Fantagraphics October 2026 Solicitations

ATLAS COMICS LIBRARY HC NO 11 SPY CASES (MR)

Creators: (W/A/CA) Gene Colan, Russ Heath, Bill Everett
Price: $44.99 | ISBN: 9798875002359 | Product Code: 0826FB0935

In-Store Date: 10/21/2026

Shortly after launching his men’s adventure line of comic books in 1949 (and just before he published his first war title), Atlas publisher Martin Goodman found, in the middle ground between crime and men’s adventure, the sneakier, conspiratorial sub-genre of spy comics. The first title was Spy Cases (soon followed by Spy Fighters and Kent Blake of the Secret Service) and the contents were Cold War noir stories, as Doug Grant, Secret Agent, protected America’s interests, fighting commies from behind the Iron Curtain. Led by superlative action/adventure artwork by Al Hartley (later Bill Savage) and supported by Atlas titans including Gene Colan, Bill Everett, Russ Heath, Jerry Robinson and Joe Maneely, America ferrets out sinister threats in thrillers like: “The Traitor!,” “Discs of Death,” “Frame-Up in Red,” and “The Case of the Missing B-29!” All spy comics had healthy runs and by 1952, the Korean War made its presence felt in every adventure title. Patriotic, but also subtler, darker and more sinister than the familiar costumed hero titles, the spy genre is a little-seen aspect of Marvel’s deep history.

COMPLETE CORTO MALTESE HC VOL 01 THE BALLAD OF THE SALT SEA (MR)

Creators: (W/A/CA) Hugo Pratt
Price: $49.99 | ISBN: 9798875002762 | Product Code: 0826FB0936

In-Store Date: 10/14/2026

In Fall 2026, Fantagraphics launches The Complete Corto Maltese with Volume 1: The Ballad of the Salt Sea, Corto’s premiere adventure and the story that introduces him to the world. Pratt plunges us right into the action with Corto bound to a makeshift raft adrift in the Pacific Ocean in 1913. In short order, he is rescued by the Russian privateer Rasputin (yes, that Rasputin), and things only get more complicated and more treacherous from there. In addition, this volume also presents Pratt’s tale of Corto’s youth, when, in 1904 at the age of 16 in Manchuria, he is asked by his friend, Jack London (yes, that Jack London) to help rescue a young Russian deserter named Rasputin in the midst of the Russo-Japanese War. A modern Ulysses whose wanderings in the early decades of the 20th century take him to the most fascinating places on Earth, Hugo Pratt’s Corto Maltese is a hard-luck, hard-driving iconoclastic anti-hero who values freedom and independence more than wealth and status. Treasure hunter, storm-tossed sailor, and itinerant adventurer, the irascible and indefatigable Corto Maltese has earned his status as one of the most popular characters in European comics.

DONALD DUCK HC VOL 02 BIG TOP BEDLAM AND OTHER TALES OF VISUAL DUCKVOLUTION DISNEY GREATEST COMICS COLLECTION

Creators: (W) Carl Barks, Don Rosa, Freddy Milton, Al Taliaferro (A) Carl Barks, Don Rosa, Freddy Milton, Al Taliaferro (CA) Daan Jippes
Price: $49.99 | ISBN: 9798875002601 | Product Code: 0826FB0937

In-Store Date: 10/21/2026

Who’s got the sweetest disposition? Not Donald—but that’s why we love him! Over the decades, Duckburg’s feistiest fowl transformed from a gawky, goosey figure into one of comics’ most emotive, visually streamlined stars. Now Fantagraphics invites you to trace this evolution artist by artist, with all of Donald’s greatest in attendance! Al Taliaferro brings us a 1934 comics adaptation of Donald’s first screen role in “The Wise Little Hen!” Beloved “Duck Man” Carl Barks sends Donald to the circus in our 1950s title tale, “Big-Top Bedlam,” then goes on to pit him against witches, Uncle Scrooge—and himself! Don Rosa’s Donald tackles Neighbor Jones on Halloween in “Fit to Be Pied”; then Freddy Milton combines Ducks with dragons in “The Big Sneeze”! Each epic tale comes with new commentary by Disney historians Jim Fanning, David Gerstein, and Simone Cavazzuti, an interview with modern Duck designer Paco Rodriguez—and the inside scoop on every makeover Donald has received.

