Small Press Expo has announced that over 200 books and comics will debut at SPX 2026. The festival takes place on Saturday and Sunday, September 12-13, at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center with over 500 creators, 280 exhibitor tables, over 50 publishers, 22 programming panels and 18 hands-on workshops to introduce attendees to the amazing world of independent and small press comics. 

SPX is an amazing show where you can find comics you won’t see at shops. From xeroxed stapled comics to full thick graphic novels with amazing presentation, there’s something for everyone.

We’ve gone over the list of debuts and we’ve put together a list highlighting what stands out to us based on the covers, descriptions, and creators.

See what made the list and we’ll see you at SPX 2026!

100FAQ On Making Comics

Shelly Bond
$15.00
Published by OffRegister.Press
All Ages
Category: Autobiographical and Other

Know the Basics. Avoid the Blunders.
Whether you’re self-publishing or just love comics, 100FAQ is a must-have for every bookshelf. Drawing on decades of experience from her time at Vertigo/DC Comics and beyond, comic book editor SHELLY BOND proffers 100 of her favorite questions about making comics, from oft-asked to oddball. Each of the 5 chapters contains 20 Q&A in areas from Idea and Story to Art, Printing and Industry Professionalism. Short comics and spot illustration accompaniment by fan-favorite artist PHILIP BOND.
128 pages. 6 x 9. $15.00

Come Again (expanded paperback edition)

Nate Powell
$20.00
Published by Abrams ComicArts
Adults Only
Category: Fantasy, Horror, and Other

Out of print for several years, the Eisner-nominated COME AGAIN returns as the origin point for Nate Powell’s interconnected saga featuring FALL THROUGH and his brand new book DIANA.

As the sun sets on the 1970s, the spirit of the Love Generation still lingers in one “intentional community” nestled deep in the Ozark Mountains. And after years without personal space or secrets of her own, single mother Haluska feels like she’s losing her identity…

When Haluska stumbles across a cave hidden away from the eyes of the commune, she and her best friend’s husband escape the impossible scrutiny by entangling themselves in an affair. When they’re together, the whispers, rumors, and idealistic posturing that make up the fabric of their daily life melts away, and the two of them can be just themselves for a few stolen moments.

But their convenient love nest hides a much deeper secret, and when their young sons Jacob and Shane stumble across their hiding place, they uncover something far more sinister than a forbidden tryst . . Haluska will need to confront both herself and the terrifying indifference of her own community to save the boys from a long-slumbering evil that has been calling to her from the beginning.

This new edition of COME AGAIN includes an 18-page section of process notes, illustrations, and creative considerations highlighting this story’s evolution, and the emergence of FALL THROUGH and DIANA from the pages of this book.

DC’s Last King (The Crack Dynasty of Rayful Edmond)

Mark Lindblom
$7.00
Published by Self-Published

DC’s Last King is a true‑crime minicomic that tells the life of Washington DC’s most elusive drug kingpin, Rayful Edmond. His reign on the city during the crack era still echoes through DC today. Trace his birth, hustle, paranoia, betrayal, and collapse. Rayful Edmond’s story has become modern Washington DC folklore, and it still haunts the city.

Diana

Nate Powell
$30.00
Published by Abrams ComicArts
Adults Only
Category: Horror, LGBTQ+, and Other

DIANA is an emotionally intense time-tripping graphic novel capturing the transitional 1990s and the weird kids who fall through the cracks— perfect for fans of ‘Hello Sunshine,’ ‘The Deep Dark,’ and ‘Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me.’ DIANA is a stand-alone story which also redefines COME AGAIN and FALL THROUGH as an interwoven saga.

The year is 1992. Diana Bogue is a personality too big for her small Arkansas town—a runaway who dyes her hair platinum, studies the occult, sings like an angel, and dominates the local punk scene through the force of her personality. Even when being in the “cult of Diana” is too much for them, her friends Jody, Steff, Napoleon, and Todd can’t help but be pulled into her vortex.

But under the surface, Diana struggles to outrun damage from a repressive religious past. She only shares these struggles with her dearest long-distance pen pal—who she keeps hidden from her other friends.

Until one day, he’s never heard from again.

Untethered and fiercely protective of what she considers hers, Diana turns even more inward, blending music and homegrown sorcery in hopes of outrunning reality. But even she can’t turn back time . . . or can she?

Check out our review.

