20 Most Anticipated Graphic Novels: Summer 2026

The summer is a good time to sit back and relax by the lake with a nice graphic novel or trade paperback. But how do you choose which one to grab? Let us help you with our 20 most anticipated graphic novels of this summer!

We tend to lean towards independent and horror comics, so this list might be skewed a bit to that side of things. The list is in order of release date into local comic shops, publication dates for your favorite bookstore may come a day early or a few weeks later depending on publisher. Release dates are also subject to change.

Wrestle Heist

Writer: Kyle Starks
Artist: Kyle Starks
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: July 8, 2026

Wrestle Heist is a no-holds-barred heist caper packed with body slams and backstabs for fans of over-the-top action!

After being crippled by a shady wrestling promoter, a former pro wrestler gathers a team of others wronged in the ring to rob the promoter blind during the biggest wrestling event of the year! From the outrageous, action-packed mind of multi-time Eisner nominee Kyle Starks (Peacemaker Tries Hard, Sexcastle, I Hate This Place), with eye-popping colors by Vladimir Popov (Where Monsters Lie, Fearscape).

Collects Wrestle Heist #1-5.

---

The Guy in the Chair

Writer: Hannah Rose May, Utkarsh Ambudkar
Artist: Guillermo Sanna
Publisher: Dark Horse
Release Date: July 8, 2026

The Guy in the Chair is a comics spy thriller jam packed with action, comedy, and heart.

In the blood-soaked world of assassins and spies, love has no place. Unfortunately for Abhi, a tactical analyst at a private military company, love is all he can think about. Against his employer’s strict policy, he’s fallen head over heels for Merlin, the field operative whose missions he supports as her “Guy in the Chair.”

When Merlin shows up at his apartment bloody, beaten, and pleading for help, Abhi is yanked from behind the safety of his computer screens, and now the two must prevent their former employer and a cabal of corporate overlords from a hostile global takeover that threatens all of humanity.

Collects The Guy in the Chair #1-4.

---

Lex Luthor: Diabolical Genius

Writer: Christof Bogacs
Artist: Valerio Chiola
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: July 8, 2026

Lex Luthor is many things: Inventor. Genius. Criminal Mastermind. He’s also barely a teenager.

When his father, Lionel Luthor, is thrown into prison by none other than that meddling blue boy scout Superman, the heir apparent to the Luthor crime empire must find a way to get his revenge. And Lex has the perfect plan. With the help of his infamous bodyguard, Slade Wilson, he is going to kidnap Lois Lane. Lex knows that Superman would trade just about anything in exchange for Lois’s safe return — maybe even Superman’s ultimate weakness. But what happens when Clark calls in his broody friend Batman instead?

What follows is an action-packed game of cat-and-mouse from writer Christof Bogacs (Under Kingdom) and artist Valerio Chiola sure to keep fans on the edge of their seats!

---

Devil on My Shoulder

Writer: Kyle Starks
Artist: Piotr Kowalski
Publisher: Dark Horse
Release Date: July 15, 2026

Something terrible has happened. For forty days she was tortured by five men and left for dead — but she will get her revenge on each and every one of them. And it will be bloody. An event that takes her on a strange and violent supernatural path of payback through bizarre encounters with ex-hitmen, sadistic art enthusiasts, and literal devils.

Devil on My Shoulder is from the Eisner-nominated creator Kyle Starks (Those Not Afraid) and Piotr Kowalski of the hit meta-horror comedy Where Monsters Lie comes this dark revenge horror comics series that’s The Crow meets John Wick.

Collects Devil on my Shoulder #1-4.

---

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring

Writer: Patrick Horvath
Artist: Patrick Horvath
Publisher: IDW Publishing / IDW Dark
Release Date: July 22, 2026

The Eisner-nominated cozy-horror comic series returns in this sequel to the critically acclaimed first volume!

It’s been eight long years since a bloodlusting brown bear drove into the city, kidnapped a kind young duck, dissected his body, and buried the pieces in the woods. The duck’s family painstakingly sought justice… but this brown bear was smart… she covered her tracks… and in the ’80s, there simply wasn’t a way for the duck’s family to find answers.

But it’s not the ’80s anymore. Almost a decade after cuddly brown bear Samantha Strong solidified herself as the sole serial killer in Woodbrook, the world is entering a new era. As Samantha will soon find out, there are no secrets in the age of the internet. And those who lost loved ones to her massacre haven’t given up the flame of justice.