MACANUDO HC WHATS IN THE BOX (MR)

Creators: (W/A/CA) Liniers
Price: $64.99 | ISBN: 9798875002267 | Product Code: 0826FB0938

In-Store Date: 10/7/2026

Behold! Macanudo’s revolving cast of witches, cats, imaginative children and their imaginary monsters — all gathered under one roof (or in one box)! Following in the distinguished footsteps of greats like Peanuts and Argentine forebears like Mafalda, Macanudo is a brilliant synthesis of Krazy Kat’s sophisticated and irreverent inventiveness, and Calvin and Hobbes’ expansive humanity and artistry. Freewheeling and bustling with manic charm and sweetness, each strip builds anticipation for the next unexpected creative revelation or revivifying variation on a theme. With a masterful sense of flow, combined with show-stopping images of breathtaking beauty, the heel-clicking, childlike glee contained in these pages is matched only by the joy of splashing about an undiscovered creek or the vivid crunch of autumn’s first leaves. It’s no wonder Liniers has his praises sung by the likes of Matt Groening, David Byrne, and Jeff Smith. Collecting the first three Fantagraphics Macanudo volumes, Welcome to Elsewhere, The Way of the Penguin, and Optimism is for the Brave, this fetching box set is a must-have for lovers of comic-strip-as-art, and an essential for everyone seeking the hidden wonder in life.

PALOMAR HC THE HEARTBREAK SOUP STORIES (MR)

Creators: (W/A/CA) Gilbert Hernandez
Price: $49.99 | ISBN: 9798875002663 | Product Code: 0826FB0941

In-Store Date: 10/7/2026

Palomar is the perfect entry into the works of critically acclaimed cartoonist Gilbert Hernandez and the still-ongoing Love and Rockets comic book series! It stars the inhabitants of a small Latin American town — long-suffering midwife/sheriff Chelo; Pipo, tomboy-turned-heartthrob; Carmen, wryer than her years; teen boys Heraclio, Satch, Augustin, Jesus, Israel, and Vicente, whose paths diverge and intersect over time; Diana and Tonantzin, sisters and polar opposites; and many other finely drawn and dynamic characters — whose already-tempestuous lives are roiled when Luba, an assertive single mother, moves there to set up a bathing business. Palomar is a selection from the first 50 issues (1985–1996) of Hernandez’s multigenerational saga, which has followed the lives and loves, adventures and horrors, of his signature characters, their children, and their children’s children — borne from a place where the mystical is quotidian and the quotidian is mystical — for 40+ years. These are the stories that forever changed the face (and the heart) of American comics.

POP SURF CULTURE HC MUSIC DESIGN FILM AND FASHION FROM THE BOHEMIAN SURF ERA (MR)

Creators: (W) Brian Chidester, Domenic Priore (CA) Frank Kozik, Justin Allan-Spencer
Price: $59.99 | ISBN: 9798875002311 | Product Code: 0826FB0942

In-Store Date: 10/28/2026

From the original beachcomber personalities like the Waikiki Beachboys of the early 20th century, to the postwar rise of southern California as a creative epicenter for music, art, and film, Pop Surf Culture traces the roots of the surf boom from its earliest days as an insular, regional Hawaiian subculture, to its proliferation nationwide in mainstream teen fads and entertainment. Criss-crossing through the 1950s Beat Generation, 1960s counterculture, 1970s punk rock, the book illustrates why surf culture is a vital art movement of the 20th century. Pop Surf Culture covers the highs and lows of surf’s mainstreaming, including the popular “beach” movies of the 1950s and ’60s which featured such stars as Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon and the music of Dick Dale & His Del-Tones, Brian Wilson, the Pyramids, Gary Usher, James Brown, and Little Stevie Wonder. 1960s art figures Michael Dormer and Rick Griffin—as well as the surf magazines which promoted their art—are featured alongside the progenitors of “surf music,” from the little known (the Centurians) to the wildly popular (the Beach Boys). From Duke Kahanamoku, the Gas House, Gidget, surfing on television, the bohemian surf aesthetic, surf music hot spots, and Mickey “Da Cat” Dora, the entire spectrum of pop surf culture is covered within these colorfully illustrated pages.

REQUIEM FOR GAZA HC (MR)

Creators: (W) Chris Hedges, Joe Sacco (A/CA) Joe Sacco
Price: $24.99 | ISBN: 9798875002724 | Product Code: 0826FB0943

