The Homies 2025
Jingle bells, Batman smells… or DOES he? Does he actually smell of GOOD THINGS, in an unexpected twist? How does he smell… compared to other comics? There’s only one way to find out – let’s have an end of year awards season! It’s time for the 2025 Homies!
As always, we want to hear from you about what you dug this year. As with last year, rather than give you a long list of categories, we’re concentrating on the comics we read that really did it for us. We simply want you to tell us:
What was the best comic you read all year, and why?
It could be a new release, it could be a relaunch, it could be another great year for a reliable ongoing. It could be a majestic miniseries or a great graphic novel, an incredible indie or a brilliant Big Two book. We’ll be reading them out on the show, so let us know what you dug and what about it made it so special for you.
Give us your pick, and may 100% of your Christmases be white.
Technically it’s been available as a web comic for a few years, but Spectators by Brian K. Vaughn and Niko Henrichon came out in print this year, so I’ll say that. Fascinating exploration of sex and violence, with great art.
I also read all of the available collections of the Kelly & Lansing/Christopher Cantwell-written Star Trek, which is quite fan service-y, but a lot of fun.
Craig Thompson’s Ginseng Roots was collected and released this year and it was my first time reading it and it blew me away. It may be his best book. It had the ambition of Habbi with the emotional power of Blankets.
And it should go without saying it was beautifully drawn
I think the best thing I read this year was the Nam Omnibus that Marvel released. Absolutely tremendous series, taking a real time view of the Vietnam War following one unit. It has a real level of authenticity from writer Doug Murray, who served in the war, and main artists Michael Golden and Wayne Vansant.
Unfortunately, Murray was forced off the book by its terrible replacement editor who handed it over to armchair warrior Chuck Dixon to make sub-Commando schlock. Wisely, Marvel mapped this omnibus to contain all of Murray’s real time run, so if they do bother with a second, it can be neatly ignored.
Oh and I almost forgot! DC finally released the back end of Sandman Mystery Theatre in a collected edition. That surely has to be worthy of an award, even if it did have another Patton Oswalt foreword.
It’s an easy choice this year. Assorted Crisis Events, written by Deniz Camp. Nothing else comes close, for mine. Many of the stories give me an emotional response, make me feel personally connected with them, which is something I would often feel from many comic series when I was younger, but has become exceedingly rare in recent years.
The closest I can think of as to a comparison with the stories is Daytripper (by Ba and Moon).
Easy answer. I reread all of Animal Man (and Multiveristy) when Morrison did our podcast back in April.
Honorable mention to reading all versions of the Marvel Handbook and Who’s Who (even the loose leaf binder ones) when Al was on the podcast early in 2025. (A delayed plug since I don’t think Al even mentioned it on HTA. )
Honestly, it just started up but I’d say Fraction’s Batman has been my favorite thing I’ve read this year. I really am enjoying it so far.
@Martin Smith- Doug Murray left because the new editor. Don Daley. wanted to include superheroes. This caused continuity problems because the earlier issues were clearly not part of the Marvel Universe- superheroes were depicted as fictional. But the later issues featured the Punisher and a chapter from the later issues appears in the Punisher.
I vote for Absolute Martian Manhunter by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez. It’s social commentary wrapped in an inspired reimagining of the main character(s), all beautifully drawn and colored. And with fun art gimmicks, too! AMM really walks that fine line between heavy subject matter and fun police work/superheroics.
The One World Under Doom Runaways mini was a phenomenal revisit and continuation of Rainbow Rowell’s cancelled Runaways run. Those characters make me so happy, still kids 20 years after their debut.
Forgot about Waid’s New History of the DC Universe.
Kieron Gillen’s “The Power Fantasy” continues to be my monthly must-read.
I continue to be mildly obsessed with The Power Fantasy. Gillen’s character work has gotten me invested, and Wijngaard’s art and design wow me. (I mentioned last year that I might start buying it in both floppies and trades: I have in fact done this, which puts the book in company with titles like Sandman and Astro City.) The current arc is full of incredible tension, and I am desperately hoping that they don’t decide to end the book at #16.
