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.
§ Via IGN and AIPT, AHOY revealed Toxic Crusaders, a five-issue Toxic Avenger spin-off, based on the 1991 animated series. Written by Matt Bors with art by newcomer Tristan Wright, it will see Toxie team up with fellow mutants No-Zone, Junkyard, Major Disaster, and the new character Fungirl to stop an alien conspiracy. It will debut September 10, and should coincide with an upcoming retro Toxic Crusaders video game, which doesn’t have a specific street date at the time of writing. It will mark AHOY’s fifth Toxic Avenger title, with Toxie Team-Up, and the ongoing Toxic Avenger Comics beginning respectively in the meantime on June 11 and July 9.
§ Via Geek Vibes Nation, Oni Press announced Cave Grave: Wild West Tales, a western anthology by Shawn Kuruneru (The Goddamn Tragedy). Originally crowdfunded on Kickstarter, the book features two stories: the first, “Cave Grave” itself, will follow a group of thieves who discover a creature lurking in their titular hideout, while the second, “Poor Moon,” tells the story of a bounty hunter on the trail of a female killer. It will be released in hardcover in March.
§ Via Daily Dead, comiXology unveiled Ill Vacation, a period horror OGN by Steve Thompson (Animal Magic: Political Animals) and Gonzalo Ruggieri (Dark Beach). Set during World War II, the book follows Bob and Mary, two soldiers who undergo an experimental procedure, before being stationed alone on an island in the Pacific, where “their past trauma and nightmares [turns] into reality.” It will be released on June 17.
§ Skybound will release LEGO Ninjago: Strike of the Serpentine, a graphic novel by Cameron Chittock (Mapmakers, TMNT x Stranger Things) and Will Morris (Gospel). Due out in February, the book will follow a young version of Master Wu, and his brother Garmadon, during the war with the Serpentine clans, as they assemble the Elemental Masters to defeat them. It will mark Skybound’s third LEGO Ninjago comic, after Tri Vuong‘s series Garmadon and Shatterspin.
§ In Dark Horse and Marvel news, the Bullpen Books imprint announced The Art of Fantastic Four, showcasing Jack Kirby‘s run on the series, with essays and commentary from editors and designers Ian Chalgren & John Lind. The 200-page book, which will contain some complete stories, will be released as an oversized hardcover on September 24, 2025. Additionally, Marvel revealed all the variant covers for July 2’s relaunch of Captain America, and that season four of the preschool show Spidey and his Amazing Friends will premiere on Disney Junior on Monday, June 16, as well as Disney+ the next day.
Dark Horse, meanwhile, announced they will celebrate 21 years of Geof Darrow‘s Shaolin Cowboy with The Shaolin Cowboy: Beginning of the End Results, a deluxe, 256-page hardcover collection of the “essential” stories, due out December 10, 2025. These will include all seven issues of the original Burlyman Entertainment series (aka Start Trek), and the out-of-print Bourbon Thret stories from Comics and Stories, the French magazine published by Moebius’s imprint Ædena. As always, for more from Dark Horse this week, head to their official blog.
§ Finally, Entertainment Weekly ran an interview with Allan Heinberg, showrunner of Netflix’s The Sandman, offering a first look at Jack Gleeson as Puck, and more. He reiterates the decision to end the show was made well before the sexual allegations about co-creator Neil Gaiman emerged, discussing how they had to pick-and-choose elements from otherwise ignored storylines (like “A Game of You”) while completing Dream’s arc. He adds the allegations have not “affected our process,” and weren’t “part of the world of the making of the show, if that makes sense.” The Sandman season two will be released in two volumes, respectively on July 3, and July 24.
