Chainkata #1 Riley Rossmo Variants Hit Image Comics’ November Whatnot Drop

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A chainsaw-wielding warrior queen and a Riley Rossmo exclusive are heading for the same drop, Crusaders. Image Comics is bringing a Chainkata #1 Riley Rossmo variant to Whatnot on Wednesday, November 18, 2026, at 5 p.m. Eastern. Collectors will have two editions to consider, with the dressed cover priced at $30 and the virgin edition at $50.

The sale is part of Image’s official Whatnot programming, and readers interested in joining live can bookmark the event page. You can also follow Image Comics on Whatnot for this event and future surprise appearances. Whatnot lets fans shop, sell and connect through the app, so anyone planning to take part should have the event saved ahead of the start time.

Rossmo brings a recognizable visual personality to this exclusive. His credits include The Moon Is Following Us, Harley Quinn, Constantine: The Hellblazer, Martian Manhunter and Batman/The Shadow. The two supplied versions let readers see the same artwork with the trade dress and with the image taking center stage. Check out both below before deciding which version belongs on your shelf.

Chainkata 1 Riley Rossmo virgin variant

The title behind the cover is Daniel Warren Johnson’s Chainkata, an upcoming science-fiction adventure built around Luma. She is a warrior queen armed with a chainsaw, searching the vastness of space for an unknown power. What she actually wants is peace, but violence and terror keep tracking her through every black hole. That contradiction gives the pitch its pull: somebody trying to put the fight behind her, carrying a weapon that practically announces the next round.

Johnson has spent years building toward this kind of launch. Space-Mullet, now reaching a wider market through Image, helped get readers watching his work, followed by Extremity and Murder Falcon through Image/Skybound. Those projects established a reputation for comics with big physical energy and characters who give the destruction a reason to matter.

Do A Powerbomb pushed that profile even higher and earned Johnson his first Eisner Award in the Best Publication for Teens category. His work on Skybound’s multiple Eisner-winning Transformers relaunch brought another huge audience, while The Moon Is Following Us added another acclaimed project to the run. Add Wonder Woman: Dead Earth, Beta Ray Bill: Argent Star and Absolute Batman, and the anticipation around this new series makes sense.

Image describes Chainkata as combining the large-scale science fiction of Beta Ray Bill and Space-Mullet with the character development readers found in Extremity and Do A Powerbomb. For readers who follow Johnson for both the action and the emotional weight behind it, Luma’s search sounds like a place where those interests can collide hard.

We previously covered the 116 retailer-exclusive covers for Chainkata #1, and this Rossmo edition adds a specific live-event option to the collecting conversation. Keep the dates and prices handy: November 18 at 5 p.m. Eastern, $30 dressed and $50 virgin. If this cover is the one calling your name, save Image’s event page and be ready when the drop begins.

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Impaler Returns With William Harms, Christian DiBari and a World Overrun by Vampires

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The world has already lost to the vampires, fam, and humanity’s emergency plan is to bring back Vlad the Impaler. Impaler returns in February 2027 as an all-new, six-issue miniseries from Image Comics and Top Cow, with William Harms writing, Christian DiBari on art and Lee Loughridge handling colors. The first issue reaches comic shops on Wednesday, February 3, 2027.

Harms is returning to a world he has wanted to revisit, with a creative team built for a bleak vampire apocalypse. The BAFTA nominee’s credits include White Sky, Mafia III and Infamous. DiBari comes aboard with Revolvers, Magdalena: Reformation and Destiny Gate among his credits, while GLAAD Media Award-winning colorist Loughridge brings experience from books including The Darkness and Aquaman.

The setup does not give the survivors much room to breathe. Vampires have destroyed the world, and the people still standing are sheltering in the ruins of the Pentagon. Their remaining hope rests on resurrecting Vlad the Impaler. Whether he saves them or finishes the job is the question hanging over that desperate decision, and it is a nasty one to have to answer when the alternatives have already disappeared.

Harms describes Impaler as a love letter to frightening, brutal and relentless vampires. He says the series has always held a special place in his heart and that watching DiBari and Loughridge bring this return to life has been thrilling. His excitement extends to longtime readers and people entering the world for the first time, making this new miniseries an invitation to both groups.

DiBari is just as enthusiastic about the collaboration and the material. “Working with Bill and Top Cow has been a real treat for me, getting to dive into this bleak, dark story with all kinds of cool characters and world building is the best kind of storytelling experience.” That is a good appetite to bring to a book where even the possible rescuer might be a catastrophe waiting to happen.

Impaler #1 cover B by Matt Timson
Impaler #1 cover C by Jason Shawn Alexander
Impaler #1 cover D by Dani and Brad Simpson
Impaler #1 cover E blank sketch
Impaler #1 cover F Timson virgin variant
Impaler #1 cover G Alexander virgin variant
Impaler #1 cover H Dani and Simpson virgin variant
Impaler #1 interior preview page 1
Impaler #1 interior preview page 2
Impaler #1 interior preview page 3
Impaler #1 interior preview page 4

The announcement comes with a substantial look at the artwork, including the first issue’s covers and interior previews. The cover lineup draws in Matt Timson, whose credits include Popgun and The Darkness; Jason Shawn Alexander of Killadelphia; and Dani of Coffin Bound. Brad Simpson joins Dani on the relevant cover editions, and a blank sketch edition gives collectors another option.

Here is the full first-issue lineup so nobody has to guess at the cover letters: Cover A is by DiBari and Loughridge; Cover B is by Timson; Cover C is by Alexander; Cover D is by Dani and Simpson; and Cover E is the Blank Sketch Cover. The incentive editions are Cover F, the 1:10 Timson virgin variant; Cover G, the 1:25 Alexander virgin variant; and Cover H, the 1:50 Dani and Simpson virgin variant. Check with your comic shop about the edition you want when placing an order.

Digital readers will also have options. The announced platforms include Amazon Kindle, Google Play, Apple’s iBooks, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, Scribd’s Everand, Kobo, Overdrive, Hoopla, Sweet app and Comic Plus, with more availability planned across digital services.

