Writer: Zack Rosenberg Artist: Jared Cullum Cover artist: Zack Rosenberg · Jared Cullum
The final showdown is here! It’s Kaitō’s crew versus the reborn demon Jei in a climactic battle across the rooftops of Osaka Castle. But even if they win, can an ancient evil be truly defeated? In the thrilling conclusion to Kaitō’s first adventure, victory leads to an impossible choice, and a horrifying twist reveals that evil isn’t gone . . . it’s just getting started.
What happens when two friends get separated by everything in the world…except love! Top Shelf Productions brings this gorgeous story to life in Kodi (Book 2): A Place to Call Home available September 1, 2026. In Kodi 2, painter/cartoonist Jared Cullum returns to his award-winning graphic novel series for an incredible new adventure, full of gorgeous outdoor vistas, amazing animals, lovable and hateable new characters, roaring rivers, thrilling dangers, and tender moments. Readers and animal-lovers of every age will want to relive this journey over and over again.
After being reunited, Katya and Kodi are settling into their fast-paced new life together in the city. But as Katya starts to fall behind in school and Kodi struggles to find his place in this noisy new world, everything is put at risk by a greedy zookeeper who aims to break them up for good. Now, Katya and her unusual family must venture back into the wild, face their fears, and learn to trust new friends, as they fight to find a place to belong.
Kodi: A Place to Call Homewill be available wherever books are sold, as a full-color softcover graphic novel (ISBN: 978-1-60309-595-2) as well as a digital edition, on September 1, 2026, for a list price of $19.99.
Small Press Expo has announced the first group of Special Guests for SPX 2026. The show takes place on Saturday, September 12, and Sunday, September 13, with programming and workshops about the amazing world of independent comics as well as an exhibitor floor featuring over 450 creators.
Additional Special Guests will be announced over the next few weeks.
SPX 2026 is honored to have the following creators as Special Guests to this year’s show:
Lisa Hanawalt
I Can’t Stop Thinking About Horses and Sexmarks the long-awaited return of Tuca & Bertie creator and BoJack Horseman producer/production designer Lisa Hanawalt to comics. This is the honest, silly, horny and vulnerable memoir of a horse girl, now in her forties and reflecting back on a lifetime of obsessions.
Whether Hanawalt is confronting large life issues like whether or not to have kids, being an anxious lil freak, caring for a sick horse, revisiting childhood trauma, or dealing with a major breakup and the ensuing lustfulness—she delivers a reading experience that’s relatable, affirming, and almost always hilarious. In lush colors and kinetic lines, she charts the strange terrain of life, one bumpy, dusty horseback ride at a time.
Julia Wertz
Julia Wertz is thrilled to be coming back to SPX after over a decade of absence. The last time she attended, she was single, urban-exploring dirtbag living in NYC and she’s returning this year as a married mother living in California, but probably still kind of a dirtbag. She’ll be selling/signing copies of her newest book Bury Me Already (It’s Nice Down Here) as well as some of her older books. And maybe some hats. Come say hi!
Peter Bagge
We are so excited to announce that Peter Bagge is a special guest at SPX 2026! He is is one of the primary architects of the alternative comics genre that exploded in the 1980s and 1990s. His bestselling comic series, Hate, is arguably the Great American Grunge novel. Part screwball comedy, part soap opera, part loose autobiography, Hate is an enduring chronicle of the 1990s as well as riotously relatable to anyone bumbling through their twenties.
Frederick Nolan
Frederick Nolan is the auther of Major Taylor: The World’s Fastest Man from Drawn & Quarterly. Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor, a Black man who was one of the greatest American athletes of the early 20th century. Taylor was born in 1878 in Indianapolis and came of age during the height of the Jim Crow era, facing racism at every turn.
Cartoonist Frederick Noland is a cyclist himself and in this epic biography of America’s first Black world champion, he thrills in the records Taylor broke and the adoring public he found across around the world. Noland documents how racism inflected Black life in the post Civil War era: cyclists would collude to injure Taylor, and he faced segregationist policies even in liberal cities such as San Francisco.
