The Best Comics of 2025, Part 6b: Honourable Mentions
You bet I ran out of space ranting about the other honourable mentions in the last post, so I split it in two and now we've got YET ANOTHER post before the end of the year! Madness!
Right, we’re nearly at the end of the road of this series, so I won’t waste any more of your time.
More Honourable Mentions
The Avengers #26 (June 2025) | Jed MacKay’s run on Marvel’s franchise title concludes in March 2026 with the thirty-sixth issue (actually the 802nd consecutive issue overall), and it’s been an interesting ride, to say the least. Debuting with a grievously injured Kang landing in the team’s laps for some MCU-synergy that immediately got derailed by Jonathan Majors’ legal issues, the run promised a series of “Tribulation Events” that would threaten the world; “The Fall of The Impossible City” (as seen in The Avengers #1-6), “The Unending Night” (published as the vampire-centric Blood Hunt event), “The King of Magic” (I’m assuming this is One World Under Doom), along with “The Death Moon” and “The Cannibal Culture”. A lot of story. I might talk about them at length sometime. But this issue, smack dab in the middle of One World Under Doom, features the Masters of Evil besieging the Avenger’s headquarters, in a concerted attack similar to the classic events of “Under Siege”, an arc that ran in The Avengers #273-277 between 1986-87. It’s one of my favourite kinds of stories, where the last hero standing must buy the rest of the team time to recover, recuperate, and rally. In this case, it’s a fantastic showing for Sam Wilson’s Captain America, who battles the combined forces of a resurgent Masters of Evil, who out-power him massively, not for the hope of winning, but for the hope of the tide turning… and boy does it, with a final page that does it for me like no other. Artist Andrea Broccardo delivers here with the kinetic airborne battle Wilson undertakes against Dreadknight, as well as the brawling climactic confrontation against Mr Hyde. Check it out if you can.
The Power Fantasy #12 (October 2025) | I’m not the biggest fan of Kieron Gillen’s writing. His independent stuff, like Phonogram (2006-2016) and The Wicked + The Divine (2014-2019) are acclaimed, but I feel like they’re not written for me. Once & Future (2019-2022) was wonderful, but what helped that was Dan Mora’s art. I liked Über (2013-2018), as incomplete as it is, but I love an alt-history super-soldier series. I enjoyed his mainstream stuff at Marvel, such as Uncanny X-Men, Eternals, Immortal X-Men, and various Thor-related works. With all that in mind, my favourite indie projects of his have been his collaborations with Caspar Wijngaard, first on Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt (2019) and now on The Power Fantasy (2024-). Yes, Kieron might be better known for his work with Jamie McKelvie, but hey, I can be an indie philistine, can’t I? This book has been a revelation, showing us a world where an ongoing cold war between superpowered individuals is barely held in check by the participants. The omnitelepath, Etienne Lux, has his origin told in this outstanding single issue, revealing the truth of his powers and the extent at which he has gone to keep his secrets. After the build up of the previous issues, and what comes after, this feels less like a breather issue and more like a held breath. Highly recommend.
Deadpool / Batman (September 2025) vs Batman / Deadpool (November 2025) | Who did it better? Marvel or DC? I think the answer is obvious, especially when you look at the competing creative teams, but I’m going to leave the answer up to you. It’s interesting to know that the two most marketable characters in the DC and Marvel pantheons are Batman and Deadpool (?), but it makes sense considering the successes of Ryan Reynolds’ trilogy of films. It might have been that a few years ago it could have been Batman / Wolverine, but the box office receipts speak for themselves. The team of Zeb Wells and Greg Capullo don’t do anything original with the concept, and their story feels like a re-tread of Batman / Spawn from 2022. Grant Morrison and Dan Mora deliver a much more cohesive tale that mixes all sorts of comics tropes into a palatable package that feels very accessible to even the most novice of reader. Morrison understood the assignment and had fun with it, Mora backing up their prose with their sublime art style. Wells’ writing felt forced and unfunny, dragged over the finish line but the always capable Capullo. All that said, from a macro-perspective, these prestige one-shots were a fantastic showing of unity from the Big Two this year, and while the stories within were sometimes hit and miss, you owe it to yourself to read these historic issues. I’m a particular fan of the Zdarsky / Dodsons team on Captain America / Wonder Woman, and the Jeff the Land Shark / Krypto team-up by Kelly Thompson and Gurihiru.
Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. - The Ghost Ships of Labrador #1 (November 2025) | I love Hellboy! I love B.P.R.D! And this miniseries, which reunites Mike Mignola and earlier collaborator Laurence Campbell, reminds me of all the best stories and opportunities B.P.R.D. had to explore, before… the apocalypse. Sending amazing characters like Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman and Hellboy himself off on spooky adventures was always a core highlight of the franchise. Still, plagues of frogs, wendigos and jaguar gods quickly bogged down the mainline B.P.R.D. series. By no means is that a bad thing, but it just meant there wasn’t as much room for fun, and these Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. give us stories that take place between the raindrops of the ongoing narrative. This is a fantastic issue, and while Rob Williams isn’t a name I follow, he knows the voices of the characters, and he’s matched ably by franchise MVP Campbell. I can’t wait to pick up the second issue.
Absolute Batman #12 (November 2025) | The reason I’m including this issue, despite my expressed reservations about the title in yesterday’s post, is because of Snyder and Dragotta’s almost surgical methodology of breaking down Bruce Wayne through the violent assaults perpetrated upon his closest allies. This issue delivers Bane’s systematic destruction of Batman in ways beyond what the Dark Knight experienced in 1993’s “Knightfall”… all in one issue. Ark-M’s enforcer attempts to break Batman down through his friends. He takes his time turning Ozzie, Harvey and Eddie into their worst reflections, in ways you might have expected, but via methods you’d wish upon nobody. Absolute DC is a strange beast, but it’s here that Snyder’s worst impulses bear fruit, matched masterfully by Dragotta’s unique and inventive art style. An utter horror show.
Tomorrow I share the best (i.e. my favourite) comic of 2025. See you there!