We were given the worst info ever on that cover
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Be really nice if he could get the art out a bit earlier…can tell some of these are dialed in. Umm…how about do a few less perhaps…or spread them out?
(And I’m a fan typically)
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They’re all meh. Probably got more orders
Keeping them secret than revealing earlier. Might be part of the strategy.
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It’s like intentionally being crappy. Ugh.
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Hello CHU Believers! Another week has past since last FOC, and another slew of "coming soon’ JSC covers…but a few more have art released than last week. So that is good. But otherwise a pretty light week.
COVERS
With the Ninja Turtles on trial for a murder they didn’t commit, Casey Jones fighting for his life in a devastating coma, and the city overrun by Foot Patrol thugs, New York has but one hope to turn the tide: April O’Neil?JSC covers get enough attention, so I’m going to highlight a different book this week. I don’t expect this book to catch any heat on the aftermarket, but it’s just a cool cover. April O’Neil as Casey Jones (well, taking on his role). Why not? Dirty D Cover-of-the-Week!
Another Indy cover. I usually don’t highlight Transformers covers unless it’s a new character or one of the Jason Howard 2nd Prints. But this one I liked when I first saw it. Transformers has been a nice surprise run from Image.
JSC OVERLOAD
Ok, now to dive into JSC covers. Maybe some of these will get revealed before Sunday evening…not holding my breadth.
Bring on the Bad Guys: Dormammu #1
READS
The team behind the critically acclaimed Ice Cream Man comic comes to DC to apply its singular storytelling style to none other than the Man of Steel! Four new Kryptonites have been discovered in deep space, and Superman needs to know just what, exactly, they do to him–lest the colorful rocks of his home planet fall into evil hands! With Batman at Superman’s side, this DC Black Label Superman event explores the consequences of each never-before-seen variety of Kryptonite–all in the formal and boundary-pushing fashion that W. Maxwell Prince, Martín Morazzo, and Chris O’Halloran are celebrated for!This could be interesting, and given it’s the team that writes Ice Cream Man, it could have some interesting plot twists. Worth picking up issue #1.
Parting Words
That’s it for this week. Except for JSC it’s been pretty quiet summary so far. Maybe next week will pick up. TTFN!!
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Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum #1 was a good read. Story was interesting and Im looking forward to see where #2 goes.
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Hello Chu Family! It’s time again for another Dirty D FOC picks! And I have to say it’s slim pickings this week! Not much for reads…not a lot of #1. Even JSC has toned it down a bit. Is this like a 5th Wednesday kinda week? Lets get this over with, and maybe next week will be better.
COVERS
Just a cool subtle cover…almost like a “do you see what I see” or “where’s waldo” type cover. I like the creativity. Cover of the week.
JSC OVERLOAD
JSC is 2 for 3 with getting cover art in pre-FOC this week.
Gimmick Covers
Best to pre-orders these books with playing cards to save a little $$.
NEW NUMBER ONES
Frank Castle is BACK. With no memories, a full clip and a thirst for wrathful vengeance, his violent search for answers could only be chronicled in a Red Band series! Bullets will fly, blood will flow, and the citizens and criminals of New York City alike will fear the name THE PUNISHER! From the superstar HELLVERINE creative team of Benjamin Percy and Julius Ohta!He’s back. And he’s got the red band polybag…so Punisher can unleash.
The Justice League has a new spec-ops team so covert, the founders can’t know it exists. And its leader is the only hero who could keep JLR off its radar…because he is the radar. Red Tornado is the heart and mind of the Watchtower–watching, projecting into the future, and his projections point to apocalypse as a direct result of the concentrated power of the JLU. When your Justice League ID card lights up red, Reddy needs you.
INDY SPOTLIGHT
A few Indy #1’s for ya.
