The week in comics, in five minutes. DC and Marvel lost the 'Super Hero' trademark, DC captured nearly half the direct market, and AMC settled a nine-year Walking Dead lawsuit for $120 million. Your six-story catch-up is below.
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September's second week delivered a pair of corporate earthquakes that redrew the legal and commercial landscape for the Big Two. On Monday, the USPTO declared 'Super Hero' a generic term, stripping DC and Marvel of the shared trademark they'd wielded for decades. By Tuesday, the direct market had already delivered its own verdict on the new order: DC claimed 49.19 percent marketshare for the week of September 1–7, nearly double Marvel's 27.42 percent, powered by Batman #13 and three DC Next Level launches. The one-two punch underscored how quickly perception and performance can shift when foundational assumptions dissolve.
Meanwhile, the industry's film and television arms reminded collectors that intellectual property remains a high-stakes game. AMC agreed to pay Robert Kirkman and fellow Walking Dead producers $120 million to settle a nine-year profit dispute, with $85 million due this month. Marvel Studios cast Asa Germann as Angel in the 2028 X-Men reboot, extending the MCU's methodical march toward May 5, 2028. And Amazing Spider-Man #1000 crossed 400,000 orders ahead of its September 30 release, earning a second printing scheduled for October 28. Collectors parsing these signals saw a week defined not by hype but by hard numbers: legal rulings, marketshare percentages, settlement figures, and pre-order totals that together sketched the industry's real center of gravity.
The Collectible Market Is INSANE.. — Swagglehaus (@swagglehaus)
One big story from each day this week, Monday through Saturday.
MON · 2026-09-07
01. The United States Patent and Trademark Office ruled that 'Super Hero' is a generic term, ending DC and Marvel's shared trademark protection.
The USPTO's declaration removes a cornerstone of intellectual property strategy that DC and Marvel had jointly maintained for years. The ruling means neither publisher can enforce exclusive rights to the phrase 'Super Hero' in commerce, opening the term to use by any party without legal challenge. The decision affects product packaging, marketing materials, and licensing agreements that previously relied on the trademark's exclusivity.
The immediate implications for comic collectors center on branding and merchandising. Independent publishers and creators can now describe their characters as super heroes without risk of cease-and-desist letters. For DC and Marvel, the loss represents a shift in how they must differentiate their properties in a marketplace where the foundational term of the genre no longer belongs to them alone.
TUE · 2026-09-08
02. DC Comics captured 49.19 percent of direct market sales during the week of September 1–7, 2026, nearly doubling Marvel's 27.42 percent and taking seven of the top ten bestselling titles.
Point-of-sale data from more than 600 comic shops via Manage Comics, Comic Shop Assistant, and Prana Direct Market Solutions showed DC's dominance across both marketshare and individual titles. Batman #13 led the week at 100 percent comparative sales, followed by Absolute Superman #23 at 70.42 percent. The DC Next Level launch trio—Doom Patrol #1 at 63.85 percent, Legion of Super-Heroes #1 at 62.29 percent, and Teen Titans #1 at 61.08 percent—all landed in the top five. Absolute Green Lantern #18 and Batman Superman Weird Al Worlds Weirdest #1 rounded out DC's seven top-ten entries.
Marvel's three top-ten titles were Daredevil #6 at 55.29 percent, Captain America #15 at 37.51 percent, and Wade Wilson Deadpool #8 at 32.86 percent. Image Comics held 12.74 percent marketshare for the week, positioning itself as the distant third publisher. The week's data arrived without a new Absolute Batman issue, suggesting DC's marketshare surge was driven by breadth across multiple franchises rather than a single tentpole release.
The numbers reflect sales from September 1 through September 7, 2026, published by Bleeding Cool on Tuesday, September 8. Rich Johnston noted the data set represents roughly 600 stores out of an estimated 1,800 to 2,000 ordering through the direct market. The weekly snapshot offers collectors a view of retailer confidence and ordering patterns, showing where shops placed their bets ahead of customer demand.
WED · 2026-09-09
03. AMC Global Media agreed to pay Robert Kirkman and four other Walking Dead producers $120 million to settle a lawsuit over series profits, with $85 million due in September and $35 million by January 31, 2027.
The settlement resolves a legal dispute that began in 2017 when Kirkman, Glen Mazzara, David Alpert, Charles Eglee, and Gale Anne Hurd sued AMC for allegedly withholding profits from The Walking Dead and its first spinoff, Fear the Walking Dead. A judge ruled against the plaintiffs in 2022, but the $200 million settlement of a similar lawsuit from Frank Darabont, the original series' first-season showrunner, prompted their legal team to file a new complaint. The case was scheduled for trial in October 2026.
