We’re suckers for horror, that’s nothing new around here, but a brand-new universe is what really gets us curious. Graveyard Shift, a new fully painted series written and illustrated by Mark Spears, arrives October 14, 2026, from Keenspot, right in time for the season. It’s Spears’ first new universe launch since Monsters, and it comes with his first blind bag edition since 2025, which is basically a second reason to be excited on its own.
GRAVEYARD SHIFT #1
Publisher: Keenspot
Writer, Artist: Mark Spears
Release date: October 14, 2026
So, What’s the Story?
Every night at midnight, the Graveyard Shift clocks in. Out of an abandoned funeral home called The Office, a mysterious figure known only as the Boss brings the dead back to life by punching their time cards and sending them out to fight whatever horrors surface after dark. By sunrise, the shift ends, and they die again, only to be brought back the next night to do it all over. As the nights stack up, the crew starts questioning who they used to be, and what it would actually take to finally earn their retirement from the job.
Who’s Making Graveyard Shift?
Mark Spears both writes and paints the series, with Keenspot publishing. Spears is best known for Mark Spears Monsters, the universe he launched in September 2024 that has sold more than 1.6 million copies since, driven in large part by his blind bag editions. He’s also currently working on Spawn 77 with Todd McFarlane at Image Comics, so Graveyard Shift is arriving in the middle of a genuinely busy stretch for him.
His art is part of what makes his books stand out. Spears has walked through his process before: he starts with a sketch, builds a custom 3D render using his own models and material maps as reference, then paints directly over that render on a new layer with custom brushes and canvas texture to get the finished, fully painted look his covers are known for. It’s a workflow that gives his art a texture you don’t see much elsewhere in the medium.
Spears has also been a steady presence on other people’s covers lately, including Maid Cafe, Return of the Living Dead, or Captain Planet, plus some recent cover work for DC and Marvel.
Why We’re Watching This One
The synopsis alone has our attention, reanimated crews fighting nocturnal horrors and clocking in for shifts they can’t quit gives off a real 80s horror vibe, and an October release only sweetens that. We’re also just fans of what Spears does with blind bags in general. His Trick or Treat Halloween bags and Winter Horrorland R.I.P. Christmas bags were both a lot of fun to unbox (you can catch our hauls on Instagram if you want to see for yourself, here’s the winter one too), and his 2025 bags reportedly sold over 700,000 copies to comic shops, so this Body Bag edition is already on our radar.
Keenspot is a big part of the draw too. It’s a publisher we like keeping tabs on, they consistently put out stuff that does things a little differently, and it pays off. We’ve been enjoying their lineup lately, including Maid Cafe, Don’t Run With Scissors, and Holy Brawl, and Graveyard Shift looks like another one worth following from issue one.
Who Should Add This to Their Pull List?
Horror fans looking for a new mythology to sink into should have this on their list, and so should anyone who’s been collecting Spears’ blind bags, this Body Bag edition looks like another must-hunt release. Fans of Mark Spears Monsters and Keenspot readers in general are the natural audience here too.
Release Details
Graveyard Shift #1 releases October 14, 2026, from Keenspot, priced at $5.99 for the standard edition and $6.66 for the Body Bag blind bag edition, both at 32 pages. Standard covers A, B, C, and E are available as open orders, alongside two retailer incentive variants (F and G). The Body Bag blind bag edition includes one randomly inserted Time Card from a 15-card set (5 base, 5 rare foil at 1:100, and 5 one-of-one cards), plus one randomly inserted comic pulled from eight exclusive Body Bag-only covers not available anywhere else.
FAQ
When does Graveyard Shift come out? Issue #1 releases October 14, 2026.
Who is writing Graveyard Shift? Mark Spears, who also illustrates the series himself.
Who is drawing Graveyard Shift? Mark Spears, working in his signature fully painted style.
What publisher is releasing Graveyard Shift? Keenspot.
Is Graveyard Shift a new series, limited series, or one-shot? It’s a new series; whether it’s ongoing or limited hasn’t been confirmed yet.
How is Graveyard Shift illustrated? Spears sketches each piece, builds a custom 3D render for reference using his own models, then paints over that render digitally to get the finished, fully painted art.
Who should read Graveyard Shift? Horror fans looking for a new mythology, blind bag collectors, and anyone who’s already into Mark Spears Monsters or Keenspot’s lineup.
