Life was even more crazy this year, so I consistently stayed behind on my comic book reading. I'm sure BOTH of my comic shops love me, with all the books I don't pick up often enough from my pull box. To go back a second, we finally got a comic book shop here in town, so I don't have to drive 40 minutes out of the way to the one that's been my comic book home since 2003. Out of loyalty, I still have books I pick up over there, but I've split my time between two shops. Also, I need that relationship there because comic books are a hard business to maintain and I need a foothold in a few places.
I also switched to a far superior comic book tracking system that allows me to create a pull list at my local store in town, but also gives me far better metrics for tracking stuff. The site is League of Comic Geeks. This will make this list so much easier to make this year!
Let's show my metrics (that I don't have to excrutiatingly pull from my old site, put into excel and make a graph). Somehow, I read even more this year. I had a couple of stretches of days off where I dedicated myself to just reading. Something I need more of in 2026 to put me in a more consistent happy place.
That official count is: 584. This is what I read that was published in 2025, because I didn't finish reading my books till a few days ago. You'll also see the "Collected" metric. I bought and logged a lot of comics, but I didn't get around to reading them all. Usually this is because I have holes in the run of that title and wanted to wait till I have all of them. I need to mark it off so I don't buy thing twice.
There's also a breakdown by publisher to show what I read.
It's no surprise that I'm team Marvel, but DC has closed the gap. Image is always a strong number three. At this point in my life, I follow creators more than characters for the most part. If I see a writer or artist I like, I at least check it out no matter what company.
Anways, Without further ado, here is part I of my review of 2025, where I made up a bunch of extra superprelatives for no damn reason!
Dearly Departed (The Comics I dropped this year)Before I get into the rest of my list, a moment of silence for the number of comics that I dropped this year after giving a good go at it. For the first time, I will give a blurb as to why.
- Miles Morales: Spider-Man (Marvel) - I hate read most of it and he has a lame rogue's gallery. He's got too many powers now.
- Wonder Woman (DC) - I have grown tired of Tom King's long form story telling. It's hard to enjoy 9 part arcs that come out monthly that don't feel like there's movement.
- Wolverine (Marvel) - I grew tired of it. I'm not a huge fan of Martin Cocculo's art.
- Action Comics (DC) - I'm glad there's so much Superman stuff thanks to the movies, but this comic has a long form tale of Clark when he's young and I don't want to read ANOTHER origin story. This is that "Fill in the gaps" mentality of comic timelines.
- Power Rangers Prime (Boom Studios) - This had a couple of made up Rangers and while I applaud the creativity, I found it boring. I'm not invested in new Rangers.
- X-Force (Marvel) - I just couldn't anymore with this book. I don't care for Forge and he's leading this team.
- X-Factor (Marvel) - A mutant team based around live streaming culture. New Warriors did this over a decade ago. Amazing I hung on as long as I did.
- Batman and Robin (DC) - This book felt like some YA nonsense in a bad way. I don't know, man. Bruce and Damian are the most boring Batman and Robin. Bruce has already had this father/son dynamic with the three previous Robins. Now that he has an actual son, it's like he forgot how to parent.
Fantastic Four (Marvel) - Oh, you thought I was going to say Superman? Fantastic Four and X-Men are 1a and 1b of my favorite comic book properties. So the fact that a Fantastic Four movie came out from Marvel studios and NOT Fox gave me the vapors. Add in a fantastic (see what I did there) cast and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the aesthetic and most of the special effects. It had a low bar to clear and it flew over it.
Honorable Mentions: Superman, Thunderbolts
Worst Comic Book Movie of 2025
Captain America: Brave New World (Marvel) - I honestly forgot this movie happened this year. That's how forgettable it was and that is saying something because we all at least hold some memories from any Marvel movie we saw. This movie played it way too safe in every way and that is what lead to it's averageness. This movie wasted Carl Lumbly, who could have been a good mentor to Sam Wilson, to have some inane brainwashing plot with a character we haven't seen in 15 years in that one Hulk movie everyone likes to hate.
Honorable Mention: N/A
Favorite Comic Book TV Show of 2025
Daredevil: Born Again - Despite this show once again showing so little of Daredevil in costume, it was compelling and unflinchingly brutual. Easily the best of the Netflix Marvel series and I'm glad it is back. It felt tonally similar and somehow even darker. At first I didn't love that it ended on a cliffhanger, because I thought this would be it. Then realized, it got another season and this is just the first part of this longer arc. I'm so on board.
Honorable Mentions: Superman, Thunderbolts
Worst Comic Book Movie of 2025
Captain America: Brave New World (Marvel) - I honestly forgot this movie happened this year. That's how forgettable it was and that is saying something because we all at least hold some memories from any Marvel movie we saw. This movie played it way too safe in every way and that is what lead to it's averageness. This movie wasted Carl Lumbly, who could have been a good mentor to Sam Wilson, to have some inane brainwashing plot with a character we haven't seen in 15 years in that one Hulk movie everyone likes to hate.
