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.
§ Via The Hollywood Reporter, Vault Comics revealed YouTuber Inanna Sarkis (Seance) will make her comics debut with The Name She Lost: Inanna Book 1, a fantasy OGN starring the actress’s mythological namesake. Created with Tim Seeley and newcomer Ademir Leal, the book follows Inanna, the Mesopotamian goddess of love and war, as she reawakens in the San Francisco Bay, unable to remember anything except her name. It will be released in May 2026, while an ashcan will be available at New York Comic Con.
§ ComiXology announced Exorcism Island, a five-issue horror series by Mugshots creators Jordan Thomas and Chris Matthews. The book, starting October 21, follows an exorcist assigned to a remote Caribbean island owned by the Vatican, where the Church manages their most extreme possession cases. The company also revealed The Adequates, a five-issue YA series by Lee Loughridge and Marz Jr. (Transformers: Worst Bot Ever). Launching March 3, 2026, the book follows five freshmen who gain superpowers after a field trip to a cemetery, just as they also discover their history teacher has been possessed by a demon.
Afterlife with Archie art by Francesco Francavilla§ Shortly after news of an Afterlife with Archie series on Disney+ broke, writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa confirmed the source material will make a return too. The original comic, created with Francesco Francavilla, ran for 10 issues from 2013 to 2016, before Aguirre-Sacasa became preoccupied with Riverdale, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and other TV shows. While no release date is confirmed, Aguirre-Sacasa states he and Francavilla are working on the next three issues, two of which have already been written, and “will be plus-sized and loaded with tons of bonus content!”
§ Via Cosmopolitan, HarperAlley and its sister company Avon Publications announced a series based on Ana Huang‘s Twisted novels. The original quartet, Twisted Love, Games, Hate, and Lies, was published from 2021 to 2022, and chronicles a series of interconnected toxic romances. The news comes several months after Netflix optioned the rights to the books, in a seven-figure deal. The graphic novelizations will be released from 2027 to 2029.
§ In Kickstarter news, Mark Millar and Valerio Giangiordano (Nemesis: Rogues’ Gallery) will reteam on Conquered, a four-part graphic novel series about the modern world coming into conflict with a dragon-infested fantasy one. It is, conspicuously, the second new series Millar has crowdfunded (instead of publishing via Millarworld) in a row, after Psychic Sam… Clover Press and the Library of American Comics launched a campaign for a reprint of Stan Lee and John Romita‘s Amazing Spider-Man newspaper strip (1977-80)… and Matt Wagner & Kelley Jones revealed their third Dracula book, The Count.
§ In children’s book news, Dark Horse revealed Minecraft: Open World — The Ender Trials, the second installment of the subseries that began with Stephanie Ramirez‘s Into the Nether in 2022. Rachelle Reyes (The Owl House) and Abe Taraky (God of War) will create this entry (out March 17), which’ll see two new friends join Sarah and Hector on their latest adventure. Meanwhile, Papercutz announced Vol. 4 of The Smurfs Archives will include the long out-of-print the Marvel Comics series Peyo‘s little blue creations starred in in 1982; it will be released on February 3.
§ Speaking of Papercutz, owner Mad Cave Studios relaunched their website, now described in the press release as “fully integrating all four of its imprints,” including Maverick, Papercutz, and Nakama Press. The revamped platform, which includes upgraded servers, now has a digital reader, a retailer hub, an “ambassador hub” for advanced digital review copies, personalized recommendations, promotions and rewards, and more.
§ Via Billboard magazine, record label Mass Appeal and Marvel will publish Legend Has It…, a hip hop-themed series by Brandon Thomas and Sanford Greene. Described as “an epic narrative that bridges music, myth, and legacy,” the book appears to reimagine rappers Nas (Mass Appeal’s co-founder), DJ Premier, Ghostface Killah, Mobb Deep, Raekwon, Big L, De La Soul, and Slick Rick as superheroes. The first issue will be available in a special variant edition from Whatnot House at New York Comic Con on Friday, October 10, from 5:30 to 7pm ET.
§ Via TheFanFiles, Princeton University librarian Dr. Eric White has been spending time recently uncovering the names of the unidentified artists behind the cartoons on the Topps baseball cards from the 1950s and ’60s. Artists like Jack Kirby and Jack Davis had been deduced as being the creators of some of the cartoons, but many others remained unknown until now. You can read Dr. White’s extensive reports (currently consisting of five posts) on the subject at Sports Collectors Daily.
§ Finally, legendary British zoologist Jane Goodall died of natural causes on Wednesday, October 1, while on a speaking tour in Los Angeles. She was 91. Best known for her studies of chimpanzees, Goodall was also notorious among comics fans for a 1987 Far Side cartoon, where a chimp, on discovering a blond hair while grooming her mate, angrily asks, “Conducting a little more ‘research’ with that Jane Goodall tramp?” While the Jane Goodall Institute initially objected to the cartoon, Goodall herself saw the funny side, and befriended creator Gary Larson; he subsequently visited her research facility in Tanzania, while she went on to write the preface for 1995’s The Far Side Gallery 5. She is survived by her son, and three grandchildren.
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