The year is 1901 and our heroine Lumen is a precocious 13-year-old with many questions about her life. Why has her father been gone for years? Why must she learn so many languages and fighting techniques and what’s with all the lessons in seafaring? Then an attack on her home by a horde of steam-punk assassins delivers the first glimmer of an answer, when Lumen’s savior reveals himself as her grandfather, the legendary Captain Nemo, one of the greatest characters in Victorian science fiction literature. A brand-new world of steam-punk adventure and thrills is about to open up for Lumen as she connects with the grandfather she never knew while together they take on a cabal of evil masterminds, intent on world domination . . . a world full of heroes and villains from Victorian adventure and fantasy fiction.
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From the creative team of New York Times bestselling author RICK REMENDER (DEADLY CLASS, Uncanny X-Force) and powerhouse DANIEL ACUÑA (Captain America, Black Panther)—the duo behind Marvel’s Uncanny Avengers—comes a savage, full-throttle wartime thriller where survival isn’t given…it’s taken. Milton Shaw is a battle-hardened bomber pilot, flying missions over a war-torn world ruled by a ruthless empire. But when his plane is shot out of the sky, Milton wakes up behind enemy lines—in the smoldering ruins of a city he helped burn. And in less than 24 hours, his own side is dropping the big one to finish the job. Now, injured, unarmed, and being hunted through enemy streets, Milton’s only shot at escape comes from the unlikeliest place: a grieving father and his son—civilians shattered by the same fascist regime that rules this land with an iron claw. Enemies by blood. Allies by circumstance. Together, they’ll have to fight their way out before the bomb drops and erases everything…and everyone. Set in a brutal, fully painted world of anthropomorphic animals—think Inglourious Basterds meets Blacksad—ESCAPE is a gritty, bullet-riddled journey through war’s scorched aftermath. It’s about the violence we inflict, the souls we try to save, and the courage it takes to crawl out of fire.
PICK OF THE WEEK
INARI and WHITE CAT, two super-thieves with everything to lose, are running wild in Brooklyn - and with SPIDER-MAN still reeling from GOD WAR, the battle against these new foes might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. MISTY KNIGHT’s leading the investigation, but she needs an extra hand. Someone with cat burglary experience perhaps? Don’t miss the comic debuts of INARI and New Champion, WHITE CAT!There’s a Momoko first appearance variant of Inari, but I like Cover A for it’s dynamics. White Cat did already have a cover appearances in ASM #36 (New Champions variant). In a light week with no other first appearances of note, going with Miles.
Parting Thoughts.
Yeah. That’s it. Sorry for the meh week. Later!
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Light FOC this week. Everyone can save up for Mark Spears blind bags next week.
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August 3rd, 2025
I can’t believe it’s August. And I can’t believe there are no J. Scott Campbell covers this week. Did the guy quit? Loser.
BTW, check out the new title graphic @Anthony made. Sweet.
Anyway, kind of an exciting week. Needed one of these after about a month of ‘meh’, don’t you think? Let’s dive in!
COVERS
I could highlight other Spears covers for this issue, but this one is my favorite. Dirty D Cover of the Week!
I’ll talk about this book more below, but going to highlight a couple of its covers here.
The two most adorable “pets” in the Marvel & DC universes on the same cover? Cuteness overload!!!
Homage to The Godfather.
JUST THE FAX
Some covers probably aren’t the best foil-ized. I’m not sure this one should be, but there it is. Still a cool book.
New ONES
Some highlights of new series/mini-series on FOC this week.
A new day dawns for the Dark Knight Detective as Eisner Award-winning writer Matt Fraction (Hawkeye, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen) joins forces with superstar artist Jorge Jimenez (Batman, Summer of Superman Special) for an unforgettable new era of Batman! The best superhero in comics gets a brand-new first issue to kick off this new era that will test Batman and Bruce Wayne like never before!
