Abbott & Costello Join Forces With Kolchak the Night Stalker in Horror Crossover Special

ign.com Oct 19, 2026

Abbott & Costello Join Forces With Kolchak the Night Stalker in Horror Crossover Special

Curated by Shubham · TechCapsules · Oct 19, 2026

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

Monstrous Books has launched a Kickstarter for an issue that revives the classic comedy duo Abbott & Costello. The first issue, Abbott & Costello Meet the Monsters #1, pairs the slap‑stick pair with reporter Carl Kolchak from the 1970s TV film The Night Stalker and the vampire Janos Skorzeny. Written by James Aquilone with art by Dave Acosta and colors by Zac Atkinson, the story opens in 1943, shows the duo slipping through a time‑travel portal, and shifts from black‑and‑white homage to color as they arrive in 1972 Las Vegas. The series also includes Abbott & Costello Meet the Morlocks and Abbott & Costello Meet Cthulu, joining a wave of 2026 comic mash‑ups such as Judge Dredd/Biker Mice From Mars and Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles.

💡 Why It Matters

· By marrying iconic comedy with vintage horror, the project taps nostalgia to attract both retro fans and modern collectors, testing the limits of genre‑blending in crowdfunding comics.

Capsules Funding

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UK Government and UKRI Unveil £78M ($103.8M USD) Quantum Commercialization, Networking, and…

The UK Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade and UK Research and Innovation announced a £78 million package to boost quantum sensing, networking, and skills under the National Quantum Strategy. The funds include £50 million for commercial sensing and positioning, £20 million for quantum networking supply‑chain components, and £8 million to expand the QuEST Apprentices Programme. The package supports the UK’s aim to lead globally in quantum sensing by 2030 and complements a £17 million EPSRC call for AI/HPC integration.

💡 By earmarking substantial capital for applied quantum technologies, the UK accelerates the transition from laboratory research to market‑ready solutions, positioning the nation at the forefront of a rapidly expanding industry.

quantumcomputingreport.com · Oct 20

Chinese Startup FlipFlop Tuoyuan Emerges with Major VC Backing for 100-Logical-Qubit Neutral-Atom…

Beijing‑based quantum hardware startup FlipFlop Tuoyuan, founded in July 2026 by 29‑year‑old physicist Dr. Qiao Mu, has secured over RMB 100 million (USD $14 M+) in seed and angel funding from Source Code Capital, Oasis Capital, and CICC Capital. The company aims to commercialize neutral‑atom quantum processors, targeting a 100‑logical‑qubit system built around fault‑tolerant error correction. Its team blends trapped‑ion and neutral‑atom expertise, and it plans to use AI agents for autonomous experimental design and real‑time control.

💡 By focusing on fault‑tolerant neutral‑atom hardware, FlipFlop Tuoyuan could accelerate the transition from experimental arrays to scalable, error‑corrected quantum processors, reshaping the competitive landscape of quantum computing startups.

quantumcomputingreport.com · Oct 20

Taiyi Quantum Surpasses ¥1 Billion RMB ($149.6M+ USD) in Cumulative Funding for…

Shanghai‑based Taiyi Quantum has closed a financing round that pushes its cumulative funding past 1 billion RMB ($149.6 M USD) within nine months of its January 2026 launch. The round was led by Huakong Fund and included Jinqiu Fund, Chengdu High‑Tech Zone Vision Fund, Yunbai Capital, Lingang Frontier Investment, Hongruida Investment, Hengxu Capital, Boyuan Capital, Gaomai Capital, and Yaru Capital. The deal elevates the company to unicorn status. Taiyi, co‑founded by former Microsoft Quantum architect Fang Zhenghao and CTO Dr. Liu Hongbin, focuses on ytterbium neutral‑atom arrays and has already integrated its first QPU prototype.

💡 The funding milestone signals rapid investor confidence in neutral‑atom quantum platforms, positioning Taiyi as a serious contender in the emerging quantum hardware race.

quantumcomputingreport.com · Oct 20

Quminex Raises $1.5M CAD ($1.06M USD) Pre-Seed Round Led by Quantacet and…

Quebec‑based exploration startup Quminex closed a CAD 1.5 million pre‑seed round, led by Quantacet with participation from Swiss venture firm QAI Ventures and angel backers. The funding will accelerate commercial development and field deployment of its Quminex Discovery Platform™, a machine‑learning system that converts geochemical, geophysical and spatial data into explainable mineral models. Quminex also secured its first commercial contracts with explorer Tech‑X Resources and a Canadian mining producer, providing validation of the platform on active properties. Co‑founder and CEO Marc Fassbender says the platform aims to replace subjective expert judgment in mineral exploration, reducing capital risk and shortening discovery timelines. The capital will expand the technical team, scale algorithms, and acquire licences to build an internal portfolio of targets across Canada.

💡 By automating data‑intensive modeling, Quminex could slash the time and expense of locating critical minerals, a bottleneck for clean‑energy supply chains.

techcrunch.com · Oct 19

Tolan snags $30M for its AI companion that helps users navigate life

Tolan, an AI companion app that assists users with daily tasks, relationships, and emotions, has secured an additional $30 million in funding from Union Square Ventures, Khosla Ventures, and Homebrew, doubling its total capital raised. The investment pushes its valuation past $120 million, with PitchBook estimating it above $268 million. Tolan now reports double‑digit million annual recurring revenue and boasts over 250,000 active users, 70 % women and 40 % parents, engaging in more than 70 million conversations. The company’s cartoonish avatar differentiates it from other AI companions that faced backlash.

💡 The influx of capital positions Tolan to scale its emotionally supportive AI, potentially reshaping how consumers seek digital mental health and productivity tools.

therobotreport.com · Oct 19

Kodama raises $7M to bring robotics to forestry

Kodama Systems raised $7 million to expand its physical‑AI robotics into southeastern U.S. timber operations, following an initial focus on wildfire risk reduction. The funding will support commercial deployments, strengthen OEM partnerships, and advance supervised autonomy for off‑road environments. The company’s technology is already deployed on logging sites, moving over 100,000 tons of timber in six months. With a total of $14 million raised, investors include Konvoy, Breakwater, Blue Forest Asset Management, and others.

💡 By automating repetitive logging tasks, Kodama addresses the industry’s acute labor shortage and high operator turnover, offering a scalable solution that could reshape workforce dynamics in forestry.