September 2026 Pull List: Nine Books to Lock In Before the Cutoff

September is the month the fourth quarter quietly gets decided. The books that ship in October and November — the horror miniseries, the anniversary reprints, the omnibuses people buy as gifts — all have their Final Order Cutoff in the next four weeks. Miss the cutoff and we're at the mercy of whatever the distributor has left over, which on a hot #1 is usually nothing.

So here's what's worth your attention: nine books off the September FOC lists, plus a couple of things that landed on the shelf last week. A Frank Quitely cover, a die-cut foil Bride of Frankenstein, a G.I. Joe crossover nobody saw coming, and an art book that will be hard to find in a year.

Warbird #1 — on the shelf now

This one isn't a pre-order, it's already here. Derek Kolstad — the screenwriter who created John Wick — is writing a four-issue book, and the variant lineup reads like a wish list rather than a cover program. Frank Quitely handles Cover B, which is reason enough on its own; Quitely does not do a lot of variant work. Michael Cho takes Cover C, and Alex Maleev's Cover D is a genuine glow-in-the-dark rather than a spot-gloss approximation of one. If you chase ratios, the 1:50 JG Jones incentive is in the case, in single digits.

ThunderCats (2026) #1 — FOC September 14

Dynamite is relaunching ThunderCats with Greg Pak writing and Mark Spears on covers, and they have not been shy about it: fifteen covers, A through O. Start with Cover A by Spears if you just want the book. If you want the object, there's a metal premium edition and an Atlas Edition signed by Pak himself. Signed editions on a relaunch #1 are the kind of thing that gets scarce quietly — nobody notices until they go looking two years later.

Universal Monsters: Bride of Frankenstein Lives #1 (of 4) — FOC September 28

Skybound's Universal Monsters line has been the most consistently well-made horror on the stands, and this is the Bride's turn. Mattia De Iulis paints Cover A, and his work is genuinely painted — soft-edged, moody, nothing like the airbrushed default. The variant program is where this gets interesting: Stanley "Artgerm" Lau on foil, a 1:75 Christian Ward, and a Ryan Sook die-cut foil where the die cut follows the Bride's hair. That's a manufacturing decision somebody had to fight for.

If horror is your lane generally, the horror collection is where the rest of it lives.

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero / Tomb Raider #1 (of 5) — FOC September 14

A crossover that sounds like a bit until you look at who's drawing it. Elena Casagrande and Alex Guimaraes are on Cover A — Casagrande's linework has a clarity that suits both franchises — and Stjepan Sejic contributes a foil variant. Five issues, so it's a contained read rather than a commitment. If you've been following the wider Energon Universe books, this sits alongside them comfortably.

Archie vs. The Terminator #1 — FOC September 14

Francesco Francavilla drawing Riverdale getting torn apart by an endoskeleton is exactly the pitch you think it is, and Francavilla's flat orange-and-black palette was built for it. Sixteen covers on this one, the widest spread in the September window. Cover A is the Francavilla; the 1:30 virgin variant strips the trade dress off the same image, which on a design-led artist like Francavilla is a real difference rather than a cosmetic one. If the ratio numbering is new to you, we broke it down in our guide to variant covers.

Superman: Kingdom of Zod Special #1 — FOC September 7

A one-shot with Dan Mora on the cover, which for a lot of readers is the whole argument. Zod-centric specials tend to be where DC lets writers be a little nastier with the Superman mythos than the monthly allows. Four covers total, so it's an easy one to complete.

Poison Ivy #48 — FOC September 7

Part of the Batman: Bad Seeds banner, and the deepest DC single-issue cover spread this month. Jessica Fong takes Cover A, but the one to watch is Hayden Sherman's Dark Knight Returns 40th anniversary cardstock variant — Sherman's scratchy, high-contrast style is a strange and good fit for a Miller homage. There's a spot-foil Alexander Lozano in the mix as well. New to the Bat-books? Start with our Batman reading guide rather than jumping in at #48.

Luther Strode #1 Anniversary Edition — FOC September 14

Tradd Moore and Felipe Sobreiro's debut is fifteen years old and still the most kinetic body-horror action comic Image ever published. This anniversary reissue puts Moore and Sobreiro's original art back on Cover A, and there's a treasury-sized edition as a separate item — Moore's page compositions at treasury dimensions is the version to own. A 1:50 Nick Dragotta rounds it out. Mature readers, and it earns the label.

Beta Ray Bill by Daniel Warren Johnson Artist's Edition HC — FOC September 21

The one genuine event on the collected-editions side. Artist's Editions reproduce the original boards at full size — blue pencil, whiteout, paste-up and all — and Daniel Warren Johnson's linework is exactly the kind that rewards it. The standard edition is here, with a Direct Market exclusive cover also available. These print to order and then vanish.

Two more for the shelf, both cutting off September 7: Batman: The Silver Age Omnibus HC Vol. 02 and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez's DC Classics Artist's Edition HC. Garcia-Lopez drew the DC style guide that defined how those characters looked on everything from lunchboxes to bedsheets for twenty years. The rest of the collected stuff lives in graphic novels.

Also just landed

Marvel Dimensions HC — Alex Ross walking through the Marvel Universe, four copies on hand. And Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment #1, the Roger Stern and Mike Mignola classic reprinted in single-issue format. This is Mignola right before Hellboy, and you can see it coming.

Frequently asked questions

What does FOC mean, and why does it matter?

FOC is Final Order Cutoff — the last day we can adjust our order with the distributor before it's locked. After that date, we get what we asked for and nothing more. Pre-ordering before FOC is the only way to guarantee a copy of a hot book. We wrote a fuller explanation in our guide to FOC and pre-orders.

How much do I save by pre-ordering?

Pre-ordered standard covers are 20% off automatically in your cart — no code needed. Pre-ordered incentive and ratio covers are 10% off. The discount applies at checkout, so the price you see on the product page isn't the price you pay.

What is an incentive or ratio variant?

A cover a shop can only order in proportion to how many copies of the regular edition it orders. A 1:50 means one copy for every fifty ordered, which is why they carry the prices they do. The full breakdown is in variant covers explained, and what we have on hand is in incentive and ratio variants.

I'm new to comics. Where should I start with this list?

Archie vs. The Terminator and the Universal Monsters book are both self-contained — no homework required. For a broader on-ramp, try the best Marvel comics for new readers or, if the big two aren't your thing, the best indie and licensed comics.

What if I only want to spend a little?

Backstock is 35% off across the board — the whole backstock collection, and it's the cheapest way to fill in a run. Blind bags and mystery boxes are the other route, though we're honest about the tradeoffs there.

Lock it in

The September cutoffs land on the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th. If something on this list caught you, the pre-order is the cheap and certain version of buying it — 20% off standard covers, 10% off incentives, and a copy actually set aside with your name on it.

Everything currently open for pre-order is in newest pre-orders and FOC. Everything that's already arrived and shipping today is in just arrived in stock. Questions about anything above, or a book you don't see listed — ask. We can usually get it.