KYLE HIGGINS AND MAT GROOM KICK-START A NEW SCI-FI BATMAN EPIC! Humanity broke the barrier between our universe and our universe’s shadow. From the void came horrific apparitions that craved nothing but destruction. But from this terror…a legend was born. A warrior who found a way to access the energy that binds our universe and the shadow universe, transforming him into a cosmic dark knight. This immortal legend was named Batman. He fought to keep us safe but then one day abandoned the war. Though he didn’t disappear entirely. Now they say he hunts a rouges gallery of monsters…born from the shadows!Just when you thought it was safe not to spec on a new Batman again…here comes Cosmic Batman! I’m sure this will be heavily ordered, with people expecting an Absolute Batman type response. And we’ll probably see some NYCC exclusives and such. Anyway, we should get a nice dose of villains like Cosmic Joker and Cosmic, Cosmic Penguin and Cosmic Riddler, etc, etc… It does feature a Dan Mora Cover A…
DEADPOOL and BATMAN cross swords and batarangs as MARVEL and DC unite for the first time in decades! WADE WILSON has been hired for a job in GOTHAM CITY, but will the WORLD’S GREATEST DETECTIVE help him or destroy him? The main story starring Deadpool and Batman will be written by Zeb Wells and drawn by industry superstar Greg Capullo. The one-shot will also feature additional backup stories spotlighting other exciting Marvel and DC team-ups from a lineup of all-star talent, including Daredevil and Green Arrow by Kevin Smith and Adam Kubert, Captain America and Wonder Woman by Chip Zdarsky and Terry Dodson, and Jeff the Land Shark and Krypto by Kelly Thompson and Gurihiru.They should have made some of the variant covers “DC/Marvel: Batman/Deadpool”. Does Deadpool really outsell Batman? I find it hard to believe that to be true…
You just know there will be a Jeff/Krypto team-up someday on the big screen. It has to happen!!
(BTW, one of the variants is a JSC cover…and it’s a Psylocke cover, of course. So I lied when I said he didn’t have any this week…sneaky bastage.)
THE HIT '90s ANIMATED SERIES RETURNS! After searching to the ends of the Multiverse, PETER PARKER - the AMAZING, the SPECTACULAR, the RADIOACTIVE Web-Head himself - A.K.A. SPIDER-MAN, swings back into the streets of New York City with his beloved Mary Jane WATSON in tow! But what’s this? One of these villains is not like the others: Witness this universe’s debut of not one, but TWO of Spider-Man’s greatest villains from the comics! Legendary Spider-Scribe J.M. DeMATTEIS and rising star artist JIM TOWE bring you the return you’ve all been waiting thirty years for! And you’re never going to expect the twists and turns ahead for your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man! Break out your action figures, and post up in front of the TV as we bring you back to the greatest era of animated super-hero television in history!So this is like X-Men '97, but with no Disney+ series to pump it. Not sure how this will fair, but it does debut old characters in a new format.
On Ryloth, Twi’leks whisper about the Nightlands, the realm where their spirits retire after death. Legend says that on nights when the veil is thinnest, you can speak with the shades who reside there. On one such night, Anakin Skywalker and his Twi’lek friend Daesha try to summon the ghost of a much-loved relative for a final goodbye. But when Anakin makes contact with the Nightlands, the answer is anything but friendly…Enter: The Nightlander, a Star Wars boogeyman that seeks to possess a living host and bring chaos to the galaxy!• Written by Cavan Scott, the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Tales from Vader’s Castle and a story architect of The High Republic initiative. Introducing the Nightlander, a Star Wars boogeyman designed by legendary artist Iain McCaig!New Dark Horse Star Wars mini-series. Cover B actually features the villain with art by Iain McCaig.
All human art and creativity comes from an ancient power source, amplified by magical gateways all over the world, but now a sentient AI is closing the gateways in order to control all of the world’s creative arts. As humanity loses the ability to create art, the last gateway brings the Mona Lisa to life so she can form a team of artists to steal the gateway of creativity back from the AI. Three artists are given magical abilities that transform their art into weapons: a graffiti artist, a film FX artist, and a comic book artist. Together they plan an elaborate heist to save the last gateway of creativity.This one kind of lost me at Mona Lisa coming to life…and it’s a $7.99 price tag.
On the eve of his death, elderly Dale DeSouza is sent back in time to the Silver Age period where he was the speedster superhero, BULLET. De-aged via the time travel, he faces off against one of his earliest adversaries and searches for a way to return to his own time. Bullet vs. Leopard Gecko cover.How can you pass up a Leopard Gecko cover?
