Another year, another shout into the void. I can only hope many of you are surviving as best you can while things continue to get weird, despicable, and hilarious in varying measures depending on the news day. But, despite everything, the medium we can’t tear ourselves away from persists. As has become a tradition at this point, let’s dive into the various works coming out over the next few months that will see us through whatever so happens this year.

Winter 2026: 

Pig Wife by Abbey Luck

Brought to a remote mining village by her parents to settler her aunt’s estate, Mary just wants to leave. But when she finds refuge in an abandoned mine after a fight with her parents, she finds she’s unable to escape the mine. And that there’s something else in there with he. 

The Pass by Katriona Chapman

The culinary life is difficult, especially when you’re an upcoming star of a chef with the legacy of a famous father hanging over your shoulders. It’s why Claudia is entering the Chef of the Year competition, even if it does put even more strain on an already strained life. 

I Am Their Silence by Jordi Lafebre and Montana Kane

While Eve may be a great psychiatrist, that can’t help her from being the suspect in the murder of her family’s patriarch at the reading of their grandmother’s will. Her mind won’t let the case rest—even if she weren’t a suspect, she’s still compelled to solve it. 

The Relaunch of Vertigo

Less of a single story and more of a change in publisher names/attitudes. While many of the stories that would have been in the Vertigo line have instead pivoted to DC’s Black Label imprint, this relaunch comes with ten series by various creators with its first few stories coming throughout February. 

The Center Holds by Larry Hama and M.D. “Doc” Bright

The creation of a new superhero universe comes with some unique complications—how does the world react to people with powers now with there are so many of them? And who will help when they need to cover the damages from super fights? We learn now that a good union is the strongest power of all. 

All the Living by Roman Muradov

Returning to life after winning the lottery in Purgatory, a woman now must go through her life with something extra: the ability to see and communicate with ghosts, including her own. While the previous loneliness of her life is mitigated, we can’t talk to our own ghosts forever. 

Spring 2026:

The Shadower by Peter and Maria Hoey

In a country plagued by civil war, Nadia finds solace in the theater. But when she’s given the opportunity to work in a cafe frequented by enemy spies, she must take on the life of another woman and try not to lose herself in this final role. 

The Girl Who Draws on Whales by Ariela Kristantina, Sarah Stern, and Bernando Brice

After the great flood, Wangi and her brother make their lives on a small sea-village where the whales allow Wangi to draw on their backs. When they return to her village, she finds more drawings on them—messages from other villages that must exist beyond her own. 

Statues by Junji Ito

Once again, Ito returns with a collection of stories that defy most modern horror conventions and sit within us long after reading. This time around, we have a disease that makes women more beautiful before killing them, a man who sculpts beheaded statues is beheaded himself, and a woman sees something from the corpses that float past her home.

Batwoman by Greg Rucka and DaNi

It’s been over a decade since Rucka had last written a Batwoman comic, but he’s back with DC’s Next Level initiative. Alongside DaNi, the duo are delving back into Kate Kane’s past while plotting a future steeped in cult machinations. 

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run by Hirohiko Araki

While Viz has been putting out the official translation of Steel Ball Run for a few months now, it’s not until March that we’ll see the anime adaptation of the part that likely is the most bizarre as we have everything from horse races, spinning balls, a plot by the president to collect pieces of Jesus, and the potential confirmation that Mormonism is canon in the Jojo universe. 

How I Make Comics by Kim Deitch

Famed underground illustrator and creator of Waldo the Cat, Deitch breaks down how his life has been tied to comics. He breaks down his history, his influences, and the comics that made him the artist he is now while blending fiction and nonfiction into a work both memoir and story all at once. 

The Definitive Yokai Field Guide by Shigeru Mizuki and Zack Davisson

Sometimes all you need is a big compendium of mischievous little dudes and Mizuki will ascend down to provide it to you. Containing profiles of dozens of unique yokai from across Japan, this volume has been in print in Japan for decades before finally making its way to English publication this year. 

Summer 2026:

Wandering Cats Cage by Akane Torikai and Jocelyne Allen

Showing us a future in which women are only able to become pregnant via stringently monitored medical procedures, Torikai shows us a dystopia with a more literal interpretation of birth control. She also shows us the contrast between those who submit to the powers that be and those that still wish for their own freedom.

Charity and Sylvia by Tillie Walden

In the early 19^th century, rumors of being a lesbian were enough to drive someone from the social scene in Massachusetts to hide out in Vermont. But when Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake meet for the first time, their decades-long relationship blooms as we witness their lives across history. 

Despite everything, there will always be comics. It’s resilient medium, despite printing costs being what they are with tariffs a consistent terror. But if there’s ever a time to find a new series or graphic novel or artist to obsess over, now’s the time.

Get excited. Get more.

---

Drew Barth (Episode 331, 485, 510, 651, & 674) resides in Winter Park, FL. He received his MFA from the University of Central Florida.