Honorable Mention: N/A
Favorite Comic Book TV Show of 2025
Daredevil: Born Again - Despite this show once again showing so little of Daredevil in costume, it was compelling and unflinchingly brutual. Easily the best of the Netflix Marvel series and I'm glad it is back. It felt tonally similar and somehow even darker. At first I didn't love that it ended on a cliffhanger, because I thought this would be it. Then realized, it got another season and this is just the first part of this longer arc. I'm so on board.
Honorable Mentions: Peacemaker - Season 2, Eyes of Wakanda
Worst Comic Book TV show of 2025
If I had actually watched another season of "What If" from Marvel, that would be here. But I never finished season two, let alone season three. In the future, I'm going to fully flesh out my problems with that series.
Honorable Mention: N/A
The “Oh you still come out and I buy you” of 2025
Tie between Absolute Batman and Absolute Superman. These books are good, don't get me wrong. However, they never leave a lasting impact on me. They're not bad, but as we've seen, I read a ton of books and I can't remember everything. These books are also different for the sake of being different in this alternate universe.
The "Oh, why don't I drop you because it would be so easy" of 2025
If I had actually watched another season of "What If" from Marvel, that would be here. But I never finished season two, let alone season three. In the future, I'm going to fully flesh out my problems with that series.
Honorable Mention: N/A
The “Oh you still come out and I buy you” of 2025
Tie between Absolute Batman and Absolute Superman. These books are good, don't get me wrong. However, they never leave a lasting impact on me. They're not bad, but as we've seen, I read a ton of books and I can't remember everything. These books are also different for the sake of being different in this alternate universe.
The "Oh, why don't I drop you because it would be so easy" of 2025
Ducktales (Dynamite) - I stuck with this book for almost 8 issues. Why? I don't even know. I kept forgeting to drop it and kept buying it. It's never felt right and doesn't feel in the spirit of Ducktales. Everything just felt...off. Now a book you SHOULD read is the Uncle Scrooge mini-series over at Marvel that Jason Aaron is writing. That book respects the source material.
Most Unlikely Crossover of 2025
Archie Meets Jay & Silent Bob (Archie Comics) - In a year where Sonic the Hedgehog met the Justice League, The Ninja Turtles crossed over with Nartuo AND Power Rangers in separate series and everyone in Marvel fighting Godzilla or the Predator, THIS book was the most unlikely pairing of them all. For those that truly know me, Archie Comics has a special place in my heart held by no one else. I also know that they take wild swings that people will often miss. So it is my duty to call this out. It was written by Kevin Smith and what makes it so wild is he doesn't change his characters to fit in with Archie, Archie and his friends have to fit in his world. Jay says all the wild stuff you would expect and Archie remains his wholesome self. That dynamic itself is already funny. On the down side, if you already don't like Jay and Silent Bob, don't buy this book. This will do nothing to change your mind. If you DO love them, pick this up for a good time.
Favorite New Artist of 2025
Carlos Nieto (Ultimate Black Panther) - He's filled in (or maybe taken over? I don't feel like researching it) for the regular artist, Stefano Caselli the past couple of issues and the drop off in quality wasn't vast. It's been surprisingly good. One of my judges of artists is how do they draw black characters. Do they draw them with comically huge lips and noses? Does the face look right? I think for the post part he passes that test. Nothing has jumped out as egregious. I am curious to see him draw other characters, so here's hoping he gets that chance.
Honorable Mentions: N/A
Worst Artist of 2025
Eddy Barrows - Superman - This guy is a long time pro, but I don't know WHAT is going on. He draws the worst facial expressions I've ever seen. It's jarring. You need to see a few examples below to get what I'm talking about.
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| In the case of Eddy Barrows, the eyes have it. |
Why does everyone have big eyes? For context, these aren't moments where something should surprise them THIS much. They just look like that. Superwoman (Lois Lane) in that middle section has bug eyes for no reason! I'm glad he has been only on Superman books, so he can't ruin anything else.
Honorable Mentions:
Favorite Artist of 2025
Dan Mora (Justice League Unlimited, Transformers, Superman, Deadpool/Batman) - The second year in a row for this man. Look, he is EVERYWHERE which as a comic artist is like Jack Kirby levels of output in a single year. I honestly worry about his health because there is no way he can sustain this pace of work. I'll live in the now and say that I love everything that he works on. He's got a clean, cartoony style. I wish Marvel would find some way to get him.
Honorable Mentions: Pepe Larraz (Amazing Spider-Man), Belen Ortega (Trinity
Favorite New Writer (to me) of 2025
Murewa Ayodele (Storm) - I've slowly been reading more of his work and I've enjoyed his work with Storm. I'm glad that there is a writer from Africa that is writing African based characters in the big two because they have the appropriate amount of nuance. There's a lot of independent work out there, but I'm glad to see them get a chance in the big leagues. Storm is being treated with such care and tying to her African roots than you typically see. More importantly, it feels authentic. They had a big push for Storm the past few years and I'm glad. I just hope the book is doing well enough to keep coming out.
