DC Solicitation Sneaks: July 2026
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
DC/Marvel: The Cosmic Kiss Caper and Other Stories
As if it could be anything else this month. I was worried for a minute that we’d have to wait for another omnibus-style collection of DC/Marvel stories; but, thankfully both publishers aren’t doing that and we’re getting collections of their sides of these crossovers soon. Of the two, I’m much more interested in DC’s side as they’ve got more compelling talent writing the lead stories. Grant Morrison doing “Batman/Deadpool” and Mark Waid with “Superman/Spider-Man.” I imagine those two will be worth the price of admission on their own, especially with Dan Mora and Jorge Jimenez illustrating them, respectively. Still, we’ve got lots of other creators teaming up to take on lots of other titanic team-ups including The Flash/Fantastic Four, Supergirl/Blade, John Constantine/Doctor Strange, Lois Lane/Mary Jane, Harley Quinn/The Hulk, Jimmy Olsen/Carnage…
Wait, that last one is from the “Superman’s Pal: Jimmy Olsen” team of Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber? It’s settled: This is the Book of 2026 right here!
Action Comics #1100: Much like when “Detective Comics” reached issue #1100, the hype for this milestone issue is completely subdued. Still, it’s got a solid lineup of talent on it with regular writer Mark Waid, Sophie Campbell, Joshua Williamson, and Dan Slott all contributing stories and Skylar Patridge, Ryan Sook, Daniel Sampere, Dan Mora, and Lucas Meyer illustrating them. Which means this will likely be a solid read for any Super-fan who picks it up.
Dark Knights of Steel II #1 (of 12): Tom Taylor’s feudal superhero fantasy comes around for another turn. My patience in waiting for the first cycle to be released in softcover paid off with a series that did everything you’d expect this kind of alternate world/history story should do. Show us how the characters would work in these new settings and then use our expectations for them against us. While the first series ended with a truce and a new alliance (or league) formed between the three kingdoms of this world, now they find themselves having to contend with a new threat from under the sea. Which is set up in Dark Knights of Steel: Heir to the Sea #1 collecting the Taylor-written and Riccardo Federici-illustrated backups from “Allwinter” that introduced this universe’s version of Aquaman. I’m very much looking forward to this sequel series after the first was so good, but I’m really hoping this one-shot is collected in the next volume.
100 Bullets: The US of Anger #1 (of 8): Most creator-owned titles at Vertigo didn’t come back for sequels after they told the story they set out to (unless there was some new adaptation to promote). “100 Bullets” was unique in that after its 100-issue run, writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso gave us “Brother Lono” because they had another story they wanted to tell about the series’ most unrepentant psychopath. It wasn’t bad, but it felt more like a follow-up to that title in style rather than story, with Lono never really feeling like himself until the very end.
We’re over a decade out from that miniseries, and now Azzarello and Risso are gracing us with another Lono-centric story. This one promises to pick up more directly in the wreckage of the end of the original series, and drag in another former player who thought he was out of the game. I like the sound of that, and I think that having the series done in black-and-white will be a great fit for the creators’ brand of storytelling. I’ll miss Trish Mulvhill’s colors, but I don’t doubt Risso will kill it in this format.
Detective Comics 2026 Annual #1: Batman has been accused of a political assassination on a distant planet and a bounty has been placed to deliver him there to face justice. You know what that means? That’s right, Lobo is heading to Gotham to collar the Batman. I like Lobo, but after reading “Lobo Back to Back” I think he works better as a supporting character who can either troll uptight superheroes, or be deservedly smacked down by someone more clever than him for acting like a bully. Here, we’re probably going to get a mix of both as Tom Taylor and Nicola Scott give us what looks like the DCU equivalent of “Midnight Run” and I am so there for that!
Absolute Batman vol. 3: You know, I was already looking forward to this volume after how good vol. 2 was and how the issue after it was the best-selling origin of Absolute Joker. THEN, I started hearing about the start of the new Scarecrow-centric storyline and now I can’t wait for vol. 4. I realize I’m getting ahead of myself here, but that’s what the hype of a good volume will do. Anyway, this volume only collects four issues of the regular series with the rest of it being filled out with the “Annual” and “Ark-M” special. Not that these are going to be mere filler as the “Annual” has the much talked about Absolute Batman Versus White Supremacists story from Daniel Warren Johnson and the “Ark-M” special promises to fill in the backstory behind the Arks and this facility in particular. Should be great, regardless of the anticipation I’m feeling for what’s coming after it.
Batman: H2SH: God, they’re really going with that dumb-ass subtitle. That said, make your own joke about whether or not the final issue in this collection will actually be done in time for this volume to make its 9/12/26 street date. Better still, place your bets on whether that final issue will actually be a proper end to this storyline and not a cliffhanger for the threatened second half of it that’s definitely not coming out before the end of the decade.
C.O.R.T.: Children of the Round Table: You know how it is: You’re a regular kid hanging out with your friends and then you’re almost crushed by a stone falling from the sky with a sword stuck in it. The next thing you know you and your friends are gifted sentient magical weapons and charged with protecting the world from the threat of evils like Mordred. This comes to us from the “Seven Secrets” team of writer Tom Taylor and artist Daniele Di Nicuolo. I liked that series well enough, but it was definitely more of a showcase for Di Nicuolo’s talents rather than Taylor’s. Even if it looks like they’re skewing younger with this title (and with the smaller trim size as well), I’m still interested in seeing if they can deliver with this all-new DC-adjacent(?) setup.
Swamp Thing by Rick Veitch Book Three: Time Upon a Once: Collecting not just the remaining issues that were published in Veitch’s run from the 80’s, but the recent four-issue miniseries that finally saw it brought to its proper conclusion. I’ve not read any of the writer’s “Swamp Thing” run, even if he was Alan Moore’s pick to follow him on that title, how could he ever live up to that legendary tenure, but I’m going to fix that now. Even if it took DC years to make it right, I want to show that kind of action deserves rewarding.
Fables: No More Happily Ever After: Reprinting the first ten issues of the series in DC’s compact format for $10. As one of Vertigo’s crown jewels, I certainly hope that the series finds a new and receptive audience in this format. And that creator Bill Willingham gets all the royalties he deserves as such even after he said that he was giving up his copyright for the title and allowing anyone to make their own “Fables” stories after talks between him and DC/Warner Bros. broke down a while back.