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.
§ Lucasfilm announced Star Wars Insider will end with issue #237 next year. The official magazine, which releases bimonthly, launched as The Lucasfilm Fan Club Magazine in 1987, before rebranding as Insider with issue #23 in 1994, and had been published by Titan since 2007. Editor Christopher Cooper stated, “Publishing has changed immeasurably since the Lucasfilm Fan Club magazine, and we live in an increasingly digital age, which sadly means that this chapter in Star Wars Insider‘s history is coming to an end.” The next issue, #235, celebrating the tenth anniversary of The Force Awakens, will be released in the meantime on December 9.
§ As pointed out by Smash Pages, Marvel has altered the solicit for January’s Captain America #6, with the company revealing the issue will see S.H.I.E.L.D. return to the main Marvel Universe for the first time since 2017’s Secret Empire. The move belatedly marks the 60th anniversary of the organization’s first appearance in 1965’s Strange Tales #135. For a look at the originally intended guest stars, visit ComicBook.com. Captain America #6, by Chip Zdarsky, Delio Diaz & Frank Alpizar, releases January 21.
§ Disney+ dropped a trailer for LEGO Marvel Avengers: Strange Tails, a new special arriving on the streamer on Friday, November 14. The cat-centric outing sees Hawkeye (Troy Baker) and Black Panther (James Mathis III) enlist Tigra, Black Cat, and White Tiger to battle evil influencer Meryet (Alia Shawkat), who’s unleashed an army of kitties on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. It will also feature the voice of Jason Alexander (Seinfeld) as Magneto, plus Rob Riggle, Patrick Stump, Sammy Sullivan, and Brad Leone in undisclosed roles.
§ In further Disney and Marvel news, the publisher revealed five variant covers featuring Stitch (from Lilo & Stitch) wreaking havoc for December, as part of Disney’s “Unleash the Holidays” campaign capitalizing on the remake’s box office success. The five covers in question are for Avengers #33 (by Luciano Vecchio), Planet She-Hulk #2 (Paco Medina), Mortal Thor #5 (Humberto Ramos), Amazing Spider-Man #18 (Ben Su), and The Will of Doom (Phil Noto), and all homage a classic comic book cover, such as Jack Kirby‘s “This Man… This Monster.”
§ Via Bluesky, Layne Morgan (Glarien & Thane) revealed they are teaming up with Skylar Patridge on White Ash’s first creator-owned comic. The series, titled Run, follows a co-ed high school track team during the apocalypse. An ashcan will be made available as a reward in White Ash’s current Kickstarter for The Game. White Ash is the imprint of former Scout Comics co-publisher Charlie Stickney, which was founded in 2017 to release his fantasy romance series of the same name, and publishes solely through Kickstarter.
§ Finally, CBS reports the Maryland Board of Education has reversed the Harford County public school district’s decision to ban Mike Curato‘s graphic novel Flamer from their libraries. The school board voted to ban the book following a complaint from a parent, without consulting any others, in June. Flamer, which was published in 2020, tells the semi-autobiographical story of a boy struggling with bullying and with his sexuality at a Boy Scouts’ camp in 1995. A spokeperson for Together We Will Harford County, the group that filed to appeal the ban, commented, “We hope that this decision puts an end to book banning in Harford County, and in our state.”
