Local Comic Shop Day 2026 is taking shape with a wide-ranging slate of exclusives, advance releases, special editions, and retailer giveaways. Organized by ComicsPRO, the September 26 event will bring publishers including Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, IDW, Oni Press, Vault Comics, and others into the annual celebration of independent comic shops.
The full catalog has not yet been revealed, but the early announcements already offer plenty for superhero readers, science-fiction fans, indie-comics followers, and collectors to watch. Among the first confirmed items are a new Archie cover by Travis Charest, a Star Trek variant featuring Seven of Nine, and an Exquisite Corpses spinoff focused on serial killer Fox Max Killer.
Travis Charest Returns to Archie
One of the most immediately striking announcements is Travis Charest’s return to American comic books with a foil virgin cover for Archie #1 from Oni Press. Priced at $20, the edition is positioned as a premium collectible, and Charest’s involvement gives the release particular appeal for fans of his highly detailed, painterly approach to comic-book illustration.
The cover also gives Archie a strong presence among the event’s early offerings. While the announcement does not provide story details for the new series, the combination of a fresh number-one issue and a recognizable artist makes this one of the easier books for collectors to identify as a potential early standout.
Star Trek, Exquisite Corpses, and Marvel’s Milestone Issue
IDW’s Star Trek #1 will receive an exclusive $4.99 cover by Elizabeth Beals. The design features Captain Seven of Nine revisiting her Borg identity, giving the variant a clear character focus rather than treating the book as a generic franchise image. Seven remains one of Star Trek’s most recognizable modern characters, making the cover a natural draw for both television fans and comic collectors.
Image Comics and Tiny Onion will also offer Exquisite Corpses: Fox Max Killer #1, with a $9.99 cover by Anni Wu. The one-shot expands the world of Exquisite Corpses through its focus on the serial-killer character Fox Max Killer. As a spinoff rather than a standard issue of the parent series, it may be especially attractive to readers interested in how creator-owned comics use side characters and alternate viewpoints to build out a larger setting.
Marvel’s contribution is an Amazing Spider-Man #1000 Local Comic Shop Day variant by Skan. The issue is scheduled for September 16, 2026, ahead of the September 26 event, and is being solicited as a major anniversary installment featuring an unusually broad lineup of creative talent. The supplied LCSD announcement listed a $7.99 price, while later retail information lists the Skan edition at $9.99, so readers should confirm the final price with their local shop.
The scale of Amazing Spider-Man #1000 makes the variant significant beyond its cover appeal. It is part of a major celebration of the title’s history, and the Skan design joins an already extensive group of anniversary covers. For Spider-Man collectors, the LCSD connection provides an additional reason to track down this particular edition.
Dark Horse, Source Point Press, and New Independent Releases
Dark Horse will offer a Six Of Us #1 variant by Gabriel Walta for $4.99. With little additional information announced so far, the book is currently one of the more mysterious items in the lineup. That uncertainty may work in its favor: readers who enjoy discovering new science-fiction, fantasy, or creator-owned projects at the shop level will have another first issue to investigate.
Source Point Press is taking a different approach with RSVP: E.S.P., a new printing of Josh Malerman’s graphic-novel debut. Malerman, known for Bird Box and Incidents Around the House, will be featured in a special limited-edition presentation that includes a foil bag and an autographed 5-by-7-inch embossed lithograph.
The lithograph features new artwork by Joshua Werner and is signed by Malerman, Werner, and Dirk Manning, who adapted the screenplay into comic-book form. Only 200 copies are planned, making this one of the clearest scarcity-driven collectibles announced for LCSD 2026.
Pesto Comics will present an advance copy of Snip #1 with an exclusive Riccardo Faccini cover for $9.99. Z2 Comics, meanwhile, is revisiting comic-book history with a $19.99 reprint of the original Johnny Cash biocomic from 1975, credited to Johnny Cash, Al Hartley, and Billy Zeoli.
Advance Releases and Free Retailer Materials
RECKAH Comics’ THE FUTURE IS ****** #18 will arrive early for Local Comic Shop Day. The $7.99 alpha advance release comes polybagged with a special variant cover and an exclusive Backdoors & Breaches playing card. The issue is described as a standalone story featuring ARF, the series’ canine freebooter, making it an accessible entry point for readers who have not followed the title previously.
Vault Comics will also bring Dungeon Crawler Carl, Vol. 2 to participating shops ten days ahead of its wider release. The $19.99 graphic novel is credited to Matt Dinniman, Rhett C. Bruno, Jaime Castle, Laurel Pursuit Studios, and Tevagah. The early release builds on the property’s expanding presence in comics after its transition from bestselling LitRPG fiction into graphic-novel and webcomic formats.
Not every LCSD offering is designed as a premium collectible. Participating retailers are expected to receive free copies of Meg Cabot’s Detective Baby and Hope Larson’s Very Bad At Math, along with a Lightfall art print by Tim Probert. These materials underline the event’s broader purpose: bringing readers into comic shops through accessible books and community-focused programming, not only through variant-cover hunting.
That balance could be especially important in 2026. ComicsPRO has placed greater emphasis on events, promotional materials, and community activity alongside exclusive products. The announced lineup still gives collectors plenty to pursue, but the strongest version of Local Comic Shop Day will likely be the one that turns those items into a reason to visit a neighborhood store, meet other readers, and discover something outside a regular pull list.
More announcements are expected before the final LCSD catalog is released. For now, the confirmed books suggest that Local Comic Shop Day 2026 will offer a familiar mix of high-profile superhero variants, franchise-driven covers, creator-owned projects, advance editions, and retailer-only extras.
Sources
bleedingcool.com
localcomicshopday.com
icv2.com
prhcomics.com
vaultcomics.com
