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.
Cult-de-Sac #1 cover A by Fico Ossio
§ Via Daily Dead, Ignition Press revealed Cult-de-Sac, a horror series by writer Cullen Bunn and artist Fico Ossio. Debuting August 12, the comic follows a family that moves into a new neighborhood, where they discover the homeowners’ association is a cult planning to sacrifice them to their demonic master. Bunn previously worked with Ossio on IDW’s 2016 Hasbro crossover Revolution, and the book marks the writer’s third at Ignition, after Deluge, and Ripcord (which’ll end on July 22).
§ Via their newsletter, Tiny Onion confirmed they are helping produce Iman Vellani‘s creator-owned debut Chachu. Their involvement was mentioned in the initial Variety exclusive, but wasn’t given in the press release, and their logo wasn’t featured on the covers for the comic. The series, created with Marianna Ignazzi, is a ’70s-set coming-of-age/detective story, about a young Pakistani Canadian woman and her uncle searching for his missing wife. The five-issue book will begin on August 5.
Marvel’s Mastering the Art of Comics
§ Marvel shared a first look at Mastering the Art of Comics, a behind-the-scenes look at how comics are made by Alex Segura, releasing from Random House Worlds on October 20. The book will feature pages from books like X-Men, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, and The Amazing Spider-Man, and insights from Fabian Nicieza, Kurt Busiek, Tini Howard, Kieron Gillen, Walt Simonson, Phil Noto, Kris Anka, Leonard Kirk, and more.
§ The Mandalorian and Grogu opened with $100 million domestically during the Memorial Day weekend, while grossing an additional $63 mil overseas. It marks the lowest opening weekend for a live-action Star Wars film, breaking the $103 mil record set by Solo in 2018, although Mando had a significantly lower budget, at $165 mil, compared to Solo‘s $300 mil. (The dubious overall honor still goes to The Clone Wars, which opened with $14.6 mil in 2008.) Mando, which marks the first Star Wars film since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, currently has a 62 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, but received an A- from CinemaScore respondents.
§ British rock band The Darkness released “Masters of the Universe,” the title track for the new movie of the same name. The song was written by the film’s composer, Daniel Pemberton, with the band’s frontman, Justin Hawkins, and his brother & guitarist Dan Hawkins. It marks the first song to be created by The Darkness for a film/TV project since their formation in 2000. The film, which also features Queen’s Brian May on the track “Eternia,” will be released on June 5.
Speaking of Masters of the Universe, Puck News claims Jared Leto hasn’t promoted the film at Amazon MGM’s request, and that the Skeletor actor isn’t “thrilled” with the movie, although it’s unclear if this is because of the finished product itself, or MGM distancing itself from him. Leto, 54, was accused of sexual misconduct by nine women (some of whom say they were underage at the time) after wrapping the film last year, but has also become widely considered box office poison. Leto denies all the allegations.
§ Finally, via Bloody Disgusting, BOOM! Studios announced three facsimile releases of classic Hellraiser comics for August, namely BOOM!’s Hellraiser #1 (from 2011), Marvel’s Harrowers #1 (1993), and Pinhead #1 (also 1993). The rereleases will help mark the 40th anniversary of the films’ source material, The Hellbound Heart, which will also be celebrated with an omnibus on November 24. The facsimile editions were previously made available as a bonus in the Kickstarter pre-order campaign for the omnibuses.
