FINAL ORDER CUT-OFF for 9/14/25

Quick one tonight. Not a lot going in the F.O.C. world. I guess if there are no blind bags, why even buy comics?

Kidding, of course. We’re supposed to be reading them. So here are the highlights for this week. Pretty much all reads.

REPRINTS

 

Written by Sergio Aragones, Robert Kanigher, Howie Post, Mike Friedrich, Jack Oleck and Steve Keates

Art by Sergio Aragones, Jack Sparling, Bernie Wrightson, Neal Adams, Gil Kane and Alex Toth

There are nearly as many weary souls who’ve taken rooms at the House of Mystery as there are reasons for them to seek its sullen sanctuary, and its humble caretaker is always happy to accommodate. Join Cain as he welcomes a certain haunted sculptor on the run from his own creations, a dangerous sorcerer whose treasured pet cat is far more than it seems–and even comics legend Gil Kane as the artist truly throws himself into his work!

 

READS

 

ENTER: THE GOBLIN SLAYER! Something has been trying to kill Norman Osborn since the first issue of this volume, and they up the ante this issue! What can Spider-Man do to stop the Goblin Slayer? With all that Norman has done and could do, SHOULD Spidey stop it?

I didn’t read issue #13, so not sure if this character or thing has made an appearance already. But will do so in this issue, it would seem.

 

 

ABSOLUTE CATWOMAN DEBUTS! Batman’s final showdown with the monstrous Bane! Will he be able to overcome this unstoppable behemoth, or will he be trapped in Ark-M forever?!

Yeah, Catwoman actually debuted last issue (last page was her entire head), so don’t buy it on that. And watch DC put her on the cover of the 2nd print too. But this issue she’ll be more of a participant in the story, and there certainly are plenty of MEOW covers to choose from…I think Cover A is pretty good though.

 

 

AN ALL-NEW SILENT ISSUE! Larry Hama and Chris Mooneyham present the issue no G.I. Joe fan can miss as Snake-Eyes and Dawn must defend The Pit from an unexpected attack!

It’s been 300 issues since the most infamous silent issue (#21, Marvel). I actually prefer cover D.

 

 

ABOMINATION RETURNS! The BIGGEST STATUS QUO CHANGE IN HULK’S HISTORY happens in this issue! It’s a rematch to the death as Eldest possesses one of Hulk’s greatest villains, and the door to the Eternal Prison is opened! The end of an era, the beginning of a new one and the FIRST APPEARANCE of the MOTHER OF HORRORS in this LANDMARK issue of the INCREDIBLE HULK!

I think it should read, “FINALLY after all this TIME, the FIRST APPEARANCE…”

 

 

ROBERT KIRKMAN AND DAN MORA START A NEW ERA WITH AN OVERSIZED ANNIVERSARY ISSUE!

Optimus Prime and the remaining Autobots must join forces with unlikely allies in order to protect their adopted planet. But Prime’s next challenge lies closer to home than he ever imagined. And what is the fate of the Decepticons? The creative dream team of Robert Kirkman and Dan Mora kick off the new direction for TRANSFORMERS that will be More Than Meets The Eye!

Very excited for this, but here’s what Grinds my Gears…If Dan Mora is taking over art duties (which I think will be very cool)…then why isn’t Cover A his cover?! Little disappointed it’s the 1:50 incentive…actually very disappointed. I’ll be waiting for the 2nd print hoping for Mora. Or maybe Big Clutch will have an exclusive or the NYCC panel will hand one out…

 

NEW ONES

 

A new series influenced by real, documented cases of paranormal phenomena, to reveal the liminal spaces where reality and hallucination and science and mythology give way to cosmic wonder and existential terror.

Writer, producer, and real-life experiencer Daniel Noah joins acclaimed writer Chris Condon (Ultimate Wolverine, That Texas Blood) and Ringo Award-winning artist Dave Chisholm (Plague House) for an unexpected encounter with the Men in Black . . . Chicago, 1967. Magazine writer Harry Kean is dispatched to rural Indiana to investigate the sudden disappearance of Becky Plume, a local teenager who stepped into the national spotlight with staggering photographic evidence of a recent UFO sighting. Frustrated to leave his developing stories in Chicago and the wife he’s hoping to win back, Harry sets off to expose a hoax but instead finds himself in a labyrinth of high strangeness involving a missing girl, her boyfriend, a UFO, and some mysterious black-clad visitors circling at the perimeter of a mystery more vast than Harry could possibly imagine.

Told across five interconnected, prestige-format issues that will interlock to reveal an ambitious, dimension-spanning finale, each chapter of HIGH STRANGENESS also includes a feature-length essay by podcaster and researcher Jim Perry (Euphomet) on the historical facts and documentary evidence underpinning the phenomena detailed in each issue.

Cover A is by Jock.

 

 

COLD AS FROST, HARD AS IRON!

X YEARS LATER, after 3K’s devastating terrorist attack cost Tony Stark and Emma Frost everything, the Heartless Queen returns to what remains of her past. Secrets hide in the ruins of New York. The HELLFIRE CLUB has a dangerous new leader.

I thought last week was all the X-Years-Later books, there were just so many…I was wrong.

 

 

X YEARS LATER, with Earth’s gods gone, only ORORO MUNROE, the mutant god of storms remains. She is a goddess driven mad by dark magic and grief. Now, as STORM threatens to freeze the world into a new Ice Age, Rogue leads a team of killers and legends – Gateway, Iceman, Fantomex, Spiral and Warpath. The sole mission of this Uncanny X-Force: kill Storm.

 

 

X YEARS LATER, Mr. Sinister assembles an elite strike force to take his rightful place on the throne of Revelation! What has Sinister offered Havok, Black Cat, Domino, Omega Red, Fantom ex and Venom to convince them to take on impossible odds? Are Sinister’s misfits throwing their lives away, or has Revelation underestimated how far his subjects will go when there’s nothing left to lose?

 

 

Armed with the extraordinary ability to “save” any moment in his life and then go back and relive from that point forward again, world-famous superhero SAVER can rewrite his past, altering his actions time and time again until he gets things right. But with great power, also comes great pain. Cursed with only being able to travel backwards, never forwards, he is burdened by having to spend his relived life in agonizing real time. Travel back 6 days, and he must relive those days in full, aging all the while.

After catching a glimpse at the impending apocalypse, Saver dedicates himself to averting global catastrophe, no matter the cost. But no matter how many times or how far back he goes, he can’t find a way to steer the world clear of Armageddon. With no hope for the future, Saver retreats to live in the past, reliving the best year of his life in an endless self-indulgent loop. But when he learns he’s going to be a father, everything changes. He’s no longer trying to save the world. He’s fighting to save his daughters future.

I don’t think I’ve every highlighted a Bad Idea book…mostly because they’re just bad ideas…but this one has some promise.

 

Parting Thoughts

That’s it. No covers, no pick or drek of the week. Back to the basics. Later.