Check out the supplied covers and preview pages below, then talk to your shop about Impaler #1 for February 3, 2027. We have also followed Harms’ White Sky at Image, and this return puts another very different nightmare on his slate. For more from the publisher, visit Image Comics.

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2000 AD’s 50th Anniversary Special Brings Back Dredd, Dante and the ABC Warriors

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Fifty years of Thrill-Power deserves a proper reunion, Crusaders, and 2000 AD is bringing some serious company. The 2000 AD 50th Anniversary Special arrives worldwide on February 24, 2027, with a Brian Bolland cover, new adventures for familiar troublemakers and returning creators whose names are woven into this comic’s history. Dredd is leading the charge, but look down this lineup and the reunion gets bigger with every turn.

Rebellion is pitching the standalone special to newcomers as well as readers who have spent decades with The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic. The anniversary package is billed as five new stories across sixty pages, with a story representing each decade of the publication’s existence. There is also a welcome-back announcement for the ABC Warriors, giving readers another reason to pay attention to this birthday bash.

First decade, first big name: John Wagner is returning to Judge Dredd. Dredd’s co-creator teams with artist Dan Cornwell for another ride with the Lawman of the Future, bringing the comic’s most famous creation back onto the streets. Having Wagner involved gives this celebration a direct connection to the character’s beginnings, while Cornwell supplies the new adventure’s artwork.

The second decade belongs to Robo-Hunter, with Sam Slade taking on a fresh cybernetic case. Robbie Morrison and Mike Perkins are the creative team handling that return. Morrison is pulling double duty for the special, because the third decade also brings back Nikolai Dante, reunited with original co-creator Simon Fraser for a new swashbuckling outing.

Fraser describes drawing Dante again as instinctive. He knows the designs, knows what the characters are feeling and finds the work comfortable because the world was built around the way his hand moves across a page. He also stresses that the story offers something new, even with all that nostalgia surrounding the reunion. That is a promising way to approach an anniversary: let the history invite people in, then give the characters somewhere to go.

Morrison says contributing two stories to the fiftieth anniversary has been a pleasure, and returning to Dante with Fraser came surprisingly easily after their time away. The finished story was not the one he initially expected to write, but he is pleased with how it turned out. Tharg’s response to the script was, “It’s like Dante’s never been away!” Morrison promises fans the things they want from a Dante adventure, with a little extra waiting in the wings.

Moving into the fourth decade and the new millennium, Ian Edginton and Steve Yeowell reunite with Captain Jack Dancer and the crew of The Red Seas. Edginton’s description of the adventure includes a 1950s Chevy, dinosaurs, aliens and pirates. Fam, that is a whole lot of trouble to fit into one voyage, and it sounds perfectly suited to a crew already comfortable sailing straight into the impossible.

Yeowell calls this ten-page return a particularly enjoyable collaboration with his old shipmate Edginton. He points readers toward the Harryhausen-style antics and plenty of swashbuckling, while specifically warning them about mysterious islands. The anniversary is giving this team room to play with the strange, adventurous energy that belongs to Jack and his companions.

The current decade is represented by Brink, with writer Dan Abnett and co-creator INJ Culbard adding a new installment. Abnett places the story between Brink Book 6 and Brink Book 7, while Kurtis and company are traveling to Luna Hab. He describes the upcoming seventh book as the series’ most devastating chapter yet, making this stop along the way an especially interesting piece of the timeline.

Abnett also says the anniversary story keeps the unsettling side of Brink alive. Even as the series seems to be finding rational explanations for its ongoing weirdness, there is still high strangeness out there. Anyone comfortable with the idea that the answers have finally arrived might want to keep one eye on the shadows.

Then comes the other major reunion: Pat Mills and Colin MacNeil are bringing back the ABC Warriors. Mills wanted the Warriors represented in the fiftieth anniversary, and the initial story idea came from MacNeil. The artist explains that it began with a fireside drawing of Deadlock holding a tarot card called Mekropolis. That image sparked a story honoring the early ABC Warriors strips, which he wrote down and eventually sent to Mills to adapt.

That path from an artist’s drawing to a new collaboration feels right for a celebration of a comic built on bold ideas. Between the Warriors, Dredd, Sam Slade, Dante, Jack Dancer and the cast of Brink, this special is offering readers several very different doors into five decades of 2000 AD.

Preorders are available through the 2000 AD webshop and UK comic shops. US readers can order through stores served by Lunar Distribution, while Canadian readers can check shops supplied by Universal Distribution. Mark February 24, 2027, and check out our coverage of 2000 AD’s London anniversary celebration for more of the birthday festivities.

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Curt Pires and Ryan Quackenbush Turn the Infinite Scroll Into a Nightmare in Content

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Your watchlist getting out of hand is one thing. Getting trapped inside the platform you built is a whole different problem, Crusaders. Content, the new original graphic novel from Curt Pires and Ryan Quackenbush, takes the infinite scroll into a science-fiction nightmare where stories, memories and somebody’s continued existence are all caught in the machinery.

Image Comics will release the trade paperback to comic shops on Wednesday, February 17, 2027, followed by bookstores on Tuesday, March 16, 2027. Pires, whose credits include Creature Corps and Fireborn, teams with Junior Baker the Righteous Faker artist Quackenbush for a thriller inspired by the writer’s own experience in Hollywood. The publisher points readers of Severance, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Social Network toward the book.

The story’s near future belongs to streaming services, and Trip Cruise is sitting at the top of that world. He is the valuable creative mind behind its biggest platform, also called Content. An experimental AI helmet is supposed to pull stories directly out of his brain, which already sounds like the kind of invention that needs several more rounds of testing before anybody straps it on.

When the helmet malfunctions, Trip winds up inside his own system. He has to navigate an endless succession of shows and broken memories, trapped in the entertainment structure he helped create. The man supplying the ideas is now stuck moving through the machine’s output, with no easy exit back to his own life.

His chance at getting out rests with Margot, a junior programmer whose human connection to Trip puts her in a position to try to save him. Together, they have to outsmart a machine designed to replace them. Failure means being permanently deleted from existence, which puts a particularly vicious spin on the idea of a platform deciding that somebody no longer belongs in its catalog.

