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.
§ The new Ultimate Hawkeye will star in an eponymous one-shot on September 3. The new Ultimate Marvel variant of the character, who is a non-binary Oglala Lakota vigilante named Charli Ramsey, was introduced in last year’s Ultimates #5, by Deniz Camp and Juan Frigeri. A creative team was not disclosed, although Camp and Frigeri will provide a framing device that gives context for how the comic fits into their overall narrative. Marvel also unveiled all the variant covers for July’s relaunch of Fantastic Four, and a line of variants to promote the new mobile game Mystic Mayhem (due out June 25) for September.
§ Via AIPT, comiXology announced Scott Snyder, Jack Snyder, and Valeria Favoccia‘s post-apocalyptic adventure series By A Thread will begin its second season on Tuesday, June 3. The comic, which kicked off with a four-issue arc in 2023, follows a group of teens in a world where the surface has been enveloped by a dark shroud. While the first season focused on Jo and his past, the second will center on Charlie, who was eight when the shroud hit; for an extended preview of the oversized first issue, click the link.
§ Mad Cave will release Ghostbox, a supernatural thriller by Mike Carey and Pablo Raimond originally published by comiXology in 2024, as a print graphic novel on October 21. The company’s Nakama Press imprint also announced Nakara Warrior, an occult cyberpunk thriller with a Buddhist eschatological twist, by Hong Kong-based writer Albert Ng and artist Jerry Cho. Vol. 1 will be released September 2.
§ Via GameSpot, IDW Publishing stated this fall’s Sonic the Hedgehog #81 will mark a new jumping on point for newcomers. Written by Evan Stanley, with art from Min Ho Kim, the comic, titled “The Stage is Set” Part 1 (of 3), will see Sonic & Tails and Shadow & Rouge compete for the missing Chaos Emeralds in the city of Sequin, where a carnival is being held. It will be released on September 3. IDW has published the Sonic the Hedgehog comic since 2018, while artist-turned-writer Stanley penned her first issue back in 2020.
§ Over at Entertainment Weekly, James Gunn shed light on Michael Rooker‘s role in Peacemaker season two, revealing he is playing the original character Red St. Wild, “the world’s foremost eagle hunter, who is on a mission to kill Eagly.” No word was given on the character apparently engaging in Native American appropriation, but we’ll probably find out what’s going on with that in due time. The new season premieres on HBO Max on Thursday, August 21, at 9 pm ET/PT. The role marks Rooker’s fourth in the DCU, following his parts in The Suicide Squad, Creature Commandos, and Superman.
§ Act 4 Publishing revealed two upcoming Artist’s Editions: an expanded version of Wally Wood’s EC Stories (due out February 10), and Mike Mignola’s Hellboy in Hell Book 2 (April 7, 2026). 10 stories will be added to the Wally Wood book, bringing the number to a total of 28, while Hellboy in Hell will feature issues #6-10 (originally published from 2014 to 2016.) In the meantime, Act 4’s first books, Jim Aparo’s DC Classics Artist’s Edition, and Darwyn Cooke’s The Complete Spirit Connoisseur Edition, will be released in partnership with Skybound respectively in September and October.
§ Via MajorSpoilers, By the Horns creators Markisan Naso and Jason Muhr have taken back the rights to the series from Scout Comics. In a statement, Naso thanked Scout for picking up the comic at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, while stating the end of their five-year contract led them to decide to take it elsewhere, without mentioning the company’s recent troubles. Begun in 2020, By the Horns is a fantasy series following a widow’s quest to hunt down the unicorns that killed her husband; two volumes, totaling 20 issues, were published until late 2023, and two more are currently in the works.
§ Finally, Jody Houser is making the jump from the Doctor Who comics to Big Finish‘s audio series. The writer will pen The Ideal Quarry, a story for the upcoming box set Call Me Master: Monsters, starring Sacha Dhawan‘s incarnation of the villainous Time Lord. Due out sometime in September, The Ideal Quarry will see the Master take on a disgraced Sontaran as his companion, when they both wind up marooned on a dangerous planet. For more, including Houser’s thoughts on how the latest Master differs from his predecessors, head to the link.
A story you should cover: The return of Deadline Magazine! It was announced at a recent comic con in London and has thus far only been covered by Bleeding Cool, but this is BIG news that deserves BIG coverage!
Thanks for the heads up! I’ve subscribed to their newsletter, so I will keep an eye on it.