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.
§ Dark Horse revealed the Concrete Omnibus, a new series of reprints for Paul Chadwick‘s sci-fi series about a man with a stone body. Vol. 1 will collect the earliest stories from 1986, originally collected in the volumes Depths and Heights, and include a new introduction by Chadwick, as well as an expanded sketchbook section. It will retail in paperback at 544 pages on June 1, 2027. In the meantime, issue #3 (of 5) of the latest series, Concrete: Stars Over Sand, is available now, and the trade paperback will be released on March 9.
§ Marvel unveiled Fantastic Four: First Foes – The Wizard the fourth and final one-shot expanding on the history of the First Steps universe. Written by Fabian Nicieza with art by Mark Buckingham, the comic will introduce the MCU’s version of Bentley Wittman and the Frightful Four, as they embark on “stealing” the Baxter Building to humiliate the First Family. It will be released on December 9. In the meantime, the third installment of the series, Buckingham and Greg Pak‘s First Foes – Dragon Man, will be released on September 30.
Speaking of the Fantastic Four, Hot Toys revealed their figure of Avengers: Doomsday‘s “Victor von Doom” costume, first shown at D23. It provides a closer look at what is presumably Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.)’s initial outfit, with a simpler, more retrofuture mask similar to the one he wore in First Steps‘s mid-credits scene, and a suit reminiscent of an Eastern European dictator’s military uniform. Doomsday will arrive in theaters on December 18.
§ In more MCU news, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II did not win his Emmy nomination for Wonder Man, with Matthew Rhys picking up Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Widow’s Bay instead. Abdul-Mateen’s Watchmen co-star Jean Smart picked up the equivalent actress award for Hacks, her fifth for the show. Rhys (who, incidentally, voiced Nite Owl in the animated Watchmen movies) also won Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for The Beast in Me. For the full list of this year’s winners, click here.
§ In DCU news, DC Studios launched the second season of Krypto Saves the Day!, the animated short series starring Supergirl’s dog. Expect the next four installments to follow every Thursday. And on a significantly darker note, a new poster for Clayface dropped ahead of the horror film’s release on October 23, which you can check out below:
§ Debut writer Sadie Wilson-Finley, and artists Ted Brandt & Ro Stein (Worst Man), launched Dreambound, a romantic fantasy series on Webtoon. The young adult comic follows a 16-year old who discovers the prince of her dreams does indeed exist in a realm of dreams, and soon “finds herself caught between a golden boy prince with a hero complex, and his magnetic, morally dubious brother.” Three chapters are available to read now.
§ Finally, in a Variety interview discussing her new company Anarchists United, The Matrix co-creator Lilly Wachowski revealed she, Amy Poehler, and Wynonna Earp showrunner Emily Andras were developing a show based on Hannah Templer‘s sci-fi series Cosmoknights. However, “everybody passed” on the pitch, something Wachowski gives as one example of Hollywood becoming scared of queer and trans stories again. For more on her wide-ranging views on resurgent transphobia, the current state of the media industry, and certain billionaires, click the link.
