Mad Cave will publish a new story set in the world of the 1984 film The Last Starfighter, with a look at the fate of the Beta, the android who sacrificed himself to save the movie’s hero, Alex Rogan. The 40-page one-shot, The Last Starfighter: Beta, starts from the premise that Beta was not destroyed but was stranded on earth and had to deal with the Zando-Zan alone. Jonathan Betuel and Paul Davidson, the screenwriter and producer of the original film, are part of the creative team, along with writers Benjamin Raab and Deric A. Hughes, artist David Cutler, and colorist Francesco Segala. The main cover will be by David Lopez, with a variant by Jessica Fong. Release date is October 21, 2026.
“Everyone remembers The Last Starfighter for its epic space battles and groundbreaking CGI, but the real victory of that movie was its unique blend of heart, pathos and humor in an unforgettable sci-fi stew,” Raab said in a statement accompanying the announcement. “With that recipe in mind, we’ve cooked up Beta—a story about the disposable, shape-shifting simuloid sent to Earth as a sacrificial decoy for Alex Rogan, who suddenly finds itself in an adventure all its own. A ‘stranger in a strange land’ tale about an artificial intelligence learning what it means to be human.”
Mad Cave launched a new Last Starfighter series on July 1 (see “Mad Cave to Publish New Stories in ‘The Last Starfighter’ World”).
Click Gallery below for covers!
Source: ICv2
