2025 Favorites—Comics
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I read a lot of comics and, unfortunately for you, a lot of them are really enjoyable. Buckle in, this is going to be a long one. Hopefully you will find something here that you think looks interesting.
I separated this into Marvel, DC, and all books not published by Marvel/DC. Maybe I should have done superhero stuff and not-superhero stuff? Too late now!
Not Marvel/DC
- From the World of Minor Threats: The Alternates by Jordan Blum, Patton Oswalt, Tim Seeley, Tess Fowler, & Christopher Mitten— This Minor Threats spin-off series follows a group of D-list superheroes trying to reclaim their true potential after having achieved their dreams in another, more complex, reality.
- Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden— Two women take a magical realistic road trip. Lovely art by Tillie Walden. You'll see that name again in a bit.
- The Department of Truth by James Tynion IV & Martin Simmonds— What if all conspiracy theories from the JFK assassination, to Bigfoot, to Flat Earth Theory were true and there was a government agency responsible for containing and covering them up?
- Fatale by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips— The Brubaker/Phillips team have made dozens of great crime and noir comics and this is no exception. This time they threw in a dash of stygian horror into the mix with great results.
- Godzilla's Monsterpiece Theatre: Godzilla vs Great Gatsby by Tom Scioli— Jay Gatsby from “The Great Gatsby” joins forces with Sherlock Holmes, The Time Machinist, and a cybernetic Jules Verne to defeat the King of Monsters. Of course things get complicated when Dracula, the Mummy, and a werewolf show up. Plus, they are magically supersized to fight Godzilla, so that’s a pickle. If you’re wondering, “Does Jay Gatsby get magically increased in size to fight them all, truly becoming ‘The Great Gatsby’?” the answer would be, “Obviously!” Don’t even try to tell me that comics aren’t the best possible art form created in this (or any other) universe.
- The Good Asian by Pornsak Picheshote & Alexandre Tefenkgi— A noir story set in 1936 San Francisco that centers Asian characters and voices.
- The Hard Tomorrow by Eleanor Davis— I'm not sure how to sum this up succinctly. I think I can say that it is about the fear and hope for tomorrow, desire, and family.
- The Life & Times of Scrooge McDuck Vol. 1 by Don Rosa— I've always loved DuckTales and the long history of "Duck comics." This is a synthesized tale of the life of Scrooge McDuck told by Don Rosa.
- Lost at Sea by Bryan Lee O'Malley—
- Lucas Wars: The True Story of George Lucas and the Creation of Star Wars by Laurent Hopman & Renaud Roche—
- Minor Threats by Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum, & Scott Hepburn— Minor Threats is a love letter to D-list characters in comics. This series follows a group od D-listers who decide they have had enough of the endless warring between the A-list heroes and villains.
- My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Nagata Kabi— If you didn't read this for Comic Book Club you definitely should. It is raw and open and revealing in the best way a comic can be.
- The Prince & the Dressmaker by Jen Wang— A modern fairytale about identity, love, and self-expression.
- The Power Fantasy by Kieron Gillen & Caspar Wijngaard— Perhaps my favorite comic writer, Gillen asks, "What if the Watchmen was made up of six Doctor Manhattans?" There are six powerful beings with world-ending abilities and they must never come into conflict.
- Rare Flavours by Ram V & Filipe Andrade— Another difficult to summarize book. Rare Flavours is about food, and people, and art. This is probably the book I have thought about the most this year.
- Spinning by Tillie Walden— Here is that other Tillie Walden book I promised. This is a memoir of her childhood spent figure skating.
- Star Trek: Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way by Ryan North & Chris Finoglio— Ryan North uses the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure format to great effect here. This book understands that you will keep your fingers in the pages in order to go back and make a different choice and makes that a feature of the narrative. Plus, it has pitch-perfect voices of the Ceritos crew!
- Zodiac: A Graphic Memoir by Ai Weiwei & Gianluca Constantini— Ai Weiwei uses the Chinese zodiac and folklore to bring his life and work to the page.
