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.
§ ICv2 reports Yen Press’s upcoming rerelease of the Battle Royale manga will feature a new translation by Kevin Gifford, instead of the one provided by the late Keith Giffen. Giffen’s script for the manga, originally released in English by Tokyopop from 2003 to 2006, proved controversial because it introduced several changes from the original story. Adapted from the original novel by author Koushun Takami himself, alongside artist Masayuki Taguchi, the Battle Royale manga will be reissued in a deluxe hardcover format, with volume one due out on December 16, 2025. Giffen passed away in 2023, aged 70, and his version of Battle Royale remains out-of-print.
§ Via The Hollywood Reporter, Zack Keller and Giovanna La Pietra‘s canceled graphic novel Top Secret Service is getting a second lease of life, with producer Stephen L’Heureux (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For) optioning the film rights. The sci-fi action comedy, which was originally announced by Dark Horse in 2023, follows two Secret Service agents, who learn the former President they’re assigned to protect was involved in an alien cover-up. Keller will adapt his own script, while new plans for the book itself will be announced at New York Comic Con.
§ Mad Cave Studios will publish Socrates: The Trial of a Philosopher, a biography of the Ancient Greek thinker by writer Francesco Barilli (Stalag-X) and artist Alessandro Ranghiasci (Primo Levi). Originally published in English by comiXology in 2023, the Italian graphic novel follows Socrates in Athens, 399 BC, after he is sentenced to death for supposedly being a corruptive influence. It will be released on November 11, 2025. Mad Cave also announced they will release Midstate, the psychological thriller by Lee Loughridge and Mack Chater (also originally released on comiXology), in print on December 9.
§ Bleeding Cool reports Glenn Fabry (Slaine), Simon Furman (Transformers), Jessica Martin (Life Drawing), and longtime 2000 AD editor Steve MacManus were inducted into the London Film and Comic Con’s Hall Of Fame at last weekend (July 5-7)’s edition of the event. You can read their coverage of the former two’s induction here, and the latter two’s here. The LFCC’s Hall of Fame was established in 2023, and you can look back on the previous honorees in our report here.
§ Netflix released the second trailer for Wednesday season two. Part 1 of the season releases on Wednesday, August 6, and the second will arrive on September 3.
§ Hulu released the first trailer for the King of the Hill revival, all ten episodes of which are releasing on Monday, August 4. Additionally, it was announced Ronny Chieng will be joining the cast, taking over the role of Kahn from Toby Huss.
§ Deadline reports Chris Pratt has finalized a deal to return as Garfield in a sequel to last year’s Garfield Movie. The animated movie, which was directed by Mark Dindal, received negative reviews, but grossed a comfortable $257.2 million worldwide, well in excess of its $60 million budget. Pratt will serve as a producer on the sequel, which is now seeking a new director and writer(s). Assuming it releases in 2027, the film will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first Garfield comic strip by creator Jim Davis.
§ Finally, The Big Bang Theory is getting another spin-off, which’ll this time be Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, a bona fide sci-fi series on HBO Max, starring Kevin Sussman as comic book store owner Stuart Bloom. Co-starring Lauren Lapkus, Brian Posehn, and John Ross Bowie (all reprising their TBBT roles), the show will follow Stuart after he accidentally destroys reality by breaking a device built by Sheldon and Leonard. Expect alternate versions of TBBT characters, and for “things [to not] go well.” The show was developed by Zak Penn with TBBT creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, and will mark the third TBBT spin-off, after Young Sheldon, and its own sequel, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.