Faster (Complete Edition)

Jesse Lonergan
$20.00
Published by Bulgilhan Press
All Ages
Category: Other

Who truly knows what a premier racer is thinking while behind the wheel, we can only imagine the lives that play out on the speedway. Join the motley cast of racers in Jesse Lonergan’s , FASTER, a visually engrossing display of racing, and the people who can’t help but race. Can perpetual runner up Molly Vox finally pull ahead of Kona Demille, the five-time world champion? Find out in FASTER! For young adults and older.

Forevr

Brian Box Brown
$19.99
Published by Top Shelf Productions
Adults Only

Why say goodbye? Death is only a temporary glitch in this eerily plausible future from award-winning graphic novelist Brian “Box” Brown.

Brenda’s mom is dying—but not for long. Like millions of others, she’s uploaded her consciousness to the groundbreaking new app Forevr, which allows the surviving family members to chat with her on their screens for a very reasonable monthly fee. Now Brenda’s dad doesn’t have to be alone…while Brenda and her girlfriend focus on building their careers as wilderness survival influencers. But when this very modern family sets out on a camping trip, their tensions and tech addictions build to an explosive climax whose consequences may last…forever.

Gay Mormon Dad

Written by Chad Anderson, art by Remy Burke
$23.00
Published by Graphic Mundi
Adults Only
Category: Biography and LGBTQ+

Life is better when you live it as your true self.

All his life, Chad Anderson was told he was broken. He believed with all his heart that being a good Mormon would make him straight, because that is what he was told. Chad followed the prescribed road map: mission, marriage, and children. But it didn’t make him happy, and it didn’t make him straight. For Chad, coming out meant losing everything and starting again.

Gay Mormon Dad is the story of one man learning to love himself in a complicated world. This inspiring autobiography unfolds in two parts, “Then” and “Now,” woven together in a way that will hit you right in the heart. Vibrantly illustrated by artist Remy Burke, this moving graphic novel sheds light on the dangers of spiritual abuse and illuminates the path to healing.

Home Time: Twelve Days

Campbell White
$39.99
Published by Top Shelf Productions
Young Adult (13–17 years old)
Category: Fantasy

Talking peaches, magic tea, frightening wildlife, and more—the award-winning fantasy epic graphic novel that critics called “an intoxicating and visually stunning Australian Narnia” is now collected into a single massive volume!

The last school bell has rung, and it’s finally HOME TIME! Even though they’re twins, Lily and David don’t agree on much…except that the last summer before high school is the perfect time for relaxing with friends.

But their plans for sleepovers, fantasy games, and romance are thrown out the window when the whole gang falls into a river and wakes up in a village of fantastic creatures. Hailed as magical spirits, threatened by lizards, and trained in the mysterious arts of tea-brewing, these kids must find their way home—if they don’t throttle each other first.

Featuring a kaleidoscope of art styles, a puzzle-box narrative structure, and a spectacular reimagining of his childhood hometown, Campbell Whyte’s astonishing Australian fantasy series is now collected in one volume for the first time.

I Won’t Pretend These Missiles Are Stars: Life in Iran During the 12-Day War

Street Noise Books
$22.99
Published by Street Noise Books
Adults Only
Category: Autobiographical

What does war feel like? Listen to real people on the ground in Iran. People’s lives are shattered.

An eye-opening anthology from a collective of fifteen different young writers and artists who were going about their daily lives in and around Tehran, while Israel and the United States carried out a bombing campaign to cripple the Iranian nuclear weapons capabilities.

We learn about the nightmare of trying to sleep while bombs are exploding all around you; about the struggle to rescue your beloved cat as you are evacuating your home; about the anxiety of not being able to communicate with your friends and loved ones and learn of their whereabouts; and we hear about the trauma of being forced to return to an abusive home in order to stay “safe.”

A searing and honest account of life in Tehran during the U.S. and Israeli attacks of 2025. This book was edited by two Iranian comics teachers, and we have kept all of the editors’, authors’, and artists’ identities anonymous for their safety.

Check out our review.

Infected for Science

Written by Sydney Halpern, art by Trygve Faste
$30.00
Published by Graphic Mundi
Adults Only
Category: History

They weren’t willing to kill for their country, but they were willing to die for it.

