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.
Any Given Smile #1 cover A, by Ashley Witter. Image courtesy of EW.
§ IDW had several announcements this week. At Entertainment Weekly, they revealed this fall’s IDW Dark slate, which will include Any Given Smile, a new, football-themed series for the horror films by Eisner-nominated writer Stephanie Williams, and GLAAD Media Award–winning artist Pablo Collar. The book is set in Florida in 1995, and follows a backup quarterback struggling with his gambling debts, as well as a journalist investigating a series of suicides connected to a championship game. Issue #1 (of 5) will be released in September, while IDW’s first Smile series, Smile: For the Camera, will wrap up beforehand with issue #5 on July 15.
Over at ComicBook.com, IDW unveiled this fall’s Godzilla slate, which includes the fourth Monsterpiece Theatre one-shot, The Kaiju of Oz, by Mike Costa and Ryan Browne. The Emerald City showdown arrives October 7. And at IGN, they announced Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Coastal Chaos, their second series for Paramount+’s continuation of Mutant Mayhem. A Jersey Shore adventure by Andrew Joustra and Louie Joyce (who worked together on the prior Tales comic), the four-issue series starts September 9.
Magic: The Gathering: Untold Stories — Liliana #1 cover A, by Rerekina
§ Dark Horse revealed Magic: The Gathering: Untold Stories — Liliana, a four-issue series by Torunn Grønbekk (Catwoman) and Natalia Rerekina (The Witcher), starring Liliana Vess, the most powerful necromancer in the multiverse. The book, which begins October 14, follows Vess on a quest to reclaim her soul. The company also shared Kill All Immortals III will begin on October 7. The five-issue trilogy capper is written by co-creator Zack Kaplan, and will see Francesco Mortarino (NYX) take over on art duties from Fico Ossio and Elisabetta D’Amico.
§ Via IGN, BOOM! Studios announced No Gods, No Masters, a five-issue kaiju series by This Land is Our Land: A Blue Beetle Story creators Julio Anta and Jacoby Salcedo. The book follows three teenagers in detention in Manhattan, who are forced to band together to survive, and rescue one of the teens’ mothers from a destroyed subway station, after a giant monster descends on the city. Issue #1 will arrive on September 2.
Conan: Tides of The Tyrant-King #1 cover A, by Roberto de la Torre
§ Titan unveiled Conan The Barbarian: Tides Of The Tyrant-King, a four-issue event series by Jim Zub and Jesus Merino. The dual story, which was set up by the Free Comic Book Day release of the same name, follows Conan and sailor Stephen Costigan in their respective eras, as they contend with the return of the titular necromancer (and Tyrant-King of Atlantis) Thulsa Doom. Issue #1 releases September 23. It marks the third Conan event series from Titan, after 2024’s Battle of the Black Stone, and 2025’s Scourge of the Serpent.
§ Image will release Ofiusa, a six-part romantic thriller by Guillem March. Starting September 16, the series follows the love triangle between the entrepreneur Joan, Mar, and the enigmatic Isla, whom Joan meets in a parallel timeline on a paradise island. “Everyone is hiding something, while a dark secret from the past awaits to be revealed.” Image previously published March’s Karmen in 2021, and the artist/writer’s other creator-owned work includes Laura and Monika.
§ Netflix dropped the trailer for Heartstopper Forever, the feature-length conclusion of the queer British romance series, arriving on the service on Friday, July 17. The movie, adapted by screenwriter Alice Oseman from her own webcomic, will see teen couple Nick Nelson and Charlie Spring (Kit Connor and Joe Locke) deal with Nick’s planned departure for university. In the meantime, Scholastic will release the sixth and final print volume of the comic on July 7.
§ Deadline shares Ironheart received ten nominations from the Black Reel TV Awards, the most at this year’s awards. Its nominations include Outstanding TV Movie or Limited Series, and acting nods for Dominique Thorne, Anthony Ramos, and Lyric Ross. Wonder Man was nominated for six, including Outstanding Comedy Series, and Outstanding Lead Performance in a Comedy Series for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. The Boys and Gen V shared three, including Outstanding Original Song for Daveed Diggs‘s “Raise Him Up.” The winners will be announced on Monday, August 17.
§ Finally, former child actress Daveigh Chase died on Tuesday, June 16, as a result of septic shock and complications from meningitis. She was only 35. Chase was best known for voicing Lilo in Disney’s Lilo & Stitch (2002) and its spin-offs from 2003 to 2006, as well as for portraying the villainous Samara in The Ring (2002), and Chihiro in the English dub of Spirited Away (2001). She stopped acting in 2016, and according to her father, was living homeless with her boyfriend at the time at her death. She had been estranged from her parents since she was 19, and was arrested and charged over several drug-related issues in 2017 and 2018. Disney had no comment on her death at the time of writing.