For the entirely of this year, my favorite series has been THE POWER FANTASY by Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard. The series began at the end of 2024, and its first (maybe only, Gillen hasn’t committed to more) 16-issue arc will likely conclude in January.
For me, the book has it all: interesting new characters I’m happy to learn more about, a plot that never drags and frequently surprises, big themes——and it’s illustrated with distinctive, beautiful art.
Better yet, Gillen, Wijngaard, & Co. are professionals who respect their readers enough not to leave them wondering when further issues will be coming. There are a number of other creators that could learn from this.
Whenever I’m asked what I’m reading right now, this is the title I’m effusive about.
Ha. I opened up this post, started writing my comment, got distracted, then finished and submitted the comment… only to find that two more people have since posted about the book, too.
Well, good. It deserves the love.
I’ve lost touch with most non-Marvel stuff due to the Facebookification caused by the Unlimited app. And this year I’ve been extremely underwhelmed by Marvel. Some ok titles, but I’m strongly considering cancelling my subscription again. There was a time when the new releases I wanted to read would keep me going through the week, now I barely make it past the afternoon of release.
The best thing I’ve read in 2025 is Metamorpho the Element Man! Shocking that it didn’t make it past six issues, when it’s exactly the kind of comic every old-time fan should love!
Technically it came out in 2024 but this year Absolute Wonder Woman was the hot book for me.
The Knives, by Brubaker and Phillips. A big fat Criminal story about blown opportunities and mistakes and compromises and betrayal and bad decisions and consequences. It’s great, as almost everything these two do is, but it’s bigger and more ambitious than previous Criminal stuff.
Looking forward to the TV show.
Man, WHO KNEW The Absolute DC Universe would just continue to whip so much ass this year. ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN by Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman, Jordie Bellaire, et al. has been the crown jewel of that imprint for me.
Rich Remender’s SACRIFICERS with Max Fiumara and Andre Lima Araujo continues to be the best book he’s ever written and the best thing Image is currently publishing. the two issues that have hit shelves since its return have been a pair of neutron bombs dropped on the story, and I cannot wait to see where it goes next.
I’m really enjoying Ignition Press’s output, and I wish them the best as an upstart creative venture. VOYEUR by Leah Williams, David Baldeon, and Eva de la Cruz is bringing some much needed sexiness to the comics rack.
And finally, I kind of can’t believe that Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum’s MINOR THREATS continues to be as genuinely solid a read as it is. It’s so easy for a “Supes you know but with the serial numbers filed off” book to fall flat, becoming a xerox machine spitting out endless unfunny parodies. But MINOR THREATS has managed to build Twilight City and its denizens into a complete thing unto itself, with characters and a narrative that I really care about and enjoy.
Sophie Campbell’s Supergirl has been a breath of joy, just a generous, goofy book.
It’s hard to pick just one comic as my favorite of the year, and I haven’t even gotten around to a lot of critically-acclaimed graphic novels on my “to-read” list.
My favorite comic of the year is Assorted Crisis Events by Deniz Camp and Eric Zawadski.
2025 has been a harrowing year for much of the world. Camp’s stories have reflected the awful, dehumanizing things that have been happening to people. Zawadski’s art has been both eye-catching and ambitious. A stand-out of the series has been layouts and experimental storytelling. ACE is a downer, but I still look forward to every issue.
Runners-up by a nose were Absolute Martian Manhunter and The Power Fantasy. Other comics I enjoyed include: Absolute Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl, FF, Cul-De-Sac, Escape, Survive, Superman: the Kyryptonite Spectrum, Krypto, and the conclusion of DWJ’s Transformers.
I think it released late last year, but the best thing I read was a book called Orchard Of The Tame. Oddball cartoony adventure comic.
I also think some of the Mignola stuff has been pretty great lately, with the second Frankenstein: New World mini and the Ed Grey book.