In-Store Date: 10/7/2026

In the spring of 2025 the cartoonist Joe Sacco, author of Palestine and Footnotes in Gaza, and Chris Hedges, the former Middle East Bureau Chief for The New York Times, traveled to Cairo where they interviewed 29 Palestinian families who had recently left Gaza. In Requiem for Gaza, they use the experience and stories of these families to detail the crucible of the genocide, the loss of homes and communities, the appalling death toll among friends and loved ones, the constant displacement, the terror of indiscriminate killing, the hunger and deprivation, the obliteration of all that was known and familiar, and the struggle to cope with the callous indifference of a world that continues to supply Israel with weapons despite its wholesale destruction of Gaza and mass slaughter. Requiem for Gaza, like their New York Times best seller Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, combines comics and single images drawn by Sacco within the narrative written by Hedges. Hedges’ vivid prose and Sacco’s visceral images complement each other and together paint a portrait of dignity and suffering under genocide. The collective power of the individual stories that chronicle the first day of the genocide, the forced evacuation of homes, the targeted assassinations, the false hopes engendered by ceasefires, the dislocation and alienation of exile, the brutal killing and hasty burial of family members, and the humiliation of living under tarps without clean food and water bring every aspect of the genocide to life. Set against this horror are stories of self-sacrifice and compassion that show how Palestinians not only clung to their humanity, but morally triumphed over their killers.

SANTOS SISTERS HC VOL 02 (MR)

Creators: (W/A/CA) Greg & Fake
Price: $24.99 | ISBN: 9798875002670 | Product Code: 0826FB0944

In-Store Date: 10/7/2026

Ambar and Alana, aka the superhero duo Santos Sisters, are back! And now, with an Eisner Award under their collective belt in addition to being imbued with the powers of the goddess Madame Sosostris, they’re even better prepared for whatever comes their way! Whether it be foiling disastrous plots to take down the local power grid, rescuing boyfriends from jealous supervillains, saving senior citizens from drug addiction, or battling the duo’s ever-expanding rogue’s gallery of supervillainery, Amber and Alana always bring the comic book fun in this healthy conflation of four-color nostalgia, action, and laughs! Vol. 2 of Santos Sisters brings back fan-favorite foils such as Bridgette Spinner, 8-Ball, Alacran, and mean and mad Monroe, while also introducing even more abhorrent antagonists, including: the fishy Blue Agua and her Manzanillo Assassins; the punctual — and punitive —10 O’Clock; the mysteriously dead-eyed Sergeant Murder and Agent Exeyex; and the rapaciously avaricious Billy Bitcoin! Also: Jackie Stalegum, Phantom of the Cardboard! The Numismatist! Gary Antzman! The Nature Ninjas! The Boozy Bees! Through it all, Ambar & Alana strive to maintain a healthy work/life balance, while their creators, Greg & Fake, continue their mission to revive unabashed comic book fun with this ebullient and exuberant hit indie series!

WALT DISNEYS DONALD DUCK HC VOL 31 CHRISTMAS CHEERS THE COMPLETE CARL BARKS DISNEY LIBRARY

Creators: (W) Carl Barks, Daan Jippes (A) Carl Barks, Daan Jippes (CA) Carl Barks
Price: $39.99 | ISBN: 9798875002557 | Product Code: 0826FB0945

In-Store Date: 10/28/2026

Christmas isn’t looking too cheerful for the citizens of Duckburg until Huey, Dewey, and Louie discover gold on Uncle Scrooge’s land — but getting it out and safely to Scrooge’s money bin proves to be far more complicated than anyone thought. But along the way — presents for everyone! Then, Donald is pressured into jockeying a thousand logs down a river he’s never seen to a sawmill he’s never heard of — but the reward is $1.00 a log! Daring logjams, avalanches, and whirlpools, Donald and the boys risk it all — but their biggest danger comes from Black Pierre and his crew of river rats who want that reward for themselves! Next, Donald faces the greatest challenge of them all — the grueling jalopy race to fetch mistletoe from the Black Forest! The prize? The right to kiss Daisy Duck at Duckburg’s Mistletoe Ball. But Gladstone Gander wants to win, too — and Gladstone’s luck never fails him! Also: A 75-page epic starring Donald and Uncle Scrooge, plus the return of the Junior Woodchucks for two adventures, both written and penciled by Barks and finished and inked by Daan Jippes. The Good Duck Artist delivers another superb collection of surprise, delight, comedy, adventure, and all-around cartooning brilliance. 170 pages of story and art, each meticulously restored and newly colored. Bonus features include insightful story notes by an international panel of Barks experts.

WALT DISNEYS DONALD DUCK GIFT BOX SET MYSTERY OF THE SWAMP & MAHARAJAH DONALD VOLS 03 & 04 HC

Creators: (W/A/CA) Carl Barks
Price: $69.99 | ISBN: 9798875002830 | Product Code: 0826FB0946

In-Store Date: 11/18/2026

This season’s Carl Barks Library slipcased gift box set collects two of our earlier volumes in this popular series: Walt Disney’s Donald Duck “Mystery of the Swamp” (Barks’s first foray into his signature series of adventures in “lost civilizations” takes the Ducks deep into the Everglades, where they find themselves bedeviled by the enigmatic Gneezles) and Walt Disney’s Donald Duck: “Maharajah Donald” (Through a series of trade-ups, the nephews turn Donald’s old pencil stub into — a steamship ticket to India!). More than 470 pages in two volumes snugged into a sturdy slipcase at a special price that even Uncle Scrooge couldn’t resist!

