Dark Horse Comics and Tiny Onion have announced Beast of Borikén, a new, five-issue installment of the True Weird series, revolving around the Chupacabra. Written by Julio Anta (This Land is Our Land: A Blue Beetle Story), with art by Daniel Irizarri (Cemetery Kids Don’t Die), colors by Patricio Delpeche (Minor Arcana), and lettering by Lucas Gattoni (Absolute Green Lantern), the comic will tell the story of a Puerto Rican activist, who discovers the local cryptid literally known as the “goat-sucker” may be far more noble than anyone realized.
In contemporary Puerto Rico, Loli Flores is a fierce activist fighting the overdevelopment of the island by outside investors. When a groundbreaking ceremony is violently interrupted by a supernatural force, Loli discovers that the stories of el Chupacabra are not just echoes from the past, but true tales of a brutal protector of generations extending back to the indigenous people of the island. As Loli uncovers the horrors firsthand, el Chupacabra follows a parallel path, leaving elemental destruction in his wake.
Anta, who is a Cuban and Colombian American, says, “Beast of Borikén is a tropical horror story inspired by all the creature features I grew up devouring. It’s both an epic tale encompassing over 500 years of colonialism and resistance and a gory character drama starring Latin America’s most terrifying cryptid, the Chupacabra. I can’t wait for readers to sink their teeth into this book, beautifully illustrated by Daniel Irizarri… no one’s ever seen a Chupacabra this horrifyingly human!”
Irizarri, who is Puerto Rican, adds, “[The book] has been a home-coming to draw my island and its people as I’ve witnessed them in all their shapes and sizes, their joy and their rage. It was bold and refreshing of Tiny Onion to take a chance on a different direction for the next chapter of their True Weird series. Julio’s story is a sharp portrayal of Puerto Rican resistance that made me feel seen, while also giving us the space to create a modern, snarling interpretation of the Chupacabra as well as our violent history and myths. I’m excited to bring my artistic sensibilities to this pulp-horror story of protester grit and ancient spirits of vengeance.”
True Weird originated as a back-up in James Tynion IV and Michael Avon Oeming‘s UFO series Blue Book, portraying real accounts of encounters with cryptids and other phenomena. The first full series, Tynion, Steve Foxe and Piotr Kowalski‘s Jersey Devil-themed Let This One Be a Devil, released at the start of 2025.
Issue #1 of Beast of Borikén will be released on July 1, with a main cover by Irizarri, and variants by Naomi Franq (The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos) and Max Fiumara (who also provided a variant for Let This One Be a Devil #1.) Blue Book‘s latest follow-up, Red Book, will be released in the meantime in trade paperback on June 30.
