FOC PICKS FOR 8/24/26

This week is stuffed full of one shots and mini-series premieres. Below is the run down!

Use code CHU 2026 at checkout to save 15% at Third Eye Comics

 

COVERS

 

Not his best work, but Mora’s variant covers have done well on the aftermarket as he has his devoted fans.

 

 

Ito does Godzilla!

 

POTENTIAL FIRSTS

 

ENTER GRENDEL- a super villain from Jeff Morales’ past who will stop at nothing to have his revenge against the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent…but their seemingly perfect plan didn’t count on SPIDER-MAN! But how can Miles Morales fight an enemy who has a counter for his every move and power? What tragic events led to Grendel’s fall – and what does Miles’ dad have to do with it?

 

NEW TITLES

 

Avengers #1 (Spoiler Variant – Tedesco)

Superstar team Chip Zdarsky & Marco Checchetto reunite for a trailblazing new era of AVENGERS! With the world order completely rewritten after AVENGERS: ARMAGEDDON, there comes a day, a day unlike any other, when a new group of Earth’s mightiest heroes find themselves united to avenge the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man, Wolverine, Captain Marvel, Daredevil, Luke Cage and [REDACTED]! The Avengers take center stage once again in the Marvel Universe, and it all starts here. Don’t miss it!

I hadn’t realized the prior Avengers series had ended. This issue also has a blind bag variant if you’re interested in taking a different type of gamble.

 

 

Among killers-for-hire, there are a select few feared even among other assassins. The enigmatic Fox Mask Killer is at the top of that list. But now she wants the one thing even she can’t have—she wants out. And the only person who can offer her an opportunity to get away from her old life may be the devil herself… Discover the thrilling—and tragic—backstory of EXQUISITE CORPSES’ most emblematic killer!

I hear there are A LOT of store exclusives for this…and with NYCC coming up probably even more. So I think I’ll stick with the polybagged variant with the playing card. The cover art hasn’t been revealed, but usually these are color variants of Cover A.

 

 

A saga spinning directly out of the shocking conclusion of X-MEN OF APOCALYPSE: OMEGA – one which will demand more of the man called GAMBIT than ever before! In two intertwined tales, REMY LEBEAU will face his demons… and the demons of all mutant kind… in a story which will see the limits of the reformed Gambit pushed to their breaking point. What kind of man-what kind of husband-what kind of hero-will emerge?!

Rogue and Gambit have survived plenty together as one of Marvel’s defining couples. The X-Men power couple has gone from an infamously complicated romance to marriage, with years of breakups, reunions, impossible missions, and mutant disasters along the way. Putting Remy LeBeau and Anna Marie in danger is practically an X-Men tradition at this point, but Marvel’s next adventure for the pair is already teasing a particularly grim outcome.

The complication this time is that there isn’t just one Gambit involved. Gambit Gone has been playing with different versions of Remy across different worlds, including one living in the devastating reality created by the Age of Apocalypse. Their respective missions are about to become considerably more dangerous, and while one Gambit is prepared to risk his life for other mutants, another is bringing Rogue along for a potentially deadly heist. According to Marvel, one half of the beloved X-Men couple may not make it out.

This is a limited series, but not sure how many issues.

 

 

The new dark fantasy phenomenon of 2026, THE KARMAN BLADE. A DYING WORLD UNDER A TYRANT GOD! A BLADE TO FREE THEM ALL! A young man on the outskirts of a dying world is chosen by a blade forged of stars to slay the despotic deity, Kalu, and free the water he hoards in his Kingdom. Yet before the boy can begin his journey, he must first face the demons in his own life, and answer the Karman Blade’s call—“Art thou he, who taketh me in hand? Art thou he…who shall slay a God?”

And for those who think this cover isn’t revealing enough skin, there is also a Not Safe For Work variant.

 

 

A special advanced release variant of Pesto Comics’ highly-anticipated new title, SNIP #1, exclusively available for Local Comic Shop Day ahead of the series debut in October! Only available to LCSD-registered storefronts and featuring a collectible Riccardo Faccini cover not available anywhere else! What if you could just snip your problems away? Here one second, forgotten the next. What if someone else decided what actually is a problem and what isn’t? What if they decided the problem is YOU?

What is the different between an advance release and a regular release? Wouldn’t the “regular” release just be a reprint, essentially? This is weird. Like calling a book a facsimile even though it has a completely different cover than the original. But hey, it’s happening.

ONE AND DONE

 

Years ago, The Joker trained with the League of Assassins, and when he learned all he could, he slaughtered everyone. But out of the wreckage of what was left came Lady Shiva and her daughter, CASSANDRA CAIN. Learn the origin of the Absolute Universe’s most formidable assassin and how her story is one that is intertwined with the world’s greatest thief, Selina Kyle, Catwoman!

 

 

THE MARCH TO HULK WAR RUNS THROUGH WOLVERINE! When the X-MEN learn the location of mutants abducted and corrupted by INFERNAL HULK, the deadliest X-Man vows to free them… by the most violent means necessary. THE MARCH TO HULK WAR begins, as the FATHER OF HORRORS faces the Marvel Universe’s perfect killing machine: INFERNAL HULK VS WOLVERINE!

The first of four one-shots. Additional installments include Infernal Hulk vs. Fantastic Four #1, Infernal Hulk vs. Spider-Man #1, and Infernal Hulk vs. The Avengers #1, all set to release through December.

 

 

An explosive tale of retribution in this MARVEL MANGAVERSE 25th Anniversary special! CARNAGE has carved a bloody swathe through humans and yokai alike to as he seeks to fulfill a cataclysmic prophecy. The only thing standing in his way? The hellacious fury of a righteously pissed-off GHOST RIDER and her Shinigami bike! Riding hell for leather, KWANNON hunts down CLETUS KASADY as they race breakneck down the road to ruin!

Mashup of Ghost Rider and Psylocke. I’m not a fan of cover A with Carnage photo-bombing it. My opinion is that Cover B (below) is 100x better…a black cover too (which means 9.8s could be tough) But I’m sure if this character goes somewhere, Cover A will be the one to get…(sigh).

 

 

PICK of the WEEK

 

I find it interesting that this appears to be coming out earlier than the newsstand market (or is this a variant of the Direct Market Edition?). So could be low printed and take a few by surprise.

Look for “LCSD Exclusive” when searching online.

 

Fin…get it? Like how the French say “The End?”…?..

I’ll see myself out…

(This would have been a better joke during Shark Week…)