WANDERING CATS CAGE HC (MR)

Creators: (W/A/CA) Akane Torikai
Price: $34.99 | ISBN: 9798875002397 | Product Code: 0826FB0947

In-Store Date: 10/28/2026

In Akane Torikai’s Wandering Cat’s Cage, it is the near future. Only a few women are still able to menstruate, and even fewer men will be born to them. Reproduction is limited to medical intervention controlled from on high, and the structures and lives of the past hold no weight: they are only hinted at through the remaining scraps of a world that no longer exists. Life can be good, though, if you fall in line, and the women of The City live bright, happy, tightly controlled lives. But complete obedience isn’t for everyone. For the women across the river, who live in a rundown shantytown, viewing the opulence of the city from afar each night, life is different. It is humble, and often dangerous, but it is free. It is here that Sanada, a young acupuncturist, lives with the mysterious Reiho, the only male she’s ever met, and who sells himself to the rich women who sneak across the river for something they’ve never experienced …The two form a small “family,” taking in other young women ousted from the city. But a real, living, breathing male might be too precious to leave to the shabby streets. When Reiho is kidnapped at gunpoint and taken to the breeding program in the city, Sanada must join with the other outcasts to try and rescue him, and learn the difficult truths of love, self-actualization, society, community, safety, and the future itself. Master manga-ka Akane Torikai (Sensei’s Pious Lie) has produced a stunning work of relational SF through a gender-bent looking glass. Torikai pulls no punches examining the deeply messy subjects of our day — sexuality, gender dynamics, romantic love, familial trauma, freedom, and control, through immaculately realized settings and character-rich, emotive body language. Produced in partnership with MSX: Mangasplaining Extra.

NIRVANA IS HERE TP (MR)

Creators: (W/A/CA) Mikael Ross
Price: $29.99 | ISBN: 9798875002649 | Product Code: 0826FB0940

In-Store Date: 10/21/2026

Two German siblings, 12-year-old Tâm and 14-year-old Dennis Nguy?n, encounter a young Vietnamese woman in trouble in a flea market parking lot. When Tâm’s spy movie-obsessed schoolmate, Alex, discovers an abandoned backpack with a photo of a happy couple with Tâm’s address on the back, it will lead the two to discover a severed finger. Worried, Tâm searches for the desperate woman, aided by her reluctant brother, and eventually finds Hoa Bin, who escaped from her kidnapper — who’s still tracking her down. Drawn to Hoa Bin, Tâm vows to save her — even if she has to break her stern-but-loving mom’s rules, dodge the bad guys in wild chases through the Berlin streets, and combine the forces of Marina, the Nguy?ns’ tough-chick neighbor, Jutta, an elderly retired actress, a rollerblading girl gang, and many others to do so. In Ross’s empathetic, loose-but-controlled lines, cartoonishly expressive kids interact against and within the realistically depicted urban environments, given texture and grit by screen-tones. Nirvana is Here is a contemporary crime thriller that has adventure, diasporic, coming-of-age, and love story elements, set in Berlin’s working-class Lichtenberg district against a backdrop of very current social issues.

MARVEL CREATOR COLLECTION #2

Creators: (W/A/CA) Jim Steranko
Price: $89.99 | ISBN: 9798875001536 | Product Code: 0826FB0939

In-Store Date: 10/28/2026

Schooled in Golden Age comics, Steranko (born under the sign of Scorpio) merged pulp heroism with modern, cinematic graphic design in a way that transformed the look of Marvel’s Captain America, X-Men, Daredevil, and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. His late-1960s run on S.H.I.E.L.D. was the essence of cool, distilling the era’s spy boom into a new level of sophisticated comic-book storytelling. It’s all here: all the stories (including his sole foray into the romance genre), all the cover art (including Fantastic Four, Supernatural Thrillers, Incredible Hulk Special, Shanna the She-Devil, and his variant covers for Black Panther, Civil War II, and Avengers Standoff), even his illustrations for the Marvelmania and FOOM fanzines. Every thrilling moment of the unique aesthetic marriage between Steranko and Marvel has been assembled in one place for the first time, in a gorgeously designed two-volume hardcover slipcase set.