A new era has dawned at Alien Books as the publisher unveiled a revised logo and plans to publish a range of new projects in 2026 ahead of this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. The cult favorite manga series Badducks by Toryumon Takeda and a new X-O Manowar: Black, White & Gold anthology series will both factor heavily into the publisher’s 2026 slate of releases, alongside previously announced projects like Valiant Beyond and new Zorro comic series.

The next series to be released as part of Alien’s growing manga library, Badducks by mangaka Toryumon Takeda is a fantasy story with sci-fi elements that follows Morgan Gray, a man who sold his organs to pay off a debt and underwent an experiment to become a powerful cyborg. After being forced into servitude by the mob, Morgan meets a desperate lady named Lisa and together they escape along with a briefcase full of stolen money… and a baby! The unlikely trio must survive a life on-the-run from the dangerous criminals that are hunting them down.

Spanning across four volumes, Badducks Vol. 1 will arrive in Fall 2026 and be distributed to both the direct market and book markets by Penguin Random House, as part of Alien’s publishing partnership with IDW.

Alien Books found its footing in the crowdfunding market this year. The next Valiant Comics project to launch on Kickstarter efforts will be a spiritual successor to 2024’s Black, White & Bloodshot series and will star Aric of Dacia: X-O Manowar: Black, White & Gold.

The bi-chromatic anthology series, offered as an exclusive hardcover edition through Kickstarter, will feature all-new stories from every era of Valiant Comics and will be written by a collection of established and up-and-coming industry talent including legendary mangaka Shintaro Kago, Marc Guggenheim, Kevin Roditeli, Sylvain Runberg, Roberto Meli, Adriano Barone, Luca Blengino, Mike Baron, Alex Segura, Diego Agrimbau, Sean Lewis, Dan Abnett, Peter Milligan, Louis Southard, Derek Fridolfs, AJ Ampadu and many more.

The full list of creators on the project will be revealed when the Kickstarter campaign goes live later this year.

Exclusive add-ons for this project will include the previously announced X-O Manowar #0 Artist’s Edition and X-O Manowar #1 Facsimile Edition, making it a true celebration of one of Valiant’s most iconic heroes and can’t-miss for hardcore Valiant fans.

A new version of the Alien Books logo will appear across the first issues of upcoming Valiant Beyond series Bloodshot and Tales of the Shadowman, hitting comic shops in August.

With a full slate of crowdfunding projects, relaunches and licensed titles on deck for 2026, Timarchi also teased an unannounced crossover project that will pit one of Valiant Comics’ flagship characters against a mystery opponent from an iconic fighting game franchise.

More details on this crossover project will be announced later this year.

Fans can get a sneak peek into the future of Alien Books and Valiant Comics by picking up the Valiant Beyond Preview Edition Ashcan available for free at IDW Publishing’s booth #2729 at San Diego Comic-Con, while supplies last.