Welcome to The Beat‘s first official shot at a Year’s Best list dedicated to the under-18 crowd: The Beat‘s Best Kids Comics of 2025.
In any year there is a deluge of great comics and it can be bewildering to filter through them all, then narrow those titles down to a small list. Herein our contributors brought together over 20 titles we loved that can be enjoyed by kids AND adults.
The below books made us laugh, smile, cry, and fundamentally remember the joy of reading with a child’s (or teenager’s) eyes. We have two manga, three bande dessinée, a couple of novel adaptations, multiple quests, trials, challenges, the struggles of the classroom, and many more besides.
If we missed out on your favourite [ed: ixnay on the D_g M_n ay], feel free to comment below. Also do so if you want to let us know how to make this list even better in future.
Without further ado, here are the Best Kids Comics of 2025.
Angelica and the Bear Prince
Writer/Artist: Trung Le Nguyen
Colors: Angela Phu AKA popoalu
Publisher: RH Graphic
Recommended Age: 12-17 Years
Angelica and the Bear Prince follows a burnt-out high schooler as she starts an internship at her beloved local theater and pursues an online friendship with a person she hopes is inside the bear costume for a play she’s loved since childhood. She struggles with grief for her grandmother, who died when she was a child, and oft fails to feel big emotions rather than immediately act on them like they’re items on a to-do list.
In his sophomore OGN, Trung Le Nguyen meditates on love (romantic, platonic, familial, communal), connection, nostalgia, and grief with a careful balance of scenes from the fairytale of the Bear Prince, framed in ornate gold, and scenes from Angelica’s memories and present life, which feel no less magical for their modernity. Each of the characters is deeply vulnerable in their grief, which varies in intensity and manifestation. There is so much heart here, the characters so profoundly alive.
Trungles is particularly skilled at fantastical travails into the power of narrative and how it can help us find ourselves and connect with others even when it feels impossible—something he also provides in the beautifully woven arc of this utterly incredible book. — Samantha Puc
Brume, Vol. 1: The Dragon Awakens
Writer: Jérôme Pélissier
Artist: Carine Hinder
Letterer: Mary Zadroga
Translator: Glénat in-house, with additional edits by Jill Davis and Ivanka Hahnenberger
Publisher: Hippo Park/Astra Publishing
Recommended Age: 7-11 Years
A foundling girl in a small secluded village believes she is a witch. When her adoptive father reveals she was found with a spellbook, her hapless and hilarious adventures truly begin. What young Brume lacks in innate talent (or the patience to carefully read instructions), she more than makes up for with enthusiasm – even when things go wrong. A sumptuously illustrated story that will make you chuckle and leave you eager for more. — Dean Simons
The Cartoonists Club
Writers/Artists: Raina Telgemeier & Scott McCloud
Inker: Ray Baehr
Colorist: Beniam C. Hollman
Lettering: Jesse Post
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Recommended Age: 9-12 Years
Sadly, we live in an era where creative curiosity is often the first casualty in a culture war that seems to be proliferating more and more. Access to literature is stifled by polarized school boards, shrinking arts budgets, and a culture that views imagination as a luxury instead of a birthright. The Cartoonists Club, which I consider to be the book of the year, responds to this climate with a gentle yet powerful reminder of why art matters.
It’s more than just a delightful graphic novel; it’s a call to reignite your creative spirit. Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud, masters of the form and with genuine tenderness, show how even the most hesitant child can discover courage among a community of makers. By the final page, you don’t just admire their journey. Here’s the crux of the thing: you’ll feel invited to join them. Artistry, creativity, and telling the story that’s in your heart: these can never be banned. — AJ Frost
DC x Sonic the Hedgehog
Writer: Ian Flynn
Artist: Adam Bryce Thomas
Colorist: Matt Herms
Letterer: Becca Carey
Publisher: DC Comics
Recommended Age: 12-18 Years
While the Sonic the Hedgehog ongoing gets an entry on this list, the crossover series between the Blue Blur and the Justice League deserves its own shoutout. This team-up skews a bit older in dialogue and tone to the main IDW series, but it has the same ethos about positivity and teamwork to overcome hardship. In a year chock-full of crossover event books, this is a real standout series between an unlikely collection of heroes.
Ian Flynn clearly is having a blast writing this, filling the comic with Easter eggs for fans of the Sonic video games and DC history (in various media). You’d never expect these franchises to be able to exist on the page together and yet Flynn somehow finds a way to root the conflict against Darkseid in something truly emotional, whether that’s Shadow and Batman bonding over shared tragedy, or Knuckles and Superman finding solidarity as the last of their kind.
