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.
§ The winners of the 21st annual Doug Wright Awards were announced, with Best Book going to Maurice Vellekoop‘s memoir I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together. Boum won the Nipper Award for emerging talent for The Jellyfish; the Pigskin Peters prize for best small/micro-press book was awarded to Customer Service by Patrick Allaby; and the Egghead, for best kids’ book, went to Lost at Windy River: A True Story of Survival by Trina Rathgeber, Alina Pete, and Jillian Dolan. Captain Canuck creator Richard Comely, and cartoonist Lou Skuce (1886–1951) were inducted into Giants of the North: The Canadian Cartooning Hall of Fame. Congratulations to all the winners!
§ Down the Tubes shares J. Michael Straczynski and Sid Kotian‘s Dream Police has been released on Kindle for the first time. The series, which ran at Image from 2014 to 2016, and was originally a one-shot created with Mike Deodato in 2005, followed two investigators in the world of dreams, nightmares, and the afterlife. On Bluesky, Straczynski expressed delight that “one of the best things I’ve done in comics, [was] finally escaping into the world.”
§ Marvel launched an Infinity Comic starring H.E.R.B.I.E. by Nathan Stockman on Friday, June 6. The book actually marks the first solo comic for the Fantastic Four’s helpful little robot, who was created for the animated New Fantastic Four series in 1978, and previously co-starred in Chris Eliopoulos‘s 2000s classic Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius. You can read an interview with Stockman about the comic here.
§ The second trailer for Marvel’s Ironheart was released ahead of the show’s three-part premiere on Disney+ on June 24. It provides us with a first look at Lyric Ross as N.A.T.A.L.I.E., and a potentially big spoiler about the make-up of Riri’s final armor.
§ Meanwhile, Paramount+ released the second trailer for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season three, premiering with two episodes on July 17:
§ Per The Hollywood Reporter, Mia Goth will play a villain in Star Wars: Starfighter. The film, directed by Shawn Levy and starring Ryan Gosling, will reportedly see the Pearl star play one of the pursuers of a young person protected by Gosling’s character. It’s a role that Mikey Madison was in talks for, before a pay dispute purportedly arose; it’s unclear if this was over her increased profile after receiving the Oscar for Anora, although those initial reports emerged after she won it. Starfighter is set for release on May 28, 2027.
§ IGN reports the finale of this year’s season of Doctor Who was heavily reshot, based on comments made by the TikTok account of none other than Sienna-Robyn Mavanga-Phipps, the child actress who plays Poppy on the series. The account, run by her mother, reposted the claims about the original ending by leaker Daniel Richtman, and also revealed Poppy was going to turn out to be the mother of Susan Foreman, the Doctor’s granddaughter. For more details, head to the link, but suffice to say, it’s a fascinating glimpse into an alternate future for the show, and indeed, the Whoniverse’s comics, prose stories, and audio releases.
§ Warner Bros. Discovery announced they will split into two companies: a “streaming & studios” group that’ll include DC Studios and HBO, headed by WBD CEO and President David Zaslav, and a “global networks” corp with CNN and Discovery, led by current WBD CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels. The decision is expected to be finalized in mid-2026. While the press release unfortunately doesn’t specify it, Variety and Bleeding Cool both say DC Comics will remain with its media sibling at the new Warner Bros., so you can pretty much expect things to remain business as usual for the World’s Greatest Superheroes.
§ SAG-AFTRA say they have reached a tentative agreement with the video game companies they struck off last summer, including Activision, Disney, EA, Epic Games, Insomniac, Take 2, and Warner Bros. Games. Like the Hollywood strike of 2023, the union took action against these companies to protect actors from the studios using their voices and likenesses in AI. While the deal needs to be reviewed and voted on, hopefully it is an adequate one, and will mean progress can resume on projects fans and employees alike are excited about, like Insomniac’s Wolverine, or Star Wars Jedi 3; the deal would also mean SAG-AFTRA members in struck games like Dragon Age: The Veilguard will be finally allowed to promote them.
§ Finally, a warning the following mentions sexual misconduct and paedophilia: Jared Leto was the subject of an exposé by Air Mail, outlining allegations of sexual assault, grooming, and more from nine different women, some of whom say they were underage at the time. The 53-year old actor, musician, and self-described cult leader’s representative denied all the allegations. While readers no longer have to expect Leto to return as the Joker or Morbius anytime soon, he is, unfortunately, starring in Tron: Ares, due out October 10, 2025, and (at the time of writing) playing Skeletor in next year’s Masters of the Universe reboot, releasing June 5, 2026.
I wouldn’t resent H.E.R.B.I.E. so much if he hadn’t outright replaced Johnny Storm in that Fantastic Four series. He’d have been fine if left as a mascot and helper.
I mean, he was created because they couldn’t use Johnny as a result of his film rights being optioned separately at the time (one assumes the license for an animated spin-off was bundled with that), but I guess there are probably other characters I dislike because they remind me of behind-the-scenes shenanigans, so I can relate.