Welcome back to The Beat Digest, a twice-weekly round-up of the biggest comics-related news stories we’ve missed, usually every Tuesday and Friday, but as today marks the start of New York Comic Con, we’re going a day earlier this week! Is there a story out there you think we should cover? Be sure to let us know in the comments.
§ Dynamite has acquired the rights to Jae Lee‘s Hellshock. The original series, which ran at Image from 1994 to 1998, followed the exploits of a half-human angel, and will be reprinted sometime next year. The publisher also announced a Vampirella Winter Special by Liam Johnson and Jordan Michael Johnson (no relation), the creators of this year’s Vampirella: Halloween Horror special. The January release will follow Vampi after she is captured by a billionaire, who seeks to gain eternal life by extracting her blood.
§ Marvel revealed Logan: Black, White & Blood, a new, black, white-and-red anthology starting January 14. Issue #1 (of 4) will feature stories by Tom Waltz & Alex Lins, Saladin Ahmed & Adam Kubert, and Larry Hama & Dave Wachter, all revealing new adventures from the hairy X-Man’s past. It marks the character’s second Black, White & Blood series, following Wolverine: Black, White & Blood, which kicked off the line in 2020.
§ Titan will publish a new Gun Honey series, Gun Honey Doubles Down, next year. The latest entry in Charles Ardai and Ang Hor Kheng‘s sultry action comic, which kicked off in 2021, will see arms dealer Joanna Tan take a bounty on a failed assassin: however, he has two body doubles, making it unclear whether he fled to Siberia, Finland, or the Black Sea. It’ll mark the fourth main book in the Gun Honey series, which also has a spin-off, Heat Seeker (the second volume of which, Exposed, will conclude with issue #4 on December 3.)
§ Paramount released a clip from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Chrome Alone 2, the short film that’ll be attached to The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (which will arrive in theaters on December 19). Picking up after the 2023 movie Mutant Mayhem, the holiday-themed short sees the Turtles discover a toy company is using their likeness without their permission.
§ Drops of God season two will premiere on Apple TV+ on Wednesday, January 21. The French/Japanese co-production, based on the manga by Tadashi Agi and Shu Okimoto, follows half-siblings Camille and Issei, whose father was a renowned wine expert. Season one was released in 2023, and won the International Emmy Award for Best Drama Series. Season two will consist of eight episodes, and be released weekly.
§ Via Variety, Kodansha has launched its first US manga, The Escape. Written by actor Vinnie Hacker (Sakamoto Days Part 2) and Shakira Pressley (Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft), with art by Hiroto Oishi, the comic follows a prisoner in an underground world, where captives are forced to fight to the death. The first chapter is now available to read worldwide, for free, on KManga.
§ Netflix cartoons Paradise PD (2018-22) and Farzar (2022) will return in a crossover graphic novel, Paradise PD & Farzar: The Final Season, written by creators Waco O’Guin and Roger Black, with art by Robby Cook (Star Trek: Lower Decks). The book, which will be published by Gungnir in collaboration with Roditeli Productions, will see Paradise PD head to the planet Farzar while searching for Chief Crawford’s kidnapped son. It will launch on Kickstarter soon.
§ In more fundraising news, TwoMorrows Publishing launched a GiveButter page to cover the losses they incurred from Diamond’s bankruptcy. Diamond distributed TwoMorrows’s books, which primarily consist of magazines about the history of comics, from when it was founded in 1994, until its bankruptcy late last year. “In the interim, we’ve had to pay our printer, shipping costs, contributors, and absorb the lost revenue while switching to our new distributor[s],” they said. The campaign, which’ll end by Tuesday, October 14, has so far raised $15,63 of its $65,000 goal.
§ Finally, Forbes reports Axis Studios, the Scottish company that animated Eyes of Wakanda, has gone into administration (the UK equivalent of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy). Axis, which was founded in 2000, had been struggling financially as the result of a slowdown in work after the end of lockdowns and the Hollywood strikes, with all but four employees getting laid off last year. The studio’s other credits included Outlander, Chernobyl, and League of Legends, for which it won a Royal Television Society Scotland Award.
