FOC PICKS FOR 8/31/26
It’s finally here. The FOC everyone’s been waiting for. Time to invest your entire life savings into the Marvel Midnight Universe (not intended to be financial legal advice, btw).
In fact, practically all the books highlighted this week have some Halloween type theme to them. It’s that time of year. So hold on tight to your pumpkin lattes…
Use code CHU 2026 at checkout to save 15% at Third Eye Comics
COVERS
We’ll get into the descriptions of each midnight title momentarily. But first let’s highlight a few covers. X-Men gets and Ito variant (also a 1:100 virgin option).
Perhaps my favorite of all the midnight covers. If this cover is any indication of what is in store for Peter Parker in this series…it’s going to be a wild ride.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN
An original one-shot set in the world of Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees! Years have passed since Samantha Strong left Woodbrook, but her legend has only grown. Now that the cat is out of the bag, more and more horrific murders have been tied back to her. Some are her doing…others mere folklore…but all absolutely gripping stories featuring everyone’s favorite cuddly serial killer. Gather around the campfire on Halloween night with some of the best creators working today and listen as the citizens of Woodbrook spill the beans on Samantha Strong’s most terrifying deeds.
I don’t usually highlight a Star Trek book, but it looks an entire horror themed mini series is on FOC this week (but they will come out weekly in October). And I like the matching themed variant covers.
A Halloween mystery unfolds on Deep Space 9! On the eve of a high-stakes diplomatic summit, Deep Space 9 is thrown into chaos by a sudden communications blackout and a string of deeply unsettling incidents. With senior leadership called away, Worf, Dax, Odo, and Bashir must hold the station together as tensions rise among visiting dignitaries. Then, a distressed starship arrives with explosive claimsand one member of the DS9 crew stands accused of murder. As suspicion spreads and paranoia takes hold, a creeping sense of dread settles over the Promenade. And somewhere inside the stations holosuites, something has gone terrifyingly wrong A locked-station thriller begins here.
INDY HIGHLIGHT
SERIES PREMIERE TWO BEST FRIENDS. A MAN AND HIS APE AGAINST THE WORLD. A famous Hollywood Animal Trainer, Doctor Kermit Groeden, and his only client/best friend—Amigo the Ape, the first gorilla ever nominated for an Academy Award—are framed for a crime they didn’t commit. Now they’re on the run. And to clear their names and save their lives, Kermit and Amigo will be forced to reveal their darkest secrets and confront each other’s hidden past. Will their friendship be able to survive? A story about secrets, sins, and simians. ??Koko the Gorilla meets The Usual Suspects and Pineapple Express in this Hollywood neo-noir buddy crime comedy.
MIDNIGHT IS UPON US…
An obsessive scientist delves into the secrets of the universe perhaps best left unknown to humankind, leaving himself and three others warped in strange and horrifying ways.What horrible secrets lie in the new dimensions they have discovered? And can humanity survive the discovery? A tale of existential dread and secrets best kept…
A young Peter Parker is transformed into a hideous spider hybrid by the ruthless Oscorp Corporation in their pursuit for eternal life. When Oscorp begins to use the secrets unlocked by his mutation to create more human-animal hybrids, Peter embraces his grotesque new form to stop them.
The clock strikes midnight, and it’s the dark dawn of a new era. The shadows of New York City are stalked by vampires and the mutant empyres. The sword of Damocles hangs over the peace between these two species and the factions within them. An outright war is brewing and the unturned will be caught in the crossfire. Blockbuster comic book writer Jonathan Hickman returns to the X-Men with a hunger for blood as this new world of terror reimagines the heroes of the Marvel Universe!
POTENTIAL FIRSTS
WITHOUT THE BADGE…WITHOUT HER FATHER…ABSOLUTE BAT ENTERS THE SCENE. In the battle of self, of Batman versus Batman, there can be only one. Everyone Bruce has ever known, ever cared about, or ever loved will face their ultimate inner demons.
Although not the first Barbara Gordon, likely will see her in costume first in this issue.
That’s it for this week CHU Nation. T-T-F-N!!