PICK OF THE WEEK
SPIDEY GOES COSMIC! A tale of two Spider-Men…One Spider-Man swings around New York City meting out justice in an unfriendly matter. Another Spider-Man is found in a distant solar system running with strange companions. One such companion? A stranger named SYMBIE making his FIRST APPEARANCE! The next major chapter in Spider-Man’s life begins here!We’ve seen a lot spiders and venoms in the “verse” titles and cross overs…and even clones. So this one is more of a grab and stash for another day. Long term hold. But basically Peter is going to “split” into two entities…one looks to be like a cross over with the Ben Reily and Cosmic Spider-Man. Potentially a new character that could get its own spin-off series down the road.
But that’s not all. A new symbiote also makes a debute, Symbie! Cute little Symbie. Who can resist?! Also, looks like a character named “Wretched” will also debut, as there is a “first appearance” variant cover for that character. I have nothing else to go on for intel on her.
But I’m featuring the Promo variant as it has both the new cosmic spidey and Symbie on the cover. Cover A is ok as well. And the “new costume” gets its own cover as well.
If anything, all these variants may confuse speculators, but at a $7.99 price tag, these variants may not be as highly ordered as you think. So best to pre-order one or two and get a discount, if you’re going to take a speculative chance. Anyway, the other variant covers of note are below.
Amazing Spider-Man #11 (Wretched 1st Appearance Variant)
Amazing Spider-Man #11 (New Costume Variant)
Parting Thoughts
That was a long one (that’s what…never mind). Laters!
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Added a bunch of new graphics for reoccurring posts. Makes it look more professional.
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They look slick. Nicely done.
I dig the graphic as well!
Standing in line at Terrificon this morning. Yesterday was quite the adventure (I have a thread going documenting the experience if you’d like to have a glimpse). But with 49 minutes before the line starts to move, I figured I’d squeeze in a little F.O.C. Article.
Another slow week. We seem to be in a summer doldrum or sorts. But that just means more money to blow on cons!
So let’s see what might be worth throwing money at before FOC closes…
COVERS
THE DEAD RISE AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME! It was the most important space flight in the history of the Marvel Universe - four intrepid heroes took off into the unknown and returned changed, gifted with great abilities‚ and hungering for human flesh! Travel back to the birth of a Marvel Universe parallel to our own but chock-full of horror since its very inception! Which heroes will rise to become the champions we know and love? Which will be torn limb from limb? And which will devour the scraps? Find out in this blood-soaked series!New Marvel Zombies book, but this time it’s red banded. Which means more red ink.
REPRINTS & FACSIMILES
One of my favorite modern books and covers. I have a few copies…how can I pass up the foil?!
Oh, Jason Howard got me good this week. I can’t pass up these 2nd print covers…
NEW ONES
[DC K.O. #1 (Local Comic Shop Day Ashcan)]
DC’S MAJOR 2025 EVENT IS HERE! SCOTT SNYDER AND JAVIER FERNANDEZ WELCOME YOU TO THE SLUGFEST OF THE CENTURY! The Heart of Apokolips has transformed Earth into a hellscape in preparation for the return of Darkseid! The end of the DC Universe is here! The Justice League’s only chance to defeat Darkseid is to enter a deadly tournament, an epic and over-the-top battle royale that will surprise you! The World’s Greatest Heroes fight to become the champion to enter the ring against Darkseid, but there’s a catch…the closer you get to the Heart of Apokolips, the more it corrupts you, changes you into something dangerous. Which DC character has what it takes to make it to the end? Who is willing to do what it takes to win it all, even if it means taking down their friends and family? You want to get nuts? Let’s get nuts!This is listed on FOC this week. May be a late edition. Midtown Comics seems to be offering it, but I can’t find another well known shop.
Superman returns! Fan-favorite Future State: Superman: House of El creators Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Scott Godlewski reunite for Adventures of Superman: Book of El! As the Super-Family settles into a well-earned time of peace, a powerful ally-turned-enemy invades Earth with an army at his back and a god-aspect of Olgrun, mad god of the First World. When even the Super-Family lacks the power to stop him, Superman is sent against his will to a place even he’s never been…where he’ll find allies he could never have expected. Concluding the events of Future State and Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s Action Comics, the next epic adventure begins here!
