Category: Comic Books

My favorite comics of 2025

And some graphic novels, too.

Last year was a rough one when it came to comic book and graphic novel availability — not only did you have the collapse of Diamond Comics and the fallout that impacted publishers, retailers and inevitably readers, but you also had numerous book bans being enacted in schools and libraries. Add to that the ongoing turmoil here in the U.S. around tariffs, and you’ve got all sorts of headwinds beyond just the usual ones.

That being said, the comics themselves kind of rocked. Marvel and DC’s “rebooted” universes, the Absolute line and the Ultimate line, both delivered some creative highs for the company, while everyone from Skybound and their Energon line-up to Tiny Onion to Oni Press, brought their A games. New distributors have filled the void left by Diamond, and newer digital platforms like Neon Ichiban and Global Comix brought some competition to the dominant Comixology. Despite the distractions, there was a lot to be excited about.

So, all that being said, here is my own list of my favorite comics and graphic novels from 2025, presented in no particular order. Also I’m sure I’m forgetting something, so maybe I’ll add to it later.

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Bloodthirsty butterflies spread the plague in ‘Nectar’

The new comic by Jeremy Robinson, Annapaola Martello and Francesco Francini will debut from Vault Comics this spring.

Novelist Jeremy Robinson will team with artists Annapaola Martello and Francesco Francini on Nectar, a horror comic about bloodthirsty butterflies that Vault Comics will publish in March.

The story takes place on an island village off Salem, Massachusetts, where a strange species of butterflies spreads the Dancing Plague and has a taste for human blood. 

“When my wife, Hilaree, and I started spitballing story concepts, all I knew was that I wanted to create a new Victorian monster to rival Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster and werewolves,” said Robinson. “Our twisted imaginations went to work and just minutes later we had blood-sucking butterflies and the dancing plague wrapped together, along with the title: Nectar. I loved the idea so much, I started writing the script the next day.”

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Groo faces prophecy + catastrophe in a new miniseries this spring

Dark Horse Comics announces ‘Groo: The Prophecy’ for April.

Groo the Wanderer will return for another miniseries from Dark Horse this year, with the first issue debuting in April. The longtime Groo team of co-writer/artist Sergio Aragones, co-writer Mark Evanier and letterer Stan Sakai will return, along with colorist Carrie Strachan.

“The subtitle is ‘The Prophecy’ and it concerns a woman with the power to see the future…and the future she sees is pretty darned scary,” Evanier said on his blog.

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Paul Jenkins returns to ‘The Sentry’ in March

The co-creator of the character is working with artist Christian Rosado on a new miniseries.

Following his big on-screen debut in The Thunderbolts* film this year, The Sentry will return in a new miniseries by his co-creator, writer Paul Jenkins, and artist Christian Rosado.

The four-issue miniseries kicks off in March, as the Sentry battles cosmic forces, criminal empires and, of course, The Void.

“I am so proud and excited to be returning to Marvel after a long hiatus,” Jenkins said. “Even better, I get to work once again on the character I created – one who means such a lot to so many people – the Golden Guardian of Good himself: the Sentry! Words can’t express the thanks I owe to my amazing editors, Mark Paniccia and Lauren Amaro, as well as C.B. Cebulski and the entire Marvel crew. I’m back, True Believers!”

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Doug Wagner + Daniel Hillyard awaken ‘Narco’ at Image Comics

The five-issue miniseries begins in March.

Plastic and Vinyl creators Doug Wagner and Daniel Hillyard will return with a new five-issue miniseries from Image Comics next March. Narco is the story of a narcoleptic whose condition hits him at the worst possible time — leaving him the prime suspect in a murder.

“If you haven’t figured it out yet, Daniel and I are a little bit obsessed with quirky horror, AND we’re both huge fans of Alfred Hitchcock,” said Wagner. “We’ve been talking for years about what OUR version of his works would look like. Well, Narco is that version. It combines our weird sense of horror and humor with classics like Rear Window and Psycho.”

