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 released a motion comic of DC x Sonic the Hedgehog #1, with adaptations of the rest of the five-issue series set to follow in the coming weeks. The book, by longtime IDW Sonic writer Ian Flynn, and artist Adam Bryce Thomas, was originally released in 2025, and saw Sonic and friends team up with the Justice League against Darkseid. The first episode released ahead of the sequel, DC x Sonic: Metal Legion, starting May 6.
§ Papercutz announced Midnight Island, a middle-grade mystery series by writer Lylian (The Quest of Ewilan, Ellana) and artist Nicolas Grebil. Originally published in French, the graphic novels follow four kids who “wake up on a deserted island,” where “they find an automaton who, every night at midnight, gives them a mission. If they fail or refuse to take up the challenge, the consequences could be terrible.” Vol. 1 – The Automaton Awakens will be released on July 28.
§ The BBC lifted the lid on Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker, the new multimedia story starring Jo Martin‘s Fugitive Doctor. The event will include two Titan Comics releases: Adversary of the Daleks (out July 8), and Dawn of the Daleks (August 4), both written by Dulce M. Montoya and Dan Watters, with art by Roberta Ingranata and Sami Kivelä. The story will see Martin’s Doctor face off against some of her greatest enemies (including the Daleks), while helping UNIT investigate the disappearance of artifacts from their Black Archive. For more, head to the official Doctor Who site.
§ Dark Horse will release The Complete Rachel Rising by Terry Moore in hardcover on December 15. The horror series, which ran from 2011 to 2016, followed a woman who rises from the dead, with no memory of how she was killed. It will retail at 904 pages for $59.99. The publisher’s first omnibus of Moore’s Strangers in Paradise will be released beforehand on October 13. They also revealed Masters of the Universe: Revolution Library Edition, collecting all of the comics based on Kevin Smith‘s Netflix series, will be available on November 3.
§ DC Studios confirmed Lanterns will premiere on HBO on Sunday, August 16, after reuploading the teaser trailer with an amended release date. The series, starring Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre as Hal Jordan and John Stewart, will consist of eight episodes. A new still (shown above) was also released, granting us a closer look at the DCU’s take on the Green Lantern power battery itself.
§ In an interview with ScreenRant to promote their new film Animal Farm, Andy Serkis appeared to blab that co-star Iman Vellani will return as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan in Avengers: Doomsday. After Vellani expressed excitement for The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, Serkis responded he was looking forward to seeing her in Doomsday, prompting her to respond “No, you can’t say that,” and him in turn to clarify, “If there should ever be the chance to see you in a film like Doomsday.” Doomsday will be released on December 18, while Serkis’s version of Animal Farm is out now in theaters.
§ Fuse Games and Lucasfilm revealed Star Wars: Galactic Racer will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on Tuesday, October 6. The racing game is one of two major Star Wars games releases for later this year, alongside Zero Company, which doesn’t have a street date yet. For more Star Wars gaming news in the run-up to May 4, head to StarWars.com.
§ Finally, Deadline reports Disney+ has landed the rights to a live-action Casper TV show. The series, produced by Universal, Rob Letterman & Hilary Winston (Disney+’s Goosebumps), and Steven Spielberg (who also produced the 1995 film version), is described as an edgier take on the Friendly Ghost, ala Netflix’s Wednesday. Casper debuted in a Famous Studios cartoon in 1945, and was acquired by Harvey Comics in 1959. The character’s last live-action project in a starring role came in 1998’s DTV release Casper Meets Wendy, while his last major TV appearance was in the 2009-12 cartoon Casper’s Scare School.
