Hammerfist #1 Ashcan Promo

A rare pre-release ashcan for one of 2026's most buzzed-about new launches. Hammerfist comes from Rick Remender and Steve Epting, inspired by the VHS era. The ongoing crime-horror series follows Mike Denton, a violent criminal who gains supernatural powers to protect his daughter. Epting called the book "unpredictable, gritty and funny" — a hardboiled crime story that mutates into fever-dream horror without losing the heart underneath.

Ashcans are miniature, low-print promotional editions distributed ahead of a series launch to build advance buzz among retailers and collectors — scarce by design, not by chance. Image Comics is distributing this ashcan through limited convention channels, including SDCC 2026, keeping print runs tight. This edition is capped at one per store and already carries significant advance buzz ahead of the full series launch.

Series specs: Full Hammerfist #1 releases August 26, 2026, cover priced $5.99, with variant covers by Jerome Opeña, Nic Klein, Dan Panosian, Andrew Robinson, and a blank sketch edition.

Why it matters for collectors: Ashcans have real precedent as long-term holds — first-run Image ashcans from major creator-driven launches (Sam Keith's The Maxx ashcan is a well-known example) still trade decades later. As a low-print promo tied to a series with a major creative team, this is a speculative pickup for anyone tracking Remender/Epting's next book before the wider market catches on.