There are a lot, and I mean a lot, of comic books released every week. Every Wednesday, dozens, if not hundreds, of new issues hit store shelves from all manner of companies, genres, and time periods. Marvelalone has released seventy new comics this month, not counting facsimile rereleases of older stories or digital exclusives, which would bump this number up even more. Simply put, that’s a whole lot of comics in a short period of time. Heck, the sheer number of one-shots and specials Marvel put out this month massively amped their release numbers, to the point where they dropped nearly twenty issues more than DC, which is just absurd. Marvel has put out a ton of comics this month, and with all that content on the shelves, it can be hard to know which ones are worth the read.
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Let’s not pretend like very real constraints keep us from diving headfirst into this backlog. There are an infinite number of reasons that people aren’t caught up on Marvel’s latest releases, from money to time, to simple choice paralysis. Have no fear, though, because I am someone with the exact incentive needed to read an unnatural number of comic books per month, and today, I’ll be laying out which issues you absolutely need to pick up from your local shop. We’re taking a look at the five Marvel issues that I recommend for their quality, importance, and everything in between from September 2026. Without further ado, let’s swing into September’s recommendations.
5) Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment
Let’s start with one of those aforementioned Marvel rereleases. This month, an all-time classic received that treatment with this brand-new version of Marvel Graphic Novel: Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom — Triumph and Torment. This sensational graphic novel first hit store shelves back in 1989, but this is much more than a simple reprinting. We’re seeing this fan-favorite book like we never have before, with Marvel printing it in the traditional comic book format instead of the original style. On top of the new format, it also features an incredible new cover from the visionary artist Peach Momoko. Don’t worry, as traditional fans can still pick up a variant of the OG Mike Mignola cover.
The Marvel Graphic Novel line gave us some of the most important, mature, and influential titles the company has ever produced, but this one fights for that top spot with the impeccable God Loves, Man Kills. This is a story that’s as bombastic as it is intimate, seeing Doctor Doom recruit fellow doctor and Sorcerer Supreme Stephen Strange to battle Mephisto and free his mother’s soul from Hell. It’s a massive, sprawling battle that challenges each character’s soul as much as their might, and it has become the foundational story for the Fantastic Four’s most legendary foe. This story is always worth a read, and picking it up is always recommended if you need a version to read.
4) Challenges of Doom: Spider-Man
Keeping on track with the Doctor Doom releases, this single-issue adventure pits him against everyone’s favorite Web-Slinging hero. It takes us back to the earliest days of Spidey’s career, focusing on his first interactions with Doom from the villain’s perspective, all while adding so much more. In his endless quest to best the Fantastic Four, Doom decides to recruit Spider-Man to his side, but finds the wise-cracking menace is reluctant to become an actual supervillain. Of course, Doom doesn’t take no for an answer, and continuously tests the hero, finding amusement in dissecting the hero’s mentality. However, in the end, it’s Doom who learns an important lesson from the young man, and how he internalizes that is peak Doctor Doom.
Doom has always been one of Marvel’s most distinct characters. Half the fun of his stories is watching just how deeply he buys into his own delusions of grandeur. A good Doom story hones in on that, but a great Doom story uses a splash of cold water to force the tyrant to take a look at everything he’s done and have him double down in his own twisted, almost noble way. That’s exactly what this story is. It also slots perfectly into Spider-Man’s earliest days, and Peter truly feels like he just popped out of that era. It has everything you could ask for from a flashback issue like this, and even sets up a connection to the next character Doom will challenge, which ties directly into our previous entry.
3) X-Men (2024) #37
The biggest X-Men event since the fall of Krakoa is here. Ever since Jed MacKay took over Marvel’s premier mutant team, he’s been building towards a climactic final battle between 3K and the X-Men. That fight has finally begun in the pages of DNX, which sees the heroes trying to stop 3K before they unleash a virus that will transform the world’s population into mutants, if they survive. The first two issues have hit the shelves this month, and I highly recommend picking it up, but my personal pick from among the lot so far is the main series tie-in, featuring the final battle between Kid Omega and Cassandra Nova. These two Omega-level telepaths have a long, disastrous history, and this issue pulled on all of it.
Every page of this comic is filled to the brim with pure telepathic battle goodness. Cassandra pulls no punches, trying to drown Quentin in endless misery, but he keeps coming right back and hitting twice as hard. He demonstrates just how much he’s changed into a true hero, highlighting that what differentiates the two of them is that he’s learned to care about others, while she’s still only in this for herself. This is one of the best psychic battles we’ve seen in the entire Marvel line, and its conclusion had me jumping out of my seat. It makes full use of everything Marvel’s top psychics are great at, and is a phenomenal showcase of everything this era is about.
2) Marvel Mangaverse: Web of Destiny
The Marvel Mangaverse returned this year with a brand-new massive status-quo shake-up, and this issue ties all of the plot threads together in a finale like nothing we’ve seen before in a Marvel comic. This climactic final entry in this section of the Mangaverse follows Spinja (Miles Morales), Legion (Illyana Rasputin), and Weapon X-Tremis (Laura Kinney), three former friends who have become enemies in their quest to save the world, only for Miles himself to inadvertently unleash the unimaginable power of the Web of Destiny and wreak havoc on the world, which is exactly what the true monster behind the scenes, Blackheart, wanted.
This issue is pure adrenaline and heart from the very start. Everything is over-the-top and explosive like you’d imagine from the highest echelon of Shounen battle manga, featuring countless incredible displays of art and final attack names shouted to the heavens. It’s pure fan-service in the best way, combining classic Marvel lore with the insane hype of an action manga. I could easily imagine this as a full manga. Heck, I could imagine it as an anime. It’s fun, massive, and everything a story like this should be, which includes being grounded with a truly impactful focus on the power of friendship. Also, we see Colossus as a giant mech. That alone is worth the price of admission.
1) The Amazing Spider-Man #1000
Spider-Man has been Marvel’s number one hero since the very first time he slapped on some web-shooters, and now he’s finally reached a milestone that almost no other comic book character has: one thousand issues. This is an unbelievable milestone that every fan can and should be ecstatic about. On top of the continuation of Joe Kelly and Pepe Larraz’s awesome run, it also features all-star teams of some of Spidey’s greatest writers, and a few new faces throwing their hats into the ring. Every story in this issue offers something to love, from breathtaking heart to a fantastic dissection of what Spider-Man means to people. It’s a true love letter to the character.
I’m not going to tell you that this issue is perfect, as I have more than a few problems with this celebration, but there’s no denying that this is a stellar creative lineup that delivers an awesome issue that every Spider-Man fan can find something to love about. If there were any single issue that you absolutely needed to pick up this month, it is definitely this one, because how often does a character as iconic as Spider-Man reach such an incredible milestone? Here’s to another thousand issues of the Web-Head!
Those are my top five recommendations from Marvel comics this month, but they are far from the only issues worth reading. If you’ve read some of Marvel’s other output, let us know which issue was your favorite in the comments below!
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