Sixteen years is a long wait between Acme installments—and Drawn & Quarterly just put a date on the next one.
Per ICv2 (Brigid Alverson, Sep 15, 2026), Drawn & Quarterly will publish Chris Ware’s Acme Novelty Library #21 on November 3, 2026, with an MSRP of $35.00. It is the first new Acme Novelty Library since 2010 (issue #20) and Ware’s first original comics work since 2019.
What’s in the box
ICv2 describes #21 as an 11" × 15" folio box containing:
- Three pamphlet comics
- Two cardboard buildings
- A broadsheet
—all alluding to Ware’s prior work and long-running themes of family and parenthood.
Drawn & Quarterly’s own product page corroborates the keepsake-folio approach and list price ($35; ISBN 9781770469174; trim about 11.1" × 15.1"), describing three securely bound 24-page saddle-stitched comics plus a large foldout comic-strip newspaper section. Penguin Random House’s listing likewise pegs availability to Nov 3, 2026 at $35. (Where packaging language differs slightly across outlets, this package follows ICv2’s reported contents for the #21 object.)
Context around the return
ICv2 also notes that Ware’s work is part of a traveling exhibit that began at France’s Pompidou Centre and is currently on display at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, running there until May 9, 2027. Separately, Ware was inducted into the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame in 2026.
For readers who treat Acme as Ware’s modular laboratory—part comic, part object, part architecture—#21 is the first new module in a decade and a half. Street date: November 3, 2026.
As-of: Tuesday, September 15, 2026 (~5:15 PM CDT, America/Chicago). Release date, MSRP, “first since 2010 / since 2019,” and folio contents verified against ICv2 (Sep 15). Format/price/ISBN corroborated via Drawn & Quarterly and Penguin Random House product pages. No retailer incentive or print-run figures located in those sources at write time.
Sources: ICv2 — Brigid Alverson, Sep 15, 2026: https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/63377/drawn-quarterly-publish-chris-wares-first-new-acme-novelty-library-since-2010 — D&Q publishing Acme Novelty Library #21; first new Acme since 2010; first original comics work since 2019; 11"×15" folio box with three pamphlet comics, two cardboard buildings, and a broadsheet; street date Nov 3, 2026; MSRP $35; Pompidou → Billy Ireland exhibit through May 9, 2027; Eisner Hall of Fame 2026; Drawn & Quarterly product page (corroboration): https://drawnandquarterly.com/books/acme-novelty-library-21/ — folio format; ISBN 9781770469174; $35; three 24-page comics + foldout newspaper section in keepsake folio; 11.1"×15.1"; 90 pages; Penguin Random House listing (corroboration): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/838039/the-acme-novelty-library-21-by-chris-ware/ — available Nov 3, 2026; hardcover $35; Drawn and Quarterly