During World War II, religious pacifist David Miller and a group of conscientious objectors made an extraordinary choice: they signed up for government-sponsored medical experiments that intentionally infected them with hepatitis. Their goal was simple but dangerous—help scientists understand a disease that was sickening American soldiers fighting on the front lines.

Infected for Science tells this remarkable true story through the striking artwork of Trygve Faste and Sydney Halpern’s deeply researched narrative. Drawing on archival records and the sharp, humorous cartoons Miller himself sketched, the graphic novel follows the men through grueling medical tests and the looming fear of serious illness.

What emerges is both a gripping, previously hidden history and a portrait of moral courage and conviction. The book reveals the heavy human costs of the experiments—and explores how the volunteers responded upon discovering that a group of individuals were being subjected to disease-inducing medical studies without their consent.

Kodi (Book 2): A Place to Call Home

(A) Jared Cullum (Editor) Chris Staros
$14.99
Published by Top Shelf Productions
All Ages
Category: Other

The gorgeous story of two friends separated by everything in the world — except love. Readers and animal-lovers of every age will want to relive this journey over and over again.
After being reunited, Katya and Kodi have settled into their fast-paced new life together in the city. When Katya begins to fall behind in school and Kodi struggles to find his place in this noisy new world everything is upended by a greedy zookeeper that aims to break their friendship up for good. Katya and her family must leave the city and journey back into the wild, meeting unlikely new friends and adventure along the way. From racing along rushing rivers to running with wild horses Katya must help her friend find a place to belong or risk losing him forever. — a 176-page full-color softcover graphic novel with 3″ French flaps (6.5″ x 9″)

Mercy Brown: Dead Around Town

Kat Klockow
$15.00
Published by Corpse Flower Press
Young Adult (13–17 years old)
Category: Horror

After being thrown out of the house by her ex-girlfriend, Mercy needs a place to crash before the sun comes up. Finding a rundown building, she makes herself at home until the voices start calling her name, objects start moving on their own, and she makes a terrible discovery about the place.

Mercy Brown: Dead Around Town is a 40-page, limited-palette graphic novel by horror creator Kat Klockow. It debuts at Small Press Expo 2026.

My Friend Kim Jong Un

Keu Suk Gendry-Kim
$30.00
Published by Drawn & Quarterly
Adults Only
Category: Autobiographical, Biography, History, and Other

Award-winning cartoonist Keum Suk Gendry-Kim contemplates and explores the long shadow North Korea casts over Korean society

On an island located an hour from Seoul, North Korea sits visible from cartoonist Keum Suk Gendry-Kim’s home and studio. The specter of the infamous dictatorship and nuclear power looms over daily life. Artillery fire, helicopters, and sirens from a nearby military base paint the acoustic landscape. In her award-winning books Grass and The Waiting, Gendry-Kim documents the pain and heartbreak of Korea’s history. In My Friend Kim Jong-Un, she looks to the present—to the man currently responsible for upholding the national divide created after World War Two.

While the rest of the world partakes in the popularity of Korean culture, a certain unease and anxiety hangs in the air in South Korea as its people still grapple with the distrust and anger of one culture split into two distinct societies. Gendry-Kim explores the life of the supreme leader, searching for commonalities to make sense of the daily fear: from his birth to his international education, his hobbies, and his relationships. She weaves her personal accounts and includes interviews with former South Korean president Moon Jae-in, North Korean defectors, researchers, journalists, and even Kim’s former chef.

Translated by the award-winning Janet Hong, My Friend… is a cautionary tale on what makes a dictator, at a time when these lessons are more relevant in the West than ever.

Ozzie the Vampire V-Sides: Hot Girls

Eric Lide
$5.00
Published by Self-Published
Young Adult (13–17 years old)
Category: Fantasy

Art student-turned vampire Ozzie Cortozzo has spent months using her newfound powers to protect New Jersey from an invading demonic threat, but she may have finally met her match when her latest foe turns up the heat to record levels!

SCAM

Alexandra Gallant-Lee
$20.00
Published by Self-Published

SCAM is a critical exploration of scams, particularly scams run by white women, and how image, aesthetic, identity and style all contribute to the perpetuation of scams and scam culture as well as how scams intersect with AI, social media and the web. 60 pages, A5

Testament

J. Marshall Smith
$21.00
Published by Bulgilhan Press
Adults Only

Meet Testament: the premier caretaker android for the future. Not only were they designed to care for the wellbeing of dozens of interstellar passengers; explorers, scientists, poets, and artists – they have also downloaded millennia of religious texts and liturgies to best serve the members of a religious commune that make up the bulk of their human charges. These members of the Order of the Abundant Grace of the Cosmic Christ, having already chosen a monastic and scholarly life, are ideal for their mission: a one-way voyage to discover all they can about a miraculous far-flung planet capable of life and, by choice, not repopulate.