Jared Cullum
Jared Cullum is a Reuben Award (Best Graphic Novel) winning | 2-time Eisner Comic Industry Award nominated Author-Cartoonist and traditional painter of things. He’s best known for his award winning graphic novel series, Kodi, and work on the spin off series Usagi Yojimbo: Kaito ’84. Top Shelf is proud to present the sequel, Kodi 2: A Place to Call Home at SPX where Jared will be signing and showing original hand-painted watercolor and gouache pages.
Forced into an impossible alliance, Kaitō and Tomoe now face the ultimate test. To escape a sacred shrine, they must overcome three ancient trials designed to push their courage, intellect, and compassion to the absolute limit. With monstrous guardians and spectral demons at every turn, their only hope for survival is each other. But is a partnership between a thief and a cop strong enough to endure a final test designed to break them apart?
Story: Zack Rosenberg, Jared Cullum Script: Zack Rosenberg Art: Jared Cullum Letterer: Jared Cullum
Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site
Writer: Zack Rosenberg Artist: Jared Cullum Cover artist: Jared Cullum
Forced into an impossible alliance, Kaitō and Tomoe now face the ultimate test. To escape a sacred shrine, they must overcome three ancient trials designed to push their courage, intellect, and compassion to the absolute limit. With monstrous guardians and spectral demons at every turn, their only hope for survival is each other. But is a partnership between a thief and a cop strong enough to endure a final test designed to break them apart?
The award-winning Patrick Horvath has been the definitive voice behind Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, a cuddly yet shocking story which took the comic industry by storm and sold over 400k comics and collections as a franchise. The recently concluded sequel, Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring, is in the running for the “Best Limited Series” Eisner Award, and now, Horvath’s inviting other acclaimed creators to take a stab at Samantha Strong’s bloody and beloved world in Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Halloween Special.
Arriving this October, the Harvey Award-winning Horvath joins forces with superstar creators James Tynion IV and Tyler Boss, Tony Fleecs and Dave Wachter, Che Grayson and Matt Emmons, and Jared Cullum to craft a must-read original one-shot featuring the adorable citizens of Woodbrook gathering around a campfire to share terrifying stories.
It features covers by Patrick Horvath, Tony Fleecs, Peach Momoko, and J. Gonzo and there’ll be more news about the future of Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees will be revealed at San Diego Comic-Con.
The past crashes into the present! When the mysterious visitor, Sasuké, reveals a demonic threat is reawakening, Kaitō’s operation goes sideways as the police close in. Now, he must team up with the one person who wants him behind bars—Detective Tomoe. Their new mission: face three deadly trials to claim the one thing that can push back the emerging darkness.
Story: Zack Rosenberg, Jared Cullum Script: Zack Rosenberg Art: Jared Cullum Letterer: Jared Cullum
Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site
Writer: Zack Rosenberg Artist: Jared Cullum Cover artist: Jared Cullum
The past crashes into the present! When the mysterious visitor, Sasuké, reveals a demonic threat is reawakening, Kaitō’s operation goes sideways as the police close in. Now, he must team up with the one person who wants him behind bars—Detective Tomoe. Their new mission: face three deadly trials to claim the one thing that can push back the emerging darkness.
The crew is reunited; the target is in sight. A high-stakes heist promises a new beginning, but when the job goes sideways, a relentless chase erupts across Osaka. Now, with the cops closing in and an even more dangerous foe on their tail, Kaitō must outwit his enemies—and confront a chilling vision from his past that could unravel everything he’s fighting for.
Story: Zack Rosenberg, Jared Cullum Script: Zack Rosenberg Art: Jared Cullum Letterer: Jared Cullum
Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site
Writer: Zack Rosenberg Artist: Jared Cullum Cover artist: Jared Cullum
The crew is reunited; the target is in sight. A high-stakes heist promises a new beginning, but when the job goes sideways, a relentless chase erupts across Osaka. Now, with the cops closing in and an even more dangerous foe on their tail, Kaitō must outwit his enemies—and confront a chilling vision from his past that could unravel everything he’s fighting for.