Looking back at 2025: DC, Marvel and Beyond!

[James Harvey]

2025 is now in the rear-view mirror, but it was a year packed with exciting adventures and thrilling tales from some of the biggest and best comic publishers around! DC Comics went All In with their Absolute line, the Summer of Superman and a revamped line of titles, while Marvel Comics endured One World Under Doom and further explored a fascinating, all-new Ultimate universe! On top of that, a host of indie publishers continued to make waves with titles like "Invincible Universe: Battle Beast," "Escape," "The Power Fantasy," "Assorted Crisis Events," and "Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring," plus major relaunches of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers, and much more.

What do you consider the highs and lows of 2025? What are your must-read books and titles better left in the 25-cent bin? Any favorites among the comics you picked up? Looking back at 2025, what soared, and what came crashing down, when it came to DC, Marvel and Beyond?

 

[Yojimbo]

The lows: The main Star Wars comic limping along further and further towards pointless.

The high: Absolute Wonder Woman is stunningly good. James convinced me to take a look at it and I ended up reading like a dozen issues in one sitting. It's been eons since a comic was that good that I had to read all the back issues at once.

Also, been fun seeing Diamond collapse once and for all.

Looking forward to continuing with the Harley & Ivy: Life & Crimes comic by Erica Henderson. Been a fan of Henderson and with no H&I animated series in the near future, this series is potentially a satisfying substitute.

 

[John Pannozzi]

Also, been fun seeing Diamond collapse once and for all.

Not really my idea of fun. Say what you will about Diamond, but more decentralized comic distribution has been more inconvenient for me, to the point I've lost a bit of interest in regularly buying comics each month.

And Diamond's assets have been bought by other parties, so their legacy is technically still ongoing.

One thing has really frustrated me, and it may be related to the industry upheaval stemming from Diamond's bankruptcy:
American Mythology Productions seems to have gone radio silent. They were set to begin a comic series based on the Ghoulies movies, the first new media from it in over 30 years. The first issue of the Ghoulies comic was solicited, but wasn't released. I dunno if American Mythology will release in the future once they (presumably) re-stabilize, or if the book will be able to move to another publisher.

On the plus size, I do enjoy Ahoy Comics's Toxic Avenger comics, and it's been a hoot to see Marvel and DC crossover in comics once again.

 

[wonderfly]

The lows: The main Star Wars comic limping along further and further towards pointless.

Yeah, I've noticed, they've stopped solicitating multiple Star Wars comics the last few months (and in March's solicitations, they only had one comic - the upcoming "Shadow of Maul" mini-series.

What happened to the "Star Wars" comic set after "Return of the Jedi"? What happened to the "Star Wars: Jedi Knights" anthology comic?

They're either undergoing a reset or....something's going on.

What do you consider the highs and lows of 2025? What are your must-read books and titles better left in the 25-cent bin? Any favorites among the comics you picked up? Looking back at 2025, what soared, and what came crashing down, when it came to DC, Marvel and Beyond?

DC:
Highs would be "Summer of Superman", and Dan Slott's "Superman Unlimited", all of which proved to be an effective tie-in for the Superman film this last summer. EDIT: "Tie-In" isn't the right word, what I mean is that it made for a great "jump on board' moment for the Superman - and Supergirl - line of titles).

Lows would be seeing Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee's "Hush 2" storyline go off the rails (and it's still not finished being published, because Jim Lee has decided to retire or something....).

Marvel:
Highs would be crossovers I never would've thought up, but I can't get enough of them. Stuff like "Aliens Vs. Avengers" or "Alien vs Captain America" or "Spider-Man vs. Predator" (or the upcoming "Fantastic Four meets Planet of the Apes"). Even when they don't nail the landing (Spider-Man vs Predator) just the concept alone is enjoyable.

