Welcome back to The Beat Digest, a twice-weekly round-up of the biggest comics-related news stories we’ve missed. Usually this is posted every Tuesday and Friday, but it’s San Diego Comic-Con! Is there a story out there you think we should cover? Be sure to let us know in the comments.
§ Mad Cave revealed Hammer Head, a five-issue slasher series by writer Ed Brisson and artist Damian Couceiro. The book, which marks Brisson’s first full-length horror series, follows Jules, the survivor of a massacre perpetrated by the titular killer 20 years ago, who struggles with how he keeps coming back from the dead. “When she’s thrown into prison with no trial and no hope, Jules finds herself part of a dark ritual built to force her back into the past that she’s spent her life trying to escape.” Issue #1 will be released on October 7.
Additionally, the publisher announced The Last Starfighter: Beta, a one-shot revealing the true fate of the robotic version of Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) from the film. The book, by the same creative team as the main series (albeit with David Cutler on art instead of Willi Roberts) will release on October 21. They also shared the second volume of Toril Orlesky‘s centaur western, Hotblood! The Valley of Kings, will arrive on September 8, and a Terrorbytes Halloween Annual (by Mark London and many more) for October 21.
§ Ignition Press revealed Mad Science Division, a satirical sci-fi horror series by Dan Watters and Brian Level starting November 4. The comic follows the R&D division of a genetic engineering company, whose unqualified new chief coordinator is hired to cut down on their expenses, despite “knowing absolutely nothing about the dangerous genetic experiments taking place in the division,” resulting in its employees and the public being exposed to “terrible, evil experiments”.
The publisher also announced East Side Saints, a “coming-of-rage” series created by writers AJ Mendez, Aimee Garcia, and Ildy Modrovich, with artist Amilcar Pinna. The series, starting mid-2027, will follow a 15-year old girl who inherits the family business: demon hunting. “Armed with a bruja (witch) abuelita and zero training, this irresponsible Latina teen must battle monsters on the streets of East LA… but a family secret will make things even more difficult for her.”
§ Marvel and Williams Racing revealed Iron Man: Racing Towards Doom, a one-shot by Ethan Sacks and Greg Land, that’ll see Tony Stark, Black Widow, Captain America, and more team up with real-life racers Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon to prevent Doctor Doom from winning Formula 1. It will be released on October 21, two months before former Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. takes on the role of Doom in Avengers: Doomsday. The House of Ideas also revealed this Halloween’s free Trick-Or-Read releases will be a reprint of Infernal Hulk #1, and a new, Symbie-centricSpidey and His Amazing Friends comic.
§ Image will release Lance Briggs, Kyle Higgins, and Danilo Beyruth‘s sci-fi sports graphic novel The Trap. The book, which was crowdfunded on Kickstarter in 2020, follows Jaylen Robinson, a rising young racer from the backwater of Earth in the far future. “But when a desperate job goes wrong just days before a big race, Jaylen’s promising sports career threatens to succumb to the Trap.” It will arrive in comics shops on October 7, and bookstores on November 3.
§ Dynamite launched a Kickstarter for a five-volume hardcover reprint of every DuckTales comic to date, from Gladstone’s 1988-90 run, to Dynamite’s 2024-26 series. The campaign has already raised $122,833, well in excess of its goal of $1987 (referencing the year the series premiered). The publisher also revealed the paperback edition of Vampirella Archives Vol. 8, collecting issues #50-56 of the original series (from 1976), releasing November 17, and Punch: Is That My Best Friend?, a picture book about the popular monkey from their Dynamite Kids division. The book, by writer Annie Auerbach and artist Walter Carzon, drops September 29.
§ Finally, two notices. Screenwriter William Wisher Jr.died of undisclosed causes at his home on July 14. He was 71. A childhood friend of James Cameron, he co-wrote the first two Terminator movies, and penned the novelization of the first. His other work included 1995’s Judge Dredd, the unproduced Superman Lives, The 13th Warrior, both versions of Exorcist: The Beginning, and uncredited script revisions on Pumpkinhead, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5, Die Hard with a Vengeance, and Live Free or Die Hard. He is survived by his wife, four siblings, his nieces and nephews, and many other family members.
Our second notice is for actress Kaylee Hottle, who died of injuries sustained in a car accident in Maryland, on Tuesday, July 21. She was only 18 years old. A deaf actress, Hottle played Kong’s nonverbal companion Jia in Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024). For her work on the latter, she nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor. Her co-stars and Legendary Pictures paid tribute to her, alongside deaf actress and activist Marlee Matlin. She is survived by her parents. An investigation into the accident is still ongoing.