THE BATTLEWORLD FROM SECRET WARS RETURNS! “SLAY YOUR ENEMIES, PROVE YOUR WORTH AND ALL YOU DESIRE SHALL BE YOURS IN THE WORLD TO COME!” Heroes from across the Multiverse are thrown together on a patchwork world to engage in their own Secret Wars for the survival of their timelines! Who or what has created this Battleworld, and for what nefarious purpose? Enter Maestro. Is he friend, or foe?Isn’t there already a Maestro? That Old Man Hulk guy…What if it’s Maestro Bob…?
DEATH TO THE VENOMVERSE! Return to the Venomverse! Where anyone can be the host of their favorite alien life-form! However, Carnage is on the loose, and he’s tearing these symbiotic relationships apart left and right! Who will be strong enough to end the red menace before he kills all the Venoms in the multiverse? Collecting the digital DEATH OF THE VENOMVERSE tie-in in print for the very first time!What Venomverse seriews are we up to now…?
ULTIMATE HAWKEYE STARS IN THEIR OWN SOLO ADVENTURE! Spinning out of THE ULTIMATES, breakout hit character HAWKEYE goes on a covert solo op that will have a massive impact on the future of the Ultimate Universe!He breaks out so fast, he’s one and done.
THE IRON FIST RISES! The Book of the Iron Fist declares that every IRON FIST will die by the age of 33…but who wrote this false prophecy? DANNY RAND was killed…but can you truly kill an IMMORTAL IRON FIST? Learn the TRUTH about the legacy of the Iron Fist as Danny Rand rises once more to snuff out those that threaten that legacy…before Danny’s time run out.I loved the Immortal Iron First…Not sure what the difference is between immortal and undead…might be interesting to learn. Is he a zombie?
INDY SPOTLIGHT
MINISERIES PREMIERE Jack Chandler is the sole survivor of the zombie apocalypse in his rural farming community, but rather than eliminate them, he has chosen to continue living alongside the undead—including the husband and adopted daughter he fought so hard to have. But when his town is discovered by outsiders, Jack suddenly becomes the one thing standing in the way of those who hope to kill his family for good. Eisner Award-nominated creators TATE BROMBAL (Barbalien, Batgirl) and** JACOB PHILLIPS** (THAT TEXAS BLOOD, NEWBURN) team up for a haunting rural character piece set during a zombie outbreak, best described as THE WALKING DEAD meets Essex County.Sort of like a different kind of twist on Walking Dead.
Adapting the hit French graphic novel, author Romuald Giulivo and artist Jakub Rebelka come together to give us the dreamlike story of the very last day of H.P. Lovecraft. See the final journey of a complex and tortured man, facing his choices, his writings, and his mistakes at the very last moment of his life. Designed as a strange Gothic cathedral, The Last Days of H.P. Lovecraft is an extraordinary story that explores the end of a man and the beginning of a myth.
Parting Thoughts
Not much else to say this week. A lot of #1s, but not any true “spec” books. Enjoy the covers and reads!
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This showed up on my FOC form, but I don’t know that it was truly “FOC”?
I definitely won’t pass on a McFarlane Batman though.
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It is on FoC this week as far as I can tell…
they also have trade dress bundles of 25 being offered to retailers.
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Is it just me, or does that Batman cover look to plain? I was expecting more cape action…
They messed up – that’s Alan Davis art. And they misspelled Davis’ name.
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Of course, we all know if it was McFarlane’s CA it would have that 3rd hand somewhere in there… 
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That cover is not from Batman Year Two (Detective Comics run). That’s from the Batman Fill Circle graphic novel. Which was Alan Davis, yes.
Should have used Neal Adams art from Batman 237 much better Reaper cover…
Actually, Robin doesn’t come around until year 3…but they could have photo shopped someone else in with AI!!
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