Low would be "X-Men: Age of Revelation" which proved to be....just a big "What If?" tale. I could be wrong depending on how the next few weeks unfold, but it just strikes me as....overly reliant on nostalgia for the original "X-Men: Age of Apocalypse" event from the 90's. There were individual "fun" moments to read, but....I'm hoping for a jump start to the X-Men line of comics in 2026, let's put it that way.

Other:
High would be the continuing buildup of comics tied to old TV shows from the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's. Who knew we needed a "Captain Planet" comic book, and that it'd actually be entertaining?!? Also, Space Ghost continues to rock.

Also, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had a strong year under Jason Aaron.

Lows: the start of this "Blind Bag" variant covers (mostly from various Indie publishers). Not knowing what cover is on your comic until you buy it, is....just gimmicky.


EDIT: I'm having trouble finding if CBR (Comic Book Resources) did a "Top 100 Comics 0f 2025" (like they've done in previous years). Here's Comic Book Herald's "Top 50 Comics of 2025."

Here's IGN's Top Comics of 2025.

 

[Yojimbo]

Yeah, I've noticed, they've stopped solicitating multiple Star Wars comics the last few months (and in March's solicitations, they only had one comic - the upcoming "Shadow of Maul" mini-series.

What happened to the "Star Wars" comic set after "Return of the Jedi"? What happened to the "Star Wars: Jedi Knights" anthology comic?

From what I remember, the Jedi Knights was always a limited series / 10 issues. So it's done. Same with Legacy of Vader this week with #12, it's done.

Turns out the main Star Wars comics ends with #10, in February. I thought it was an ongoing since it's the main comic. I don't remember them ever confirming it was ongoing or limited. That might be for the best. I was never too sold on Segura's writing. If it's that, bad sales, always the plan - I hope they take the time to refresh the plan and adjust or has Segura been too handcuffed with what he can do in this post-ROTJ timeline.

What was surprising is there are no new SW series starting up, evidenced by the last couple of solicits. I wonder if it's sales and they are cutting back, some industry issue, or is Disney scaling back new content this half of the year as much as they can because they want the sole focus to be on the build up to, promotion, and all that for The Mandalorian & Grogu in May. I'll gather Shadow of Maul is still coming out because they have a set schedule of when they plan to stream the animated series after May probably and really want the prequel comic to all release after the animated series premieres. <speculation hat off>

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

Green Lantern has been pretty solid under Jeremy Adams. It feels in line with the classic Green Lantern runs of Wolfman, Wein, and Englehart, with Carol’s indecisiveness and eventual Star Sapphire turn being devastating to her fiancé but making her a useful character once again after everyone since Geoff Johns has underutilized or misused her as Kyle Rayner’s girlfriend. Hal’s portrayal has also been good, and it’s nice having a writer who understands the characters history and personality, especially after how badly he was regarded by Geoffrey Thorne. Having Star Sapphire actually in the JLU is also nice. I get tired of the “love makes Carol evil” trope from the Silver Age, like it’s somehow malicious she wants to marry Hal while he gaslights her about his secretly identity. But I also don’t want to see her turned into a boring devoted housewife character like Iris West Allen, and I think they’ve done a good job at making her morally ambiguous and a source of both conflict and affection. Her fiance crashing out and becoming a despair based lantern after she jilts him does make for a good tragic arc where we once again see the consequences of Carol’s hypocritical attitudes towards commitment. I hope we see something done with the Predator persona emerging again, and Star Sapphire having to overcome it through her love for Hal.

As for the negative; yes, Age of Revelation was a bit of a letdown. I did catch up on X-Men this year and there are MANY better alternate future stories. Unfortunately Doug Ramsey just isn’t that convincing as a bad guy no matter how many arcs we see him perverted by technology.

Hush 2’s delays are expected of Jim Lee, but lead to a situation where I’ve had the other Batman titles on hold for months because I don’t want to spoil how the long delayed Hush 2 situation resolves.

 

[wonderfly]

From what I remember, the Jedi Knights was always a limited series / 10 issues.

Turns out the main Star Wars comics ends with #10, in February.

