5 FOC Titles to not miss this week!

My word HOW is it already August? Where did the time fly by? Well, as you are slowing developing your New Year’s Plans (just me? Okay) and planning your budget – here’s something that will throw a wrench into your plans. Welcome to this week’s FOC Newsletter, where the only thing you need to worry about is your budget!

Jokes aside, I do not envy the guys in the office, working hard on planning a completely different event – the fabulous Walt’s Comic Shop 5 Year Anniversary Event. Discounts, cool artists, cool guests, cool people! I’m really excited for it even though I was only privy to just a few more secrets 👀 We live in exciting times, folks!

And from the exciting pan into the exciting fire we go, with some of my FOC picks of this week – delivered in particularly to you. Yes, I’m talking to you.

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Ultimate X-Men Omnibus Vol. 3

I am very excited to finally sink my teeth into this volume and era of the X-Men. With Robert Kirkman at the helm, this was quite a… tumultuous era for the characters and the imprint as they slowly but steadily marched towards Ultimatum – which is still considered as one of the most controversial events in Marvel comics history (or maybe comics in general) – and is collected here.

Other than that, though, this book collects first appearances of many cool characters you know and love (or hate 😉): Cable, Bishop, Domino, Morlocks, Alpha Flight, Shadow King, Pyro, Onslaught… I feel like Kirkman was given a free reign to do whatever he wanted with the team due to the upcoming shakeups, and he went ballistic. It also closes the page on this era of Ultimate X-Men and makes me question how Marvel will move forward collecting the titles that spawned from Ultimatum. Exciting times, indeed! 

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Crisis On Infinite Earths

I’ve already written about this one in the June Big Books Newsletter, but let me indulge myself and talk a little more about it for those who missed it (you should totally sign up for it, though, because Jelle is funny as heck and very informative, even though his opinions on Spider-Man by Zeb Wells are not to be trusted).

This was THE event. The one above all. The one to rule them all. The book that shook up the DC universe and comics at large. There were crises before it, but never as big. And it spawned crises after it, never quite as impactful. It’s a landmark – BC and AD of DC is measured with this book. And now, you have a chance to read it not in just one format – but two!

Crisis On Infinite Earths Absolute Edition collects the story in the absolute format. This is the mega oversized, bigger-than-your-omni book that will let you admire the art of George Pérez in all of its glory. It collects the full 12-issue event with the 2-issue follow up History of the DC Universe which sets up and explains the new universe the team has created.

On the other side you have DC Finest – Events: Crisis On Infinite Earths Part 1. DC Finest books offer a more comprehensive look at the stories, and therefore collects the first four issues of the main event along with tie-ins which were collected across the three Crisis on Infinite Earths Companion books. While they are not needed to enjoy the story, they can give you a bigger picture and are a treasure trove of fun writing and art, and a cool snapshot into what DC comics were at the time. Which one of these will you be choosing? 

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A whole lot of Image trades!

There are also quite a few trades (I think) you should be picking up going on FOC this week. Just over in Image there is a couple of books that I really enjoyed.

For starters, Gillen and Wijngaard’s Power Fantasy hits the second arc and things are starting to pick up speed even more. We learn the backgrounds of characters, some secret are revealed while layers of intrigued are piled on top of each other. If you read out article on The Best New Series Nominees for Eisner Awards 2025 over on our Beyond the Panels blog, then you know just how much I enjoyed this book (and now you can find out I’m disappointed it didn’t win that award). So pick up your copy and find out more about the “Second Summer of Love.” 

Speaking of love – the third (and final?) volume of Love Everlasting is coming out. I haven’t heard too many people talk about this book, and it’s a shame – because it has been a wild ride with an even wilder publication schedule. In short, Tom King, Elsa Charretier, Matt Hollingsworth give a stunning tribute to the romance comics of the 40s and the 50s with a unique twist: Joan Peterson jumps through stories, genres, eras and love interests – with her love story meeting a bloody end every time she falls in love. There is so much more going on behind the scenes, and I am so excited to see the third arc (finally) collected. 

Another book that I have to mention (lest I risk the rage of a very dear friend of mine) is the Monstress Compendium coming out, collecting the first eight volumes of this Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda’s series. Now, I don’t know much about the book other than that it is steampunk and Kaiju mixed with female empowerment. Liu is a fantastic writer, Takeda’s art is just gorgeous and I need to read this to keep my friendship, so I’m pulling you all down with me! 

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All books on FOC today

...can be found here! Wednesday is the official deadline for low pre-order prices (but we never change prices before Friday... shhhh it's a secret!)

All single issues on FOC are to be found here. Because singles are affected by a lot of last minute changes and cover additions, they have a later deadline at Saturday, 4 pm. If you need any instruction how our single issue subscription service works, watch this video and contact Heiko if you still have questions.

Cya!