A reckoning is coming to Woodbrook. Join visionary writer and artist Patrick Horvath as he returns to the hit series that has taken the comic world by storm!

Collects Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring #1-6.

---

D’Orc Vol. 1

Writer: Brett Bean
Artist: Brett Bean
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: July 22, 2026

D’Orc, the half dwarf/ half orc is fated to end the world because of some inconvenient doomsday prophecy from the Book of Certain Doom.

Armed with nothing but a magical yet ambitiously violent shield and a chicken with its head cut off, D’orc is caught dead center into Sunderaine’s never-ending war between the Light and Dark. Elves vs. Orcs. Wizards vs. Common Sense. Dragons vs. Literally Everyone.

Can he survive being hunted, blamed, and beaten by every human, elf, goblin, dwarf, Witch, Timelord, Ice Giant, three headed Dog, and at least three other unpronounceable magical creatures?

Join fan-favorite artist Brett Bean (I Hate Fairyland, Dungeon Crawler Carl), colorist Jean-François Beaulieu (I Hate Fairyland), and letterer Nate Piekos (Minor Threats) for a hilarious high-fantasy romp perfect for fans of Conan, Lord of the Rings, and of course, Gert’s deadpan humor.

Collects D’Orc #1-5.

---

30 Days of Night: Falling Sun

Writer: Rodney Barnes
Artist: Chris Shehan
Publisher: IDW Publishing / IDW Dark
Release Date: July 22, 2026

The town of Barrow, Alaska, has survived vampires before. But decades after the first attack, when the long polar night falls, it’s no longer just vampires stalking the darkness for revenge…and no one is safe in this horror graphic novel.

Over two decades after the terrifying vampire attack of 30 Days of Night, the town of Barrow, Alaska, has moved on. When troubled teenager Jalen James moves to town, fleeing the gang violence of Los Angeles, he finds himself trapped in a place just as dangerous. As both vampires and Jalen’s former gang seek revenge, the people of Barrow must remember its history if they want to survive the long polar night.

While Jalen deals with the trauma he is running from, an old vampire is resurrected from blood and ash…and vows to avenge his slain brother, Vicente. The dark of night will protect neither Jalen nor Barrow from the past, and they’ll have to come together and defeat their demons if they ever want to see the sun again.

Writer Rodney Barnes (Killadelphia, Batman: Full Moon) and artist Chris Shehan (House of Slaughter, The Autumnal) dare you to survive Barrow after dark in this cult-classic revival as original co-creator Steve Niles returns to the series as a story consultant.

Collects 30 Days of Night: Falling Sun #1-3.

---

Event Horizon: Dark Descent

Writer: Christian Ward
Artist: Tristan Jones
Publisher: IDW Publishing / IDW Dark
Release Date: July 29, 2026

Discover what happened to the original crew of the Event Horizon in this all-new cosmic horror graphic novel set in the universe of the terrifying cult-classic film!

This original comic series serves as an official prequel to the film! The Event Horizon was a revolutionary spaceship designed for one mission: faster-than-light travel with a top-secret, experimental gravity drive. But upon activating the device, the ship journeyed across the borders of Hell itself. In a nightmarish realm of torments beyond imagining, Captain Kilpack and the crew of the Event Horizon must resist all manner of demonic forces—including Paimon, the eyeless King of Hell, and their own descents into madness and bloodlust—if they’ve any chance of escaping back to their own world.

Abandon all hope and board the Event Horizon with multiple Eisner Award winner Christian Ward (writer of Batman: City of Madness, Two-Face) and powerhouse sci-fi artist Tristan Jones (Horror of Godzilla) in this unbelievable story of the true and final fate of the original Event Horizon crew.

Collects Event Horizon: Dark Descent #1-5.

---

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder Vol. 1

Writer: Dan Watters
Artist: Michele Bandini
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Release Date: August 5, 2026

One of the most terrifying villains in the history of comics is back—and more deadly than ever! Why is he here and what path will he take? Find out as the Shredder gets his own series!

