Tag: 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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Slugfest | Wonder Man takes center stage in Marvel’s March 2026 solicitations

Plus: Fantastic Four battle Mad Thinker, Captain Marvel explores her dark past and Jed MacKay’s run on Avengers comes to a conclusion.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. This edition focuses on Marvel’s March 2026 solicitations, which include some early April releases as well. Hit the links for more information. Also check out previous posts about the return of the Sentry, the relaunch of Daredevil, a Red Band series featuring Jessica Jones, a new Darth Maul mini, Dani Moonstar‘s first solo series, X-Men United and Imperial Guardians.

Wonder Man will not only debut in his own Disney+ streaming series next year, but he’ll also appear in a five-issue miniseries by Gerry Duggan and Mark Buckingham. Duggan recently wrote the character in West Coast Avengers.

“Wonder Man has always been a favorite of mine, and so’s Mark Buckingham,” Duggan said. “To be able to collaborate with one of the kings of comics and a true gentleman has been a thrill and a privilege. Simon Williams dreams of Hollywood, and his city and show business has had a rough go of it. Join us for a very special debut, starring Wonder Man, his chosen family and the one he was born into. This one’s going to be special.”

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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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Oni + Archie announce a publishing partnership

Oni will publish comic series, collections and graphic novels featuring the Archie characters beginning in the fall of 2026.

Oni Press has announced that they’re partnering with Archie Comics to publish a new line of comics and graphic novels featuring the Archie characters. The partnership will begin next fall.

“From the world of comics – where Archie’s stories led so many to pick up their very first comic book – to the long-running success of Riverdale, Archie’s cherished cast of characters have few rivals in terms of their visibility or influence on global pop culture,” said David Steward II, Chairman of the Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group. “This new partnership is one of the most significant moments in Oni Press’ three decades as a leading publisher of independent comics, and, in collaboration with the Archie team, we look forward to writing a memorable new chapter in the history of these legendary characters that will set the stage for decades worth of stories yet to come.”

The first three series they’re teasing are Archie by W. Maxwell Prince, Fábio Moon and Nick Cagnetti; Sabrina the Teenage Witch by Corinna Bechko and Kano; and Archie in Hell by Patrick Horvath and Tyler Crook. Based on the creators invovled, these sound like they’ll continue the spirit of the “new” Archie and the Archie Horror lines we’ve seen in the past.

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Slugfest | Act II of DC’s All In begins in March

New creators, storylines and title changes permeate through DC’s March titles.

Following the announcement of three new series coming in March as part of their Next Level initiative, DC today revealed what the post-DC K.O. universe will look like by sharing covers and information on their March titles. Their solicitations for that month, I believe, should arrive tomorrow, but today’s announcement will give you a good idea of what to expect from them.

Some of the changes and stories coming to their regular titles include:

  • In a world without Superman (Wha …?) the Superman titles will kick off a storyline called “Reign of the Superboys” that’ll feature Jon Kent, Superboy Prime, the young Clark Kent we’ve been seeing in Action Comics and more.
  • Titans becoming New Titans with issue #33 in March, with Tate Brombal and Sami Basri taking over the title
  • A 600th issue of Green Lantern featuring creators Jeremy Adams, Ron Marz, Xermanico, Darryl Banks and more
  • Ryan North and Gavin Guidry taking over as the creative team for The Flash
  • Denys Cowan joining Dan Watters on Nightwing
  • Aquaman being retitled Emperor Aquaman, as our hero heads to the stars
  • An alternative timeline story that’ll kick off in Wonder Woman, as she teams with her grown-up daughter Trinity to battle the Queen of America, the Matriarch
  • An oversized Batman #7 by Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez
  • Gotham City getting a new mayor who goes by the name Poison Ivy

Read on for more details and to check out March’s covers.

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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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