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.
§ Dynamite‘s announcements last week included a new Red Sonja series, Sonja Reborn, by Christopher Priest and Alessandro Miracolo. A reboot, the comic will reimagine the character as Maggie Sutherland, a young British diplomatic clerk, who is transported to the Hyborian Age from the year 2005 (the year Dynamite started publishing Red Sonja comics.) While Priest has written several Conan the Barbarian comics, this will mark his first Red Sonja title. The publisher also announced a new Disney Stitch series by writers Connor Ratliff (making his comics debut) and James III, with art by Greta Xella; both books will begin in August.
§ SelfMadeHero revealed their graphic novel slate for Fall 2025. It consists of an adaptation of Ethel Carnie Holdsworth‘s This Slavery, by Scarlett & Sophie Rickard (due out September 11); My Dad Fights Demons!, by Comics Laureate Bobby Joseph and newcomer Abbigayle Birch (September 30); Bone Broth, the First Graphic Novel Award-winning debut of Alex Taylor (October 28); and The Most Amazing Saturday Morning Rubbish Club, by Bill Tuckey and Francisco de la Mora (November 25). For more details, head to the link.
§ Via AIPT, Marvel will relaunch Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider as All-New Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider on August 20. Writer Stephanie Phillips and artist Paolo Villanelli will remain as the creative team on the series, which will see Earth-65’s Gwen Stacy don a new costume, gain new powers, and start a new band while continuing to live permanently in the prime Marvel Universe. Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider will conclude in the meantime with issue #15 on July 2.
§ Via Screen Rant, Oni Press unveiled Adventure Time: The Bubbline College Special, written and drawn by Caroline Cash (PeePeePooPoo). Set in an alternate universe, the comic reimagines Princess Bubblegum and Marceline the Vampire Queen’s first meeting, with Bubblegum as a newly enrolled student at Ooo University. It marks Oni’s first Adventure Time one-shot, and will be released sometime in August.
§ Speaking of PeePeePooPoo, publisher Silver Sprocket have made this year’s Eisner-nominated comics available to read for free online. The books, which were all nominated for Best Single Issue/One-Shot, consist of Cash’s aforementioned comic, Sunflowers by Keezy Young, and Abortion Pill Zine: A Community Guide to Misoprostol and Mifepristone by Isabella Rotman, Marnie Galloway, and Sage Coffey.
§ Mad Cave announced Xero, a dystopian sci-fi OGN by debut writer Vaho and artist Felipe Flores. Due out October 7, the book is a love letter to films like The Matrix and Dark City, that follows a man searching for his missing girlfriend while trapped in an Endless Mall. Vaho is a Canadian-Australian actor and theater producer who was active in Berkeley, California, while Flores’s background includes music flyers and album covers, alternative papers, and tarot illustrations.
§ Cartoon Network and HBO Max have renewed Iyanu for a second season, and announced two tie-in films, the first of which will premiere later this year. The first movie, title The Age of Wonders, will follow Iyanu’s ancestors 500 years before the events of the series. Iyanu, a Yoruba-inspired fantasy cartoon, based on the YouNeek Studios series published by Dark Horse, premiered last month, and will conclude its first season on Saturday, May 24. Season two, which will consist of 10 episodes, and the second film, will premiere sometime in 2026.
§ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Avatar: The Last Airbender fans will have to wait longer for the new movies. Via Variety, Paramount has pushed back The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender from January 30 to October 9, 2026, when the untitled TMNT: Mutant Mayhem sequel was supposed to be released, while the turtles’ follow-up itself has been delayed almost a year until September 17, 2027. Aang‘s delay provides the Avatar continuation some distance from the second season of the Netflix remake, due out sometime in early 2026, while TMNT‘s new release date is likely so Paramount doesn’t have to move Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (scheduled for March 19, 2027).
§ Via a press release, Skybound and the New York Public Library announced a new season of talks with creators of their upcoming books, running from Tuesday, May 27, until October 2. The events, which’ll be held in-person and online, include Matt Braly and Ainsworth Lin (Family Force V), Tillie Walden (Clementine), Sarah Graley and Stef Purenins (Pizza Witch), Brian “Smitty” Smith and Marz Jr. (Transformers: Worst Bot Ever), and Faith Erin Hicks (The Mummy); click the links for more details.
§ Via Collider, Anchor Bay Entertainment announced Howard the Doc (Or: How I Learned to Start Quacking and Love the Bomb), a documentary about the infamous 1986 film starring Marvel’s Howard the Duck. Directed by Ernesto Trinidad, the film will feature new interviews with key surviving cast and crew, although it’s not specified if these will include director Willard Huyck, co-producer George Lucas, or lead actors Ed Gale, Chip Zien, Lea Thompson, and Tim Robbins. It will debut in theaters sometime this fall, before releasing physically and digitally.
§ Finally, Charles Strouse, the Tony Award-winning composer of the 1977 musical Annie, and its 1982 film adaptation, died on Thursday, May 15. He was 96. As well as Annie, Strouse’s stage credits included Bye Bye Birdie, It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman, and the sequel Annie Warbucks, while his film work included Bonnie and Clyde, Ishtar, and All Dogs Go to Heaven. He was preceded in death by his wife, director-choreographer Barbara Siman, whom he was married to from 1962 to 2023, and is survived by their four children.
I wonder if Xero will run into trademark issues because of the old Christopher Priest/Criss Cross series of the same name. I normally wouldn’t think so but I seem to remember that the older property was optioned for media rights of some kind not too long ago and there may be parties interested in preserving the identity.