Top Comics to Buy for October 21, 2026: We are so back

The Top Comics to Buy for October 21 has landed, and we are so back, following a month-long hiatus that I took to better-market a comic that I personally wrote on Kickstarter (which you can still buy. And it’s a good week to be back! A nice mix of interesting indie comics with great execution

You can find my five favorites from the week’s advanced reading below, along with the usual set of release lists!

Top Comics to Buy for October 21

End of Life #9
Writer:Kyle Starks
Artist: Steve Pugh
Colorist:Chris O’Halloran
Letterer:Becca Carey
Publisher:DC Comics – Vertigo
Eddie, with some big and little friends, gets to kick the pants off Rumplemindt and Neils. Seems like he’s getting the hang of narrowly escaping the clutches of evil men. Everything else in his life? Not so much. How’s he going to handle Sophie learning his big secret…and what’s he going to do when George makes a huge request of him?

Why It’s Cool:There’s nothing like two giant muscle guys having an all-out brawl in comics, and that’s what we get for part of this issue, which then osciallates right back to character beats and joke mode. Artist Steve Pugh and colorist Chris O’Halloran are just doing such a fantastic job bringing this book to life, making it as capable of action as it is of emotion and humor.

Price:$3.99

Forever Home #2
Writer: Christian Ward

Artist: Sami Kivela

Colorist:Jason Wordie

Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

Publisher: Oni Press
After a series of cataclysmic environmental catastrophes wiped away civilization, life around the Forever Home has returned within the flourishing forest that now surrounds it on all sides. Once safe inside their scientifically enabled refuge — where for every one minute experienced within 20 passes for the world outside — the D’mour family now have to contend with a new world that wants nothing more than to break down their walls… While outside, we discover the last vestiges of humanity with grand campfire tales of the world that ended and the Red Storm that unleashed death on our forefathers… How a young boy called Tommy was found in their wilderness… And how that boy’s clouded memories of the refuge called the Forever Home could now spell doom for those that saved him from certain death.
Why It’s Cool: Forever Home is quickly proving to be one of the best end-of-the-world comics we’ve seen in recent years. There’s a notion among the super rich that they could weather an apocalypse in some kind of bunker situation, and that’s kind of what this book is about. But, more fascinatingly, this book boils that notion down and applies it to a single family. This series also does one of my favorite things in periodical comics, with a second issue that rapidly expands the world beyond what we glimpsed in the series debut.
Price: $4.99

The Forged #14
Writer: Greg Rucka and Eric Trautmann

Artist: Mike Henderson

Colorist: Nolan Woodard

Letterer: Ariana Maher

Publisher: Image Comics

Bred and trained to be the deadliest women in the Empire, Victory and her Forged turned their formidable skills AGAINST the Empire…and now it’s time for their decapitation strike. The only problem? The Empress knows they’re coming, and exactly what they’ve got, and exactly how to overwhelm their forces. The Forged are f#!%ed.
Why It’s Cool: This week we get the penultimate issue of The Forged, which has ostensibly been a mech/space war comic, which has surprised me as a reader at every turn. This issue is no exception, as the story continues building toward what stands to be an exciting finale. 
Price: $6.99

Hello Halloween #2
Creators: Jeffrey Brown, Bill Crabtree, Robert Hack, Lauren Assour, Morgan Beem, Becca Carey, Christof Bogacs, Marie Enger, Len Gog, Dimitrios Pantazis, and Ed Dukeshire

Publisher:BOOM! Studios
Get ready for another installment of the fan favorite horror anthology series—this time with our second annual Halloween special issue, full of tricks AND treats to ensure maximum seasonal chills and thrills!
A Halloween game of D&D takes a hellish turn when the dungeon master decides to host the game in an actual haunted house! Roll Incentive to NOT DIE in ‘The Funeral Party” by Len Gog and Dimitrios Pantazis.
Bestselling cartoonist Jeffrey Brown dishes out full-sized grossouts with “Smell My Feet.”
And duo infernale Chrisof Bogacas and Marie Enger revel in the plight of a hapless trick or treater who delves into a retro videogame handed out instead of candy in “Evermaze.”
Why It’s Cool: I love a good shared-theme anthology, and I also love comics about Halloween. Naturally, this makes me predisposed to enjoy Hello Halloween #2, which is both those things. Making it all the better is the high quality of work across the board from this fantastic group of creators.
Price: $5.99