Pires identifies Content as his first original graphic novel and says the project has been developing for years. He initially discussed the idea with Image’s Eric Stephenson at San Diego Comic-Con 2024. With the finished book approaching its 2027 release, he describes it as an intense labor of love for both creators and some of his most experimental and personal writing in recent years.

He also singles out Quackenbush’s lush painted artwork, drawing comparisons to the work of Dave McKean and Bill Sienkiewicz. That gives readers a useful sense of the visual ambition behind the project without pretending we have already read the finished book. A story built around unstable shows and fragmented memories gives an artist plenty to work with, and the supplied cover offers an early look at the book’s presentation.

Quackenbush says he is proud of what they have made and grateful that Pires brought him aboard to draw it. He describes the writing as sharp, wild and personal, with both creators investing a great deal of themselves in the result. His hope is that readers can see they made this book for themselves, a fitting sentiment for a story about a system trying to extract and replace human creativity.

The Content graphic novel carries ISBN 9781534331846. Readers can arrange a copy through local comic shops for February 17, with the bookstore edition arriving March 16 through independent bookstores, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Indigo and Waterstones.

Digital availability is planned across Amazon Kindle, Google Play, Apple’s iBooks, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, Scribd’s Everand, Kobo, Overdrive, Hoopla, Sweet app and Comic Plus, among other platforms. For another side of Pires’ current work, check out our Creature Corps coverage. Meanwhile, put Content on your 2027 radar and keep those separate comic-shop and bookstore dates in mind.

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Comic Crusaders Hot List: The 10 Hottest Comics For November 10th & 11th, 2026

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WEPAAAAAAAAAAAA! WHAT’S GOOD, MY FELLOW CRUSADERS?! New York has a Predator problem, Megatron has something nasty cooking, and Garth Ennis wants us taking advice from a snail. Yeah, mi gente, the comic shop is going to be a dangerous place for the wallet this week! Our November 10th and 11th Hot List counts down ten books worth your attention, with this week’s selected single issues all arriving Wednesday, November 11.

We’re weighing the creative teams, story hooks, collector appeal and fandom pull, with six picks from beyond Marvel and DC getting their shine. These are my weekly heat picks, not review scores. Bring your opinions, leave a little room in the pull box, and let’s get into it!

#10. EC Artists from the Abyss: Charlie Adlard #1

EC Artists from the Abyss: Charlie Adlard #1 Charlie Adlard Cover A

Publisher: Oni Press / EC Comics
On sale: November 11, 2026
Writers: Chris Condon and Tim Seeley | Artist: Charlie Adlard
HOT METER: 4/5
RECOMMENDED COVER: Charlie Adlard Cover A

WHY IT’S HOT: HALLOWEEN IS OVER, BUT CHARLIE ADLARD DID NOT GET THE MEMO! Oni kicks off its artist-focused EC one-shots by putting the man who helped make The Walking Dead such a visual monster front and center. This collection brings his EC horror work together and adds a new story with Chris Condon. For readers who follow the hands making the nightmares, that is a proper reason to show up.

Adlard’s regular cover gets my money. The black-and-white artist edition is a temptation for the original-art crowd, but the main attraction is seeing one artist’s storytelling hold the spotlight. A #1 that celebrates the person drawing the damn comic? Give me more of that, fam.

#9. Action Comics #1104

Action Comics #1104 Chris Brunner and Rico Renzi Cover A

Publisher: DC Comics
On sale: November 11, 2026
Writer: Mark Waid | Artist and colorist: Patricio Delpeche | Letterer: Steve Wands | Cover: Chris Brunner and Rico Renzi
HOT METER: 4/5
RECOMMENDED COVER: Chris Brunner and Rico Renzi Cover A

WHY IT’S HOT: CLARK KENT MAKES A FRIEND. THE REST OF US KNOW HOW BADLY THIS COULD GO! Lex Luthor returns to Smallville as “Lex Luthor: Year One” continues, and Mark Waid puts the future enemies on the same side of a friendship. There is something deliciously uncomfortable about watching Clark offer somebody his trust when you know the history hanging over that handshake.

The appeal here is getting back to the people underneath the legendary rivalry. Patricio Delpeche’s art is another reason to keep this arc on your radar, and the Brunner and Renzi main cover is my pick. Superman fans do not need another planet exploding every month to have a compelling comic. Sometimes the dangerous thing is the kid sitting beside you.

#8. Daredevil #9

Daredevil #9 Lee Garbett Cover A

Publisher: Marvel Comics
On sale: November 11, 2026
Writer: Stephanie Phillips | Artist: Lee Garbett | Cover: Lee Garbett
HOT METER: 4/5
RECOMMENDED COVER: Lee Garbett Cover A

WHY IT’S HOT: NEW YORK WITHOUT FEAR? HAVE YOU SEEN HOW PEOPLE ALREADY CROSS THE STREET?! Stephanie Phillips and Lee Garbett have Matt Murdock dealing with Mr. Fear’s citywide scheme while trying to protect the students at E.S.U. Taking away fear sounds wonderful until you remember that sometimes fear is what keeps somebody from doing the stupidest thing imaginable.

That twist on Daredevil’s defining phrase earns this a spot. Matt has people to look after while the city loses one of its brakes, which gives the superhero problem a human consequence. Garbett’s main cover is the recommendation. If your pull box needs some street-level Marvel with a nasty psychological hook, keep the red suit in the rotation.

#7. Legion of Super-Heroes #3

Legion of Super-Heroes #3 Hayden Sherman Cover A

Publisher: DC Comics
On sale: November 11, 2026
Writer: Joshua Williamson | Artist: Hayden Sherman | Colorist: Tamra Bonvillain | Cover: Hayden Sherman
HOT METER: 4.5/5
RECOMMENDED COVER: Hayden Sherman Cover A

WHY IT’S HOT: MATTER-EATER LAD IS PART OF THE PROBLEM NOW? SOMEBODY EXPLAIN TOMORROW TO ME! Joshua Williamson and Hayden Sherman put Lightning Lad opposite Brainiac 1 of 5 and Matter-Eater Lad, with a painful loss looming over his early hero career. This is the kind of wonderfully strange lineup that makes the Legion worth having on the shelf.