As a dark new power rises from the shadows of New York, so does a much darker power return to the city’s streets…for revenge! Long a nemesis of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Shredder has returned forever changed by a maddening ordeal beyond imagining—a man out of time, betrayed by all around him, without the Foot Clan, and quite possibly insane. When one of his former Foot prodigies forms their own rival clan with infernal designs on New York, a recovering Shredder must quest deep into the criminal underworld, where enemies both old and new will discover what defiance will bring them at the end of the Shredder’s blades.

Collects Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder #1-6.

---

Murder Podcast Vol. 1

Writer: Jeremy Haun
Artist: Mike Tisserand
Publisher: Ignition Press
Release Date: August 12, 2026

No one knows how it got on your phone — but when you play the episode, people die!

The creator of The Beauty returns to infect your feed with a violent new horrifically brutal series for true crime lovers!

Fans of true crime podcasts are noticing brand-new episodes of a show they thought was over appearing in their feed, but when they cue up the first episode, they find themselves overtaken by a murderous urge. One that only stops when the killer is stopped, leaving a gruesome death toll in its wake.

For Mina and her friends, these killings are just another topic of their daily gossip, a potential new case for the next true crime show they can’t get enough of. Yet, as the killings get closer and closer to their own lives, it’s becoming clear that there is more going on below the surface than any of them realize.

Collects Murder Podcast #1-4 and Murder Podcast: The Cold Open.

---

Crownsville

Writer: Rodney Barnes
Artist: Elia Bonetti
Publisher: Oni Press
Release Date: August 12, 2026

Sins of the past don’t stay buried… they always find a way of rising from the grave!

From Eisner Award–nominated writer and master storyteller Rodney Barnes (Killadelphia, Batman: Full Moon) and phenomenal artist Elia Bonetti (Death of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy), enter a century-spanning tale of suspense and sorrow as true crime meets shocking terror inside an infamous asylum with a tortured past.

Founded at the turn of the 20th century outside of Annapolis, Maryland, the Crownsville Hospital was a notoriously segregated, all-Black psychiatric institute. After decades of overcrowding and neglect— alongside darker, more persistent rumors of patient abuse and illegal medical experiments—it was finally closed. Today, it stands condemned—a crumbling testament to a legacy of all-too-real terror inflicted on a marginalized and vulnerable community. But even as a ruin of its former self, Crownsville still casts a long shadow…When an unexplained death inside the abandoned hospital is ruled a suicide, Annapolis police detective Mike Simms and journalist Paul Blairare are compelled to dig deeper, only to discover the reality of the horrors that once took place there… and the powerful connection they share to the anguished spirits of the dead that are still locked within its walls.

Collects Crownsville #1-6.

---

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Battle Nexus

Writer: Various
Artist: Various
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Release Date: August 12, 2026

An epic showdown brings TMNT heroes and villains from across the multiverse together for the very first time in this comic series by five incredible creative teams!

The raddest TMNT event of the decade kicks off here! When one of the Turtles’ closest allies is taken hostage by a mysterious adversary, the brothers are drawn into a new dimension of adventure in Battle Nexus. This blistering five-part series finds the Ninja Turtles fighting for their lives in a martial arts challenge unlike anything they’ve faced, with four deadly champions selected from across 40 years of TMNT media to destroy the Ninja Turtles—every Ninja Turtle!

For the first time, IDW’s Heroes in a Half-Shell meet allies from other fan-favorite TMNT universes, such as the comics worlds of Mirage and Archie, the animated characters from the Rise of the TMNT and Tales of the TMNT series, and more as they fight for their lives and discover the unbelievable secrets of the Battle Nexus!

Brought to you by a host of talent, including Tom Waltz, Esau & Isaac Escorza, Paul Allor, Ben Bishop, Sophie Campbell, Vitor Cafaggi, Caleb Goellner, Omar Francia, Erik Burnham, and Hendry Prasetya!

Collects Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Battle Nexus #1-5.

---

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin TP

Writer: Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Tom Waltz
Artist: Esau & Isaac Escorza, Ben Bishop, Kevin Eastman
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Release Date: August 26, 2026

The best-selling TMNT epic that took the world of comics by storm, reunited the TMNT’s original creators, and reinvented the Turtles’ mythology and future!

A New York Times bestseller!

Who is the Last Ronin? In a battle-ravaged future New York City, a lone surviving Turtle embarks on a seemingly hopeless mission of seeking justice for the family he lost. From legendary TMNT co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, get ready for the final story of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles three decades in the making!

