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.
§ DC dropped a teaser for MAD About DC, a short film created by and starring Chip Zdarsky to promote the company’s forthcoming, similarly named crossover special. Zdarsky appears dressed as the Flash, cuffed inside an interrogation room, before proclaiming (ala MAD mascot Alfred E. Neuman), “What, me worry?” The film will be released alongside the comic on April Fools’ Day.
§ Deadline reports Lamorne Morris (New Girl, Spider-Noir) will voice Garfield in a new, 2D animated series on Paramount+. It’ll mark the first TV show for Jim Davis‘s lazy orange cat since the conclusion of the The Garfield Show (starring Frank Welker) in 2016. Morris will become the second Black actor to play Garfield, after Lou Rawls, who provided his singing voice in the 1980s TV specials. He responded to the news by posting an image of his New Girl character Winston, holding Garfield instead of his cat Furguson.
§ The 53rd annual Saturn Awards were held on Sunday, March 8. Andor won three: Best Sci-Fi TV Series, Best Actor in a TV Series (for Diego Luna), and Best Supporting Actor (for Stellan Skarsgård). Star Wars was also recognized with a win for Skeleton Crew‘s Ravi Cabot-Conyers in Best Young Performer in a TV Series, and George Lucas receiving the Dr. Donald A. Reed Founder’s Award. Star Trek got a Hall of Fame Award to coincide with its 60th anniversary, Aliens won the George Pal Memorial Award for its 40th, and The Boys won the Spotlight Award ahead of the release of its final season.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps won Best Cinematic Adaptation Film, and Best Film Production Design (for Kasra Farahani & Jille Azis). Demon Slayer The Movie: Infinity Castle was named Best International Animated Film, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon won Best Television Presentation or Limited Series, and Peacemaker won Best Superhero TV Series. Predator: Killer of Killers won Best Animated TV Series or Special, while Elle Fanning won Best Actress in a Film for Badlands. For the full list of winners, which was dominated by Avatar: Fire and Ash, head to The Hollywood Reporter.
§ Kodansha released a new promotional stop-motion film, Light Hole, featuring over 100 of the publisher’s manga, including Akira and Attack on Titan. It was directed by Toru Katori, whose pitch was chosen from over 150 submissions. It is the third entry in Kodansha’s Branded Film series, following shorts from 2021 and 2025.
§ GKIDS has acquired the distribution rights to the live-action film version of Look Back. The movie, directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, and based on the acclaimed manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto, will be released in Japan sometime later this year, before being released in the US, UK, Canada, and Ireland by GKIDS. The company previously screened the anime film version in North American theaters in 2024, shortly before its global release on Prime Video.
§ Finally, the Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) announced Stephen R. Bissette has been appointed Vermont’s sixth Cartoonist Laureate. The artist, best known for Saga of the Swamp Thing (where he co-created John Constantine), and for co-founding the CCS, will serve as the state’s advocate for comics for the next three years. He will succeed current laureate Tillie Walden during a ceremony at the Vermont State House on Thursday, April 9, and be feted with a charity screening of the 2005 Constantine movie, benefiting the CCS, on April 11. Congratulations Mr. Bisette!
