FOC Drop: March 30 — 654 Titles, Two Deadlines, One Legendary Return
This week's FOC window runs across two dates, the standard Monday 3/30 cutoff and a 4/1 deadline for Philbo Distribution's independent publisher catalog. Combined, that's 654 titles across 301 series and 67 publishers, making it one of the bigger weeks of the year. Dynamite leads the 3/30 list by volume while the 4/1 slate brings a deep wave of indie and small press titles that don't always get coverage elsewhere. And quietly sitting in the middle of it all: Eightball #1.
By the Numbers
- 654 total titles — 521 on 3/30, 133 on 4/1
- 301 unique series across 67 publishers
- Publisher breakdown (3/30): Dynamite: 111 | Image: 85 | DC: 69 | Marvel: 55 | Massive: 34 | Titan: 19 | Bad Idea: 14 | Mad Cave: 14
- Publisher breakdown (4/1 — Philbo): Massive Publishing: 26 | Ablaze Comics: 22 | Hermes Press: 18 | Blind Squirrel: 7 | Aloha Comics: 6
- 120 ratio/incentive variants (~18% of the full list)
- Format split: 567 single issues, 53 trades, 34 hardcovers
- Price range: $1.99 – $499.99
New #1s This Week
DC Comics
- Batman / Wonder Woman: Truth #1 ($5.99)
- DC All In Special #1 ($4.99)
- New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incident #1 ($5.99)
- Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1 ($3.99)
Marvel Comics
- Doom 2099: Rage of Doom #1
Image Comics
- Red Roots #1 ($4.99)
- Head Lopper #1 ($7.99)
- In Your Skin #1 ($4.99)
- GI Joe: Silent Missions — Copperhead #1 ($3.99)
Other Publishers — 3/30
- Thundercats X Silverhawks: Thunderhawks #1 — Dynamite ($4.99)
- Vampirella #1 — Dynamite ($4.99)
- Giant-Sized Savage Tales #1 — Dynamite ($7.99)
- Eightball #1 — Fantagraphics ($4.99)
- Diablo: Dawn of Hatred #1 — Titan ($4.99)
- Oddballs Odyssey #1 — Bad Idea ($7.99)
- Planet Atmos Exordium #1 — Mad Cave Studios ($4.99)
- Phantom vs. The Sky Band #1 — Mad Cave Studios ($6.99)
- Sleepy Hollow: The Witches of the Western Wood #1 — IDW
- Tim Seeley's Lucky Cheap Heat #1 — Keenspot ($5.99)
- Empiria #1 — Rocketship Entertainment ($3.99)
4/1 Philbo Highlights
- Cryptid Corps #1 — Massive Publishing ($4.99)
- Legacy: Final Chapter #1 — Massive Publishing ($4.99)
- Pounds of Power #1 — Massive Publishing ($4.99)
- Commander Ram #1 — Blind Squirrel Comics ($3.99)
- Rook: Return to Sender #1 — Blind Squirrel Comics ($5.99)
- Last Harlemite #1 — Red 5 Comics ($4.95)
- Dawg & The Regulators #1 — Grok! Comics ($5.99)
- American Yakuza #1 — Xion Studios ($5.99)
Ratio Variant Watch
120 ratio variants across 654 titles puts the ratio around 18% this week — slightly lower than last week's pace as the Philbo slate is mostly standard covers with minimal variant layering. Dynamite is still driving the bulk of the 3/30 ratio volume: Thundercats X Silverhawks (18 covers), Vampirella (14), Harley Quinn X Elvira (12), Disney Villains: Ursula (12), and Thundarr the Barbarian (11). That's five Dynamite series accounting for a significant portion of your minimum order calculations this week. Bad Idea's Oddballs Odyssey has 8 covers, which is worth noting given Bad Idea's historically limited print runs.
Worth Noting
Eightball #1 from Fantagraphics is the quietly significant book on this list. Daniel Clowes' original run from 1989 launched Ghost World and defined alternative comics for a generation. Whether you stock it for spec or just because it belongs on your shelves, it's the kind of title that moves without anyone announcing it.
The 4/1 Philbo slate adds 133 titles from 30 publishers — most of them small press and independent, with Ablaze Comics (22 titles) and Hermes Press (18) leading the way. This is the part of the list that often gets overlooked, but it's where some of the most interesting micro-publisher work lands each week.
Note the two separate FOC deadlines this week — 3/30 for the standard Lunar list, 4/1 for Philbo. If you're a shop owner managing both distributors, make sure your orders are split accordingly before Monday.
Get the Full List
The complete FOC list for the week of March 30 — including all 4/1 Philbo titles — is live now at FOC Intelligence. Free to access with registration, no subscription required. Spec summaries, first appearance tracking, creator intel, and early access are available through our Pro and Insider tiers — details and tier comparison at the link.