September 30th, 2026

by Greg Thompson October 2, 2026

Rob's Picks:

DNX #2 - The battle for the future continues! Cyclops and the gang are pressing the assault on 3K, which is already fracturing along the lines established in DNX #1. Does this make the fight any easier? Hell no! We’re dropped right back into the action in progress on the 3K flying saucer, where Beast's lesser minions show some creative new uses for their mutant powers, plus a much better showing for the fantastic twosome of Human Torch and Thing. The highlight of the issue is the long-awaited confrontation between Beast and Cyclops, and Jed McKay doesn’t oversell the big moment. He trusts the audience to understand the history (and personal baggage) between these day-one X-Men, who stand divided over which parts of Charles Xavier’s ideals they chose to keep in the post-Krakoan age. The effort to revive and repower Magneto makes slow progress. Reed Richards lays out some genetic technobabble that might be significant for the X-virus plot, but the most intriguing part is still the dilemma of giving second chances to a villain. DNX isn’t dragging its feet, a significant edge over other big events in that STUFF ACTUALLY HAPPENS. Each installment ups the stakes or moves the plot in some significant way, making every issue actually feel essential (yes, even the tie-ins).

Alien vs. X-Men #1 - The consistent awesomeness of Marvel’s ‘Alien vs.’ books is a generational feat of brand synergy. This week, Once & Future writer Kieron Gillen pits the Xenomorphs against the X-Men, and the first chapter of this four-issue miniseries racks up some impressive casualties. In the depths of space, some of Xavier’s best are on the hunt for a Phoenix Egg. When their mission comes to an abrupt and bloody end, what they discover is an egg of another kind, and you see where this is going, right? On Earth, the rest of the X-Men are awaiting the return of their spacefaring teammates until the Blackbird makes a hard landing, and that is when this book really gets good. Acid-blooded aliens attacking the mansion is bad enough, but these Xenomorphs are rocking some very familiar mutant abilities! Artist Geraldo Borges of No/One doesn’t hold back on the blood and guts horror, delivering plenty of it while making it gel with the X-Men aesthetic. This issue moves at a brisk pace with little room for exposition, so we don’t get much connective tissue between deep space and Earth. Gillen essentially skips the claustrophobic and personal horror of Alien for the darkly tinged ensemble action of Aliens, and I think this choice works in the book's favor. Readers will get swept up by the fast-paced storytelling, which provides plenty of the kind of fan service these crossovers were made for.

TMNT: The Hunger #1 - A long-vanquished enemy returns for revenge when Hun breaks out of hell! Leader of the Purple Dragons gang and father of Casey Jones, Hun was as bad as they come, and a stint in oblivion has only made him worse. To extend their stay in the world of the living, Hun and his new gang of ghostly gangsters have to take lives, which is no problem for a man bent on revenge. First stop, lair of the Purple Dragons. Fresh from their bouts in the Battle Nexus, Slash and Ninjara are the heroes of this story. I like this move by writer Pallie Paul Allor, firstly because of his excellent character work on Battle Nexus, and secondly for letting the TMNT world feel as big as its years of lore would imply. The current slate of spinoff Turtle books has done well by centering characters other than the TMNT and keeping cameos limited, expanding the world and keeping the OG turtle bros from feeling overexposed. I also loved the look of this series. Artist Gavin Smith brings Kevin Eastman’s rough edges and gritty shading to his own style, and his attention to those details helps this feel like a piece of vintage TMNT.

Jupiter's Picks:

Gastronomique #2: If you don't have a queasy stomach and like experimental stories this is a good pickup. It pumps up the gore and lust compared to the first issue for sure! We start off this issue with a guillotine and one of our main characters crying out in hunger, then quickly pan to Charlotte in 1793. She's got a knife to her throat by a soldier, but her story is far from over as she fights this man with calm precision. We then continue onward with Charlotte and Zélie, as they walk the streets of Paris. They see the hunger and death that surrounds them, that surrounds everyone in this story thus far. The two have a conversation, then we see some very trippy visuals as they share intimacy with each other. The remainder of the story tells us about a new character, as I'll let you explore on your own. If you enjoyed this read definitely let me know, this is one to have conversations about!

The Fantastic Four First Foes, Dragon Man #1: This is an amazing start to a Fantastic Four run, we are introduced to each of the characters as they come out of their car onto a stage. Everyone in this comic is scared and disturbed by the Thing's appearance, treating him as less than compared to the rest of his found family. He finds a space to be by himself, sitting under a big statue in a laboratory. We then meet a very suspicious looking alchemist named Damien Albo, as he introduces himself and his practices to Ben. We then understand why the group is all here as they gather and talk, Damien is attempting to give Ben back some of his more human looking features using alchemy. Although it doesn't work completely, he is changed. Unfortunately for the Fantastic Four, that cosmic energy has to go somewhere. Damien puts all that he took into that statue from earlier, turning it into a live creature that tries to destroy our team. Read this Fantastic issue, pun intended, to find out what happens!

Alien VS. X-Men #1: We start our story off in deep space with some familiar faces: Beast, Cyclops, Wolverine, and more. The team are on the hunt for the Phoenix egg, but unfortunately find Alien ones instead. Beast of course can't help his curiosity as a scientist, and we soon see how that affects him. The story time jumps to a week later, and we see the ship our beginning crew was on hurdling down towards the School. Ororo and Jean are talking to one another as they train, but then the ship brutally crashes right in front of them. The ship explodes with Aliens zooming out, moving quickly to attack the remaining X-Men. The professor reads their minds and sees only violence in these aliens, nothing but cold thoughts. They all fight and our X-Men soon realize that their blood is extremely acidic and dangerous to them all, even Colossus. The team decide to fall back and regroup, as this is too dangerous for them to fight without a new plan. The rest of this issue is as incredible as it sounds, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!