SAN DIEGO COMIC CON 2026 RECAP: DC (STATIC) SHOCKED THE WORLD!
credit: San Diego comic con/comic con international
What a weekend San Diego Comic Con 2026 has been!
The annual pop culture event celebrating comics had many storylines running July 23rd-26th. With comics in such a renaissance stage with the Absolute Universe leading the way, fans have been amped up to get some news. They didn’t leave disappointed.
These were the top 5 moments coming out of this years’ SDCC event:
1A. THE FANS HAVE SPOKEN & DC COMICS LISTENED!
Since the beginning of 2026, DC Comics fans have been very vocal concerning the lack of ongoing Black lead character comic books in mainline continuity. This garnered major attention after the release of “New History of the DC Universe: the Dakota Incident” in February. Seeing the return of Static and other great Milestone heroes, fans became louder in wanting to have more representation in comics. This movement didn’t fall on deaf ears. In fact, seeds for the following announcements books can be traced back on social media posts in 2024.
During their “Next Level” panel, it was announced that VIXEN by Stephanie Williams (Temporal, Wonder Woman) and Khary Randolph (Sirens in the City) & STATIC by Cody Ziglar (Miles Morales: Spider-Man) and Diego Olortegui (JSA). Williams’ Vixen title has been long hinted at on socials while Static has returned properly in the DCU in the pages of New Titans. Hearing official confirmation ignited socials and sparked an overwhelming positive response.
Joining the list was another ongoing book that no one saw coming. During DC’s “Metropolis and Beyond” panel, news broke that STEEL would be getting an ongoing title with Morgan Hampton (Green Lantern Corps) getting the writing honors. No artist was announced with the project. This will be Steel’s first ongoing since the 1994-1998 run. Currently there is no set release date yet for all three books. It will be up to the fans to show up and get their pre-orders in for all three must have title!
That’s just a few of the big title announcements. Pornsak Pichetshote and Belén Ortega will be dropping an “Absolute Black Canary” one-shot. This news comes off the heels of Absolute Green Arrow being extended to issue 12 (at least).
Speaking of the Absolute Universe, the creative team behind “Absolute Martian Manhunter” have finally revealed their next project. Shadow of the Bat will be helmed by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodríguez. Seeing this pair tackle Batman will undoubtably be a must have series! These are just a handful of new release en route to the comic shop.
Seeing DC’s response set the pace for Friday, but it was far from the only story of the weekend.
1B. HARD WORK PAYS OFF: WELCOME TO THE STEPHANIE WILLIAMS ERA
Heading into this weekend, one creator had a buzz surrounding her due to incredible stories she has penned for quite some time. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, Stephanie Williams has been tearing it up with titles like “Street Sharks” (IDW Publishing), “Roots Of Madness” (Ignition Press) and “Temporal (Mad Cave Studios).” Her stints on the current Wonder Woman series have been a refreshing change of pace to the current polarizing run. Williams talents were recognized on the highest level in comics: The Eisners.
In May, Williams was nominated for 'Best Writer' & for “Best New Series” for Temporal. Williams was also the first Black woman to be nominated for the award & is the first Black writer since the late great Dwayne McDuffie to be nominated since 1995). Going into the award show, Williams was the fans’ vote to win and rightfully so. Her exceptional work has defined all the praise coming her way. While she didn’t take home the awards, she more than made up for it with future announcements.
Her long awaited run on Vixen was announced at the “DC Next Level” panel. Williams was also announced as writing volumes 2 & 3 of Pacific Rim 3 : Final Breach (Legendary). Last but not least, Williams is taking the helm of the next Smile series for IDW Dark: “Smile: Any Given Smile” slated for September 2026.
Suffice to say, get familiar fast with a superstar writer’s work as her resume is only going to grow larger and brighter from here!
3. SPEAKING OF THOSE EISNERS…….
DC Comics led all publishers with 10 Eisner wins on Friday night. Reports from the event couldn’t state enough how supportive and positive the crowd in attendance was for all nominees and winners. A great moment to have with this current state of comics. Here are DC’s winners:
Absolute Batman 2025 Annual #1(Daniel Warren Johnson, James Harren, and Meredith McClaren - DC) - BEST SINGLE ISSUE/ONE-SHOT
Absolute Batman - BEST CONTINUING SERIES
Absolute Martian Manhunter(Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez - DC) - BEST LIMITED SERIES
DC Pride 2025 - BEST ANTHOLOGY SERIES
Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen: The Deluxe Edition(Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber - DC) - BEST GRAPHIC ALBUM-REPRINT
Jamal Campbell (Zatanna - DC) - BEST WRITER/ARTIST
Javier Rodriguez(Absolute Martian Manhunter - DC) - BEST PENCILER/INKER & COVER ARTIST (2 AWARDS)
Jordie Bellaire - BEST COLORING
Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou - BEST LETTERING
Full list of winners found here. Congrats again to all the winners and nominees.
4. WELCOME BACK TO HALL H, MARVEL STUDIOS!
Marvel Comics had some key moments concerning their comics line during the weekend. Infernal Hulk’s “March to Hulk War”, “Maximum X-Men” and a new “INDIANA JONES AND THE SWORD OF PANDEMONIUM #1” lead the way as fans are still grasping their move from NYC to the West Coast. It didn’t overshadow what has become synonymous with SDCC. This year marked a return from Marvel Studios to Hall H for their secretive movie panel.
With “Avengers: Doomsday” coming in late 2026, many fans wondered what would be on the docket. Sadly, no “X-Men” announcements but there were two major ones to light up the night.
Ryan Gosling was confirmed to be playing “GHOST RIDER” in an upcoming 2028 Shawn Levy film. Gosling has been long attached as a possible actor for the role. The confirmation started a steady roll-out for Doomsday hype before closing on a very huge note.
Ryan Coogler came out on the stage to announce BLACK PANTHER 3 was in production for a 2028 release. It was also confirmed David Jonsson would be playing T’Challa’s son in the upcoming film.
It may have been a low-key panel in comparision to previous years, but both new projects send fans home happy after an exciting 3 days.
5. the world still runs on energon!
Never to let fans down at a con, Skybound Entertainment continued to bring the excitement with their “Energon Universe” panel. This year’s SDCC evet was no exception as fans were clamoring to hear more about the latest addition to the EU: ROM, the Space Knight!
After officially debuting in Void Rivals #32, it was announced Rom has a showdown with Predacron in issue #34. Frank Mazzoli will be jumping in the series as artist from issue 37-41. Not to be outdone with announcements, M.A.S.K. unveiled art for Scotty Trakker and T-Bob along with cover art for issues 4 & 5.
G.I. Joe #25 confirmed Major Medusa would be her debut issue. This co-insides with the monumental 25 showdown between G.I. Joe and Night Force! Capping off events is Transformers. Karl Kerschel will be guest artist for issue 37. This along with news of Superion gaining a new addition it up fans’ curiosity as the universe treks on after 3 fantastic years.
DON’T MISS THE PREVIEW EDITION FEATURED ON FLZ PRESENTS!
There was much more news breaking from PCB Productions, BOOM!, Dark Horse and more that one blog couldn’t do proper justice. Keep an eye out on FLZ socials for more stories from the summer’s largest event!
Hit us up in the comments below and/or on FLZ social media and let us know your favorite stories were from SDCC!
Until next time, Thanks for reading.