Williamson, Sherman and Tamra Bonvillain give this young run serious creative appeal. I want the future to look and feel different, and this team has the tools to make that happen. Sherman’s main cover keeps the purchase straightforward. The promised heartbreak is a story hook, so read the issue before declaring a death or a new key. Right now, the reason to buy is the book’s potential to surprise you.

#6. Minor Threats: The Cleaner #1

Minor Threats: The Cleaner #1 Scott Hepburn Cover A

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
On sale: November 11, 2026
Writer: Gerry Duggan | Minor Threats co-creators: Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum | Artist: Mark Torres | Cover: Scott Hepburn
HOT METER: 4.5/5
RECOMMENDED COVER: Scott Hepburn Cover A

WHY IT’S HOT: THE SUPERHEROES BREAK EVERYTHING, AND THIS GUY GETS THE CLEANUP BILL! Gerry Duggan and Mark Torres introduce David O’Halloran, a small business owner whose night job involves making the superpowered world’s worst messes disappear. Then Diamond Dahlia enters his life with a connection to the Insomniac, and an already ugly business gets complicated.

This is exactly the sort of corner of Twilight City I want explored. Somebody has to handle what happens after the spectacular battle, and superhero noir gives that overlooked worker a story of his own. Scott Hepburn’s main cover is the move. The four-issue format also makes this an approachable commitment for anyone curious about the Minor Threats universe. Get in while the mop is still relatively clean!

#5. Godzilla vs. America: New York City #1

Godzilla vs. America: New York City #1 Nathan Fox Cover A

Publisher: IDW Publishing
On sale: November 11, 2026
Writers: Frank Tieri, Tango, Anthony Marques and Anna Meyer | Artists: Mark Texeira, Tango, John Renner and Anna Meyer | Colors: Ryan Cody and Heather Breckel 
Letters: Tom Napolitano and Anna Meyer | Cover: Nathan Fox
HOT METER: 4.5/5
RECOMMENDED COVER: Nathan Fox Cover A

WHY IT’S HOT: GODZILLA IN NEW YORK? THE RENT BETTER GO DOWN AFTER THIS! You know the Brooklyn boy in me is showing up for this one. IDW brings its city-smashing anthology to the Big Apple with a crew including Frank Tieri, Mark Texeira, Tango, Anthony Marques, John Renner and Anna Meyer. Multiple creators getting to mess with my hometown and the King of the Monsters is an easy invitation.

The local flavor is the draw, and Nathan Fox’s Cover A is my recommendation for the kaiju shelf. Dean Haspiel’s alternative gives collectors another very tempting route. This one-shot lets Godzilla fans grab a complete city-specific package without catching up on an ongoing storyline. Somebody check the bridges, protect the bodegas and tell the big guy the subway is already having a rough enough week!

#4. Scott Pilgrim EX: Dawn of Metal Scott #1

Scott Pilgrim EX: Dawn of Metal Scott #1 Bryan Lee O’Malley Cover A

Publisher: Oni Press
On sale: November 11, 2026
Writer, artist and cover artist: Bryan Lee O’Malley
HOT METER: 5/5
RECOMMENDED COVER: Bryan Lee O’Malley Cover A

WHY IT’S HOT: BRYAN LEE O’MALLEY BACK ON SCOTT PILGRIM? THAT IS HOW YOU GET THE FANDOM TO PUT THE CONTROLLER DOWN! This one-shot is a prequel to the Scott Pilgrim EX video game, bringing Scott and Ramona into another threat after a stretch of peace. The creator returning to his own characters gives this something stronger than a familiar logo slapped on a game tie-in.

For the collectors, O’Malley’s cover is the obvious pick. For the readers, know what you are buying: the package contains the 16-page Dawn of Metal Scott comic plus extras, within a 24-page issue. That compact format is worth knowing before you reach the register. A creator return, a gaming connection and a fandom that loves these characters put this high on my list.

#3. The Snail #1

The Snail #1 John McCrea Cover A

Publisher: Image Comics / Ninth Circle
On sale: November 11, 2026
Writer: Garth Ennis | Artist and cover artist: John McCrea | Colors: Jack Davies | Letterer: Rob Steen
HOT METER: 5/5
RECOMMENDED COVER: John McCrea Cover A

WHY IT’S HOT: GARTH ENNIS. JOHN McCREA. A TALKING SNAIL OFFERING YOUR HEART’S DESIRE. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING COULD GO WRONG! The Hitman collaborators reunite for a standalone horror story about desire, power and the sacrifices people will make when something offers them the life they want. Ennis and McCrea working together is already a selling point. Giving them a premise this unpleasantly strange pushes it further up the pile.

This is my indie heat pick for the reader who wants something outside the usual superhero rotation. The 40-page one-shot gives you a contained purchase, and McCrea’s regular cover makes the mood pretty clear before you open it. Keep this one on the grown-up shelf. If a snail starts offering you career advice afterward, leave the room, mi gente!

#2. Transformers #38

Transformers #38 Jason Howard Cover A

Publisher: Image Comics / Skybound
On sale: November 11, 2026
Writer: Robert Kirkman | Artist and Cover A: Jason Howard | Colorist: Mike Spicer
HOT METER: 5/5
RECOMMENDED COVER: Jason Howard Cover A

WHY IT’S HOT: MEGATRON’S COCOON IS OPENING, AND I DOUBT A BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY IS COMING OUT! Robert Kirkman, Jason Howard and Mike Spicer have a very direct question for Transformers readers this week: what has emerged, and how much trouble does it mean for the Autobots? That is a strong piece of ongoing-story bait, especially for those of us who always keep one eye on the Decepticons.

Howard’s main cover is my pick because the silhouette sells the mystery without answering it for you. Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer’s Cover B is another attraction for collectors following the series’ artists. I am ranking this for the Megatron hook, the creative team and the franchise pull. The reveal still has to earn its reputation on the page, but this is absolutely a book I want in hand before the spoilers start flying.

