Welcome to Can’t Wait for Wednesday, your guide to what’s coming down the chimney tonight to your local comic shop this week. Ho ho ho …
I’ve pulled out some of the highlights for this week below, but for the complete list of everything you might find at your local comic shop and on digital this week, you’ll want to check out one or more of the following:
- Penguin Random House (Marvel + IDW + Dark Horse + more)
- Lunar Distribution (DC + Image + Mad Cave + more)
- ComicList (Pretty much all of the above)
- Amazon/Kindle new releases (digital comics)
As a reminder, things can change and what you find on the above lists may differ from what’s actually arriving in your local shop. So check with your retailer to see what’s arriving at their shop this week.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Battle Nexus #1 (IDW, $4.99): Tom Waltz and the Escorza Brothers kick off the raddest TMNT event of 2026 … at least that we know about. When one of the Turtles’ closest allies is taken hostage by a mysterious adversary, the brothers are drawn into the Battle Nexus. This five-part weekly series finds the Turtles fighting for their lives in a martial arts challenge where four challengers are selected from across 40 years of various TMNT media to destroy them.
The Will of Doom #1 (Marvel, $6.99): Chip Zdarsky and CAFU helm this one-shot as the Fantastic Four deal with the fallout from One World Under Doom. They’re faced with big questions and a surprising new global menace. Will the White House have their backs? Will the Red Hulk? No doubt this will help set the stage for the Zdarsky-written Armageddon event coming next year.
Gray Lady #1 (Image Comics, $5.99): Mike Benson and Adam Glass team with Ken Lashley for a supernatural thriller from the Ninth Circle imprint. A year after a tragic accident on a snowy road, Samantha Ellis is still haunted by the loss of her son Ben. Grief has unraveled her life, but when a mysterious psychic warns her that Ben is in danger, Sam’s desperation transforms into fierce determination.
Fire and Ice: Nekron #1 (Dynamite, $5.99): Sara Frazetta, granddaughter of fantasy artist Frank Frazetta, and Geof Isherwood team for this one-shot that presents the twisted origin of the villains from Fire and Ice. After her royal spouse was burned alive before her eyes, Queen Juliana turned her back on the gods of balance and pledged her life to the Wolf-God, Ulghir. In secret, she gave birth to two sons — one conceived in love, the other from black magic — setting in motion tragic events that spell doom for the Realms of Ice and Fire.
Marvel Winter Break Special #1 (Marvel, $5.99): Tony Fleecs, Tim Seeley and Nick Bradshaw deliver the follow-up to Marvel’s recent swimsuit special, sort of. They trade the beach for the slopes as your favorite Marvel heroes warm up in the hot tub, hot springs, hot yoga and lots of places that start with “hot.”
Gargoyles Winter Special 2025 #1 (Dynamite, $5.99): Gargoyles creator Greg Weisman and Nate Cosby team with George Kambadais for this 40-page one-shot. Elisa Maza tells Goliath about an unsolved mystery from her first year as a detective, a baffling break-in with a stolen family heirloom and descriptions of a lumbering “thing” seen only in shadows. When Broadway overhears, he dons his private eye trench coat and reopens the investigation alongside Bronx and Lance.
Mirka Andolfo’s Sweet Paprika Black White & Pink Holiday Special #1 (Image Comics, $5.99): From the world of Sweet Paprika comes a brand-new holiday special packed with spicy chaos. It’s that time of year at Infernum Press, and as stress, flirtation and festive disasters collide, Paprika and her mates are doing their best to survive the holidays. This merry mess features stories by Mirka Andolfo, Mark Russell, Satoshi Shiki, Zulema Scotto Lavina, Alfredo Cardona, Lidia Bolognini and Fabs Nocera.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures #32 (IDW, $4.99): Erik Burnham and Dan Schoening deliver holiday high jinks as Raphael and Casey Jones head out to do some holiday shopping — only for a goat mutant who really wishes he was Krampus decides to bring in some yuletide chaos.
Hello Darkness #17 (BOOM! Studios, $5.99): Add a little terror to your holidays with aChristmas-themed issue of BOOM!’s horror anthology. This issue includes stories by Tyler Crook, Zack Kaplan, Dennis Menheere and more.
Various DC K.O. tie-ins (DC, $3.99-4.99): DC K.O. All Fight Month continues with three issues this week, as Lex Luthor faces in Superman #33 by Joshua Williamson and Hayden Sherman; Jay Garrick fights Guy Gardner in The Flash #28 by Mark Waid, Christopher Cantwell and Vasco Georgiev; and in the grudge match of the century, Red Hood battles the Joker, in a one-shot by Scott Snyder, Joshua Williamson, Dustin Nguyen and Giuseppe Camuncoli.