I was not expecting to like Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum nearly as much as I did. I thought that “Silver Age style Superman adventures from the team that brought you the existential horror of Ice Cream Man” seemed like a terrible fit, but it has been a real delight, full of clever ideas and just really great storytelling.
I will echo the praise for Assorted Crisis Events. Rough reading at times, but endlessly inventive in its structure, and every issue seems to leave me a ragged stump of raw emotion.
One series I haven’t seen mentioned yet is The Seasons, by Rick Remender, Paul Azaceta, and Matheus Lopes. It feels like a cross between European adventure comics and Studio Ghibli. Utterly beautiful art and great characters in a fun horror/adventure story.
Transformers compendium vol 1 and 2. Sheer nostalgia overload, loved it. I get the impression you two read the UK version from start to finish, is that right?
Adding to the calls for the Power Fantasy; Gillen taking a lot of the ideas out of Immortal X-Men and giving them room to breathe without the drag of continuity; it’s the most Gilleny book I’ve ever read, but that’s what I signed up for.
The Power Fantasy reminds me (in a good way) of classic sci-fi novels where the characters stand around debating strategy and philosophy for most of the story.
So it’s sort of like Gillen has reverse-engineered the kind of story that inspired the X-Men in the first place.
The Power Fantasy is the standout for me this year. It’s the book that I most look forward to each month, and I never quite know what to expect from it.
And I’ve loved pretty much everything Al Ewing has done this year. Absolute Green Lantern, Metamorpho: The Element Man, the (Im)Mortal Thor. He’s telling the stories that he wants to tell, while remaining true to the spirit of these characters no matter how weird things may get.
I think I have to go with Absolutely Martian Manhunter being my number one favorite this year, barely edging out The Power Fantasy only because Javier Rodríguez’s surreal art is such a delight.
Other highlights are Sophie Campbell’s Supergirl (great fun), Deniz Camp’s Ultimates, and basically everything Al Ewing does. I went back and reread 52 concurrent with “The Diary of Ralph Dibny”, and it’s impressive how The Diary works.
I’m cheating a little bit because I have not read it yet. I’m buying the trade coming out next week (December 24th) and I know I’ll love it. 2025 is the comeback of Greg Rucka and Michael Lark’s LAZARUS on hiatus since 2022. Lazarus: Risen, published by Image, should run around 24 issues and will present the finale of the series. Fantastic storytelling and amazing art. It’s about a not-so distant future where the world is ruled and divided between ultra-rich criminal families. Some might argue that the world is already like that, and it would be difficult for me to disagree.
This year also I reread SLEEPER by Brubaker and Philips, and it is stilll as good as the first time.
The best comic I read this year was Moon Knight. This is a character I never had the SLIGHTEST interest in until Jed MacKay started writing him. Now it’s at the top of my pile.
I feel more behind than usual this year, so there are a lot of releases I’m not caught up on. I’ll echo the others that The Power Fantasy has been my favorite ongoing title this year. And with the return of Die and the excellent Closer one-shot, Kieron Gillen making a strong case for favorite writer of the year.
Speaking of returns, it was good to be back in the world of Criminal with The Knives. I mentioned in last year, but Spectators is now out in a collected physical edition, and I’m looking forward to reading the entire thing in one go.
I should read more indie comics. But I’ll add to the heap of praise The Power Fantasy is getting. It’s fantastic.
On the corporate side, DC has absolutely smashed Marvel in terms of quality this year. Absolute Wonder Women is, well, wonderful. I haven’t read a lot of WW comics before, but I’ve seen long-time DC fans saying it’s the best Wonder Woman run ever and I can believe it easily.
As much as I love Al Ewing’s work, Absolute Green Lantern has left me a little cold. Except issue #8, that one was truly great.
On the bat front, Matt Fraction’s Batman has been a huge surprise. Nice little mostly one and done stories, serious with a touch of humour (the penguin!). Nothing revolutionary, ‘just’ a very well executed Batman comic. But in a way like Batman TAS was ‘a very well executed Batman cartoon’.