DC
- Absolute Batman Vol. 1 by Scott Snyder & Nick Dragotta— The Absolute Universe is a strange, maximalist version of the main DC Universe. Absolute Batman is stated as being 6' 9" and 419 lbs. He grew up in Crime Alley with the Penguin, Riddler, and Killer Croc. His parents were teachers, not millionaires. With so much of what we know about Bruce Wayne to be different one thing remains the same; he still manages to kick a lot of ass.
- Absolute Superman Vol. 1 by Jason Aaron & Rafa Sandoval— Absolute Superman see Kal-El witness the destruction of his home planet, and the death of his parents, as a teenager. He comes to Earth scared and confused and angry and decides to fight the mega-corporation Lazarus.
- Absolute Wonder Woman Vol. 1 by Kelly Thompson & Hayden Sherman— Absolute Wonder Woman was raised by Circe in the underworld. She learns magic, has a giant anime sword, and an undead Pegasus.
- Birds of Prey Vol. 2 by Kelly Thompson & Javier Pina— Thompson is a favorite writer and her run on BoP has specifically been about "women helping women." Sign me up!
- Poison Ivy by G. Willow Wilson & Marcio Takara— Ivy sets out to heal the earth by destroying humanity and maybe find her own humanity along the way.
- Zatanna: Bring Down the House by Mariko Tamaki & Javier Rodriguez— I'll read anything by Mariko Tamaki. Zatanna, an extremely powerful magician, is now performing fake magic in Las Vegas.
Marvel
- Daredevil by Brian Michael Bendis & Alex Maleev— Last year I started my journey to read nearly all Daredevil comics. This year I read 18 volumes! Yeesh! This first run by Bendis & Maleev has been the highlight so far.
- Daredevil: Echo: Vision Quest by David Mack— This short run by David Mack focuses on Echo, a deaf Native American woman with a storied past. I love a book with multiple subtitles!
- Defenders by Al Ewing & Javier Rodriguez— This "non-team" gets extremely conceptual and is exactly my jam.
What comics did you read and enjoy this year?
-
I would love to recommend some graphic novels I picked up at the library this year!
-
Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama (vol 1-6)- A young girl begins to learn the art of magic by joining a class of witches. The art in this manga is masterful, and the magic system/lore are great.
-
Curse of the Chosen by Alexis Deacon- A contest for who will become the village's next leader devolves into chaos when a sorceress reveals her true plans. The art is so unique, the humor surprising, the story mind-bending and dark. I want to purchase my own copy.
-
Frankenstein by Junji Ito- Ito does a faithful retelling of the Mary Shelley classic. Usual stunning horror visuals from a master of his craft.
-
Plain Jane and the Mermaid by Vera Brosgol- A woman has to marry to save her inheritance, but her intended is stolen by a mermaid! Very funny, great art.
-
Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden- Two women learn from each other on a surreal road trip. Check content warnings, but it's poignant, tough, and empowering.
-
-
I read a lot of comics and, unfortunately for you, a lot of them are really enjoyable. Buckle in, this is going to be a long one. Hopefully you will find something here that you think looks interesting.
I separated this into Marvel, DC, and all books not published by Marvel/DC. Maybe I should have done superhero stuff and not-superhero stuff? Too late now!
Not Marvel/DC
- From the World of Minor Threats: The Alternates by Jordan Blum, Patton Oswalt, Tim Seeley, Tess Fowler, & Christopher Mitten— This Minor Threats spin-off series follows a group of D-list superheroes trying to reclaim their true potential after having achieved their dreams in another, more complex, reality.
- Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden— Two women take a magical realistic road trip. Lovely art by Tillie Walden. You'll see that name again in a bit.
- The Department of Truth by James Tynion IV & Martin Simmonds— What if all conspiracy theories from the JFK assassination, to Bigfoot, to Flat Earth Theory were true and there was a government agency responsible for containing and covering them up?
