As new comic day quickly approaches it can be sometimes difficult to decide which of the new comics hitting the shelves at your local comic shop to grab. Do not worry, we are here to help. This week we preview four titles that standout from the crowd including Any Given Smile #1, Star Trek #1, and more!
While we are not the official voice of your decision, we want to help guide you in the right direction for comics releasing September 23, 2026.
Any Given Smile #1
Writer: Stephanie Williams
Artist: Pablo Collar
Publisher: IDW Publishing / IDW Dark
January 1995. All eyes are on the American Arena League football championship game in St. Augustine, Florida. The Sharks gear up for the most significant event in the AAL’s 20-year history, and Maximillian Dupree — their sudden-star backup quarterback — is feeling the pressure from his teammates, his fans, and his debts to the city’s gambling underworld. A string of suicides hits the community hard, drawing a desperate sports journalist to examine their connection to the big game. No one can trust anything they see as a mind-bending entity and its frightful visions threaten their payouts, their sanity, and their lives…
Based on the critically acclaimed Smile film franchise, writer Stephanie Williams (Nubia, Roots of Madness) and GLAAD Media Award–winning artist Pablo Collar (Avengers Academy) are sure to run fear across the goal line. Time to place your bets. Kickoff approaches for a Sunday ritual that will have you ready to win… or die smiling.
Any Given Smile makes sports horrifying, in just the right way. Stephanie Williams and Pablo M. Collar raise the bar on the Smile universe with a football horror filled with tension, a sense of dread, and down right creepiness that is felt on nearly every page. Williams and Collar carve out their own corner of the Smile Universe with Any Given Smile, a downright terrifying addition to the franchise. – CLICK HERE to read the entire review
Star Trek #1
Writer: Christopher Cantwell
Artist: Dennis Menheere
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Their mission is new. Their legacy is not.
From the pen of fan-favorite writer Christopher Cantwell (Star Trek: Defiant, Star Trek: Red Shirts) and the brush of psychedelic standout Dennis Menheere (Etheres, Little Nightmares) comes the launch of an all-new flagship… and this time, we’re busting out of the four quadrants.
The Enterprise-G is on a desperate mission beyond the known Galaxy to relocate the dying Avuran people when its crew finds a perfect new home in a region of unknown space called the Epsilon Corridor. Three pristine Class-M worlds — the Trinity — await the refugees. No signs of civilization. No detectable threats. A colonist’s dream. But the dream fractures fast.
When Captain Seven of Nine and her divided, fast-tracked crew begin exploring the Trinity, they uncover disturbing contradictions: vanished structures, inexplicable artifacts, time skips, and evidence of a presence Starfleet’s century-old probes never detected. Each world houses a different ecosystem, different physics problems, and different secrets — as if they’ve been curated… or quarantined. But from who? Or what?
The first arc of Star Trek delivers a prestige, mystery-driven, high-stakes psychological thriller of an opening salvo — new worlds, new species, new existential threats — anchored by Seven, Jack, and Crash La Forge fighting to keep the mission together as the Galaxy’s oldest ghosts awaken.
Star Trek #1 had me questioning why I haven’t been reading the franchise’s main stories over the years. Christoper Cantwell brings his Star Trek expertise in crafting a story that is action-packed and emotionally resonate, while Dennis Menheere illustrates chaotic scenes that prove the unknown is not to be messed with. The premiere issue of Star Trek is a fitting way to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the franchise. – CLICK HERE to read the entire review
That Texas Blood: Hell Comes to Allison Ranch #1
Writer: Chris Condon
Artist: Jacob Phillips
Publisher: Image Comics
On March 19, 2003, Sheriff Joe Bob Coates and Deputy Wilson Hart are called to the Allison Ranch — the largest and richest ranch in the United States — where family grievances are blooming into full-blown war. This first issue will be loaded with bonus materials including behind the scenes peeks, newly conducted interviews, essays, cartoons, and more!
It might have been four years between issues, but writer Chris Condon and artist Jacob Phillips have not skipped a beat with That Texas Blood: Hell Comes to Allison Ranch. Full of familiar faces in familiar places, this new arc in the That Texas Blood series is perfect for those looking to jump into the series, but also a nod to those who have read the 20 issues prior. That Texas Blood: Hell Comes to Allison Ranch is a fantastic return to Ambrose County that reminds us exactly why this series has been so special from the start. – CLICK HERE to read the entire review
The Muppets Take the Marvel Universe #1
Writer: Various
Artist: Various
Publisher: Marvel
TONIGHT’S VERY SPECIAL GUEST STARS — THE MARVEL UNIVERSE!
To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of THE MUPPET SHOW… we bring you a crossover no one saw coming! Join Eisner-winning writer and one of the world”s greatest Muppet fans Chip Zdarsky along with a cadre of Marvelously talented creators as they unleash The Muppets’ trademark chaos on the Marvel Universe. ROWLF THE DOG kidnapped by MOJO? KERMIT THE FROG, MISS PIGGY, FOZZIE BEAR, SPIDER-MAN, BLACK PANTHER and EMMA FROST to the rescue? DR. BUNSEN HONEYDEW and BEAKER experimenting with GAMMA RAYS and PYM PARTICLES? What could go wrong? Find out in this epic tale told in the MIGHTY MARVEL MUPPET MANNER!
