bloodlines is available now.
§ Apu made a surprise return to The Simpsons, now voiced by Sunil Malhotra (The Legend of Korra) on October 18’s “Treehouse of Horror Presents: The Revengening” (season 38, episode 3). The Kwik-E-Market manager had only made non-speaking appearances since 2017, as a result of original voice actor Hank Azaria deciding to no longer play the character in response to the documentary The Problem With Apu, which explored the negative impact he had on Indian Americans. Janina Gavankar (Star Wars Battlefront II) also debuted on the episode as Apu’s wife Manjula. You can read an interview with Malhotra about taking on the role at Variety.
§ Lastly, The Hollywood Reporter shares actor Michael Forest, who played the Greek god Apollo on the 1967 Star Trek episode “Who Mourns for Adonais?”, died on Wednesday, October 14, aged 97. Meanwhile, Variety reports prolific character actor Richard Riehle died of natural causes on October 15, aged 78. Riehle’s roles included several characters across the Star Trek franchise, and Tenzin’s brother Bumi on The Legend of Korra. He is survived by his wife, and their four children.
