Science Fiction related #1 issues, OGNs and one-shots I’m buying this month
Each month a new set of comics previews and solicits arrive with hundreds of pages of new comic book awesomeness. I love science fiction, but not all new sci-fi appeals to my somewhat specific tastes. I have tired of the nihilism of dystopian futures, I’ve given up on keeping up on the various licensed properties that are being endlessly recycled, and for the most part I am looking for stories that are told within the currently accepted limits of physics and human potential. That is not to say that there is not a lot of great licensed, nihilistic stuff out there. It just isn’t necessarily my thing anymore.
So with those restrictions in mind, is there anything out there worth buying these days? Oh, hell yes. We are living in the golden-est of golden ages in terms of new comics options, and every month fantastic writers and artists are offering up thoughtful visions of the future. Plus, I am not exactly demanding utopian visions. I just want to read about futures where humanity still has a chance, and where we are still coming up with new and interesting ideas.
Below are my picks for this month. Note that in most cases I don’t have any more info to go on than the cover images and the solicit text presented here, and this list is not so much my recommendations as it is my personal selections/best guesses. I can’t guarantee they are going to be great, but I am betting my own hard earned cash on anything I highlight here, and giving you my reasons for taking a chance on them. If you think I have missed something, I would love to hear from you. Email me at dnewland@historian.us with recommendations, complaints, etc.
All of these should be available for preorder from your local comic shop during the September, 2026 ordering window or will be in stores sometime around October.
BLADE RUNNER TOKYO NEXUS: DIE WITH HONOR – TITAN
4-issue limited series, $4.99, on sale 11/4/2026
(W) Nancy A. Collins (A) Mariano Taibo
With Mead and Stix still alive, their former commanding officer, Uldren, sets out to silence them before his treachery can be exposed. Crucial research data he stole from Tyrell has enabled the yakuza-controlled Cheshire Corporation to create bootleg Replicant assassins for use in a turf war with a rival crime family—assassins that just happen to share the kill signature of Stix, a Replicant combat model. Struggling to survive the escalating gangland carnage, Mead and Stix discover that they are also being targeted by Rumika, a high-level Blade Runner sent by Tyrell to destroy Cheshire—and everyone connected to it.
Why I’m Buying: For the most part I’m not a big fan of licensed comics that are offshoots from TV and movie properties, but I have made an exception for Titan’s Blade Runner titles. They have been publishing these for years now, and the quality has remained solid. The recent ones usually are somewhat-standalone four issue mini-series, and if you are a Blade Runner nut they scratch that itch.
* Licensed SF is a Pandora’s box of options, so if you are more into Star Trek, Star Wars, Predator, Aliens, Transformers, Thundercats or whatever, you do you.
BLOOD AND THUNDER VOL 3 – IMAGE
TPB, $16.99, on sale 11/11/2026
(W) Benito Cereno, Robert Kirkman (A) E.J. Su, Msassyk
BETRAYAL, PRISON BREAKS, AND UNLIKELY ALLIANCES…WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT? Akeldama “Blood” Bledsoe has tried to be many things—a perfect daughter, a shining example of a “good” exo, a bounty hunter for the human policing forces—but now she’s been abandoned and betrayed by the very people that claimed to love her. Without her snarky sentient gun Thunder by her side, Blood must partner with the very enemies she sought to imprison and uncover the secrets of her past—but will that be enough to dismantle the system she’s spent her entire life protecting? Collects BLOOD & THUNDER #13-18.
Why I’m Buying: This book is only eligible as one of my new SF picks because I unwisely stopped ordering Blood and Thunder after issue #12. To be clear, this had nothing to do with me not liking the book. It had to do with me being so far behind in my reading that I was facing ordering issue #13 without ever even cracking the cover of issue #1. I have since remedied that, and holy hell did I make a terrible mistake. The stories are fun, subversive & often full of twists, and the art is flat-out gorgeous. If you also somehow missed these go find the early issues and dive in. You will not regret it.
CHAINKATA – IMAGE
Ongoing, 3.99, on-sale 11/18/2026
(W/A/CA) Daniel Warren Johnson
Luma is a chainsaw-wielding warrior queen seeking out an unknown power in the vastness of space. All she wants is to find peace… but violence and terror chase her through every black hole. Princess Mononoke meets Warhammer 40k in this high octane, sci-fi adventure poised to be the biggest launch of the year! It all begins with forty pages of story with no ads for the regular price of just $3.99!
Why I’m Buying: Am I the target market for chainsaw-wielding princesses? I do not believe I am. But I have learned to trust Daniel Warren Johnson. Plus, you have to admit it sounds like a hell of a lot of fun. Maybe I am the target market for chainsaw-wielding princesses…
THE FORGOTTEN DIVINE – AHOY
OGN, $9.99, on-sale 11/17/2026
(W) Mark Russell (A) Russ Braun
Ever thought of joining a cult? Ever thought of starting one? In this all-new graphic novel, Mark Russell (Second Coming, Batman: Dark Age) and Russ Braun (Fables, The Boys) introduce Rodney Coleman, an unhoused veteran whose visions of a faraway planet lead him to form a UFO cult. Russell and company have produced yet another poignant, hilarious, and so-true-it-stings look at the times we’re living in—and what might be in store. —Patton Oswalt
Why I’m Buying: From the Flintstones to Traveling to Mars, Mark Russell has continually delivered some of the most mind-bending stories in the industry. It also helps that this looks to be a complete story in 80 pages, for just 10 bucks.
IS TED OK? – Mad Cave
TPB, $19.99, on sale 10/26/2026
(W/A/CA) Dave Chisholm
This is a story about Ted and Sarah. Ted, isolated and paranoid, works for a mega-corporation owned by the world’s only trillionaire. He suffers from night terrors, obsessively draws the same mysterious figures again and again, all while listening to one track of music on repeat—oh, and the only “person” he ever talks to is a stray cat. His humanity is hanging by a thread. Sarah is a new arrival to the city, fighting her own demons, and her job is to remotely spy on Ted to ensure he doesn’t hurt anyone…or himself. When Ted’s mental state begins to crack, Sarah compassionately intervenes to help, and things go catastrophically wrong. IS TED OK? mashes up the paranoid existentialism of SEVERANCE with the cosmic sci-fi of AKIRA while exploring what happens when the act of help goes horribly wrong. From creator Dave Chisholm (SPECTRUM, MILES DAVIS & THE SEARCH FOR THE SOUND), Is Ted OK? is a spectacularly unpredictable yarn—each successive issue shatters the scope of the previous, all without losing its core: a search for human connection in an oppressive, paranoid world.
Why I’m Buying: Technically, I already have bought and read this through the individual issues that came out earlier this year. But it is truly fantastic and so I want to highlight the TPB release since I wasn’t doing these monthly lists back then. Chisholm is talented at all the jobs required of a cartoonist, and it seems like every time he releases something he is testing new waters and trying to stretch the boundaries of the comics medium. This time he is playing with serial storytelling itself, and IS TED OK? delivers one screeching turn after another as if pulls you through the story. This is going to be on a lot of “best of” and Eisner favorite lists, I suspect. Give it a try!
A note on credits: Rather than trying to track down all the people involved with these books, I am just crediting the names mentioned in the solicits that I use to make my preorder selections. I realize that in many cases this is woefully inadequate, and if by chance you are one of the many overworked and underappreciated inkers, letterers or colorists working in comics these days, I apologize for neglecting your craft. MAYBE YOUR PUBLISHERS SHOULD MENTION YOU IN THEIR ADS!