This Monday, September 7, 2026, is Final Order Cutoff — the deadline for retailers to lock in orders on books shipping in the coming weeks. This digest covers three different situations, and we've kept them clearly separate so you know exactly where you stand on each pick: books you can still order before Monday's cutoff, books whose order window already closed but haven't hit shelves yet, and books already out now.
🗓️ On FOC This Monday, September 7 — Order Before the Cutoff
These are shipping in late September and can still be ordered at cover price. Miss Monday's cutoff and you're relying on the secondary market or a lucky shelf-pull.
Firefly #1 (Dynamite Entertainment)
The single biggest FOC story of the week: 21 years after Serenity, Firefly is officially back in comics, with Eisner Award-winning writer Mark Russell (Superman: Space Age, Batman: Dark Age) and rising artist Lorenzo Re reuniting the crew of the ship for an all-new ongoing series. Multiple outlets have covered it as a genuine franchise revival, and Dynamite has backed it with an enormous variant program — this is exactly the kind of nostalgia-driven, screen-adaptation-adjacent launch that tends to sell out its first printing.
Firefly #1 Cvr A Robert Quinn
Shop NowGeiger #25 (Image Comics)
Geiger hits its 25th issue with a milestone anniversary celebration — "Radioactive Revolution" kicks off a new arc, backed by an anniversary-grade cover lineup that includes a McFarlane Toys action-figure tie-in variant. Anniversary issues on a book with this much collector heat are a reliable FOC target: order interest tends to spike right before the milestone number ships.
Poison Ivy #48 (DC)
Part of the ongoing "Batman: Bad Seeds" crossover, this issue arrives with a genuine collector hook: Cover E is a Dark Knight Returns 40th-anniversary variant by Hayden Sherman, tying a modern Poison Ivy issue to one of the most iconic Batman stories ever told. Crossover tie-ins with anniversary variant covers are a classic FOC speculation angle.
Vampirella X Witchblade Special #1 (Dynamite / Top Cow)
Two of the industry's most iconic "bad girl" characters cross over for the first time in this one-shot, with a headline cover by fan-favorite artist Stjepan Sejic. Crossover specials pairing legacy characters tend to draw both fanbases at once — worth locking in before Monday if you want the standard cover at cover price.
⏳ Past FOC, Not Out Yet — Coming Soon
Retailers already locked in their orders on these before we published — the order window has closed, so you won't find a fresh FOC slot for them. But they haven't hit shelves yet, so there's no back-issue market either. If your shop still has open stock or you want to reserve a copy for pickup on release day, now's the time to ask.
Midnight X-Men, Midnight Spider-Man & Midnight Fantastic Four #1 (Marvel)
Marvel's "Midnight" line is the speculation story of the season, and it's still a few weeks from shelves — all three issues street on October 7, 2026. Jonathan Hickman, Benjamin Percy, and Phillip Kennedy Johnson are reimagining the X-Men, Spider-Man, and the Fantastic Four inside a horror-toned alternate universe, and Marvel has backed the launch hard: all three debut issues ship the same week with no competing Marvel titles to split attention, plus a deep bench of "Midnight Gallery," "Midnight Bloodbath," and 1:25/1:50/1:100 virgin incentive covers.
Absolute Batman #24 (DC)
Nick Dragotta's Absolute Batman continues to be the hottest ongoing on the secondary market. This issue streets September 23, 2026, and speculation is already running hot that it's the first in-costume appearance of Barbara Gordon as "Absolute Bat." The buzz is being fueled by the rest of the line right now, too — Absolute Batman's regular-cover back issues (#11, #12, and #13) all posted double-digit sales growth on eBay's tracked comp charts this past week, a sign the whole line is climbing ahead of #24's release.
📦 Already on Shelves — Not on FOC, But Still Worth Grabbing
These already released and are in shops now. They're not part of Monday's cutoff — you can't "FOC" a book that's already out — but they're the picks actually driving this week's secondary-market buzz, so we're including them for visibility. If you want in, it's back-issue bins or remaining shelf stock, not a preorder.
Absolute Superman #23 (DC)
The "Get Brainiac" arc keeps escalating as Superman's hunt brings him face to face with the Absolute Universe's version of the Toyman — introduced here as one of the most genuinely unsettling villains the Man of Steel has faced in the line. First appearances inside an already-hot Absolute imprint are exactly the kind of book speculators circle back to a year later.
Marvel Mangaverse: Web of Blood #1 (Marvel)
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of Marvel Mangaverse, father-son creative team Joe and Jack Kelly returned to the alternate manga-inspired universe — and Peach Momoko's variant cover is the one collectors are asking for by name. Anniversary revivals of cult-favorite imprints tend to draw both nostalgia buyers and new speculators at once.
Crowbound #1 (Image)
Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen's creator-owned horror series — a mother striking a pact with an ancient, violent Scarecrow Queen to save her family — sold out at the distributor level almost immediately, and a second printing has already been greenlit. That's the classic speculation signal: strong word of mouth outrunning print runs, with first-printing copies typically the ones that hold value once the reprint hits shelves.
Hammerfist #1 (Image)
Rick Remender and Steve Epting's dirtbag-hitman crime series sold out just as fast, with a second printing already back in stock alongside the original run. It's the same story as Crowbound: a first issue from a proven creative team that outran its own print run in the first week.
Also on the Radar
DC's "Next Level" relaunch trio — Doom Patrol #1, Legion of Super-Heroes #1, and Teen Titans #1 — already shipped and is still driving heavy order interest, worth a look if you haven't grabbed a copy yet. Beyond this week's picks, keep an eye on Trending 20 movers tied to casting and streaming news: Spider-Man Noir #1 and the God of War comic's first Kratos appearance both posted big weekly gains on the back of screen-adaptation announcements, a reminder that speculation isn't limited to books shipping or hitting FOC this week.
Sources
- Key Collector Comics — Trending 20
- Key Collector Comics — New Comics This Week
- Key Collector Comics — Key Alerts
- Comics Heating Up — Dirty D's F.O.C. 8/31/26
- Comics Heating Up — Comic Picks of the Week for Delivery 9/2/26
- Comics Heating Up — CovrPrice.com Top Ten, Week Ending 8/30/26
- The Beat — Top Comics to Buy for September 2, 2026
- Marvel.com — Midnight Universe Issue #2 Variant Covers Revealed
- Bleeding Cool — Marvel Comics November 2026 Midnight Universe Solicits
- Comic Watch — Marvel Midnight #2
- Comics Beat — Firefly Is Back In Comics Form
- Bleeding Cool — Joss Whedon's Firefly Returns
- ScreenRant — 21 Years After Serenity, Firefly Officially Returns This September
- League of Comic Geeks — Geiger #25 Preview