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.
§ Rebellion unveiled Judge Dredd: Compact Crimes, a new line of 8¼ × 5⅞ inch trade paperbacks, offering newcomers an affordable ($12.99) entryway into classic Dredd comics. The first volume, due out January 26, will collect the character’s first appearance by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra in 1977’s 2000 Prog #2, and subsequent stories by Pat Mills, Brian Bolland, Mick McMahon, Ian Gibson, and more. The series will coincide with the 50th anniversary of Dredd’s debut, and 2000 AD itself.
In more 2000 AD news, the Toronto International Film Festival sharesRogue Trooper will be screened at this year’s event. The animated film, directed by Duncan Jones and starring Aneurin Barnard as Gerry Finley-Day and Dave Gibbons‘s Genetic Infantryman, will be the closing entry in the festival’s Midnight Madness program, held every night at the Royal Alexandra Theatre (at 11:59 pm). The festival runs September 10–20. Rogue Trooper does not have a distributor yet, but premiered earlier this year at Annecy.
§ Image will put Automatic Kafka back into print this winter. The mature sci-fi series, by Joe Casey and Ashley Wood, was originally released by DC’s Wildstorm imprint in 2002, and told the story of a washed-up android who used to be a superhero, who “finds himself a pawn in shadowy government schemes, cult celebrity culture, and weaponized nostalgia.” The new edition will be released in comics shops on November 25, and bookstores on December 22.
§ Via <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/battle-in-the-flower-gardens-is-a-video-game-infused-coming-of-age-story” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>IGN, comiXology revealed Battle in the Flower Gardens, a video game-themed coming-of-age story by writer/artist Eduardo Medeiros (Roderick and the City of Morhil, Funny Creek). The semi-autobiographical graphic novel follows two arcade-loving boys during the 1990s, whose friendship is tested one summer after “a battle over video game skills that has real life consequences”. Medeiros describes the book as being inspired by the summers he spent as a child in Capão Novo, a beach town in southern Brazil. It will be released on Tuesday, August 25.
§ NetEase dropped a trailer for the Hood ahead of his addition as a playable character in Marvel Rivals today. This version of the villain is described as having “lost his faith in heroes alongside his father and his world’s Captain America,” and “transforming into a demonic abomination of cosmic magic and steel. Even after a deadly clash in Thebes with Gambit and Doom 2099 over the Tablet of Death and Entropy, his dark journey is far from over…”
§ In an interview with Inverse, Jessica Henwick revealed she’s had talks about returning as Colleen Wing on Daredevil: Born Again, but would only do so if “it’s worth sort of unpicking” the happy ending the character received. She adds Marvel agreed it’s only worth bringing her back if she got adequate screentime. Henwick, 33, played Colleen on Iron Fist, The Defenders, and Luke Cage from 2017 to 2018, and bowed out of the shows by becoming the new Iron Fist. Her co-star Finn Jones is (unofficially) set to return as her predecessor Danny Rand when Born Again season three premieres on Disney+ in early 2027. Henwick can be currently seen on Apple TV’s Silo.
§ Over in the world of quarterly earnings calls, THR shares Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav avoided bringing up Supergirl‘s disappointing reception when asked if there would be a “change in strategy” for DC Studios, while hyping up Man of Tomorrow and other upcoming releases. “DC feels very good, and we have a robust pipeline, and Peter [Safran] and James [Gunn] are hard at work,” he said.
Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro, meanwhile, acknowledged The Mandalorian and Grogu underperformed at the box office, but revealed it “drove healthy growth in retail sales for the Star Wars franchise and drew guests to the updated Millennium Falcon attraction at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, and led to significant engagement in gaming as well.” Chief financial officer Hugh Johnston added, “The good news for us is our diversified business helps us basically cover the volatility that comes out of the film business.”
§ Speaking of Warner Bros., the antitrust trial for the Paramount merger is now set to start in March 2027, meaning Paramount will accrue a debt of $1.2 billion to WBD shareholders before it even begins. And in other corporate merger news, the sale of Electronic Arts to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Affinity Partners, and Silver Lake was completed, meaning franchises like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Dead Space, Apex Legends, the company’s Star Wars games, and its upcoming Marvel titles (including any new or reprinted tie-in books for them) all now officially benefit Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Affinity’s Jared Kushner.
Well, at least it’s Friday.