The Patron #3
Writer: Christian Ward

Artist: John J. Pearson

Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

Publisher: Ignition Press
Clyde catches up with Lucy as she gets dangerously close to uncovering the truth behind Matty’s alleged overdose. But when Detective Stone’s investigation leads her straight to Lucy, the two women discover their paths may be more connected than either of them realized. Meanwhile, Mr. Cherish finds himself haunted by the consequences of his own bloody trail, as a ghost from his past returns to turn the tables on him.
Why It’s Cool:Comics is chockful of great concepts, but execution doesn’t always live up to the idea. The Patron is proving to be a masterclass in having a great comics concept and executing it to perfection. I love the ideas in this book around the value of art and death-driven scarcity, and I’m also loving the tense, murder mystery powering this one forward, making it a must-read.
Price: $4.99

Other Comics I Enjoyed This Week

• 
  Arrivals #1 (3W3M)
• Deathstroke, The Terminator #8
• Exquisite Corpses – Rascal Randy #4
• The Folk of Dooney Hollow #2
• The Fury of Firestorm #7
• Ofiusa #2
• Nightwing #143
• Six of Us #2
• Twilight Zone #11
• Wonder Woman #38

New #1s and One-Shots

• 
  Amazing Spider-Man Halloween Special #1 (one-shot)
• Arrivals #1 (3W3M)
• Cyberpunk 2077 Jayks Case #1
• Filthy Lambs #1
• Iron Man – Racing Towards Doom #1 (one-shot)
• The Last Starfighter Beta #1 (one-shot)
• Mirka Andolfo’s Sweet Paprika Black White & Pink Halloween Special #1 (one-shot)
• The Punisher / Black Widow #1 (one-shot)
• Star Wars – The Mandalorian and Grogu – Nightmare on Nevarro #1 (one-shot)
• Terrorbytes Halloween Annual #1
• Thundercats #1

Graphic Novels and Trade Collections

• 
  American Vampire Book 3 TP
• Astro Quantum TP
• Batman by Darwyn Cooke The Absolute Edition HC
• The Beauty Book 3 TP
• Blade Epic Collection Vol 1 His Name Is Blade TP
• Bleeding Hearts Vol 1 Out-Break TP
• Bring on the Bad Guys Origins of Marvel Comics Villains TP Gallery 13 Edition
• Chef’s Kiss Again TP
• Come Again TP
• Creatures & Corridors TP
• Creepshow Tales of Suspense and Horror Deluxe Edition Book 2 HC
• DC Finest Doom Patrol The End Sanctifies The Means TP
• 
  Diana HC
• Don Quixote – A Graphic Novel Adaptation HC
• Dorian Gray Graphic Novel HC
• Dracula Book 3 The Count TP
• Ghost Rider Epic Collection Vol 4 To Slay a Demon TP
• Godzilla IDW Library Collection Vol 7 TP
• Gumshoe TP
• Huck Vol 1 All-American TP Dark Horse Edition
• I Can’t Stop Thinking About Horses And Sex HC
• Lost Fantasy Vol 3 TP
• M1 Monster Racing League Vol 1 TP
• Moon Deer HC
• Mortal Thor Vol 2 Come At The King TP
• 
  Nirvana Is Here TP
• Once & Future Omnibus TP
• Plants vs Zombies Vol 26 Certified Zomboss HC
• The Primal Hunter Vol 2 GN
• Psylocke Ninja Rise From The Fall TP
• Red Roots Vol 1 TP
• Scott Snyder’s Dark Spaces Casebook TP
• Spectre by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake Omnibus Vol 2 HC
• Swamp Thing by Rick Veitch Book 3 Time Upon A Once TP
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Booyakasha Books Vol 2 TP
• Toxic Avenger Vol 3 Toxie Goes to Washington TP
• Transformers UK Compendium Book 2 TP
• Venom Epic Collection Vol 8 Shadows of the Past TP
• Wandering HC
• We Only Find Them When They’re Dead Complete Collection TP
• Wytches Pledged Edition Vol 1 TP
• X-Men Age of Krakoa By Kieron Gillen Omnibus HC
• You Wish Vol 3 Crunch Time GN

Read past editions of the Top Comics to Buy!

And check out the Beat’s most recent comics reviews!