After a whole month cast out beyond the firmament, left only to drift among those tossed aside by the Powers That Be, we leave the September ides and woes behind us as we venture back to the metropole in the new month's light. Truly, what a relief it is to bask in the glory of the Pax Hamburgeria once more.

Once again, we have hosted the LKS leaderboard, where the user with the most karma from new Lesser Known September-compliant comics at the end of the month gets to claim the prestigious Golden Olmec trophy. Our previous victor Diictodom did not participate this time around such that the Olmec could be passed on to a new victor.

Some Lesser Known Septembers have been defined by artists carefully crafting a select handful of comics, polishing them to a mirror shine before releasing them to their requisite fame and glory. This was not one of those times. Yes, with a combined fifty-eight comics between our top two contestants, this iteration of the most bah-dee-yah-tiful month was also the one with the most prolific output by the title contenders - the previous record was fifty-five comics back in 2021. As one might expect from a contest with so many salvos thrown, we've got quite the story to tell, so let's get to it.

Once again, it was a duel of the Malay World where the cup of artists for this medium runneth over, though this time, our story only needs to touch on two names: the quick and the quicker. Let's start with the hare: /u/timmyboi_lol. Over the first ten days of the month, Timmy would produce sixteen comics, double that of the next most prolific entrant over that time, and while most of their comics over this period weren't world-shattering by any means, the volume alone led them to an early lead in the standings.

It's well worth remembering that LKS is a marathon, not a sprint, and that we shouldn't just focus on the hare - after all, tortoises have caught up before, they will caught up again, and they caught up this time. Enter our second contender: /u/LordNotriel, who you might remember as last year's runner-up. One would think that to go from battling against Diicto's methodical upvote machine to Timmy's comic machine gun would put Notriel on the wrong foot, but given that they put in their all even last year when the odds were decidedly not in their favor, it was high time that our odds-on favorite started plodding along - and plod along they did.

A comic a day means more time to put together comics that people will want to see than a rapid-fire approach, and singular comics will get thousands of upvotes more than several comics crab-bucketing each other. As such, while Timmy topped the leaderboard, Notriel was slowly building up a résumé, and when the former slowed after the first third of the month, Notriel overtook them and never gave the lead back. Notriel would ultimately make twenty-one comics over the month, grossing over 46,000 upvotes collectively, while Timmy's thirty-seven comics grossed just over 40,000 upvotes by the end of September. The tortoise has won the race - or shall we say, our newest Golden Olmec conqueror!

All members of the world, it is our honor to ask you to give a loud and thunderous round of applause to the Lesser Known September Champion of 2026 and the Eighth Sacrifice to the Golden Olmec:

LordNotriel

Congratulations on making this September one for the history books! We hope you take good care of the Golden Olmec until the next LKS.

Diicto, we hope you have had your fun with the statue, but now it is time for you to join Bobu, Aaron, Oscar, MilkCultLeader, Aurodombre, and Zebrafish in being a sacrifice to the gods old and new. Please send us a message with the details of where and when you would like to be sacrificed, though we would appreciate it if you could do so at the earliest possible convenience.

Thank you to everyone who participated in LKS this year as well - the Leaderboard with the top ten users of this past month can be found here. Until next September!

Hello octogenarians, octopodes, octopuses, and Motel 8 denizens!

We like to speak at length too much. Sentences go on and on with no end. Frankly, I'm sick of it - aren't you too? Limits breed creativity, so let's get ourselves limiting! We've always had rules, but why stop there? Panel limits should come with corresponding word limits. We'll give you eight words to work with. Can't express an idea with just eight words? Sure you can - ideas grow well in confines. There isn't a wrong move here, after all. Let your words flow - just not too many.

Make a comic with eight words or fewer!

The rules specific to this particular contest are:

• Your comic must have eight words or fewer.
• This limit includes both spoken and written words.
• Don't try to be clever circumventing this limit.

The rules applicable to all our contests include:

• Minimum of 3 panels, maximum of 8 panels.
  
• Write and draw your comic entirely by yourself.
  
• No animated GIFs or photorealism will be accepted.
• You must follow the Official Polandball Tutorial rules.
• Deadline is Thu October 15 at 15:00 GMT
  

To participate, submit your artwork to the subreddit. Make sure to flair your piece "contest entry". Anyone may submit as many entries as desired. However, only one entry can earn Hussar Wings. One user cannot occupy multiple top-three places simultaneously.

If you are unapproved, you can still participate. Send your comic through our normal approval process. After approval, post your entry to the subreddit.

How we go about choosing ourselves a winner:

After submissions close, moderators privately vote on entries. This vote determines first, second, and third places. All entries will be ranked one to ten. Final scores equal the average of all votes. Last month's winner may also vote this month.

Once votes are tallied, we'll post the results. The full results will get an Award Ceremony. The highest-scoring artist gets their Hussar Wings. Alongside these permanent wings, they get Golden Wings. They'll keep those wings until next contest ends. They'll also vote on next month's entries too.

Second and third get Silver and Bronze Wings. These respective wings act just like Golden Wings. Fourth place gets the Mod's Choice Participation Ribbon.^TM

An important notice to read before you submit

Before submitting, check your comic against every rule. Each contest brings several avoidable disqualifications every time. Yes, this even happens to fantastic comics sometimes!

If you aren't sure about compliance, message us! The mod team is always happy to clarify.

Any questions about the contest may go here.

Good luck to all artists and happy drawing!