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.
§ Via IGN, IDW announced Star Trek Deviations: Threads of Destiny, a one-shot starring Uhura for Black History Month this February. Written by Stephanie Williams, with art by Greg Maldonado and Anthony Fowler Jr., the comic will offer an alternate take on the classic series episode “The City on the Edge of Forever,” where Uhura is transported back in time by the Guardian of Forever to the height of the Civil Rights movement. (Incidentally, original Uhura actress Nichelle Nichols had quite the anecdote about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) It will be released on February 25.
Speaking of Star Trek, Variety reports Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Game Night) will write and direct a new movie, unconnected to previous entries in the franchise. It would mark the first theatrical Trek since 2016’s Beyond, which became the last outing for the cast from J.J. Abrams‘s films at the time of writing. (Ironically, Abramsverse Kirk actor Chris Pine starred in Goldstein and Daley’s D&D.) In the meantime, the directors’ next film, Mayday, will be released on Apple TV sometime next year.
§ Dark Horse revealed Lands Unknown: The Skinless Man, the next installment of Mike Mignola and Ben Stenbeck‘s new shared universe (introduced in this year’s Bowling with Corpses). The two-issue series, written and drawn by Stenbeck, is a horror story revolving around a group of warlocks who were foolish enough to try to deceive the titular fiend. Issue #1 will be released on March 4, shortly after the second Lands Unknown story, Mignola’s graphic novel Uri Tupka and the Gods, hits stores on February 24.
§ The Bookseller shares the winner of the first Puffin Graphic Novel Competition was announced at the Thought Bubble Festival. Leo Marcell (Tosh’s Island) won the prize for his submission Lulubelle, which the judges called “a middle-grade fantasy adventure with exceptional commercial potential.” The book will be published by Puffin Graphics (a Penguin imprint) in paperback in 2028. Also announced at Thought Bubble were the winners of the annual 2000 AD Talent Search. Writer Lilith Allen and artist Philip Read won the competition, and the pair will collaborate on a Future Shock (the shorter strips in the magazine) Allen pitched, titled “Creature Featurette.”
§ The shortlist for the 2025 First Graphic Novel Award was announced, consisting of six titles: Falling in Love on the Family Computer by Lois de Silva, Kittish Banter by Calico N.M., A Sleigh No-One Knows by Yu-Ching Chiu, The Frozens by Lauren O’Farrell, Forget Me Not by Lizz Lunney, and St Brigid & Me by Hannah McCann. For more on each book, head to the link. The winner will be announced on Monday, January 19, and receive a £500 cash prize as well as publication deal with SelfMadeHero.
§ Down the Tubes reports B7 Comics will publish a new trilogy of Dan Dare graphic novels by Alex de Campi and Marc Laming. The first book, First Contact, will begin crowdfunding on Kickstarter in February, and see Colonel Dare on “a dying planet, a desperate mission – and [make] a first contact that may spell the end of human life as we know it.” Dan Dare was created by Frank Hampson for Britain’s Eagle comic in 1950, which ran until 1967, and most recently starred in a Titan Comics series by Peter Milligan and Alberto Foche in 2018.
§ Speaking of Kickstarter, Titan will launch their very first soon: Phobos Vol. 2, by Jason Brubaker. The new installment of the (previously self-published) comedy webcomic tells the story of a vampire who, after 700 years, wakes up to find unwanted guests in his castle. The crowdfunder will include a statue of the comic’s take on Frankenstein’s monster, sculpted by Jeff Yagher, among the goodies fans can pre-order when it eventually launches. In the meantime, you can learn more about the series at Brubaker’s website.
§ Via Bloody Disgusting, Anky Cyriaque (Seasons) will direct a film version of Scott Hampton‘s horror graphic novel The Upturned Stone. Published in 1993, the book followed four boys on Halloween, 1969, after they discover and consume an unusually large pumpkin, that grants them the keys to solving an old murder mystery. Hampton will pen the screenplay for the movie, which (assuming everything goes to plan) shall begin filming in late 2026.
§ The BBC revealed Doctor Who spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea will premiere in the UK (on BBC One and iPlayer) with two episodes on Sunday, December 7, at 8:30pm. The five-part miniseries, starring Russell Tovey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Jemma Redgrave, centers on the return of the Sea Devils, and will mark the final Whoniverse co-production with Disney. It will be released internationally on Disney+ sometime later next year.
§ Finally, the world’s first Dragon Ball store opened in Tokyo’s First Avenue train station on Friday, November 14, offering exclusive merchandise, and the chance to take pictures with statues of Goku at various ages and in different Super Saiyan forms. Its launch belatedly marks 40 years of the manga, created by the late Akira Toriyama in 1984, and the upcoming milestone anniversary of the anime (which premiered in 1986). You can visit the official site (in Japanese) here.
