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 June 17th, 2026.
Batman: Under the Red Hood – DC Compact Comics Edition
DC Comics, TPB – $9.99 (Buy Now)
Batman is confronted with a hidden face from the past—it’s the return of the vigilante Red Hood who appears to be Batman’s one-time partner Jason Todd, the same Jason Todd that died many years ago. But the Red Hood’s violent ways pit him against the Dark Knight in his hunt for the very person responsible for his death: The Joker.
The Compact Comics revolution continues with yet another reasonably priced slice of DC history. This time, we’re peeking under that Red Hood. Originally published way back in 2004, this groundbreaking Batman epic is by writer Judd Winick and artist Doug Mahnke, and it truly shook up the Batman canon at the time. The return of long-dead Robin Jason Todd had been fruitlessly dangled in front of readers a year earlier in Hush, and Under the Red Hood looked to capitalize on the buzz generated by that story. It brought the character back with a crushing finality.
Charity and Sylvia
Drawn and Quarterly, HC – $30.00 (Buy Now)
The true, exceptional story of these remarkable women is brought to life with humor and passion by the unparalleled and award-winning Tillie Walden (On A Sunbeam). We see America grow alongside these women over a period that brings about the railroad, many novels, 14 Presidents, riots, rebellion, plagues, and poetry. Based on extensive archives of their writing, Charity and Sylvia is a groundbreaking biography that is also the story of 19th century America.
After reading her brilliant Walking Dead spin-off trilogy, Clementine, I couldn’t get enough of writer/artist Tillie Walden’s wonderfully intimate work, from the breakout End of Summer onwards. She’s a true talent, with an incredible eye for the quiet moments of massive stories. Charity & Sylvia is the true story of a 19th-century lesbian couple whose relationship defied American conventions. Likely to be a bold statement of determined revolt and one of Walden’s quietly intimate explorations of human resilience, it’s a book I’ve been desperately waiting for.
Koshchei the Deathless Omnibus
Dark Horse Comics, HC – $39.99 (Buy Now)
Sent to kill Hellboy by the Baba Yaga in Darkness Calls, Koshchei the Deathless hinted at a long and tragic life before being enslaved to the Russian witch. Now Koshchei relives every horrible act on his road to immortality and beyond, with none other than Hellboy himself—in Hell.
The ever-expanding lore of the Hellboy universe is unrelenting. So many unique little corners of big ideas and intriguing concepts, just tucked into miniseries you might not think to pick up in the moment, all of which deserve your attention. Koshchei is just one such concept: a figure from Slavic folklore, Koshchei is “deathless” because his soul is in a sort of bizarre turducken (says the wiki: “inside of an egg, inside of a duck, inside of a rabbit, inside of a goat, inside of a tree, on an island just beyond the edge of the world”), and he’s just one of the many obstacles who go up against our big red boy. Super compelling and uniquely separate from Hellboy’s main journey, Koschei has his own fish to fry.
New X-Men Modern Era Epic Collection: Planet X
Marvel Comics, TPB – $42.99 (Buy Now)
Watch out – here comes tomorrow! Logan and Cyclops join the mysterious Fantomex in an exploration of the Weapon Plus Program – the secret government project that created Wolverine! But what they find within may be more frightening than their worst nightmares. Next, Magneto – the X-Men’s greatest adversary – was thought dead. But now the Master of Magnetism is back, and where he was hiding will shatter the lives of everyone at Xavier’s Mansion. If they even survive his latest attack, can the X-Men prevent his planned genocide of the entire human race? Not without a fiery final confrontation with the Phoenix! Once the dust has settled, get ready to flash-forward 150 years into the future and discover an Earth where humanity is decimated – and what’s left of the X-Men fight against the forces of genetic homogenization!
The tail end of Grant Morrison’s landmark run on the X-Men, Planet X loses the plot a little (a largely reformed Magneto makes a sudden heel-turn into a sort of cartoonish would-be world-despot), but it retains that singular Morrison weirdness. This volume certainly won’t be the best of this short run of Epic Collections, but it’s such an interesting oddity (as is all of Morrison’s run) that it’s sure to have its hooks in you.
The Superior Foes of Spider-Man: The Complete Collection
Marvel Comics, TPB – $24.99 (Buy Now)
Spider-Man’s deadliest foes, in their own book at last! No, not him. Or him. Or her. Or them. We’re talking Boomerang! The Shocker! Speed Demon! Overdrive! The new Beetle! Wait, has she even met Spidey? What are these guys trying to pull? Well, isn’t that the big question as this questionable quintet set about attempting to prove they’re Superior to any sextet? Can they stand each other’s company long enough to get their hands on the legendary item that will put them in charge of the New York mob? Find out when Boomerang demands: “Bring me the head of Silvio Silvermane!” There’s bickering, backstabbing and betrayal as the Sinister almost-Six prove that while there’s no “I” in “team,” there’s both an “I” and a “me” in “crime.”
I seem to recall The Superior Foes of Spider-Man being particularly lauded at the time of its release, way back in 2013. The book follows a somewhat inept crew of B- and C-list Spidey villains in a comedic romp by Nick Spencer and the ever-brilliant Steve Lieber (whose work here falls just short of the iconic work he did on Jimmy Olsen). The book is a rare treat of a thing: focusing on these lesser-knowns gives the reader a fresh way to understand the larger Marvel Universe, to explore new corners and a unique perspective. Plus, you can never go wrong with a Complete Collection trade paperback, which contains the whole run at an affordable price and reasonable trim size.
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