#1. Predator vs. Punisher #1

Predator vs. Punisher #1 Dustin Weaver Cover A

Publisher: Marvel Comics / 20th Century Studios
On sale: November 11, 2026
Writer: Frank Tieri | Artist: Jesús Saiz | Cover: Dustin Weaver
HOT METER: 5/5
RECOMMENDED COVER: Dustin Weaver Cover A

WHY IT’S HOT: FRANK CASTLE JUST BECAME THE BIG GAME. NEW YORK, CANCEL YOUR PLANS! Frank Tieri and Jesús Saiz bring the Predator into the Punisher’s territory, where an alien looking for a worthy hunt finds a man who has built his life around hunting other killers. Kingpin, Jigsaw, Silvermane and the Owl are among the criminals caught around the collision. Imagine being a mobster and finding out Castle is no longer your only problem!

This takes my number-one spot because the crossover pitch is immediate, the two characters fit the same brutal hunting story, and a debut gives both fanbases a clear place to enter. Dustin Weaver’s main cover gets my vote, with the variant selection there for collectors who have a favorite artist. Tieri and Saiz still have to deliver the fight, but of everything on this week’s rack, this is the showdown I most want to crack open. WEPAAAA, LET THEM LOOSE!

THERE’S YOUR TEN, FAM! Predator vs. Punisher takes the crown, Transformers has me watching the Decepticons, and The Snail is the grown-up oddball I want horror readers to notice. Scott Pilgrim brings the creator reunion, while the rest of this stack proves there is plenty happening beyond the most familiar capes. Tell us what YOU are putting at number one!

Want to compare pull boxes? Check out last week’s Hot List and explore more of The HOT List! Support your local comic shop, give a new creator a chance, and actually read those books you’re bringing home. Until next week, THE CRUSADE NEVER ENDS!

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Priest #1–2 Retro Review: Holy Smoke, Heavy Ammo!

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WEPAAAA! Fam, somebody in 1996 looked at a Catholic priest and said, “Cool collar. Where do we put the shotgun?” Maximum Press answered with Priest, and these first two issues have absolutely zero interest in easing you into Sunday service. We got a metal mask, a trench coat, enough ammunition to make the collection plate nervous, and a man of God whose nighttime ministry leaves shell casings everywhere. This joint smells like a video store action aisle. You can practically hear the plastic VHS case snapping open.

Priest #1 (1996) cover showing the masked vigilante with guns above a church.
Priest #1 (1996), Maximum Press.
Priest #2 (1996) cover showing the masked vigilante carrying a shotgun.
Priest #2 (1996), Maximum Press.

Rob Liefeld supplies the creation and story, Robert Napton handles the script, and Mark Pajarillo brings the pencils. Together, they plant Michael O’Bannon at St. Mark’s in Boston’s South End, trying to help a neighborhood getting chewed up by gang violence. Daytime Michael patches people up and worries about his congregation. His masked other self goes hunting after dark. Read these two issues together and the hook becomes clear fast: the same hands offering comfort are carrying weapons, while Michael cannot fully account for what happens when he goes to sleep. Somebody better check that confessional for a gun rack.

The opening alley sequence comes out barking. A couple of guys leave a club, trouble finds them, and Priest arrives like the last level of a game nobody remembers starting. Pajarillo runs from tight eye shots to flying brass to that hulking armed silhouette. There is no graceful introduction. The comic grabs your shirt. For a book selling a masked vigilante with religious imagery, that first burst delivers exactly the cover’s promise, even if the dialogue sounds like every street tough rented the same three action movies.

Priest #1 interior: Boston nightlife and an alley confrontation.
Priest #1 interior artwork, Maximum Press.

Napton gives Michael something decent to do before piling on the misery. His response to a wounded Tommy Johnson shows a caretaker who moves toward danger to help, and his scenes with Sister Lisa briefly let the neighborhood feel inhabited. Those quieter exchanges are needed. Without them, Priest would just be a weapons catalog with a cross necklace. The tragedy involving Lisa pushes the two sides of Michael further apart, although the story rushes her toward that role. Give this woman more room to exist before using her death to crank the lead’s anguish, please.

Priest #1 interior: Father Michael O’Bannon carries a wounded boy into the church.
Priest #1 interior artwork, Maximum Press.

Issue #2 earns its place beside the debut by widening the mess. The police investigation gets more traction, Michael’s military history enters the picture, and Bishop McCallister’s private behavior makes his lectures about community service look mighty rich. Oh, NOW we got standards, Bishop? His pressure on Michael already stinks in the first issue; the second lets you peek behind the expensive curtains. The corruption is laid on thick enough to spread on toast, but it gives Priest a target beyond another room full of interchangeable gunmen.

Detectives Al Morgan and Jack Hayes help keep those developments moving. Morgan has a personal connection to the parish, while Hayes keeps poking holes in the comforting version of events. Their back-and-forth makes the investigation readable without turning every scene into a case-file recital. Nobody is solving the mystery of the century here. The reader is ahead of the cops almost immediately, so the pleasure comes from watching the evidence creep toward a man who sincerely believes he is helping them.

Priest #2 interior: masked Priest amid flames contrasted with Michael at church.
Priest #2 interior artwork, Maximum Press.

Pajarillo is having a damn ball drawing this guy. The mask looks hammered onto a permanent scowl, the coat hangs like it weighs forty pounds, and every firearm gets its own little audition. Priest poses with the confidence of somebody who has never caught that coat in a car door. Upward angles sell his size; face close-ups turn fear and anger into big, readable signals. The layouts stack narrow reaction panels around larger impacts, giving the action a stuttering, stop-and-explode rhythm. Subtle? Fam, the muzzle flashes have better attendance than the church.

Some of that posing costs the fights their footing. Bodies crowd the frame, guns dominate the foreground, and the room can become secondary to whichever arm is throwing the biggest shape. The book occasionally tells you who got hit more clearly than it shows how everybody moved. Still, Pajarillo can switch gears: Michael carrying an injured kid has an urgency the glamour shots cannot supply. The military flashback in #2 also gives the second issue a visual change of scenery and a stronger glimpse of the trauma underneath all that hardware.