Soon, only Sister Judith remains on the distant planet, facing decades of life alone with her caretaker and no other human company. Struggling with faith and despair, she seeks purpose, or perhaps something else, in a sudden research trip into hazardous territory. Testament tries to carry out their directives, while staring down their own immortality, and questioning their place in a spiritual infinity equipped with the knowledge and traditions of people who could never have imagined a being like them.

The Conquest of the Cosmos

Alexandre Fontaine Rousseau and Francis Desharnais
$26.95
Published by Pow Pow Press

A wild ride into the depths of outer space and the heights of hubris!

October 4, 1957: The launch of Sputnik—a piece of orbital space junk that goes “beep beep”—kicks off a battle for celestial supremacy between the USSR and the USA, rival superpowers armed with massive rockets, galaxy-sized egos, and zero chill. Over the course of a decade, scientists, politicians, and regular folks on both sides of the Iron Curtain grapple with the big questions: How do you convince a dog to volunteer for a one-way trip into orbit? Wouldn’t it be easier to just fake the whole “moon landing” thing in a movie studio? And how are we supposed to sell commemorative T-shirts and coffee mugs if we don’t get a sweet logo designed ASAP?

Writer Alexandre Fontaine Rousseau (Vampire Cousins) and artist Francis Desharnais (Art Wars) blast off on a ridiculous, irreverent, and utterly un-factual journey through the twists and turns of the Space Race. Across a series of hilarious episodes, the duo takes aim at the excesses of capitalism, the dark side of communism, and the questionable wisdom of launching billions of dollars into the void. The Conquest of the Cosmos is a withering satire of politics, ideology, and human ambition that couldn’t be more relevant to our current moment.

Fans of Tom Gauld, Kate Beaton, and Monty Python will delight in the deadpan humour and minimalist illustrations in this biting comedy!

Winner of the BDGest’Arts Award for Best Comic!

The Dissidents Autocrats! Vigilantes! Communists! And Cartoonists!

Derf Backderf
$29.99
Published by Abrams ComicArts
Adults Only
Category: Other

“WE’VE BEEN HERE BEFORE . . . BUT WE FORGOT.”

It’s 1916. President Woodrow Wilson—a deeply divisive authoritarian who is also a white supremacist with open contempt for constitutional rights—sits in the Oval Office.

Racial tensions, unprecedented economic inequality, a groundswell of support for unionization, and the rise of both a reactionary far right militia and a growing radical opposition shake the very foundations of American society. A pandemic is two years away. And the 1900s have only just gotten started.

“AMERICA IS A COUNTRY ON THE BRINK OF CHAOS.”

The Dissidents follows a group of real and influential political cartoonists who worked for the magazine The Masses—Art Young, Boardman Robinson, Cornelia Barns, and others, dominant in their day but now forgotten—as well as a fictional young German immigrant from Cleveland, Joe Hertle, who has come to New York to make his name.

They rub elbows with the great opposition voices of the day, such as journalists Max Eastman and John Reed, and the radical provocateur Emma Goldman. What they document in their cartoons and illustrations is a country spiraling into darkness, under attack by German saboteurs and private militias, plagued by racism, and rocked by class war.

For the crime of documenting the times they live in, these cartoonists are indicted for sedition and put on trial by the U.S. government—with twenty-year sentences hanging over their heads. Two others are forced to flee the country into exile. Another is incarcerated by the U.S. army and scheduled for execution!

Award-winning author Derf Backderf raises the bar for visual storytelling in this gripping, layered, and perceptive original graphic novel, told through the lens of the political cartoonists whose work shaped our history and also held a mirror to it. Finding a personal connection as a journalist who started out as a political cartoonist, he opens a door to our past and crafts a story that pulls from the strongest elements of his previous work. In The Dissidents, Backderf delivers an utterly unique account of U.S. history, making connections to the events of today as they relate to the seeds that were sown over a hundred years ago.