Onto the revolutionary – Batman: Dark Patterns by Dan Watters and Hayden Sherman (he of Absolute Wonder Woman’s fame – artist of the year, for me). A tight, 4-act miniseries, dark without going overboard (the first arc, with its nail-driven villain, is the grimiest), with some good detecting, great antagonists and just a fantastic portrayal of Gotham.
On the flipside was Mark Waid and Chris Samnee’s Batman and Robin: Year One, not completely light and fun, but definitely letting some light into the batcave. Which is exactly what Robin is for. The story of the beginning of the Dynamic Duo with some nice plotting, great character work and just spectacular Samnee art.
Oh, and also from DC, turns out it was the final year of Kelly Thompson’s Birds of Prey. Shame, really. Good to great art, fun action sequences and quips, great team. The plot was maybe spinning its wheels a bit (which seems to be commented on in the final issue), but I had fun every month.
Also, Inque from Batman Beyond is now in the present of the DC universe if anybody else wants to use her.
Meanwhile, from Marvel… there are many series I have fun reading. There’s very little I’d call great. Ryan North’s Fantastic Four, most issues, except One World Under Doom was so awfully stretched out, and it got turned into an event, and it was really disapppointing. But the ongoing FF book was good.
Chip Zdarsky’s Captain America only finished its introductory arc, but that – that was great. And surprisingly bold and political for today’s Marvel.
Deniz Camp’s Ultimates was the other Marvel book, alongside Chip’s Cap, that felt current and, dare I say it, important. Let’s hope he sticks the landing when they pull the plug on this Ultimate 2.0 project.
Jed MacKay continues his Moon Knight run, I continue to be amazed how much he made me care about a character that – outisde those six Warren Ellis / Declan Shalvey issues – never made an impression on me.
And 8-Ball! Jed MacKay made me care about 8-Ball!
Also his X-Men are fine. A lot of the x-books are fine. Just not great.
Al Ewing’s Thor continues to be interesting. I like the new angle. I’d prefer a different artist, but honestly, that could apply to almost every previous artist on this run.
On a final note, I was surprised how much I enjoyed Joe Kelly’s Amazing Spider-Man. Surprised, because his 8 Deaths Spider-Man was clearly a last-minute placeholder. Surprised, because it was a placeholder for Marvel to find a new writer for Spider-Man, and for them to proclaim ‘behold, it’s Joe Kelly’ in the middle of that middling story was underwhelming to say the least.
But once the proper run has started – it was great! I’m not sure if the current bifurcation works – Peter in Space is fun, while Norman on the Streets / Ben in the Sheets (sorry) is… an idea for a completely different run, and also not really fun, but maybe a little interesting, but it would need more space to be fully developed.
But the book on the whole was a definitive positive surprise.
The miniseries Fantastic Four Fanfare is my favorite comic experience of the year. 4 issues with 3 stories each from an eclectic mix of creators. There’s fan service but the stories all work on their own. This isn’t Marvel’s usual pandering by bringing creators back to relive glory days. The creators revisiting FF history feel more invested. This is a well compiled anthology that shows the diversity of FF stories and is a fun read from issue 1-4.
Michael-Did you just spoil a comic story that was released yesterday…in a “best of the year” retrospective thread, no less?
I’m not sure how fans lost interest in a book after one day. Especially as sales have apparently been sluggish on the Mortal Thor since the start. Is this done retroactively? “I hereby withdraw all prior interest and Mortal Thor comics purchased after finding out about the plot of Mortal Thor #5.”
I’ve deleted that comment, since I agree that the Homies thread isn’t a place where people will expect spoilers for such recent books.
My apologies. Paul, Chris- I’ll be more careful in the future.
Obviously not finished but so far KO has been amazing fun the best event in years, and so much better the One World or age revelation.
Marvel
FF is still good week to week, I really enjoyed the relaunch 2 part story.
