Author: Newsroom
JULY 18, 2025 (PORTLAND, OR) — He’s fast, he’s fierce, and he’s back! Mad Cave Studios and Japan’s legendary Tatsunoko Production team up to bring fans a brand-new Speed Racer series that tears off the main track and dives into the shadowy side streets of the celebrated world.
Speed Racer: Tales from the Road #1 hits the pedal with a full-throttle 32-page Racer X story written by Mark London (Endless Night, Hour of the Wolf, Exit City), making his debut in the world of licensed comics, alongside Mad Cave’s Speed Racer series writer, David Pepose. Featuring interior art by Sebastián Píriz (Gargoyles, Stranger Things), with colors by Rex Lokus (Aquaman), letters by Buddy Beaudoin (Speed Racer), and covers from Andy Clarke (Batman) and Dan Panosian (Savage Red Sonja), Shane Connery Volk (Nottingham), and Joe Quesada (The Amazing Spider-man)—this latest batch of tales peels back the curtain on the characters that have fueled decades of fandom, starting with the most elusive of them all, Racer X!
Speed Racer: Tales from the Road is an all-new quarterly release featuring one-shot stories that expand the universe of Speed Racer! Two destinies. One road. Only one can walk away. When Interpol sends Racer X on a mission to take down a brutal warlord known only as the Viking, a deadly chase ignites across a shadowy European city. Packed with brutal hand-to-hand combat, turbocharged vehicular mayhem, and a haunting look at the choices that forge a man, this oversized one-shot dives deep into the past of the masked driver you think you know. Also featuring a Spritle and Chim-Chim backup story where they borrow the Mach 5 for the joyride of a lifetime!
Mark London spoke of this exciting new venture: “I’ve been obsessed with Racer X since I was a kid—he was always the mysterious, badass enigma I wanted to know more about. So getting to write a full story that dives deep into his world? Total dream come true. Tales from the Road lets us explore corners of the Speed Racer universe that the main series doesn’t usually touch, and I think fans—old and new—are going to love what we’re doing. It’s going to be explosive in every way.”
“Mad Cave gave me a lot of freedom to have fun with the art for this action-packed story, and I’m really enjoying it,” added artist Sebastián Píriz. “It’s always great to be able to be a small part of the history of something as big as Racer-X and the whole Speed Racer universe!”
“It’s been a thrill to explore the wild, weird corners of the Speed Racer series in Tales from the Road,” said Mad Cave Studios editor, Chas! Pangburn. “Each self-contained issue is a high-octane pit stop, letting us pop the hood on characters from the main series and see what makes them tick. With a rotating pit crew of writers and artists, there’s a scenic detour for every kind of reader.”
First introduced in the 1960s anime classic from Tatsunoko, Speed Racer has become a cross-generational phenomenon, spawning films, toys, and comics around the globe. With Speed Racer: Tales from the Road, Mad Cave is taking fans on a pit stop with stories that’ll get ‘em to the finish line.
Perfect for anyone who ever wanted to know what really happens beyond the flags, Speed Racer: Tales from the Road is sure to add the nitro boost to your comic book shelf! Issue #1 speeds into comic shops on October 22, 2025.
Preorder now through Mad Cave or direct from your favorite local comic shop!
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Mad Cave Studios will be exhibiting at San Diego Comic-Con International at Booth #2806, Thursday, July 23 – Sunday, July 27.