The Dissidents is his magnum opus. It is a gripping tale of political passion, artistic ambition, love, and betrayal, with great characters and unexpected twists. It’s a suspenseful and fascinating American story that is almost completely forgotten today—and a terrifying and relevant warning from the past.

Check out our review.

The Haunt

Alex Lupp, Lani Sahulga
$10.00
Published by Self-Published

Ten years ago, a deal was made, and now the cost is due! What follows, is a humorous & ghostly tribute to Washington DC’s very own Fantom Comics!

20 pages // 8.5” x 5.5”

The Mess

Noah Van Sciver
$19.99
Published by Fantagraphics
Adults Only
Category: Other

A family death and a missing Picasso send a mother and son on an unexpected spring break that threatens to permanently damage their relationship — if they survive the trip!

When her semi-estranged and penniless hoarder father dies, Erin Messina is tasked with cleaning out his house before the bank forecloses on it. This otherwise thankless task is given a purpose, however, when she remembers the original Picasso drawing her father was gifted in 1964. She enlists her teenage son, Jackson, to spend spring break looking for their possible ticket to long-term financial stability. Jackson, resentful and eager to shirk responsibility, befriends twin skateboarders who live in the hood, and tell him about the violent murder that happened directly across the street from his grandfather’s home — and the murderer who still lives there. Emotional baggage, paranoia, and frayed nerves stretch the Messina’s relationship to the brink, as The Mess careens to a thrilling final act that includes… two-way radio communication with the dead?

Over the past decade, Noah Van Sciver has established himself as the most versatile graphic novelist working today. Whether it be in the service of straight-up satire (Fante Bukowski, Beat It, Rufus!), serious historical nonfiction (Joseph Smith and the Mormons, The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln), autobiography (As a Cartoonist, One Dirty Tree), or books for younger readers (Calamity Before Jane, Johnny Appleseed), Van Sciver’s singular voice and style has proven remarkably malleable to the needs of each project. With The Mess, Van Sciver stakes yet new creative ground as a fiction writer, crafting the most magnetic and literary work of his career. The Mess is a brilliant, original graphic novel infused with drama, laughs, pathos, and suspense, beautifully drawn and colored in Van Sciver’s immersive and intimate style.

Check out our review.

The Most High Girl In The World

Emily Zullo
$5.00
Published by Fieldmouse Press
Adults Only
Category: Autobiographical and LGBTQ+

Plenty of people “go with the flow” even if they don’t want to – in Emily Zullo’s expanded edition of The Most High Girl in the World, we see her autofictional recollection of events in her senior year of high school. What does it take to find yourself, especially when you’re surrounded by anxiety and weed smoke?

Welcome to Hell

Mohammad Sabaaneh
$18.99
Published by Street Noise Books
Adults Only
Category: Autobiographical

A new graphic novel memoir chronicling the recent horrific days in Palestine, from Mohammad Sabaaneh, the winner of the Palestine Book Award.

This powerful graphic novel sheds light on the reality of life in both the West Bank and Gaza during this terrifying time. Told from the perspective of the author’s brother’s experience in prison and that of those in Gaza struggling to survive displacement, starvation, and attack.

In October of 2023, Sabaaneh went on a tour in Europe to promote his book about life under occupation in Palestine. Whether a Palestinian is inside a detention center or in any city or village, they are all in a big prison. The book ends with one message: ‘we will not leave.’ Upon his return to Palestine, he was trapped within the walls of his home—unable to see his aging parents, or his brother, who was locked away in an Israeli detention center.

So begins this vital story of struggle and survival.

Who Needs Donuts?

Mark Alan Stamaty
$18.00
Published by Drawn & Quarterly
All Ages
Category: Other

The cult classic kids book in all its resplendent absurdity and subversiveness.

Sam’s love of donuts takes him to the Big City where he makes friends with Mr. Bikferd, a world class collector of donuts. But when Mr. Bikferd falls in love with Pretzel Annie, the prophecy of an old woman comes true: “Who needs donuts when you’ve got love?” Mr. Bikferd bequeaths his donut collection to Sam, who uses it to save the old woman from drowning in a basement flooded with coffee.

This is a reissue of Mark Alan Stamaty’s masterpiece of the absurd, first published 50 years ago. With an illustration style that mixes a benign Hieronymus Bosch with an urban Where’s Waldo?, Stamaty’s off-the-wall humor is on target for little kids and big kids today.