Thor is one of the best Marvel comics with a long term saga that could match Simonson in the end.
Spider Man has had such a turn around this year after so many bad runs, worried about it heading in the a symbiote crossover next year.
Hulk feels like it has been treading water after enjoying the start of the run last year.
Imperial does not seem to be working but will be good to see how it ends, but there are to many character missteps with especially Nova, and it’s unclear Hulks status quo.
Nothing standing out in the Avenger or X-men books.
Looking forward to the end of the Ultimate next year to see if they can keep the quality and give a satisfactory ending.
DC
The Absolutes seem to be carrying the line, I especially like Green Lantern and Batman. Martian manhunter was a bit too experimental to me.
The Batman relaunch has started will, interested to see what the “Alfred” the Bruce is talking to end up as. But Batman also had the worst story in Hu2h. Batman and Robin have also been very constant this year and made me like Damian.
Superman best work was the Krypto Mini, some of the scenes in the lex issue were heartbreaking.
The Flash moon war story I did not feel worked with Wally, who I don’t like in Dark stories after how he as been treated in recent years.
The GL corps and main book have been a good space opera that held together well across the books.
And Batman Deadpool not sure if I liked but it was the most Grant Morrison story I have ever read.
It’s great to see Fantastic Four selling solidly, as an older fan, the movie seemed made for me and the montage allowed me to fit those original Kirby/Lee issues into my movie headcanon.
So many enjoyable stories finding new ways to ring the changes on science problem of the month, but my top picks were the HERBIE issue and the Alicia issue, both highlighting that there are more than four fantastic members of the team.
I hate Johnny’s moustache though.
I like that Johnny has a distinct look, more characters need it to avoid the end of Operation Galactic storm where Steve, Clint and Hank meet in a bar out of Uniform and they are all identical blonde men.
Absolute Wonder Woman continues to be the best thing on the shelves by a long shot, the combination of incredible art and incredible writing and making Absolute Diana such beacon of hope.
Batman: Dark Patterns was the best batbook on the stands, a delightful set of three-issue cases for Batman that threw back to the best of the non-event 1990s Bat-stories.
It was part of a much bigger book, but Jorge Jimenez’s story in Superman: The World, whiche he wrote and draw, was one of the best Superman short stories I’ve read in years, and contains absolutely beautiful page of Superman and Lois flying above Granada.
Power Fantasy by Gillen
Ultmate X-Men by Peach Mimoko
Ultimate Spider-Man by Johnathan Hickman
Magic by Asley Allen
Something is Killing the Children by James Tynion IV
Moon Knight by Jed MacKay
And hoping 2026 brings us a Brevoort replacement.
Okay, I have added my list of the best comics that I have read this year. Al Kennedy also for why. I don’t feel like explaining how good Gillen is, the entries above already do that. If you haven’t read the Power Fantasy… you should and others have already made those points.
So I am instead making this post about the comic Battleworld by Christos Gage. If you have already read this book – what is wrong with you? You have terrible judgement. You clearly made a mistake. It is exactly what you think it is. Now the endnotes / references / writers commentary page is a bit different. Comments about the difference between fans who started reading in the 1960s and the 1980s is about as much fun as a page and a half can be. Perhaps similar to reading a single page of the OHOTMU only without the art.
Although the individual issues came out last year, Helen of Wyndhorn was collected this year, which is how I found it. Tom King doing good Tom King, with absolutely beautiful Bilquis Evely art, wrapped up in a lot of Conan and John Carter. It’s sad, it’s funny, it’s pulp.
And it sent me on a huge Conan re-read that I’m enjoying.
For actual issues this year: Si Spurrier and Aaron Campbell’s Hellblazer: Dead in America. All the usual hits, horror and dark humour from their earlier run, with an unmistakable sense of rushing to an inevitable ending. May be not the best time to deliberately evoke Sandman, but felt like a sequel to the Kindly Ones in all the best ways.