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Jessica Jones returns in ‘Alias: Red Band’

Sam Humphries and Geraldo Borges helm a five-issue, adult-oriented miniseries to celebrate the character’s 25-year anniversary.

Alias, the comic series that introduced Jessica Jones to the Marvel universe, turns 25 next year, and to mark the occasion Marvel will release Alias: Red Band, a five-issue miniseries by Sam Humphries and Geraldo Borges, with covers by David Mack.

“No one does it like Jessica Jones. She’s sharp, bitterly funny, and tenacious as hell. Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos snapped when they created her, a totally singular character with a unique POV on the superhero game,” Humphries said in an interview with Polygon. “I’m excited to push the limits of the kind of cases Jessica Jones can investigate, and how far she’ll go to solve them.”

He said making the series a Red Band series brings her “closer to her Max origins,” as the original series debuted as part of the adult-oriented Marvel line in 2001.

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DC levels up in March with Batwoman, Lobo + Deathstroke

DC Next Level kicks off in the spring with three new series — and more to come.

DC has revealed three new titles and their creative teams for June, as they reveal the first wave of “DC Next Level” titles they plan to roll out in 2026.

As announced at the New York Comic Con, DC Next Level is the “second act of the publishing initiative that began with the DC All In Special and the launch of DC’s Absolute universe” last year. Both Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson will still steer the ship here in the post All In, post DC K.O. universe.

“Josh and I are excited to enter the second phase of DC All In with Next Level,” said Snyder. “From the launch of the DC All In Special, to the introduction of an Absolute universe, and into the DC K.O. event that we’re right in the middle of now, we’re determined to build on all of the fan enthusiasm, and the retail support and story momentum, by continuing to take big swings in 2026.”

The first three Next Level titles are:

  • Lobo, written by Skottie Young with art by Jorge Corona
  • Batwoman by Greg Rucka and DaNi
  • Deathstroke the Terminator by Tony Fleecs and Carmine Di Giandomenico

You can find more details and lots of cover art for each below.

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Skybound celebrates Invincible Month with Spider-Man/Invincible team-up reprint, more Battle Beast

Get ready for the return of the ‘Invincible’ animated series with several comic projects.

Skybound has declared next March as Invincible Month, which will coincide with the fourth season of the Invincible animated series on Amazon Prime. So far the publisher has announced two projects to help celebrate: a reprinting of an intercompany crossover and the return of Battle Beast.

Let’s start with that crossover. Back in 2005, Robert Kirkman was writing Marvel Team-Up and having a pretty good time with the title — while at the same time writing Invincible. Issue #14 of MTU turned out to be a very special issue for Kirkman fans, as he and Cory Walker brought their creator-owned character to the Marvel universe, teaming him up with Spider-Man (and the Avengers). It came at a time when Marvel wasn’t doing a lot of intercompany crossovers, so it was unexpected and fun.

The comic hasn’t ever been reprinted and was never collected by either Marvel or Image, for obvious reasons, but that changed earlier this year when Skybound introduced their “blind bag” variant cover program for Battle Beast #1 — and boy, these blind bag variant things have really taken off, haven’t they? Seems like just about every comic publisher is doing them. Anyway, Battle Beast took an interesting approach, not only offering variant covers, but also mixing in a few original comics for a few lucky fans who happened to buy the right bag — including the second issue of Battle Beast and copies of Marvel Team-Up #14.

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Marvel will publish a prequel to the upcoming Darth Maul animated series

‘Star Wars: Shadow of Maul’ kicks off in March from Benjamin Percy and Madibek Musabekov.

Disney+ will launch a new series featuring the fan-favorite Star Wars villain Darth Maul next year, but before it arrives, Benjamin Percy and Madibek Musabekov will present the prequel comic series Star Wars: Shadow of Maul.

