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.
§ Bandai Namco Filmworks dropped a new teaser trailer for The Ghost in the Shell, the upcoming anime series readapting the original manga by Masamune Shirow, during this weekend’s AnimeJapan convention. They also released a new key visual, featuring Major Motoko Kusanagi, and the walking tank Fuchikoma. The show, animated by Science Saru (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, and more), will premiere on Prime Video in July.
§ IDW revealed 13 Demons Dead, a black-and-white, manga-inspired graphic novel by Adam Tierney (Yars Rising) and Ilaria “Sapsy” Catalani (Rugrats). Due out August 4, the action horror comedy follows a 14-year old girl who has one year to slay Earth’s Thirteen Hidden Demons, or else “they will return more powerful, more vicious, and utterly unstoppable.” It’ll mark the first OGN by Tierney, who’s primarily a video game writer, and who will be making make his return to comics beforehand with IDW’s Romeo & Juliet and Godzilla on April 8.
§ Enjoying Daredevil: Born Again, but not sure where to start reading the comics? Marvel Unlimited has released a QR code to unlock comics that inspired the show, which right now, offers fans the chance to read 1970’s nautical Daredevil #60, and 2021’s Devil’s Reign #1. More comics will be added as season two progresses, which you can glimpse here, but beware potential spoilers. Episodes two and three of the second season will premiere in the meantime on Disney+ tonight.
§ Via a press release, Storm King Comics announced Chaplain, a horror graphic novel written by the brothers Brad and Rev. Wesley Sun (Chinatown, Monkey Fist), with art by Raúlo Cáceres (Extinction Parade). Inspired by Wesley’s day job, the surreal book follows an ageing clergyman who “discovers an ancient, unknowable monster stalking his hospital, forcing him to confront the existential terror of his own mortality. Along with his energetic young protégé, he is pushed to the brink of insanity as his convictions and very grasp on reality begin to unravel.” It will be released in comics shops on July 1, and bookstores the following week.
§ Chris Piers, the host of the YouTube channel ComicTropes, has launched a GoFundMe after experiencing flooding in his and his wife Krissy‘s home last week. “Our sump pump failed overnight, flooding the downstairs of our split-level home,” he explains. “We’ve been scrambling to address the damage ever since, but the financial cost is miles beyond what we can handle.” The couple had already had to cut back on expenses recently because of medical bills, and Krissy’s job “shutter[ing] last year when government contracts dried up.” They have now exceeded their initial $10,000 goal, and any further donations will go towards replacing lost items like Chris’s comics.
§ Actor James Tolkan died on Thursday, March 26, aged 94. Best known for playing Principal Strickland (and his grandfather, Marshal Strickland) in the Back to the Future trilogy, Tolkan also played Commander Tom “Stinger” Jardian in Top Gun, Detective Hugh Lubic in 1987’s Masters of the Universe, and Numbers in Dick Tracy. TV work included Mary, Remington Steele, Cobra, Nero Wolfe, and the animated Back to the Future series, where he voiced a wartime warden. Tolkan was also a Korean War veteran, and part of the original Glengarry Glen Ross stage cast. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Parmelee Welles, and three nieces.
§ Finally, in further notices, storyboard artist Barry Caldwell has died, aged 68. Caldwell was a series director on Animaniacs, as well as a sequence director on Tiny Toon Adventures, and also worked on the original He-Man, The Smurfs, Pinky and the Brain, Osmosis Jones, Kim Possible, the first season of The Simpsons, and many more. He shared the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Animation for Animaniacs in 1996, and won two Annies for his work on Pinky and the Brain. Paul Dini paid tribute to him, saying “He knew more about cartoons than you or I ever will (trust me on this) yet he was incredibly generous with his time and his talent. And my God, could he make you laugh!” You can watch a career retrospective with him from 2021 in the video embedded above.
