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.
§ Mad Cave revealed Mister Nemo, a new entry in the Underworld Universe that also consists of Revolution 9, Hour of the Wolf, Exit City, and Endless Night. Written by Mark London with art by Alden Kaye (Morgana Pendragon), the book reimagines Jules Verne‘s Captain Nemo as a modern vigilante, waging war on a global conspiracy from under the sea (20,000 leagues under, you might even say), who must protect a journalist who uncovers too much. Issue #1 drops July 15, while Exit City #5 is available now, Revolution 9 #5 will follow on May 27, and Hour of the Wolf #5 will arrive in October.
§ Image announced Liam Sharp‘s sci-fi fantasy series StarHenge will return with a new four-issue series on July 1. The new arc, titled Book Two: A Kiss for Atticus, will find the protagonists “stranded in strangely familiar realms, without any real sense of who they are or how they got there.” The first series was released in 2022. It also shared Szymon Kudrański‘s Something Epic will return after two years (with issue #13) on July 15. The new arc of the imagination-themed fantasy series will see Noa and D-Ductive investigate a crime in the Land of Horror, something much easier said than done.
§ In a press release, Titan unveiled Solomon Kane: The Lion’s Errant, a four-issue series by Patrick Zircher, that’ll see Robert E. Howard‘s Puritan hero get drawn to India “by a mysterious black-maned lion,” during the war between the queen Rani Durgavati (1524-64) and the Mughal Empire. “But the coming battle is more than a clash of armies. Ancient powers are stirring, gods and demons walk among the living, and Kane’s arcane Atlantean staff may hold the key to it all.” Issue #1 will be released on July 22. It’ll mark Zircher’s third Solomon Kane comic, after last year’s The Serpent Ring, and a serial in Savage Sword of Conan in 2024.
§ Dynamite will release Fire and Ice: Darkwolf, a four-issue series by Dan Panosian and newcomer Andrey Lunatik this summer. A prequel revolving around the masked warrior (played by Steve Sandor) from the animated 1983 film, the comic “begins when a mother and her twins flee the warlock who sired them,” and are rescued by a “fabled warrior” from the mountains. It’ll mark Dynamite’s fourth book based on the film, following the initial series (which has been plagued by heavy delays), and one-shots spotlighting Teegra and Nekron.
§ In video game news, Warner Bros. Games and Scott Snyder revealed Absolute Batman and Catwoman skins for LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight (arriving on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S on Friday, May 22). Absolute Batman and Catwoman were designed by Nick Dragotta… Hasbro will release its first Marvel Rivals figures this fall. Depending on the toy, pre-orders will go up between April 22 and May 13… and in what’s becoming a very familiar story to fans of Paramount properties, Star Trek: Resurgence is being delisted, less than three years after its release.
§ In Kickstarter news, Rocketship Entertainment is planning a Frostpunk 1886 graphic novel, based on the survival game and its upcoming expansion of the same name, by Justin Jordan and Ryan Benjamin. Meanwhile, producer Jason Andrew Cohn (No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics) is planning Tezuka! God of Manga, a documentary about the groundbreaking Astro Boy creator, featuring interviews with Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira), Riyoko Ikeda (Rose of Versailles), Naoki Urasawa (Pluto), Go Nagai (Cutie Honey), and many more. You can sign up to be alerted of when either project launches at the links.
§ Fathom Entertainment will screen the first three episodes of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Calamity in theaters for a limited engagement on June 25-29. The anime marks the final season of the adaptation of Tite Kubo‘s manga, which originally ran from 2004 to 2012, and returned as Thousand-Year Blood War in 2022. The episodes will be available to watch in English and Japanese, and come attached with a conversation between Kubo, chief series director Tomohisa Taguchi, and director Hikaru Murata. Tickets go on sale May 29. The rest of the season will follow on Hulu in July.
§ Finally, Prime Video released a trailer for the series finale of Good Omens. The 90 min special, which was originally intended as the third season of the show before the allegations about co-creator and showrunner Neil Gaiman led to his departure, will see the angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and the demon Crowley (David Tennant) go on a search for the missing Antichrist before the End of the World unfolds. It was directed by Rachel Talalay (who takes over from the first two seasons’ Douglas MacKinnon), and will be available on Wednesday, May 13.