The animated Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord doesn’t have a release date yet, but we know it’ll be set afetr the events of the animated Clone Wars series and, of course, will feature Darth Maul. Maul first appeared in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, where he supposedly died at the hands (and lightsaber) of Obi-Wan Kenobi. As we say in comics, “he got better” after being bisected, with some help from his brother and the Nightsister Mother Talzin, and appeared in not only Clone Wars but also in Solo: A Star Wars series. In comics, he most recently appeared in the Darth Maul: Black, White & Red anthology, which featured a story by Percy.

“I’ve said it before: I’m a giant Star Wars nerd,” Percy said. “My previous experience writing in a galaxy far, far away—Darth Maul: Black, White & Red—was an absolute delight. But those were one-shots. Flirtations with the franchise. With Shadow of Maul, I’m able to share a more expansive story about one of my favorite characters, while also exploring a fresh angle on the Star Wars universe.

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DC reveals their ‘Superman/Spider-Man’ creative teams

Like the recent ‘Batman/Deadpool’ one-shots, the issue will feature stories by several creators, including Mark Waid, Jorge Jiménez, Matt Fraction, Steve Lieber, Tom King and more.

As retailers discuss why the recent Batman/Deadpool isn’t selling as well as Deadpool/Batman, DC has announced the creative teams for next year’s Superman/Spider-Man crossover, which arrives in March.

Marvel was the first out of the gate with their crossover issue, as Deadpool/Batman came out in September, followed by the DC issue in November. For this next crossover, they’ll follow a similar plan, with each publisher releasing an anthology headlined by the title characters — only this time, DC’s will arrive in shops first. Marvel has not yet announced when Spider-Man/Superman will arrive.

The two publishers announced back in October that they planned more crossovers in 2026, starting with reprints of the issues where Spider-Man and Superman first met back in the 1970s. They also surprised announced a couple of digital crossovers last month on their respective digital platforms. After decades of staying on opposite sides of the streets, it’s fun to see that these crossovers have returned.

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Dan Abnett + Marcelo Ferreira launch ‘Imperial Guardians’ in March

Gamora, Captain Marvel, Darkhawk and more will guard the galaxy next year.

Marvel has announced details on the next title spinning out of Imperial, the miniseries/event that restructured and relaunched Marvel’s cosmic line-up.

Imperial Guardians is a spiritual successor to Guardians of the Galaxy, as Gamora leads a team that includes Captain Marvel, Darkhawk, Amadeus Cho and Cosmic Ghost Rider. They’ve been recruited by Black Bolt’s evil brother, Maximus, to “protect the delicate balance of new Galactic Union by ANY means necessary.”

The best part? The title features the return of Dan Abnett to Marvel’s cosmic line, who teamed up with Andy Lanning on titles like Guardians of the Galaxy, Nova and various Annihilation era titles in the early 2000s. But as Abnett points out, it’s a whole new galaxy now …

“The Marvel Cosmic landscape after Imperial has got a very different feel, and it’s rewarding to play around with the aftermath of an event where ‘the good guys won.’ Or did they?” Abnett said. “No victory comes without back-room compromise, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the new Guardians remit.”

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Dani Moonstar headlines her first solo title

Ashley Allen and Edoardo Audino set a new course for the New Mutant.

Dani Moonstar has been a New Mutant, a Valkyrie and an X-Avenger, but now for the first time ever, she’s the star of her own solo title.

Marvel has announced Moonstar as part of their Shadows of Tomorrow line-up, as Ashley Allen, who wrote the character’s recent appearances in Magik, teams with Edoardo Audino on the series.

“I’m so excited to be returning to tell the next chapter of Dani’s story,” Allen said. “She has been such a monumental character in both the Marvel Universe and in people’s lives – exemplifying what it means to be a true leader. I can’t believe this is the character’s first-ever solo series and I can’t wait to show readers what adventure we have in store for Dani!”

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