- Fatale by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips— The Brubaker/Phillips team have made dozens of great crime and noir comics and this is no exception. This time they threw in a dash of stygian horror into the mix with great results.
- Godzilla's Monsterpiece Theatre: Godzilla vs Great Gatsby by Tom Scioli— Jay Gatsby from “The Great Gatsby” joins forces with Sherlock Holmes, The Time Machinist, and a cybernetic Jules Verne to defeat the King of Monsters. Of course things get complicated when Dracula, the Mummy, and a werewolf show up. Plus, they are magically supersized to fight Godzilla, so that’s a pickle. If you’re wondering, “Does Jay Gatsby get magically increased in size to fight them all, truly becoming ‘The Great Gatsby’?” the answer would be, “Obviously!” Don’t even try to tell me that comics aren’t the best possible art form created in this (or any other) universe.
- The Good Asian by Pornsak Picheshote & Alexandre Tefenkgi— A noir story set in 1936 San Francisco that centers Asian characters and voices.
- The Hard Tomorrow by Eleanor Davis— I'm not sure how to sum this up succinctly. I think I can say that it is about the fear and hope for tomorrow, desire, and family.
- The Life & Times of Scrooge McDuck Vol. 1 by Don Rosa— I've always loved DuckTales and the long history of "Duck comics." This is a synthesized tale of the life of Scrooge McDuck told by Don Rosa.
- Lost at Sea by Bryan Lee O'Malley—
- Lucas Wars: The True Story of George Lucas and the Creation of Star Wars by Laurent Hopman & Renaud Roche—
- Minor Threats by Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum, & Scott Hepburn— Minor Threats is a love letter to D-list characters in comics. This series follows a group od D-listers who decide they have had enough of the endless warring between the A-list heroes and villains.
- My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Nagata Kabi— If you didn't read this for Comic Book Club you definitely should. It is raw and open and revealing in the best way a comic can be.
- The Prince & the Dressmaker by Jen Wang— A modern fairytale about identity, love, and self-expression.
- The Power Fantasy by Kieron Gillen & Caspar Wijngaard— Perhaps my favorite comic writer, Gillen asks, "What if the Watchmen was made up of six Doctor Manhattans?" There are six powerful beings with world-ending abilities and they must never come into conflict.
- Rare Flavours by Ram V & Filipe Andrade— Another difficult to summarize book. Rare Flavours is about food, and people, and art. This is probably the book I have thought about the most this year.
- Spinning by Tillie Walden— Here is that other Tillie Walden book I promised. This is a memoir of her childhood spent figure skating.
- Star Trek: Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way by Ryan North & Chris Finoglio— Ryan North uses the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure format to great effect here. This book understands that you will keep your fingers in the pages in order to go back and make a different choice and makes that a feature of the narrative. Plus, it has pitch-perfect voices of the Ceritos crew!
- Zodiac: A Graphic Memoir by Ai Weiwei & Gianluca Constantini— Ai Weiwei uses the Chinese zodiac and folklore to bring his life and work to the page.
DC
- Absolute Batman Vol. 1 by Scott Snyder & Nick Dragotta— The Absolute Universe is a strange, maximalist version of the main DC Universe. Absolute Batman is stated as being 6' 9" and 419 lbs. He grew up in Crime Alley with the Penguin, Riddler, and Killer Croc. His parents were teachers, not millionaires. With so much of what we know about Bruce Wayne to be different one thing remains the same; he still manages to kick a lot of ass.
- Absolute Superman Vol. 1 by Jason Aaron & Rafa Sandoval— Absolute Superman see Kal-El witness the destruction of his home planet, and the death of his parents, as a teenager. He comes to Earth scared and confused and angry and decides to fight the mega-corporation Lazarus.
- Absolute Wonder Woman Vol. 1 by Kelly Thompson & Hayden Sherman— Absolute Wonder Woman was raised by Circe in the underworld. She learns magic, has a giant anime sword, and an undead Pegasus.