Adam Bryce Thomas delivers the spectacle ably, and Matt Herms’s colors keep things bright and poppy to accentuate the contrast of these brightly colored casts. This isn’t junk food, it’s a healthy snack that goes down easy, and it is a great primer for superhero comics for curious younger readers. — Tim Rooney
Dracula’s Brunch Club
Writer: Brian Gonsar
Artist: Keenan Gayyba
Lettering: Susie Lee
Publisher: Oni Press
Recommended Age: 8-12 Years
Dracula returns to Transylvania from a global culinary tour, excited to host another meeting of his beloved brunch club featuring his famous blood orange jelly donuts. They give vampires much-needed energy and are loved by humans, to boot! But in his absence, Constantine has taken over and banned vampire-human interaction—and the fruit and jelly seems to have entirely disappeared. While trying to solve this distressing mystery, Dracula discovers that there’s another substance even more energy-giving than blood orange jelly: blood.
This scrumptious graphic novel is a light-hearted take on the vampire mythos with an entertaining cast of characters and excellent art. The social war between Constantine and Dracula is driven by xenophobia, which—when discovered—is quickly disproven to establish an interdependent community solution in which everyone wins. A great treatise on leveraging differences for the benefit of everyone. — Samantha Puc
Faiza Is a Fighter
Writer/Artist: Debasmita Dasgupta
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group
Recommended Age: 9-14 Years
Faiza wants to be a fighter, and her father coaches her to be a great boxer. But right before a regional tournament, he gets stuck in a landslide, making it hard for Faiza—who lost her mother in childbirth—not to give into despair in his absence. Debasmita Dasgupta‘s painterly art and fast-paced writing breathe life into this tale of resilience, determination, and the power of following one’s dreams in the face of opposition. — Samantha Puc
Flip
Writer/Artist: Ngozi Ukazu
Lettering: Chris Dickey
Publisher: First Second
Recommended Age: 14-18 Years
In this charming graphic novel, Chi-Chi Ekeh can’t help but foster a crush on Flip Henderson, the rich popular white boy. To make matters worse, after Flip watches Chi-Chi’s private prom proposal video in front of the entire class, he turns around and turns her down. How could things degrade from there? Well, how about if Chi-Chi and Flip start randomly swapping bodies back and forth?
Flip takes the tired trope of body-swapping and infuses it with new life. Plus, who could resist a body-swap story in which the characters take time to inquire what pronouns the post-swapped person might prefer? — Avery Kaplan
Froggy: A Pond Full of Pals!
Writer/Artist: Paige Walshe
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
Recommended Age: 5-9 Years
Long dreaming of seeing the world, little Froggy decides to leave his home-pond and his family to begin his journey. On the way he will make new friends and have the most bizarre misadventures that all seamlessly come together in the end. Paige Walshe matches the carefree yet anarchic tone of her script with bright colours and absolutely charming character design. A truly hilarious adventure that will have kids and adults chuckling. — Dean Simons
Go-Man! Vol. 1: Champion of Earth
Writer/Artist: Hamish Steele
Lettering: Lucas Gattoni
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Recommended Age: 10-13 Years
Taking his love of kaiju and tokusatsu, Hamish Steele presents us with a charming tale of a young autistic boy coping with the loss of his mother in a world of giant monsters, aliens, and costumed heroes. A rather charming story perfect for the kids just getting into comics. — Sean Dillon
Haru, Book 3: Fall
Writer/Artist: Joe Latham
Publisher: Andrews McMeel
Recommended Age: 8-12 Years
Joe Latham’s dark fantasy opus reaches its conclusion, and now the complete quest can be enjoyed from beginning to end. Haru is a grand tale in its own right but what really makes it stand out—besides the talking-animal cast and Latham’s beautiful watercolor art—is that you have characters wrestling with complex emotions like depression, anxiety, grief, in a way that is so admirably open, often inspired, and even rather amusing.
Book 3 builds on what came before, with some surprise revelations and really tearful moments as Haru, Yama, Herb, Goose, and pals rally to beat the dreaded Blight once and for all. — Dean Simons
Hikaru in the Light, Vol. 1
Writer/Artist: Mai Matsuda
Colors: Culture Weaver CK
Translation: Dan Luffey
Lettering: Barri Shrager
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic (localization produced by Omoi)
Recommended Age: 9-12 Years
Hikaru loves singing and dancing at her family’s public bathhouse, but when her friend suggests she try out for a new idol competition, she’s given the chance to take her talents to a much bigger stage. Will she have what it takes to make the final cut? The Scholastic edition of this manga is in gorgeous full color with a nice spot gloss on the cover, making it a perfect gift for any kid who loves singing, dancing and trying your best! — Masha Zhdanova
Magda, Intergalactic Chef, Vol. 1: The Big Tournament
Writer: Nicolas Wouters
Artist: Mathilde Van Gheluwe
Letterer: Vicki Goetz, Martha Kranes, and Viet Chu
Translator: Ann Marie Boulanger
Publisher: Graphic Universe/Lerner Publishing Group
Recommended Age: 10-14 Years
A grand adventure with heart and a heap of strange ingredients. Magda is a young culinary savant that amazes both her grandmother and her father with her skills. To please them, she signs up to participate in a grand interstellar cooking contest between kids from other human-inhabited planets. With empathy and instinct, Magda knows just what is needed for every occasion—but innate talent can only get her so far as she leaves her homeworld for the first time, and encounters equally capable opponents from worlds and cultures far different from her own.
