There is a veritable flood of new comics every week: new issues, variant covers, new #1s, and fresh-faced miniseries. Fewer – but still bountiful – are the dozens of bookshelf editions landing in your local comic shops (and attainable by your local indie bookshops, as well!). From fresh original graphic novels, long-awaited archive editions, and collections of recent comics for all you trade-waiters, there are plenty of trade paperbacks and hardcovers to fill your shelves.
After reviewing hundreds of these sorts of books for AIPT over the years, I’ve come to appreciate what makes a collection truly special. Here at Tradewatch, I pick five books releasing in the coming week that seem the most exciting to me. Here are my picks for the week of May 20th, 2026.
30×30: Thirty Years of Conundrum Press
Conundrum Press, TPB – $30 (Buy Now)
An anthology of graphic shorts from 25 Canadian artists. Featuring a preface by Brown on thirty years of publishing activity at Conundrum, 30×30 collects all the books in the CONUNDRUM 25 pocketbook series in celebration of the 30th anniversary of this highly acclaimed publishing company. Featuring veteran cartoonists, archival work, and fresh new talents this anthology expands what a graphic short can be.
Thirty years for any independent publisher is not only impressive but borderline impossible; that Conundrum is also an independent comics publisher makes its thirty-year-history somewhat uncanny. This book seems to be a massive sample of work, touching on the publisher’s massive, 25-volume series spotlighting artists. A good way to find some fresh voices in the cartooning world.
The Book of Murmurs
Fantagraphics, TPB – $18.99 (Buy Now)
Enter a fantastical world encompassing the lush Glassmoor forest, the shivering magic of The Fault, the ethereal grandeur of The Wandering Haar, the secret Mushroom Library. Along the way, the girl encounters curious friends and foes — the Goblin, the stranger, the assassin, the librarians, gigantic spiders, a family of giants, and many others. In this place, names carry power, and the nameless are lost, adding an interior and metaphorical dimension to the girl’s journey.
What makes Book of Murmurs so instantly exciting is artist Candice Purwin‘s bold, vibrant style. Cutting between vividly colored passages of our protagonist’s magical journey and black and white fables, the book showcases that style while driving the reader forward on an epic, haunted journey. It’s a lovely, unique all-ages romp.
Gotham Central: DC Compact Comics Edition
DC Comics, TPB – $9.99 (Buy Now)
Gotham’s Finest work around the clock, cleaning up after the mess left behind from Batman’s one-man war against crime. But when one of the GCPD’s own is killed by Mr. Freeze, the squad is in a race against time to bring him in without the help of the Dark Knight.
Gotham Central is a stunner of a book that absolutely lives up to any hype you might have heard about it. The central gimmick — the every day detectives working cases in a city where colorful psycopaths abound — is so singularly inventive, but what stuns is the interpersonal dramas unfolding against that backdrop. You become just as invested in the mundane turmoil of these characters as you are Mr Freeze, whose murderous collateral damage informs this first story arc.
Elseworlds: Superman Omnibus Vol. 1
DC Comics, HC – $150 (Buy Now)
See the Man of Tomorrow in a whole new light in this omnibus series collecting classic Elseworlds tales.
I cannot stress enough how much we love Elseworlds here at Tradewatch; we love them at their best and we love them at their worst; the law of averages suggests that this Superman omnibus is liable to have a good cross-section of both. Spanning 27 issues, what’s interesting about this collection is how many of these stories appeared not under the Elseworlds banner, but as interesting diversions in various annuals.
The Boyfriend
Mad Cave Studios, TPB – $10.99 (Buy Now)
From horror screenwriter Seth Sherwood (Leatherface) comes a manga-influenced story about an outcast teen, Chloe, and her imaginary boyfriend, who was supposed to boost her confidence. But when he comes to life, his obsession turns deadly, forcing her to confront a nightmare of her own making.
I don’t know much about The Boyfriend, but the summary speaks to me: teen drama, supernatural boyfriends, and a sense of the uncanny. It sounds like the teen horror version of Stephen King’s The Dark Half, in which a writer’s psuedonym comes to life and goes about ruining his life. Your inventions can come back and haunt you — even your fake boyfriend.
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