Sean Parsons and Norm Rapmund ink the first issue, with ink assists from Andy Owens; #2 credits Parsons alongside Pajarillo on selected pages. The heavy shadows and dense marks suit the mask, masonry, and clenched faces, though some smaller panels get crowded. Dan Shadian colors #1, and Todd Pickens takes over for #2, with Extreme Colors and Quantum FX handling separations across both. Purple shadows, metallic highlights, and hot orange gunfire give the pair that glossy period flavor. The second issue’s blazing action and dusty combat scenes keep the visual temperature high without making the parish scenes look identical.

Priest #2 interior: Michael O’Bannon and fellow Marines in a military flashback.
Priest #2 interior artwork, Maximum Press.

Kurt Hathaway letters both issues, steering the everyday conversations, jagged narration captions, scripture, and all those oversized blasts through some busy pages. The contrast between Michael’s speech and the vigilante’s inner voice is particularly useful. You can follow their separation before the story explains much. The explanation itself is rougher: the recap labels Michael’s condition “schizophrenia,” then describes an alternate identity taking over at night. Those are different things, and the comic blurs them into a convenient mystery switch. Michael’s fear deserves more care than that shortcut gives him.

For the retro heads, even the back matter is a trip. The debut includes rough layouts that let you compare Pajarillo’s planning with the finished pages. The second issue carries Liefeld’s own statements about leaving Image and moving his studio’s books to Maximum Press. You are holding an action comic with a little publishing time capsule tucked behind it. The actual story, though, remains unfinished at the end of #2, with a fresh confrontation being lined up. This pair works as an opening movement, so do not expect a tidy two-issue wrap-up.

Priest #1–2 gets a combined 3/5 from me. There is a sturdy pulp hook, hungry artwork, and enough outrageous attitude to make a retro reread entertaining. Thin supporting characters, blunt villains, and that muddled approach to Michael’s condition keep it from hitting harder. I had fun with this loud little corner of 1996, even while side-eyeing its shortcuts. Digging through the back-issue boxes for masked weirdos with questionable judgment? Pull up, Crusaders. Father O’Bannon has a sermon ready, and apparently the punctuation is buckshot.

Publisher: Maximum Press | Issues: Priest #1 (August 1996) and #2 (October 1996)
Creator/Story: Rob Liefeld | Script: Robert Napton | Pencils: Mark Pajarillo
Inks: Sean Parsons and Norm Rapmund (#1); Sean Parsons and Mark Pajarillo (#2) | Ink Assists: Andy Owens (#1)
Colors: Dan Shadian (#1), Todd Pickens (#2) | Color Separations: Extreme Colors & Quantum FX
Letters: Kurt Hathaway | Editor: Matt Hawkins | Editorial Assistant: Jenny Allevato

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Image Comics’ 2026 Holiday Blind Bag Brings a $25 Variant Surprise

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Some people shake their presents to figure out what’s inside. Comic collectors are about to spend December staring at a sealed bag and trying to manifest a favorite cover. The 2026 Image Comics Holiday Blind Bag reaches comic shops on Wednesday, December 23, carrying one randomly selected incentive variant for $25. Santa apparently has access to the Image archives, fam, and he’s keeping the pull list to himself.

The promise is specific: every bag contains one ratio variant of at least 1:25, with the possibility of a 1:100 incentive variant. Image also says a lucky few buyers could discover a signed comic or an exclusive surprise. Those are potential extras, so keep the expectations straight before you start picturing an autograph under the tree.

The mystery is the whole game

There’s a particular kind of collector who enjoys opening something without knowing exactly what’s coming. That’s who this holiday package speaks to. You’re getting a guaranteed incentive variant, but the series and specific cover are random. If your entire mission is one particular Spawn or Witchblade cover, take that randomness seriously. A surprise pull and a targeted purchase scratch two different collector itches.

The ratio designation describes the incentive variant, and Image has not announced individual pull odds for the different tiers. A 1:100 possibility does not mean one out of every hundred holiday bags contains that tier. The announcement also doesn’t specify a particular issue or artist for each possible series. Enjoy the hunt, Crusaders, but don’t let the wrapping paper do the thinking for you.

Spawn, Witchblade and a whole lot of beautiful chaos

Image’s announced pool covers a wide stretch of its catalog. The possible series include Badrock, Blood & Thunder, Bug Wars, Chachu, Chainkata, Corpse Knight, Crimes Against Nature, Crowbound, The Darkness, The Darkness vs. Angelus, Death Fight Forever, Death Vigil, The Department of Truth and D’orc. That already gives the mystery bag room to jump between familiar heavy hitters and very different corners of the line.

The possibilities continue with Exquisite Corpses, Exquisite Corpses: Fox Mask Killer, Exquisite Corpses: Lone Gunman, Exquisite Corpses: Rascal Randy, The Eye Collector, Feral, Final Boss, Fireborn, Geiger, Ghost Pepper, Hammerfist, Head Lopper, I Hate Fairyland and If Destruction Be Our Lot. Horror readers have plenty of names to recognize there, with fantasy and action ready to crash the party.

Also named are In Your Skin, Inferno Girl Red, Invincible Universe: Battle Beast, Invincible Universe: Capes, Karman Blade, The Last Driver, Lost Fantasy, Luther Strode, M1: Monster Racing League, Mirka Andolfo’s Sweet Paprika: Black, White & Pink Halloween Special, Odin, Ofiusa and Omen Bound. The draw here is the range. Your holiday pull could land somewhere completely different from your regular stack.

Rounding out the announced possibilities are The Princess Murders, Radiant Black, Red Roots, Royals, Skinbreaker, Spawn, Starhenge Book Two: A Kiss For Atticus, Tales of Wonder, Terminal, W0rldtr33, White Sky and Witchblade. These are possible pulls, with one comic in each bag. Image presents the titles as examples of series that may appear.

For more December collecting news, check out our coverage of The Darkness 30th anniversary plans. There’s plenty competing for space on that end-of-year comic shop trip.