Complemented by a unique art style that feels Ghibliesque, this is a wild ride worth a pick up. — Dean Simons
Oasis
Writer/Artist: Guojing
Publisher: Godwin Books/Henry Holt
Recommended Age: 8-12 Years
Predominantly known for her stunning wordless (or nearly-wordless) comics on the picture book circuit, Guojing’s second graphic novel is the first time she has implemented consistent dialogue throughout.
According to the afterword of Oasis, this book is inspired by the experiences of Chinese children who are left behind with relatives in the countryside while their parents work in the cities, often on the other side of the country. In Oasis, we meet JieJie and her little brother DiDi who must fend for themselves in an arid desert while their mother works in the factories of climate-controlled Oasis City, hoping to earn a permit for their family to be reunited. One day the kids stumble across an abandoned robot which becomes their surrogate mother.
The story speaks on so many levels of the loneliness of children, the demands of capitalism on parents, and environmental breakdown. For kids this book is a wondrous adventure about getting a robot parent, for adults this will likely make them want to hold their children closer.
Guojing is a truly stellar artist, who manages to craft dreamscapes with or without colour. There are pages where you just have to stop to marvel. Utterly beautiful, a new Guojing book is often a highlight in any year and Oasis is perhaps her best yet. — Dean Simons
Pacheco and the Witch of the Mountain
Writer/Artist: Juan E. Zambrano
Publisher: Andrews McMeel
Recommended Age: 9-11 Years
Pacheco, a third-generation fisherman, wants to learn magic from the witches whose lights he can see on the mountain—but boys don’t learn magic, as he’s reminded time and time again. Regardless, he becomes the apprentice to a banished, wild witch whose kindness toward animals goes against tradition. Together, they go up against the oppressive forces that see difference as a threat and refuse to let it flourish.
Juan E. Zambrano’s fantastical coming-of-confidence tale evokes Lee Ostertag’s The Witch Boy in how it plays with gendered expectations of magic, and Pixar’s Luca in energy and vibe. As Pacheco discovers the euphoria of his magic, the world unfolds around him, which Zambrano captures in every vividly detailed panel. The creature designs are grounded but still whimsical, and the characters undergo radical transformations that are fantastically rendered whether they explode from the page or occur in subtler moments. Stunning. — Samantha Puc
Phenomena, Book 3: The Secret
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: André Lima Araújo
Publisher: Abrams ComicArts
Recommended Age: 13-17 Years
This book is the final chapter of a YA trilogy from legendary Marvel Comics writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist André Lima Araújo, bringing to a close an epic journey through a fun fantasy/sci-fi world. Phenomena is a book for the YA reader who also has a budding interest in superhero and adventure comics. It’s got great characters, absolutely amazing landscapes courtesy of Lima Araújo, its own fun lingo, and an emotional core that has to do with family, friends, and becoming the hero you want to be. I had a blast with all three books in this series. — Zack Quaintance
RuriDragon, Vol. 1
Writer/Artist: Masaoki Shindo
Lettering: Sara Linsley & Kyla Aiko
Translator: Caleb Cook
Publisher: Viz Media
Recommended Age: 13-17
A refreshing slice-of-life manga that explores puberty and the everyday challenges of high school. One day, young Ruri Aoki wakes up with horns. Soon, she discovers she can also breathe fire—and her mom suddenly mentions her estranged, absent father is a dragon. As her mother helps guide her through the changes, reclusive Ruri—a high school freshman—has to also figure out homework, how to speak to her other classmates, and be a regular teenager. Both a charming and compelling read. The first two volumes were published this year. — Dean Simons
Shepherdess Warriors, Vol. 2
Shepherdess Warriors, Vol. 2 Writer: Jonathan Garnier
Artist: Amélie Fléchais
Letterer: Vibrant Studios
Translator: Ivanka Hahnenberger
Publisher: Ablaze
Recommended Age: 10-14 Years
The conclusion to the fantasy series about those left behind after the men of the village are conscripted to fight a distant war. In Volume 1, 10 years had passed since the men departed and our young protagonists came of age to train as Shepherdess Warriors, elite protectors of the village.
