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.
§ Netflix held its annual Tudum event, where among other things, it revealed Stranger Things 5‘s release date(s) this holiday season; the first six mins of Wednesday season two (out in two parts on August 6 & September 3); and that Mikaela Hoover (Superman, Guardians of the Galaxy) will voice Tony Tony Chopper in One Piece season two next year. You can peruse the official playlist of the reveals above, and watch the full event (complete with Lady Gaga, who’ll appear in Wednesday, performing a familiar dance) on the streamer.
§ Prime Video, meanwhile, released a teaser trailer for Gen V season two. The Boys spin-off will return with three episodes on Wednesday, September 17, and continue its eight-episode run once a week until October 22.
§ Doctor Who concluded its latest season with a surprise, with major repercussions for the whole Whoniverse franchise; we still won’t spoil it (that’s what our breakdowns are for), but you can read the press release for it here. The BBC and Disney also released the first trailer for the Sea Devil-centric spin-off miniseries The War Between the Land and the Sea, due out sometime later this year.
§ Animation World Network reports Titmouse and KC Green (aka the creator of the “This is fine” meme) are developing a show based on Green’s comic Anime Club. A spin-off of Green’s Gunshow, Anime Club follows the misadventures of four high school boys who form, well, a club dedicated to Japanese cartoons. Hopefully a network or streamer will pick it up!
§ Dark Horse announced Masters of the Universe: The Sword of Flaws, a four-issue series by writer Tim Seeley and artist Freddie E. Williams II. Starting September 24, the comic takes place at an undisclosed point in the franchise’s timeline, and will see He-Man and pals try to obtain a newly unearthed “evil artifact” before Skeletor (and maybe other, competing villains) snatches it. Seeley and Williams previously teamed up on the MOTU/TMNT crossover, DC’s Injustice vs. He-Man, and the AfterShock series BeQuest. As always, for more news from Dark Horse, head to their official blog.
§ Image will publish the Jack Kirby-inspired one-shot The Man Who Dreamt the Impossible, by writer Mário Freitas and artist Lucas Pereira. Releasing on August 27, it tells the story of Jack King, a retired artist living in a care home, and his friendship with a young orderly who helps him maintain his library, “a place fallen into disarray and near abandonment, certainly not unrelated to the sinister pestilence lurking on its shelves.” The press release describes it as a tribute to Kirby, “the men who better took care of his work, and to others who suffered the same creative and editorial constraints throughout their careers.”
§ Daniel Best has begun to serialize an unpublished biography of the late Norm Breyfogle on Substack. The book, written by both men, was conceived in 2007, and went through a number of publishers for various reasons until Breyfogle’s stroke in 2014. He died in 2018, aged just 58, before he was able to send Best his final edit for the book. The book begins with an introduction from Breyfogle’s frequent Batman collaborator Alan Grant (who passed away in 2022), written in 2017.
§ In further news about artist-centric books, via Superhero Hype, Clover Press has revealed the next entry in the Marvel Art series will be The Marvel Art of Tyler Kirkham. It will feature the artist’s cover and interior work for the House of Ideas, including imagery of Spider-Man, Deadpool, Venom, Wolverine, Black Cat, and more, and will be available to preorder from Kickstarter soon.
§ Benjamin Hunting, writer of the Scout Comics series Code 45, alleges the publisher is stealing from him and his co-creators. He says, “Our publishing contract with Scout Comics for the Code 45 graphic novel expired January 9, 2025. Since that time, Scout Comics has not only refused to pay us the royalties we were owed from the previous year, but has also told us that it will continue to sell our books even though they no longer legally have that right, putting that money directly in their pocket.” He explains that while he initiated legal action to stop physical sales, it would be too expensive to pursue preventing them from continuing to sell digital copies, and signs off warning other creators to stay away from the company.
§ Emmy Award-winning composer Alf Clausen died on Thursday, May 29, following a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 84. Clausen was best known for scoring The Simpsons from its second season in 1990, until 2017, two years after he began developing symptoms. He subsequently sued Fox over his dismissal, citing age and disability discrimination, but ultimately dropped the suit in 2022. Other composing credits included Moonlighting, ALF, and The Critic, and he worked in other music-related capacities on The Naked Gun, Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, Dragnet, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and more. He is survived by his wife, three children, two stepchildren, and 11 grandchildren.
§ Finally, actor Jonathan Joss was murdered on Sunday, June 1, outside his home in San Antonio, Texas. He was 59. Police arrested and charged the killer, Sigfredo Alvarez Ceja, whom Joss’s husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, says attacked them out of homophobia. (Police declined to charge Ceja with a hate crime, claiming there was a lack of evidence.) Joss, who was Comanche and White Mountain Apache, was best known for playing John Redcorn on King of the Hill, and Chief Ken Hotate in Parks and Recreation; other roles included Ohiyesa Smith in Justice League Unlimited, and John Fairbanks in The Walking Dead: Michonne. He will appear posthumously as Redcorn in the King of the Hill revival, which Hulu had just announced would be released on Monday, August 4.