The 2026 Image Comics Holiday Blind Bag carries UPC 70985305003200111, costs $25 and arrives December 23, 2026. Give your local comic shop those details when asking about ordering or availability, and visit Image Comics for publisher updates. If you enjoy the surprise, this is one to ask about. If you’re hunting a specific book, keep that goal in mind before you put your cash down.

Crusaders, which series would make you happiest when that bag opens? Battle Beast, The Department of Truth, a little Spawn madness? Let us know what you’re hoping to pull. Artwork courtesy of Image Comics.

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MovieBox for Tracking Movies and Shows on a Windows Desktop

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There’s a particular kind of evening that happens to anyone who follows comics, genre films, and the endless release calendar attached to them. A trailer drops, someone in a group chat says the sequel’s cast is stacked, and you spend twenty minutes bouncing between a studio site, a showtimes listing, and three browser tabs just to figure out when the thing opens near you.

That scattered research is the problem a lot of movie-info apps try to solve, with varying degrees of success. Most of them either bury the basics under recommendation algorithms or forget that a release date is useless without a cast list next to it.

MovieBox – Free Movies & Shows takes the straightforward route. Listed in the Entertainment category and published under the name Whelwheels, it pulls together what’s currently in theaters, what opens this week, and what’s coming soon, then attaches the detail you’d otherwise go hunting for.

What MovieBox puts on screen for each title

The per-movie breakdown is where the app earns its keep. Open a title and you get the poster, release date, cast, director, genre, ratings, budget, earnings, and the trailer, all in one place rather than spread across four sites.

The budget and earnings fields are an odd inclusion for a casual viewing app, and also the most interesting one for this crowd. If you’ve ever argued about whether a comic book adaptation underperformed or just had a weird theatrical window, having the numbers attached to the listing saves a lot of back-and-forth.

Trailers play directly from the entry, which matters more than it sounds. The usual workflow is: hear about a film, search the trailer, get served a reaction video instead, give up. Here the trailer is a property of the movie record, not a search result.

Beyond theatrical listings, the app positions itself as a discovery tool for movies, documentaries, and TV shows, with the showtimes function aimed at the specific question of what’s playing and when.

Why the desktop version changes how you use MovieBox

On a phone, MovieBox is a lookup tool. You check a release date standing in line for coffee, watch thirty seconds of a trailer, and close it. The screen is small enough that the detailed info panel (cast, director, budget, earnings) becomes a scroll rather than a glance.

A desktop flips that. Cast lists and box office figures sit in view at once, trailers run at a size where production design is legible, and the app lives in a window next to whatever else you’re doing. If you’re drafting a review, keeping a release calendar, or lining up a watchlist for a podcast episode, running the MovieBox app for PC alongside your notes beats thumbing between apps on a handset. Copying a director’s name into a document is a two-second job with a real keyboard.

Getting an Android entertainment app onto Windows means using an Android emulator, which creates a virtual Android environment your desktop can run. Two things matter for an app like this one specifically.

The first is video playback. MovieBox leans on embedded trailers and streaming, so the emulator’s graphics renderer is the setting that affects your experience most. If trailers stutter or audio drifts out of sync, switching the rendering mode in the emulator’s display settings usually sorts it before anything else does.

The second is orientation. MovieBox is built as a portrait-first phone app, so a maximized landscape window can leave poster grids stretched or padded with dead space. Running it in a narrower, taller window keeps the layout looking the way the developers designed it.

Where this fits for comics and genre film readers

The practical use case here is tracking, not just watching. Comic adaptations arrive in waves, with dates that shift, titles that get renamed, and casting announcements that trickle out over months. An app that keeps theatrical listings, upcoming releases, and full credits in one interface is a reasonable substitute for a spreadsheet nobody wants to maintain.

A few situations where having it open on a desktop makes sense:

  • Checking a film’s director and cast while writing about the source material
  • Pulling budget and earnings figures into a discussion about a franchise’s performance
  • Running through upcoming release dates to plan coverage or a watch schedule
  • Watching a trailer at a size where you can catch costume and set details
  • Building a watchlist of documentaries and shows without squinting at thumbnails

This is a free, ad-supported entertainment listing and viewing tool, not a licensed subscription service with a curated catalog. The showtimes and movie-info side is the solid part, and it’s the part that holds up on a bigger screen.

If you’ve ever paused a trailer on your phone because you couldn’t tell whether that was practical armor or a CGI rig, watching the same clip in a desktop window answers the question in about four seconds.

 

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David Hedgecock and Chase Marotz Bring the Fun Back to Comics – Comic Crusaders Podcast #782

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Some comic publishers spend a lot of time trying to figure out exactly which shelf every book belongs on. Fun Time Go! feels more like somebody kicked the shelf over, dumped out the toy box and started making comics out of whatever looked the most fun.

David Hedgecock and Chase Marotz join me on the Comic Crusaders Podcast to talk about the growing Fun Time Go! universe, independent publishing, crowdfunding and what happens when you stop waiting for somebody else to decide whether your weird idea deserves to exist.

One of the books driving that attitude is SUGAR BOMB, Fun Time Go!’s over-the-top sci-fi superhero comedy. This thing proudly runs on chaos, absurdity and a cybernetic heroine trying to survive adventures alongside a wildly inappropriate dolphin sidekick. If that sentence made you stop and read it twice, GOOD. That’s kind of the point.

There’s also more SUGAR BOMB coming. The next Kickstarter campaign has shifted to mid-November, which means the new campaign is not open for backing yet. Fans who want to be there from the start should follow Fun Time Go! on Kickstarter now and be ready when the new campaign launches.

Kickstarter:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/funtimego/super-kaiju-rock-n-roller-derby-fun-time-go/creator#

That madness is only part of the Fun Time Go! identity. Super Kaiju Rock-N-Roller Derby Fun Time Go! combines giant monsters, roller derby and rock and roll because apparently choosing only one ridiculous thing wasn’t enough. Miss Mina and the Midnight Guardians takes the company into supernatural adventure territory, giving David, Chase and company a playground that can jump genres without every book feeling like it came out of the same machine.