- Birds of Prey Vol. 2 by Kelly Thompson & Javier Pina— Thompson is a favorite writer and her run on BoP has specifically been about "women helping women." Sign me up!
- Poison Ivy by G. Willow Wilson & Marcio Takara— Ivy sets out to heal the earth by destroying humanity and maybe find her own humanity along the way.
- Zatanna: Bring Down the House by Mariko Tamaki & Javier Rodriguez— I'll read anything by Mariko Tamaki. Zatanna, an extremely powerful magician, is now performing fake magic in Las Vegas.
Marvel
- Daredevil by Brian Michael Bendis & Alex Maleev— Last year I started my journey to read nearly all Daredevil comics. This year I read 18 volumes! Yeesh! This first run by Bendis & Maleev has been the highlight so far.
- Daredevil: Echo: Vision Quest by David Mack— This short run by David Mack focuses on Echo, a deaf Native American woman with a storied past. I love a book with multiple subtitles!
- Defenders by Al Ewing & Javier Rodriguez— This "non-team" gets extremely conceptual and is exactly my jam.
What comics did you read and enjoy this year?
-
I would love to recommend some graphic novels I picked up at the library this year!
-
Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama (vol 1-6)- A young girl begins to learn the art of magic by joining a class of witches. The art in this manga is masterful, and the magic system/lore are great.
-
Curse of the Chosen by Alexis Deacon- A contest for who will become the village's next leader devolves into chaos when a sorceress reveals her true plans. The art is so unique, the humor surprising, the story mind-bending and dark. I want to purchase my own copy.
-
Frankenstein by Junji Ito- Ito does a faithful retelling of the Mary Shelley classic. Usual stunning horror visuals from a master of his craft.
-
Plain Jane and the Mermaid by Vera Brosgol- A woman has to marry to save her inheritance, but her intended is stolen by a mermaid! Very funny, great art.
-
Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden- Two women learn from each other on a surreal road trip. Check content warnings, but it's poignant, tough, and empowering.
-
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I would love to recommend some graphic novels I picked up at the library this year!
-
Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama (vol 1-6)- A young girl begins to learn the art of magic by joining a class of witches. The art in this manga is masterful, and the magic system/lore are great.
-
Curse of the Chosen by Alexis Deacon- A contest for who will become the village's next leader devolves into chaos when a sorceress reveals her true plans. The art is so unique, the humor surprising, the story mind-bending and dark. I want to purchase my own copy.
-
Frankenstein by Junji Ito- Ito does a faithful retelling of the Mary Shelley classic. Usual stunning horror visuals from a master of his craft.
-
Plain Jane and the Mermaid by Vera Brosgol- A woman has to marry to save her inheritance, but her intended is stolen by a mermaid! Very funny, great art.
-
Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden- Two women learn from each other on a surreal road trip. Check content warnings, but it's poignant, tough, and empowering.
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@ashley_p That's so funny you, @jeffmower and I all read Are You Listening this year! We must be Storygraph friends hahaha. I think I bought that one on an employee's recommendation at Under the Umbrella. I'm adding Curse and Plain Jane to my to read list!
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@jeffmower These sound so good! Maybe I should make more time for more comics in my life
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I would love to recommend some graphic novels I picked up at the library this year!
-
Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama (vol 1-6)- A young girl begins to learn the art of magic by joining a class of witches. The art in this manga is masterful, and the magic system/lore are great.
-
Curse of the Chosen by Alexis Deacon- A contest for who will become the village's next leader devolves into chaos when a sorceress reveals her true plans. The art is so unique, the humor surprising, the story mind-bending and dark. I want to purchase my own copy.
-
Frankenstein by Junji Ito- Ito does a faithful retelling of the Mary Shelley classic. Usual stunning horror visuals from a master of his craft.
-
Plain Jane and the Mermaid by Vera Brosgol- A woman has to marry to save her inheritance, but her intended is stolen by a mermaid! Very funny, great art.
-
Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden- Two women learn from each other on a surreal road trip. Check content warnings, but it's poignant, tough, and empowering.
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