And the best ending I’ve read for years!
Cheetah & Cheshire Rob the Justice League (Writer: Greg Rucka, Artist: Nicola Scott, Colors: Annette Kwok, Letters: Troy Peteri) has been a delight. It’s a pretty standard heist story, with “gathering the team”, “we didn’t tell you this part”, “double cross time!” plot developments. But sometimes the comfort of a well done standard story is just what you need. I also really like how Scott draws Cheetah, often using the facial fur patterns to make her look kind of melancholy.
Welcome To the Maynard (Writer: James Robinson, Artist: J. Bone, Colorist: Ian Herring, Letterer: Jim Campbell) from Dark Horse. It’s a detective story set in a magical hotel with strong franco belgian comic vibes.
I’ll also second Absolute Wonder Woman, the Doom Runnaways mini, The Power Fantasy, and The Seasons.
Tom King and Belen Ortega’s Trinity mini series has been my book of the year. Following on from the brilliantly funny back ups in Wonder Woman, the mini sees three versions of Wonder Woman’s daughter from different points in her time line teaming up to track down three super corgis and avoid collapsing space time. The differences between the pre school, teen and young adult versions of Lizzie are acutely observed in the most charming way, with a real sense of bickering sisterhood between the trinity of Tribities. More than any other comic this year Trinity has made me laugh out loud and then followed up with a real emotional kick. An impopossible feat of comics creation.
I read all the Marvel Star Wars books, and they’re mostly a slog these days, I’m afraid. However, Legacy of Vader has been absolutely fantastic in contextualizing Kylo Ren within his famous family. It enriches his character and the sequel films. It’s been a bright spot in comics for me in 2025.
—Vrej (Brossard, Quebec)
I think that the “Fantastic Four” is still my favourite series. I’ve been less enthusiastic about the “One World Under Doom” story (particularly with all the tie-ins), but the core FF title is still telling good stories.
Honourable mention to “Superman smashes the Klan” (which came out 6 years ago but I only read this year). There’s some good nuance to the characters, and some facts that I didn’t know about the real-life KKK (e.g. that it was something of a pyramid scheme to sell robes to its own members).
The Power Fantasy is the obvious choice for being something that is consistently engaging and surprising. It really does feel like it could go a lot deeper into any of the characters and spin them off into their own solo series.
Elsewhere, I heave read a lot, but not a lot that is amazing
Absolute Batman’s Bane story wasn’t as good as the Black Mask arc, but it remains absolutely thrilling. I’m less convinced now it is filling up with the usual rogues gallery of freaks, but we will see what happens
I’m only a few issues into The Tin Can society which I somehow stumbled across and it has really grabbed me. We’ll need to see if it sticks the landing.
Ultimates has been consistently good to great. Parts of it has made me ask “How did this get published” because it is the angriest mainstream superhero book I think I’ve read. Even in a genre that can be anti-authority and dedicated to social justice, Ultimates stands out as being practically an incitement to revolution. And the countdown that the series began with has been genuinely compelling.
I don’t know if y’all recorded The Homies yet, but I’ve been thinking about this, and I wanted to add a few things I ctrl-F’ed and didn’t see anyone else mention:
(Besides, of course, throwing in some more support for The Power Fantasy and Fantastic Four)
Two indie books that were great were Michael DeForge’s Holy Lacrimony & Ben Passmore’s Black Arms to Hold You Up.
But in terms of series that came out this year, I think Kelly Sue DeConnick’s FML deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as The Power Fantasy and FF. I love DeConnick’s writing, and she manages to capture the vibe of living and parenting in a post-2020, increasingly chaotic, living in a collapsing empire world. But, you know, that’s not the focus; it’s just the vibe behind a fun teen rock band fantasy story. Acknowledging the real world really lets the fantasy parts sing – a lot of other books I’ve read this year are missing the moment, and therefore, the crazy fantasy or superhero stuff feels even more heightened and far away and doesn’t hit as hard as FML.