That’s where our conversation really gets fun. We get into what makes something worthy of the Fun Time Go! logo, how David and Chase balance publishing and editorial responsibilities, what crowdfunding actually demands once the excitement wears off, why direct relationships with readers matter and whether independent publishers can create sustainable businesses without following the old playbook. There’s a business behind all this insanity, but nobody ever said the business had to become boring.

Check out the full conversation, dig into what Fun Time Go! is building, and if SUGAR BOMB sounds like your flavor of comic-book madness, follow Fun Time Go! on Kickstarter now so you’re ready when the new campaign goes live in mid-November.

Fun Time Go!
https://funtimego.com/
Instagram:
@ftgletsgo
X:
@FunTimeLetsGo

THE CRUSADE NEVER ENDS! WEPAAAA!

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Creature Corps Reveals Monster TCG Cards Ahead of Its December Launch

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The monster battles are coming with something you can actually put in a card sleeve. Image Comics has revealed three collectible Creature Corps TCG cards ahead of the comic’s December launch, bringing Bjorn Barands, Dalton Rose and Martin Simmonds into the creature-catching chaos. Curt Pires and JOK’s new series already has an ugly competitive streak built into its world, and now the publisher is giving collectors a piece of that world to chase.

Creature Corps #1 arrives Wednesday, December 2, 2026, with giant-sized issues priced at $4.99. Pires, whose titles include Fireborn and Lost Fantasy, writes the series alongside artist JOK, known for 51 and In Hell We Fight. The pitch takes the creature-battling crazes of the 1990s and runs them through an irreverent, violent satire that Image compares to The Boys. Cute nostalgia can only get you so far when somebody’s making serious money off the fighting.

Creature Corps Drakazoid card by Martin Simmonds
Creature Corps Drakazoid card by Martin Simmonds
Creature Corps Gleaver card by Bjorn Barands
Creature Corps Gleaver card by Bjorn Barands

The newly revealed cards feature Gleaver with artwork by Bjorn Barands, Regalleaf by Dalton Rose, and Drakazoid by Martin Simmonds. Image is holding back two additional card reveals for release-day discovery. The cards are part of the Cover B Booster Bundle offering, with a chance at a holofoil chase card included in the collector pitch.

There’s more than a card promotion inside the comic. Every issue will also carry The World of Creature Corps, an ongoing backup anthology featuring established creators and newcomers. Announced contributors include Franklin Jonas, Jordan Blum, Timmy Heague, Fred Kennedy, Stefan Tosheff and Juanse Eslava, with further names still to come. That gives the main series a place to build out its world through other writers and artists as the central story moves forward.

Retailer-exclusive variants are also on the way, with dozens planned and artists including Ito, Monkeymouth, Donghee Kim and Vincenzo Riccardi. Image recommends checking with your local shop about its offerings and getting the series onto your pull list. With store exclusives in the mix, asking your retailer directly is the practical move if a particular artist is what you’re after.

Pires is going all in on the size, attitude and collectible side of the launch:

“I’m ecstatic to be partnering with Image Comics again for my biggest and craziest book yet. Creature Corps has it all: dark, irreverent deconstructionism of our childhood creature battling crazes, giant sized issues for only $4.99, the coolest trading cards around, and an all-star cast of contributors to the book. I’m so grateful for all the support on Fireborn and Lost Fantasy and can’t wait for readers, collectors, and retailers alike to experience Creature Corps for themselves on December 2nd!”

The story begins with a disaster people quickly figure out how to monetize. In 1999, time breaks and the Calamity Creatures arrive from a desolate future. Humanity starts making them battle, and the business becomes the largest for-profit sporting event since the UFC. That industry is Creature Corps, and former champion Dusty Gotem knows exactly what it costs.

Dusty won the world championship at 14, then walked away in disgust. Seventeen years later, he’s hiding from that life when a time quake leaves his mother injured and facing enormous medical bills. Saving her means getting his old team back together and chasing the world title again. The guy who rejected the whole machine now needs its prize money. That is a nasty little trap to build a comeback story around, fam.

The full issue #1 cover selection gives retailers plenty to order. Cover A by JOK is UPC 70985304964700111. Cover B, the JOK Booster Bundle Variant, is UPC 70985304964700121; Image describes it as containing a polybagged secret cover for issue #2 plus one of two random Creature Corps TCG cards, including a chance to win a holofoil chase card. The announcement separately identifies three revealed card designs and two surprise designs, so those overall reveals should not be read as a guarantee of a particular card in a particular bundle.

Cover C by Jarret Hartnell is UPC 70985304964700131; Cover D, JOK’s Japanese Video Game Magazine variant, is 70985304964700141; Cover E, the Blank Sketch cover, is 70985304964700151; and Cover F by Tyler Kirkham is 70985304964700161. Cover G by Flops uses 70985304964700171, while Cover H, Jae Lee’s standard variant, uses 70985304964700181.

For the incentive lineup, Cover I is JOK’s Absolute Batman homage at 1:25, UPC 70985304964700191. Cover J is JOK’s Japanese Virgin Foil at 1:50, UPC 70985304965400111. Cover K is the Flops Cornerbox Variant at 1:75, UPC 70985304965400121. Cover L is the Jae Lee Virgin Gold Foil at 1:100, UPC 70985304965400131.

Digital availability includes Amazon Kindle, Google Play, Apple’s iBooks, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, Scribd’s Everand, Kobo, Overdrive, Hoopla, Sweet app and Comic Plus. For physical copies, speak with your local comic shop about the standard covers, booster bundle and retailer exclusives ahead of December 2. You can also follow Image Comics for further updates and revisit our earlier Creature Corps coverage for more on the launch.

Founded by a collective of bestselling artists in 1992, Image Comics publishes creator-driven stories across horror, science fiction, fantasy, romance, crime, humor and more. Its books include Spawn, The Walking Dead, Invincible, Saga, Monstress and The Department of Truth. Creature Corps joins that lineup with a former child champion, a broken timeline and monsters whose next fight can now follow you home in a card binder.

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