by Derek Mainhart

2025 may have been a terrible year for the world, but it was a great year for comics! Here are my top picks, presented in classic Casey Kasem reverse countdown order:

10. Universal Monsters: The Invisible Man.

James Tynion’s prequel to the classic film accomplishes the feat of making Dr. Griifin’s experimentation phase more horrifying than the murderous spree that the reader knows will follow. Dani’s standout art moves seamlessly between expressionistic scratchiness to graceful line, sometimes in the same panel. Her masterful use of negative space perfectly conveys things that are there, but that you can’t see. These Universal Monsters series have all been pretty great in their various approaches to the originals. This one is the best.

9. Batman: Dark Patterns

Dan Watters interconnected anthology wove an atmospheric tapestry that delved into the shadowy corners of Gotham’s history. The tone balances an old-school 1970’s Detective Comics vibe with modern flashes of horror. The whole affair is heightened immeasurably by Hayden Sherman’s groundbreaking art: architectural page layouts and dizzying shifts in perspective make for an immersive visual experience in which Gotham City is truly a lead character. The best Batman book of the year, hands down.

8. Absolute Superman

Jason Aaron strips Superman of his earthly comforts (his childhood with the Kents, his Fortress of Solitude, the Daily Planet). What we’re left with is a raw nerve of a hero: homeless, hunted and full of righteous anger at the cruel, unjust world that increasingly resembles our own. It’s often been asked why Superman doesn’t try to fix the underlying causes of inequity and misery. Well this one does, making him a Superman for our times.

7. Absolute Wonder Woman 

Wonder Woman has always been tied to a specific mythology. Kelly Thompson is blowing the doors off. Something about the way she is restructuring WW’s mythology (magic, hell, Lovecraftian kaiju) almost makes it seem as though (at the risk of painting it too broadly) Absolute WW is the Grimm’s fairytale, and the WW we’re used to has been the Disney version all along. And Hayden Sherman’s artwork, both epic and timeless, is allowing us to unearth the previously unknown legend. 

Between this and Dark Patterns, Sherman is the Artist of the Year.

6. The Seasons

Rick Remender, by his own admission, channels the likes of Miyazaki and McCay, to craft an exuberant tale of a precocious girl’s search for her lost family. The candy-colored art by Paula Azaceta and colorist Matheus Lopes give otherworldly life and menace to the literal and metaphorical circus our hero finds herself in. This comic is a breath of fresh, cotton candy scented air.

5. Absolute Martian Manhunter 

The best superhero comic of the year is barely a superhero comic at all. Rather, it’s a psychedelic, noir-tinged, sci-fi exploration of fractured identity, mob mentality and how easily we’re manipulated by forces around us. Deniz Camp’s story wildly swings from outside catastrophe to inner crisis in a centrifugal whirl of cause-and-effect. And Javier Rodriguez’s show-stopping art keeps you off balance, but never lost, through this hallucinatory mind-trip of a comic (which includes a visual effect, at the end of the first issue, which is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in a comic book. Which is why Javier Rodriguez is the Artist of the Year)

4. Spectrum 

(Speaking of tripping balls…)

Order vs. Chaos. Creation vs. Destruction. Themes that might seem the stuff of standard superhero fare are here explored through the lens of a lightly fictionalized tour of music history. Rick Quinn’s wonderfully dense and wooly script transports us through time to show how the struggle of creativity shapes the universe as well as our perception of it. Dave Chisholm’s otherworldly art, combining unorthodox page design, minute detail and bursts of expressionistic color, is itself, a celebration of creativity and vision. 

Fitting then, that Chisholm is Artist of the Year.

3. Monkey Meat

Comics are a wonderfully collaborative process. But there’s something about the creators who can do it all. Jeff Smith. Alison Bechdel. Frank Miller. The auteurs. Or better yet, the cartoonists. Juni Ba is one of these. And in Monkey Meat, he is unleashed; a tornado of lines, panels, color and sound effects. Combining the absurdity of Sergio Aragones with the ferocity of Daniel Warren Johnson, Ba’s vivisection of late stage capitalism is pitiless and hilarious.

2. FML

Anytime Kelly Sue DeConnick writes a comic book, it’s a cause for celebration. Here we’re dropped into a pre-apocalyptic reality (in other words, a slightly heightened version of our own) to witness the trials and tribulations of a mother and her teenage son, as they navigate the insanity of the world, the chaos of their everyday lives, and puberty. Surrounding them is a wonderfully oddball assortment of friends and family who provide support through the madness. There’s also a True Crimes-style murder mystery that drives the plot. But it’s really the central relationship between the mother and son that provides the beating heart of this book (there’s a page that depicts the mother’s actual heart that is unforgettable). It all feels so unkempt and lived in that it must surely be partly autobiographical. David Lopez’s art (and Cristina Peters’ bold colors) effortlessly combines the magical realism of the story with collage-like DIY elements, reflecting the book’s awesome punk rock aesthetic. Which is why David Lopez is Artist of the Year.

And any other year FML would be Book of the Year, but…

1. Assorted Crisis Events

Despite the treasure trove of creativity that comics afforded us this year, this was really a no-brainer. From the get-go, every issue of Deniz Camp’s anthology series has been a masterpiece. Camp uses the old superhero trope of a time crisis to explore the very real crises we face in our time. Whether tackling big issues (mass immigration, xenophobia, inhumane systems of food production) or more intimate ones (depression, caring for a loved one with dementia, the indignities of simply aging) Camp simultaneously provides a reflection of, and a release valve to, the insanity of living in our our current, fracturing era. Artist Eric Zawadzki performs the Herculean feat of re-inventing his approach, every single issue, so that the page design and overall structure of the book matches the themes being presented. The result is harrowing, heartbreaking and oddly hopeful and invigorating. 

Which is why Zawadzki is, oh you get it.

So many Artists of the Year, huh? What unites them is they’re each pushing the form of comics storytelling in new, thrilling ways, expanding the possibilities of the medium itself (ok, if I had to pick one – which I don’t – I’d probably go with Hayden Sherman)

As for Writer of the Year, between ACE, AbMM and The Ultimates (also pretty great) I’m planting my flag firmly in the Deniz Camp.

Honorable mentions: Escape, The Voice Said Kill, The Ultimates, Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum, Ice Cream Man, Lazarus Risen, The Hero Trade, CalExit, Life, Herculoids, Benjamin, Batman & Robin Year One, Far Down Below, Dust to Dust, Out of Alcatraz, Poison Ivy, Ultimate Spider-Man, Tin Can Society 

Biggest disappointment: the cancellation of Zdarsky Comic News. Truly, a shining beacon has been extinguished!

Best single issue of the year: Superman: the Kryptonite Spectrum 4 (by the same creative team, Prince & Morazzo, who also produced last year’s best issue in Ice Cream Man) tied with every single issue of Assorted Crisis Events.

Beating this year’s cream of the crop is going to be a tall order. Have at it, 2026!