What terrible events destroyed his family and left New York a crumbling, postapocalyptic nightmare? All will be revealed in this climactic Turtles tale that sees longtime friends becoming enemies and new allies emerging in the most unexpected places. Can the surviving Turtle triumph?

Eastman and Laird are joined by writer Tom Waltz, who penned the first 100 issues of IDW’s ongoing TMNT series, and artists Esau & Isaac Escorza and Ben Bishop.

Collects Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin #1-5.

---

TMNT: The Last Ronin – The Lost Years TP

Writer: Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz
Artist: Esau & Isaac Escorza, Ben Bishop, Kevin Eastman
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Release Date: August 26, 2026

An epic prequel to the smash-hit graphic novel TMNT: The Last Ronin, where readers discovered who the Last Ronin was, Lost Years shows the thrilling journey of how he came to be.

In the smash-hit miniseries The Last Ronin, readers witnessed the final gut-wrenching days of the Heroes in a Half-Shell. For Michelangelo in particular, the march to his heartbreaking last battle was long and dangerous, taking him from New York City to Japan, across Asia and Europe, and then back home again to administer final justice against those guilty of killing his family.

But what happened during those fateful years when he had only the need for vengeance and Master Splinter’s journal to guide him? What battles did he fight? What hard lessons did he learn? The time has come to find out as original miniseries writers Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz join artist Ben Bishop to reveal what adventures the Last Ronin experienced during his vengeful journey. And in the present, a new master, Casey Marie Jones, prepares her young terrapin students to be the next generation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

Collects Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin – The Lost Years #1-5 and TMNT: Lost Day Special.

---

The Twilight Zone Vol. 1

Writer: Various
Artist: Various
Publisher: IDW Publishing / IDW Dark
Release Date: September 2, 2026

Return to the Twilight Zone in this all-new anthology series featuring stories by some of the best creators in comics today!

Each issue is a new tale in the vein of the iconic original television series that’s captivated audiences for over 60 years. And like the show, these stories will be revealed in terrifying black and white!

These stand-alone 22-page stories are a spiritual sixth season of the original show. All-star creative teams tell the tales of billionaires, scientists, families, and knights as they journey to island paradises, bitter battlefields, and the farthest reaches of outer space.

Featuring stories by Dan Watters (Batman: Dark Patterns, Shredder) & Morgan Beem (Crashing, Swamp Thing: Twin Branches), Tom Scioli (Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theatre, Fantastic Four: Grand Design), James Stokoe (Godzilla in Hell, Orphan and the Five Beasts), Nate Powell (the March trilogy, Swallow Me Whole), and L. Marlow & Francesco Francavilla (Batman: The Black Mirror, Afterlife with Archie).

Collects The Twilight Zone #1-5.

---

Star Trek: The Last Starship Vol. 1

Writer: Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing
Artist: Adrián Bonilla
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Release Date: September 9, 2026

A Galaxy Shattered. A Legend Reborn. A New Frontier Begins. After the cataclysmic Burn brings warp travel to a standstill and shatters centuries of unity, the dream of the United Federation of Planets collapses almost overnight. Worlds are cut off. Civilizations tumble. Chaos fills the void where hope once thrived.

Out of this cosmic wreckage rises an unlikely beacon: the U.S.S. Omega a lone vessel crewed by survivors navigating a lawless, uncharted Galaxy nearly 300 years after the fall. With no Federation to guide them, they must carve out a path through the ruins — facing warlords, scavengers, and the raw unknown.

But they are not alone.

In a desperate act, the remnants of Starfleet strike a dangerous bargain with one of their oldest enemies… in order to resurrect Captain James T. Kirk. Thrust into a future where everything he fought for has crumbled, Kirk must confront a Galaxy in twilight — and decide whether he can become the symbol it needs one last time.

A sweeping epic of legacy, identity, and frontier survival, Star Trek: The Last Starship Vol. 1 launches a bold new era of Trek storytelling — where the final frontier is wilder, stranger, and more perilous than ever before. The mission isn’t over. It’s just beginning.

Collects Star Trek: The Last Starship #1-6.

---

Touched by a Demon

Writer: Kristen Gudsnuk
Artist: Kristen Gudsnuk
Publisher: Dark Horse
Release Date: September 9, 2026

Touched by a Demon is like Touched by an Angel if it were a very dark comedy where instead of inspirational stories about helping people in need, it’s about ruining people’s lives—albeit with the best of intentions.

