The Pull List — August 5, 2026
Good morning, Epic Panels crew. It's Wednesday, August 5, 2026 — new comic book day — and the calendar handed us a doubleheader of anniversaries before a single box got cut open. Here's your briefing.
📅 THIS DAY IN COMIC HISTORY
60 years ago today — August 5, 1966: Mary Jane Watson stepped out from behind that doorway in The Amazing Spider-Man #42, and the medium got one of its most quoted entrances. Six decades later she is still one of the most recognizable supporting characters in superhero comics — and, as of today, a headliner in her own right.
65 years ago — August 1961: Fantastic Four #1 hit newsstands and effectively started the Marvel Age. Everything downstream — the shared universe, the bickering-family model of superheroics, the letters-page intimacy — traces back to that book. Marvel is marking the milestone twice over this month.
☕ TODAY'S BIG STORY
Mary Jane: Face It, Tiger #1 lands on her 60th anniversary. Marvel timed this one to the day. The special is built as a four-story anthology, with contributions from Ann Nocenti, Ashley Allen, J.M. DeMatteis and J. Michael Straczynski — a lineup that spans several distinct eras of MJ's history rather than a single creative voice. Straczynski in particular is a notable get; his run remains the reference point for a lot of readers' idea of who MJ is as a character.
What makes this more than a nostalgia lap is the framing. Rather than one continuity-heavy narrative, the anthology structure lets each team pick a different lens — which is arguably the right call for a character whose appeal has always been that she reads differently depending on which decade you found her in. If you have been waiting for a jumping-on point that doesn't require a Spider-Man reading list, this is it.
Pre-order Mary Jane: Face It, Tiger #1 →
🗞️ INDUSTRY BUZZ
1. Oni Press moves to Penguin Random House distribution. According to Oni Press announcements, the publisher's worldwide distribution partnership with Penguin Random House takes effect this month. For a mid-size publisher, distribution reach is the whole ballgame — expect Oni titles to turn up in more bookstore and library channels going forward.
2. Dark Horse brings Terry Moore's Abstract Studio in as an imprint. According to Dark Horse Comics, the new imprint launches with hardcover editions of Strangers in Paradise and Rachel Rising. Moore's self-publishing run is one of the great independent success stories of the last thirty years, so seeing that library get a sustained collected-edition program is genuinely good news for anyone who has tried to fill those gaps on a shelf.
3. Poison Ivy #47 closes the mayor arc — and opens a Bat-event. According to DC solicitation material, the resolution of Ivy's Gotham mayoral storyline feeds directly into a new Batman-line crossover titled "Bad Seeds." Ivy has spent this run operating at the scale of city politics rather than street-level villainy, and it appears that escalation is about to become everybody else's problem.
4. Marvel's Midnight imprint has moved to October. Worth flagging because early chatter had the horror-reimagining imprint arriving this month: the launch is now set for October 7, not August. If you saw an August date somewhere, it's out of date. Nothing Midnight-branded ships today.
5. Harvey Awards 2026 nominees are out. Voting is open through August 28. If you're a professional in the field, that's your window — and if you're a reader, the ballot is one of the better curated reading lists you'll get for free this year.
📰 ALSO THIS MORNING
89 books ship today — 16 from Marvel, 11 from DC, 10 from Image, with the balance spread across the independents. It's a heavy Wednesday, and a heavier one than usual for debuts.
Fantastic Four #15 arrives as an oversized 65th-anniversary issue from Ryan North and Humberto Ramos. North's run has leaned into the FF as explorers and problem-solvers rather than punchers, and an anniversary-sized page count gives that approach room to breathe. Ramos on art is the loud, kinetic counterweight.
Chachu #1 gives Iman Vellani her first solo writing credit — a neo-noir miniseries drawn by Marianna Ignazzi, out today from Image. Details below.
What If...? Captain America #1 restarts Marvel's most durable premise engine with Steve Rogers at the center. Cheap thrills, done right, are still thrills.
🔥 NEW FIRST ISSUES TO WATCH
Chachu #1 (Image) — The one people will be talking about. Iman Vellani, best known on the acting side, takes the writing chair solo for a five-issue neo-noir with artist Marianna Ignazzi. First issues from performers-turned-writers get graded on a curve; based on the setup here, this one may not need it.
Fort Psycho #1 (Oni Press) — Landing the same month Oni's Penguin Random House distribution deal kicks in, which is either coincidence or good planning. Either way, more people will be able to find it.
Also debuting today: What If...? Captain America #1 (Marvel), Dungeons & Dragons: Ravenloft #1, The Smart Division #1, The Foundry #1, and Masters of the Universe: Genesis #1 — the last four all from Dark Horse, which is having a conspicuously busy Wednesday.
📚 IN PRINT & COLLECTIONS
Fantastic Four: 65 Years of the World's Greatest Comic Covers is the companion piece to the anniversary. It's a cover-art survey, which means it doubles as a visual history of how superhero comics have sold themselves since 1961 — from Kirby's design language through every stylistic swing since. The kind of book that ends up on a coffee table and never quite makes it back to the shelf.
Pre-order the 65 Years cover book →
🗣️ RUMOR MILL
Unconfirmed: with "Bad Seeds" spinning directly out of Poison Ivy #47, readers are already speculating about which Bat-titles get pulled into the crossover and how deep the tie-in list runs. DC has not published a full participating-titles list. Treat any roster you see today as speculation until solicitations say otherwise.
P.S.
Mary Jane Watson was teased for over two years before readers actually saw her face — Stan Lee and Steve Ditko kept her hidden behind flowerpots, newspapers and conveniently placed furniture from 1965 onward. When the reveal finally came in August 1966, it was one panel and one line. Sixty years later, that's still the entrance everyone quotes.
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