Volume 2 sees the scope dramatically widen. Picking up from a shock cliffhanger, the kids and adult Shepherdess Warriors go on a journey to cure a mysterious illness—and discover why their brothers, fathers, husbands, and sons never returned. If you enjoyed the How To Train Your Dragon movies, you will enjoy this. Great characters, great story, and artwork that matches the tone step-for-step. — Dean Simons
Sonic the Hedgehog (Ongoing)
Writers: Evan Stanley, Ian Flynn
Artists: Aaron Hammerstrom, Adam Bryce Thomas, Min Ho Kim, Mauro Fonseca, Tom Rothlisberger
Colorists: Iasmin Omar Ata, Leonardo Ito, Valentina Pinto
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
Publisher: IDW
Recommended Age: All Ages
I’d be remiss to let the Sonic the Hedgehog ongoing go unmentioned on a list of kids comics after spending this past year reading it every night at bedtime with my 4-year-old.
The series is remarkable in its consistency, with beautiful art, emotional stories, and genuinely funny gags. The title has been running for years, but continues to find new avenues to tell different kinds of stories, from racing competitions to questions of existential meaning through the vehicle of colorful critters and robots. It’s a title that truly embraces an “All Ages” ethos, with layers that are narratively satisfying for adults but constantly dynamic and lighthearted for kids. Somehow, the team has managed to make a licensed cast that must remain mostly stagnant feel alive, in part because they have made us care a great deal about the comics-original cast, who carry the bulk of the emotional weight.
The stories are solid but it’s the rotating group of talented artists that really make Sonic so fun to read. There are lots of jumping-on points, but the latest trade paperback releases, Vols. 18-19, comprise a fantastic, standalone wacky races-style story. Or you can start from the beginning with the just-released Sonic the Hedgehog On-the-Go, a brand new digest-size collection of the book’s first year. — Tim Rooney
Speechless
Writer/Artist: Aron Nels Steinke
Colorist: K Czap
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Recommended Age: 8-12 Years
Speechless is one of those graphic novels that quietly sneaks up on you. It’s subtle on the surface but emotionally powerful. Mira, the main character, lives with selective mutism, unable to speak in public yet experiencing every feeling with intense clarity. Steinke perfectly captures her inner world, where silence is heavy but brimming with thought and emotion. Mira’s stop-motion films become her second language, her refuge, and ultimately work as a bridge back to being able to communicate her feelings with the general public.
What lingers about this book is its confidence in letting small gestures carry the story: a glance, a hesitation, the life of a smile. The book’s true strength lies in its restraint, trusting silence to convey meaning. Panel by panel, you feel Mira’s world gradually shift toward hope. It’s caring and warmhearted without being sentimental, honest without being clinical. In this way, Steinke crafted a remarkable study in how young people build resilient inner worlds, and how art becomes a voiceless architecture of survival. — AJ Frost
Tamora Pierce’s Alanna (Song of the Lioness #1)
Writer: Vita Ayala
Artist: Sam Beck
Lettering: Josh Reed
Publisher: Abrams Fanfare
Recommended Age: 12+ Years
There hasn’t been a lady knight in Tortall for over a century—but Alanna of Trebond, who enters knight training posing as her twin brother Thom to avoid becoming a noblewoman, intends to change that post-haste.
There could be no better team to adapt Pierce’s beloved Song of the Lioness quartet for comics than Vita Ayala and Sam Beck. Beck’s visual storytelling not only perfectly matches the descriptions of Tamora Pierce’s extensive world-building, but is in absolute lockstep with Ayala’s brilliantly whip-smart script, which does a great job paring down the original novel while still emphasizing its most important themes—particularly questions of gender, societal expectations, and rebellion. This is an excellent choice for old fans of the series seeking a vivid new approach, and for new readers seeking fantasy epics they’ll love for years to come. — Samantha Puc
A Wizard of Earthsea: A Graphic Novel
Writer: Ursula K. Le Guin
Adapted By Artist: Fred Fordham
Publisher: Clarion Books
Recommended Age: 9-12 Years
Ursula K. Le Guin’s classic fantasy novel, A Wizard of Earthsea, received a gorgeous graphic novel adaptation this year from artist Fred Fordham. In a new hardcover book, Fordham expertly captured the vast and expansive landscapes—both at sea and on small islands—that Le Guin described, while telling the story of a brash young wizard learning the complex nature of achievement and power.
Le Guin’s Earthsea novels have always sat on the cusp of being for both adults and younger readers. As such, this graphic novel might be perfect for slightly advanced young readers with an interest in classic genre fantasy. It’s got wizards, dragons, and life lessons aplenty. — Zack Quaintance
Don’t miss all of our Best of 2025 lists:
Anime | Comics & Graphic Novels | Kids Comics | Manga & Manhwa | Movies | TV Series | Video Games | Webcomics & Webtoons