Dissatisfied with tormenting souls in Hell and longing for the halcyon days when he lived in Heaven, a low-level demon named Bifrons attempts to earn redemption by opening a life coach agency in the mortal realm. With the aid of his assistant Zuzu and a damned soul by the name of Elaine, Bifrons is determined to help humans save their souls in the hopes that maybe with enough good deeds, God in his heavenly mercy will give him a second chance…but can an entity of evil really change its nature?

Collects Touched by a Demon #1-4.

---

Archie X The Army of Darkness

Writer: Eric Burnham
Artist: Bill Galvan
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: September 9, 2026

It’s A Teenage Nightmare! There’s a certain man – name’s Ash, you may have heard of him – who is doomed to battle against the forces of evil, over and over again, whether he likes it or not. No matter where he goes, the cycle of violence always repeats itself – until the day that he arrives in the picturesque town of Riverdale.

This supernaturally wholesome community seems to break the curse that has plagued Ash ever since he first encountered its otherworldly evil all those years ago. Or rather, the curse was broken — until an over-curious teenager named Archie finds a copy of the Necronomicon Ex Mortis and reads a portion of it aloud, summoning the horrifying Deadites once again!

Now Ash and the good townsfolk of Riverdale must hold back the undead hordes long enough for Archie to undo what he’s unwittingly done. Otherwise, an Army of Darkness will roll over Riverdale and destroy everything and everyone in its path — and that’s just not going to happen on Ashley J. Williams’s watch!

Fresh-faced author Eric Burnham (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters) joins legendary Archie artist Bill Galvan for a long night’s journey into mayhem with Archie X Army of Darkness.

Collects Archie X The Army of Darkness #1-5.

---

Into the Unbeing: Library Edition

Writer: Zac Thompson
Artist: Hayden Sherman
Publisher: Dark Horse
Release Date: September 16, 2026

The entire terrifying journey of four scientists lost within a giant eldritch corpse is collected in this deluxe hardcover graphic novel volume. It’s a cosmic body-horror epic from acclaimed author Zac Thompson and Eisner-winning artist Hayden Sherman!

Find yourself in its innards.

A group of climate scientists working in a remote base camp on the Australian outback discover an impossible landform. Led by botanist Hildur Johansson, the team sets out to conduct a routine exploratory mission to map the terrain, record their observations, and try to understand this anomalous landscape. But this is no landscape. This is the Unbeing.

The team discovers a sprawling eldritch corpse that threatens to upend everything they understand about the natural world. Propelled by hubris and the intoxicating charm of forbidden knowledge, the research team descends into a hostile alien environment allowed to thrive without human interference. The beautiful yet unforgiving landscape hosts strange flora, gorgeous fauna, and dangerous predators lurking in the darkness.

Into The Unbeing is a journey centuries in the making, chronicling the many lives who’ve been lost to the seemingly malevolent corpse. As they navigate the sprawling Lovecraftian labyrinth, the climate scientists must form a distrustful and desperate alliance with a mysterious humanoid known only as the Stranger. This incomprehensible Stranger claims to be a nineteenth-century British explorer. It claims to know the way back to the surface. It claims a new world is on its way. Perhaps if you listen closely, you can hear it breathing. But what is the cost of this new world? And who will be left to live in it?

Collects Into the Unbeing Part 1 #1-4 and Into the Unbeing Part 2 #1-4.

---

Universal Monsters: The Phantom of the Opera

Writer: Tyler Boss
Artist: Martin Simmonds
Publisher: Image Comics / Skybound
Release Date: September 23, 2026

The horrifying new vision of the story you only think you know!

After a series of violent crimes wracks the Paris Opera House, Christine Daaé’s career is in chaos. But the show must go on, and Christine will discover that no one — especially the mysterious voice whispering from the eaves — is what they seem.

As an old friend returns to investigate these surprising attacks, Christine will find out there’s no escaping… The Phantom of the Opera.

The superstar team of Tyler Boss (You’ll Do Bad Things) and Martin Simmonds (The Department of Truth) presents the shocking new horror series of 2026 that will thrill Phantom of the Opera fans new and old with a twist no one will see coming!

Collects Universal Monsters: The Phantom of the Opera #1-4.