Honorable Mentions: N/A
Worst Writer of 2025
Cody Ziggler (Miles Morales: Spider-Man) - I really hate to put this here. This is a black writer that has made it to the big leagues and I couldn't be more proud of him. And he seems like a genuinely nice guy. But the book I struggled to read the most this year was Miles Morales: Spider-Man and he is at the helm of that. He's not all of the problems with that book, but he is the writer so he gets some of the blame. He's already in a tough position. Miles was great in his own universe, but once they folded him into the main Universe, Marvel didn't seem to know what to do with him. He doesn't have his own rogues gallery, he just has Spidey's villains. Ziggler has tried to create new villains for him, but they are just uncompelling. Also, he's added to a power set that has already felt overpowered in relation to other Spider-Characters. Now Miles has an electric sword. For those keeping track at home, he has: cloaking powers, electric blasts (it used to be just a venom sting, but it's evolved past that), an electric sword PLUS all the Spider strength, agility, ability to stick to walls. He also gave Miles a baby sister, which reeks of jumping the shark the likes of what you see in a sitcom. He's created TOO many problems for Miles to encounter. I will give him credit for introducing Miles to therapy, which can reinforce to people of color that therapy is okay. Everything else has just been dull.
Honorable Mentions: N/A. (I can't remember anyone else that should be on this list)
Favorite New Writer (to me) of 2025
Murewa Ayodele (Storm) - I've slowly been reading more of his work and I've enjoyed his work with Storm. I'm glad that there is a writer from Africa that is writing African based characters in the big two because they have the appropriate amount of nuance. There's a lot of independent work out there, but I'm glad to see them get a chance in the big leagues. Storm is being treated with such care and tying to her African roots than you typically see. More importantly, it feels authentic. They had a big push for Storm the past few years and I'm glad. I just hope the book is doing well enough to keep coming out.
Honorable Mentions: N/A
Worst Writer of 2025
Cody Ziggler (Miles Morales: Spider-Man) - I really hate to put this here. This is a black writer that has made it to the big leagues and I couldn't be more proud of him. And he seems like a genuinely nice guy. But the book I struggled to read the most this year was Miles Morales: Spider-Man and he is at the helm of that. He's not all of the problems with that book, but he is the writer so he gets some of the blame. He's already in a tough position. Miles was great in his own universe, but once they folded him into the main Universe, Marvel didn't seem to know what to do with him. He doesn't have his own rogues gallery, he just has Spidey's villains. Ziggler has tried to create new villains for him, but they are just uncompelling. Also, he's added to a power set that has already felt overpowered in relation to other Spider-Characters. Now Miles has an electric sword. For those keeping track at home, he has: cloaking powers, electric blasts (it used to be just a venom sting, but it's evolved past that), an electric sword PLUS all the Spider strength, agility, ability to stick to walls. He also gave Miles a baby sister, which reeks of jumping the shark the likes of what you see in a sitcom. He's created TOO many problems for Miles to encounter. I will give him credit for introducing Miles to therapy, which can reinforce to people of color that therapy is okay. Everything else has just been dull.
Honorable Mentions: N/A. (I can't remember anyone else that should be on this list)
Favorite Writer of 2025
Gail Simone (Uncanny X-Men) - I've always been a huge fan of Gail Simone, but I've especially enjoyed her take on Uncanny X-Men. In part II of my year in review, you'll see that she wrote my favorite single issue of the year. Everyone always wants to introduce new X-Men that will be eventually forgotten, but I've enjoyed the mix of new blood she brought in along side favorites like Rogue, Gambit, Wolverine, Jubiliee and Nightcrawler. I'm a long time reader of X-Men, but I have dipped in and out over the years, so I don't think I've ever seen this combination of characters on a team by themselves. I really love the way she handles Rogue and Gambit's relationship and Rogue's role as the leader of this team of X-Men. It has this classic X-Men fill in the best of ways. As I'm thinking about it, there's not much of a conflict within the team and that is astonishingly refreshing. They've known each other for years, there's no valid reason to fight. It's been a fun time and I would recommend checking it out.
Gail Simone (Uncanny X-Men) - I've always been a huge fan of Gail Simone, but I've especially enjoyed her take on Uncanny X-Men. In part II of my year in review, you'll see that she wrote my favorite single issue of the year. Everyone always wants to introduce new X-Men that will be eventually forgotten, but I've enjoyed the mix of new blood she brought in along side favorites like Rogue, Gambit, Wolverine, Jubiliee and Nightcrawler. I'm a long time reader of X-Men, but I have dipped in and out over the years, so I don't think I've ever seen this combination of characters on a team by themselves. I really love the way she handles Rogue and Gambit's relationship and Rogue's role as the leader of this team of X-Men. It has this classic X-Men fill in the best of ways. As I'm thinking about it, there's not much of a conflict within the team and that is astonishingly refreshing. They've known each other for years, there's no valid reason to fight. It's been a fun time and I would recommend checking it out.
Honorable Mentions: Ryan North (Fantastic Four, One World Under Doom), Daniel Warren Johnson (Transformers)