Which is absurd. Both titles should be able to last off of new stories for years. For the "main" Star Wars comic, the title had 70+ issues set between "A New Hope" and "Empire Strikes Back", and then they relaunched the title and had 50 issues set between "Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi". You mean to tell me they can only get 10 issues set "post-Return of the Jedi"? Something doesn't add up about the whole thing.

Hush 2’s delays are expected of Jim Lee, but lead to a situation where I’ve had the other Batman titles on hold for months because I don’t want to spoil how the long delayed Hush 2 situation resolves.

Yojimbo can probably confirm (as he's reading the new Batman title written by Matt Fraction) but I don't think anything in "Hush 2" effects anything going on in the latest issues (since they've relaunched with a new Issue #1).

 

[Yojimbo]

anything in "Hush 2" effects anything going on in the latest issues (since they've relaunched with a new Issue #1).

I don't know anything about Hush 2 and went into this new Batman title blind and am still enjoying it.

 

[Spider-Man]

When it comes to DC and Marvel I think DC has had an incredible year while Marvel is just floundering. DC's All In, the Absolute line and the Summer of Superman has me reading more DC titles than I have in a long time and their collections have gotten so much better and more organized. I think DC's biggest letdown was probably H2SH but my expectations for that weren't really high anyways. The DC Finest trades have been great to pick up! I loved Marvel's Epic line of TPB and it's nice to see DC doing the same and I've been grabbing a lot of those because of it. DC's Compact Classic trades are such a great price point and I even bought some of those just to have something on me for bus rides and the like when I have a lot of time to read.

I also look forward or expect good things whenever DC announces a new book or an event and I can't say the same thing for Marvel anymore. Once Ultimate Spider-Man and Spider-Man 94 are done those are the last in-continuity titles I'll be reading regularly for the foreseeable future. Their Star Wars, Aliens and Predator comics have also dipped in quality and I'm no longer getting those each month but when the trades come if at all. I don't understand how Marvel can't make these comics work.

I would love to read more Marvel but nothing excites me there any more. Marvel just seems so directionless and has no idea where to go or what to do. Avengers is a confusing mess, the X-Men is all over the place and the Spider-Man books are just mediocre at best with Spectacular Spider-Men being such a disappointment after a great start. I started to legitimately question if Marvel cares about the quality of the titles they put out. The artwork on most of their books is pretty terrible and amateurish and the writing on some seem to try and ape the big ideas of Hickman but they just fall flat. I really hope Marvel does something to fix this as I love their characters but what I see on the shelves now from them is so unrecognizable.

I hope DC Comics keeps doing what they're doing and Marvel figures out how to put out strong quality books again. The amount of DC Comics I read has taken off over the last few years while my Marvel output has just bottomed out and that is sad since I want to read more new Marvel comics but barely anything is clicking for me.

Outside of the comics, Superman was easily the best comic book movie of the year and for TV Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man really ended up surprising me. Looking forward to what will come from comics in 2026.

 

[wonderfly]

EDIT: I'm having trouble finding if CBR (Comic Book Resources) did a "Top 100 Comics 0f 2025" (like they've done in previous years). Here's Comic Book Herald's "Top 50 Comics of 2025."

Here's IGN's Top Comics of 2025.

CBR finally did their "Top 100 Comics of 2025"

They said they weren't going to do it, but it's back by popular demand (though no write ups, just a list).

I think all of DC's "Absolute" titles are on the list, with "Absolute Wonder Woman" and "Absolute Batman" being in the Top 10. For Marvel, "The Ultimates" makes the Top 10, and "Ultimate Spider-Man" is in the Top 20.

I was happy to see "Space Ghost" and IDW's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" on there.

I'm looking forward to what makes the list next year!

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

Any favorites among the comics you picked up?

Easy, it was Boom Studios' Power Rangers Prime and Dynamite's  ThunderCats but with that said, I'm sad that the former is ending very soon though I'm happy that the latter will be getting a follow-up that will be a team up with the SilverHawks.