SDCC COVERAGE SPONSORED BY MAD CAVE
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 we’re going a day earlier this week because it’s San Diego Comic-Con! Is there a story out there you think we should cover? Be sure to let us know in the comments.
§ Marvel’s Strange Tales (AKA the comic where Doctor Strange made his debut) will return with a four-issue run on October 8, written by Jeremy Whitley with art by Bayleigh Underwood (Marvel United: A Pride Special). The comic will see Nico Minoru host a tabletop fantasy game night, only for the game to come to life, prompting her to team up with Scarlet Witch to solve the mystery. The book, which’ll also feature Strange, Wiccan, and more, marks the seventh series titled Strange Tales, following the original 1951-76 run, the 1987 revival, the miniseries from 1998, 2009, and 2010, and the 2022 Marvel Unlimited exclusive.
Marvel also revealed Marvel Knights: Punisher, a four-issue series by Jimmy Palmiotti and Dan Panosian, also debuting October 8. Few plot details were given, but it will follow an older Frank Castle in the same alternate future as Christopher Priest and Joe Quesada‘s Marvel Knights: The World to Come. It will mark the second new Punisher title, following the canonical five-parter Punisher: Red Band (by Benjamin Percy and Julius Ohta), which begins September 10.
§ Image unveiled Final Boss, an ongoing action series by writer/artist Tyler Kirkham. The synopsis reads, “Trying to forge a new path, Tommy Brazen uses his newfound powers for various paid enforcer gigs and street fights, only to uncover a past far more complex than he ever imagined.” Kirkham describes the book as a “nostalgic action adventure,” inspired by early Image comics, classic action heroes, and beat ’em up arcade games. Issue #1 will be released in November.
§ Mad Cave announced Terrorbytes, a sci-fi horror anthology co-written by Mark Russell and Mark London, themed around modern technology. The first issue will revolve around “a headset that lets users relive their greatest memories at the moment of their death,” and the “brutal price” they would pay for it. As well as Russell and London, the book will feature stories by various writers and artists, the latter of whom’s line-up currently includes Juan Doe, Alberto Ponticelli, Val Halvorsen, and Felix Ruiz. It will start sometime this fall.
Meanwhile, ICv2 reports Mad Cave’s Papercutz imprint has acquired the rights to Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani‘s Aw Yeah Comics! series. The first release, Action Cat and Adventure Bug: Let’s Do This!, will feature a mix of old and new material, and will hit stores on in hardcover and paperback on January 6, 2026. Aw Yeah Comics!, which stars the mascots of Baltazar and Aureliani’s comic book stores, was initially self-published on its debut in 2013, while subsequent series were published by Dynamite and Dark Horse.
§ Dark Horse will release The Shadow Out of Time, the latest manga based on a H.P. Lovecraft story by Gou Tanabe (translated by Zack Davisson, and lettered by Steve Dutro) in bookstores on December 16, and comic stores the following day. They also revealed The Barb Wire Compendium, a 648-page paperback reprint of every “main line” Barb Wire comic to date, due out on February 17/18, 2026.
§ Wednesday has been officially renewed for a third season ahead of the premiere of its second. Co-creator and showrunner Alfred Gough comments, “We remain grateful and excited to continue this journey and tell these stories with all of our partners.” The first season of the show, released back in 2022, remains Netflix’s most-watched English-language series of all time. Part One of season two will be released on Wednesday, August 6, and Part Two will follow on September 3.
§ Via The Hollywood Reporter, Naomi Ackie (Mickey 17, I Wanna Dance with Somebody) is in talks to play the female lead in the Clayface movie. The trade also states the body horror film will reimagine the classic Batman villain as “an ascending actor whose face is disfigured by a gangster. As a last resort, the actor turns to a fringe Elizabeth Holmes-style scientist [possibly Ackie] for help.” The movie, starring Tom Rhys Harries, directed by James Watkins, and written by Mike Flanagan, will begin filming in the UK soon for a release on September 11, 2026.
§ In more DC Studios news, Our Flag Means Death creator David Jenkins is attached to showrun the Booster Gold series in development for HBO Max. Jenkins confirmed he will write the pilot on Instagram, while disclosing The Righteous Gemstones creator/star Danny McBride was originally going to develop the series. Booster Gold was announced by James Gunn and Peter Safran in 2023, and was described by Gunn as “basically the story of a superhero’s imposter syndrome.”
§ Hours after the announcement of a Calexit benefit comic, THR reported a film version of the comic is in the works, with John Wick director Chad Stahelski set to produce. Matteo Pizzolo, who created the comic with Amancay Nahuelpan, will co-produce and write the movie, and Nahuelpan is attached as co-producer as well. Launched from Black Mask Studios in 2017, Calexit is the topical tale of California becoming a sanctuary state after the President decides to deport all immigrants. The first issue of a new series, Calexit: The Battle of Universal City, by Pizzolo and Carlos Granda, was released this week.
§ THR also reports Ken Daurio (Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets) will write an animated film version of Ben Hatke’s graphic novel series Zita the Spacegirl. The series, which kicked off at First Second in 2011, follows the intergalactic adventures of a girl whose best friend was abducted by an evil alien cult. The film will go into production next year at Sycamore Studios, a new family animation company founded by writer/producer Christian McGuigan (Sarah’s Story) and director Timothy Reckart (The Star).
§ Finally, via Collider, John Hendrix’s graphic novel The Mythmakers will receive an animated film adaptation, directed by Justin Strawhand (Birthright Outlaw). The book, which is nominated for this year’s Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work, depicts the lives and friendship of authors C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia) and J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings). An ETA or animation studio was not given for the project. It would mark the second Tolkien biopic, after 2019’s Tolkien, and the fifth for Lewis, after the 1985 and 1993 versions of Shadowlands, The Most Reluctant Convert, and Freud’s Last Session.
SDCC COVERAGE SPONSORED BY MAD CAVE
