FOC PICKS FOR 3/16/2026
It’s that time of year again…Madness about basketball…and maddening leprechauns. So grab your shillelagh and let’s beat out some FOC picks this week!
COVERS
Not often a 2nd print gets a cover that may be better than what the first print has to offer. Mark Brooks has Absolute Zatanna looking sexy on this one. Dirty D Cover-of-the-Week!
I still like this cover better than the Brooks, but my preference is the 1st print. But for those who missed out a foil variant is coming available.
Speaking of foil reprints of hot Absolute title variant covers…
We at CHU like our Jeff Monk covers. Here he gets to showcase his talent on Cover A.
As the butterfly infestation spreads across Misery Island, and more people fall victim to their mind-altering sting, the village reverend rallies his flock to cast out the demonic plague—and the man he holds responsible for it: Amos Hall. New York Times bestselling author Jeremy Robinson and Italian phenom artists Annapaola Martello & Francesco Francini horrify readers with a quaint village’s descent into madness.
Still think this book has a lot of potential. The covers don’t disappoint, particularly the incentive variants. If you’re collecting the NSFW variants best to grab them pre-FOC because of their $9.99 price tag…save yourself $3 or so.
NEW ONES
Atop a rocky cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean sits the Mission at Arbues Point, a 400-year-old Spanish mission made infamous as one of California’s oldest and most haunted historical sites. But beneath its crumbling, tourist-trap facade, a reclusive nun has spent decades within the Mission’s walls, honing her prayers and practice in pursuit of a secret long-buried beneath the majesty of the chapel, and under the dark waves of the tidal estuary below.
When marine archaeologist Maris Cristobal accepts the nun’s offer to begin excavating a fabled shipwreck lying in wait beneath the Mission’s turbulent waters, she’ll soon discover that the sins of past and present are about to wash together into a harrowing surge of a vengeance that can no longer be contained . . .
New Mini-series from Oni Press.
The community of Bedford, Colorado, is a sleepy small town. The people say hello to their neighbors, attend town hall meetings, and root for the local high school football team on Friday nights. But this idyllic small town is thrown upside down when the Nuclear Man arrives and starts…experimenting. Firestorm has turned buildings to sand and people to glass with no remorse and no warning. But what exactly provoked Ronnie Raymond to commit this heinous act, and can anyone contain the fury that is Firestorm? Brought to you by the incredible team of Jeff Lemire (Absolute Flash, JSA) and Rafael De Latorre (The Penguin) comes the next epic in the Next Level line.
New Mini-series. Firestorm misbehaving. Could be interesting.
Eisner-nominated writer Joshua Dysart (UNKNOWN SOLDIER) combines his powers with world-renowned comic artist David Lapham (STRAY BULLETS), comic book legend Bill Sienkiewicz (NEW MUTANTS), Eisner-nominated comic artist Jacob Phillips, and award-winning colorists Bill Crabtree (INVINCIBLE) and Matt Hollingsworth (BATMAN) to present a groundbreaking horror tour-de-force. Mercurial billionaire Tuttle Barrows prepared for everything—even the end of the world. Years ago he wielded his immense power and fortune to build a massive sealed habitat atop a once protected ancient freshwater glacial cave. Now, as the world outside unravels, Barrows, his family, and a handpicked inner circle retreat to their final sanctuary—a place built to outlast civilization itself. But something was already there. Beneath layers of ice, in the ancient freshwater vault, a long-dormant danger lurks. While hallucinations twist their reality and violence spreads like a fever they must descend deeper or risk their last refuge becoming a tomb.
Limited series by Bad Idea. Could be a sleeper hit with names like Crabtree and Sienkiewicz associated with it.
Thomas is in so much pain. As if high school wasn’t hard enough, when his father is killed in a freak accident, and his mother begins to take refuge in the company of his uncle, Thomas is visited by a ghoulish kid named Luther with knives for hands and rows of teeth like an ancient shark who tells Thomas his father was murdered and that anything his mother and uncle tell him is a lie.
Thomas doesn’t know who or what to believe. Does he believe his friends, teachers, and mother, who tell him grief isn’t for the faint of heart, but it will pass? Or does he believe the demented Luther who pulls Thomas through a bloody whirlwind of conspiracies, vengeance, and slaughter, showing him the lies and corruption that surround him? Thomas must fight to discover the truth behind his father’s death, while struggling to keep his new friend from leaving a massacre in his wake. But that “truth” might be far more sinister than Thomas is prepared for…
Mad Cave has had a few flip hits recently. Could be another one here.
ASHCAN of the WEEK
Showdown is an all-new series from Dave Wielgosz and Tadd Galusha about a woman returning to her hometown and publicly challenging the man she deems responsible for her brothers loss to a fight to the death.
For every 5 copies of The Other/Half #2 ordered, retailers will be eligible to order a pack of 20 ashcans promoting the upcoming series Showdown (standard ashcan trim size of 5.5 x 8.5). Retailers also have the option to buy additional bundles for every 5 copies of The Other/Half #2ordered beyond the initial 5.
Not sure if any shops are pre-selling these, but something to keep an eye on.
Parting Thoughts
So no real “picks” this week. There are a lot of Indy’s, but it seems like the Post-D’Orc Indy FOMO has settled down in recent weeks as well. So proceed with caution! Have a great week!