AMC disclosed that the settlement reduced the company's projected cash flow for the year from $220 million to $150 million. The $120 million payout represents a significant financial adjustment for the network, which continues to face litigation from Fear the Walking Dead co-creator Dave Erickson over separate profit claims filed in 2025. The settlement does not resolve Erickson's ongoing case.
For comic collectors, the agreement underscores the financial stakes tied to successful adaptations of creator-owned properties. Kirkman's The Walking Dead launched from Image Comics in 2003 and ran 193 issues through 2019, spawning a television franchise that now includes multiple spinoffs. AMC announced this week that Jimmy Smits, 71, has joined the cast of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon's fourth and final season, which will premiere in 2027. The settlement arrives as The Walking Dead: Dead City concludes its third season on September 13, 2026.
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THU · 2026-09-10
04. Marvel Studios is in final negotiations with Asa Germann to play Angel in the X-Men film scheduled for May 5, 2028.
The Hollywood Reporter reported that Germann, 28, initially auditioned for the role of Cyclops before Kit Connor was cast, but impressed Marvel enough to receive an offer for Warren Worthington III. Germann joins a cast announced at D23 that includes Connor as Cyclops, Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Christopher Abbott as Professor Charles Xavier, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Inde Navarrette as Rogue, Maya Boyd as Storm, and Adam Driver as Nathaniel Milbury. Director Jake Schreier is helming the project.
Angel debuted in 1963 as part of the original X-Men lineup created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, alongside Professor X, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, and Iceman. Germann will be the third main-continuity actor to portray the character on film, following Ben Foster in X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006 and Ben Hardy in X-Men: Apocalypse in 2016. Germann played Sam Riordan on Gen V from 2023 to 2025 and appeared in season four of The Boys in 2024.
The casting extends Marvel Studios' methodical assembly of its MCU X-Men roster ahead of the team's return in Avengers: Doomsday on December 18, 2026. Germann's upcoming projects include the Tulsa King spinoff Frisco King, starring Samuel L. Jackson. The MCU continues with VisionQuest, premiering October 14, 2026, before the X-Men film arrives in May 2028.
FRI · 2026-09-11
05. Marvel Comics received more than 400,000 pre-orders for Amazing Spider-Man #1000, scheduled for release on September 30, 2026, and announced a second printing for October 28.
The 400,000 orders represent $4 million in retail value at the issue's $10 cover price. Marvel scheduled the second printing for October 28 with two cover variants: one featuring pencils from John Romita Jr. and another using Pepe Larraz's main cover art. The Local Comic Shop Day variant will arrive four days early on September 26. The milestone issue concludes the current story arc by writer Joe Kelly and artist Pepe Larraz.
The lead story centers on Aunt May's fate following a medical crisis. A preview shows Peter Parker racing to the hospital after receiving the call he has long dreaded, arriving to find May's biological son, Cormac Crane, already at her bedside. May has suffered memory loss and cannot recognize Peter, the boy she raised. Her recognition of Cormac, with whom she recently reunited, remains unclear. The issue also introduces a new villain named Ravage, described by Marvel as possessing history-shattering power.
The 400,000 order total places Amazing Spider-Man #1000 among Marvel's top-performing single issues in recent years. The second printing announcement before the on-sale date signals retailer confidence that initial orders will sell through quickly. For collectors, the milestone issue represents both a narrative turning point for Peter Parker and a commercial benchmark for the character's enduring appeal. Marvel plans to feature the preview in select titles over the next several weeks ahead of the September 30 release.
SAT · 2026-09-12
06. Capcom announced a Resident Evil 30th anniversary exhibition running from October 30 through December 24, 2026, at Tokyo's Shibuya BEAM Gallery, with tickets priced at 3,300 yen per adult.
The exhibition celebrates three decades since Resident Evil launched on PlayStation in 1996, the same year that saw releases of Super Mario 64, Pokémon Red and Green, Crash Bandicoot, and Tomb Raider. Tickets for the Tokyo event are available for pre-order now at approximately $21 USD. Capcom has not announced plans for an international version of the exhibition.
The exhibit features sections devoted to the franchise's signature biological threats: the T-Virus from the original Resident Evil, the Las Plagas parasite from Resident Evil 4, and the mold that created monsters in later entries. Attractions include a life-sized statue of Lady Dimitrescu from Resident Evil Village and a life-sized Leon Kennedy statue. Exclusive merchandise includes a Tofu bathtub toy and slippers designed to resemble the Lickers from Resident Evil 2. The exhibition runs through late December, concluding two months after it opens.
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