In an up year for Marvel Comics, the publisher released some of its most exciting books in a long time, ranging from unexpected crossovers to daring formal experiments with beloved characters, and so today The Beat’s Marvel Rundown crew has ranked its Best Marvel Comics of 2025 … enjoy!
Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Steve McNiven
Colors: Steve McNiven, Dean White
Lettering: Clayton Cowles
Some of the best books Marvel released this year were tales of dystopian futures, maybe because we currently live in a dystopia. Still there continues to be a creative freedom when exploring the last days of a hero not available to tales of present day heroes. Of these stories, Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell was not just the best of them but possibly the best book Marvel released this year. Long time collaborators Charles Soule and Steve McNiven created a career best book in their chronicle of an older Matt Murdock trying to save a mysterious teenage girl. As his powers fade, Murdock has to dredge up whatever strength and character he can even as his deadliest foe goes after him one last time. Soule’s story gets at the core of why Matt Murdock is one of the great Marvel heroes even if the odds are never in his favor. McNiven draws one of the best looking Marvel books in years in his homage to Frank Miller and 80s superhero books. McNiven displays a fearlessness to stretch his skills as a storyteller in ways that are welcome in a mainstream superhero book. As bleak as this book gets, Soule and McNiven nail what it means to be a Marvel hero – D. Morris
Amazing X-Men #1-3
Writer: Jed MacKay
Arist: Mahmud Asrar
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
As The Marvel Rundown’s resident X-pert I have read through a lot of X-Men comics this past year. Honestly, probably more than anyone else should be allowed to do. This has been a weird year for Marvel’s merry mutants that had been consumed by a glut of crossovers and events. Age of Revelation being the biggest and most audacious of the bunch. With 17 tie-in mini-series, there’s a lot to try to sift through and evaluate. For me, the best of the myriads of tie-ins has been Amazing X-Men. It helps that it’s written by the flagship X-Men writer and the main architect of the Age of Revelation. Jed MacKay decision to focus on Cyclops and Beast for the time-jump was a wise one as his characterization of the duo has been the best part of the adjectiveless X-Men ongoing. The narrative’s road trip structure allows for this dark future to be on display while giving the reader glimpses of how the cast’s relationships both in past and future have evolved. The art by Mahmud Asrar is just as stellar as you expect from the artist. He gives the book the emotional weight it needs and can jump back and forth between intense dialog to physical brawls with ease. Of the whole mini-series, Issue #2 is my favorite, but I am biased as a deeply avowed Cyclops fan. It has Cyclops facing his past misdeeds but owning his own faults. For the Beast fans out there, Issue #3 is a superb look at Beast and how he reckons with his past and future. This mini-series fits in with what MacKay and company have been doing with X-Men proper and that is what makes it more effective. Check this mini-series out. – Jordan Jennings
Godzilla Destroys the Marvel Universe
Writer: Gerry Duggan
Artist:Javier Garrón
Colors: Jesus Aburtov, Andrew Dalhouse
Lettering: Vc’s Travis Lanham
Godzilla Destroys the Marvel Universe was my favorite during the year. And I’m unsure if it’s because of my Godzilla bias or because of the art by Javier Garrón, which gave us hilarious reaction images of the main Marvel cast dealing with the overpowering nature of Godzilla. Or if it’s from the writing of Gerry Duggan, creating some intensely great moments, like all of the Marvel universe’s best coming together to create a giant mecha that fights Godzilla. While I bumped into the issue of Godzilla not actually killing anyone, I’d be a liar if I said that I wasn’t smiling ear to ear while reading the five issues. And that’s what it’s all about at the end of the day. Here’s hoping the next mini-series can get really big, with Godzilla teaming up with a character I was never excited to see until now: Knull. Yeah, next year’s Godzilla is going to be good. – Lawrence Marable
Magik
Writer: Ashley Allen
Artist: Germán Peralta , Matt Horak, Jesús Hervás
Colors: Arthur Hesli
Lettering: Ariana Maher
The success of Ashley Allen and Germán Peralta’s Magik is impressive for many reasons, including the overall editorial weakness of the X-Men line. It’s even more impressive because Ilyanna Rasputina has one of the more convoluted character histories in superhero comics. Allen’s script takes that complicated history to craft a compelling story and define a clear mission statement. Allen leverages that past without hitting you over the head or burying the narrative in flashbacks and exposition. I was not familiar with Magik beyond her reinvention in the Brian Bendis and Chris Bachalo X-Men era, but reading this story made me want to dive into that history and learn more. That’s a hallmark of a great superhero writer. In Magik, we have a fascinating character who, though struggling with her own (literal) inner demons, wants nothing more than to protect the innocent so they are not exploited the way she was. The conflicts are clear, compelling, and emotional. I cannot write enough about Germán Peralta’s art, which blends pitch-perfect superhero action with horror elements. The few guest artists bring unique flavor to their one-off stories. Editors should be taking note of this creative team–and knocking down their doors. – Tim Rooney
Marvel All in One; The Thing vs. The Marvel Universe
Writer: Ryan North
Penciller: Ed McGuinness
Inker: Mark Farmer
Colorist: Marcio Menyz
Lettering: vc’s Joe Caramanga
Ryan North’s best work at Marvel challenges his artist with interesting formal experiments or presents a limitation in the storytelling, especially in his Fantastic Four run. This one shot by North and Ed McGuinness tells its entire story exclusively in splash page illustrations. An exhausted Ben Grimm returns from a mission and finds himself fighting every character in the Marvel universe. Centering the story around a character like Ben Grimm, built both for fighting and being an engaging lead, certainly helps. While this isn’t the first comic of its kind, the idea works because McGuiness, one of the most iconic storytellers of his generation, goes full throttle with every page. If you can only tell a story one page at a time, you have to make the imager on that pages count. And boy is McGuinness up to the challenge. This was 50 pages of pure blissful Marvel mayhem. – D. Morris
Predator Versus Spider-Man
Writer: Benjamin Percy
Penciller: Marcelo Ferreira
Inker: Jay Leisten
Colors: Frank D’Armata
Lettering: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Cover Artist: Paulo Siqueira
As of this writing, Benjamin Percy’s mini-series Predator Kills the MCU hasn’t concluded, so I’m not sure where it will rank in the overall arc of his Predator Vs run. With that, Predator Vs has been a fun run, but Predator Vs Spider-Man is the best of the bunch. Predator battling Wolverine or Panther are just natural fits, and Spider-Man should be the odd man out in this group. But this series finds a way to blend the superhero themes of Spider-Man with the gritty, brutal nature of the Predator. The art team of penciler Marcelo Ferreira, inker Jay Leisten, and colorist Frank D’Armata kill it, pun intended. Their storytelling technique execution is pitch-perfect for this concept, the action has a funky kinetic look for both the Predators and Spidey. In my original review, I compared this story to the classic Kraven’s Last Hunt story, and I stand by it. This mini will stand the test of time. — George Carmona 3rd
The Ultimates
Writer: Deniz Camp
Penciler: Juan Frigeri, Chris Allen, Phil Noto, Von Randal
Colors: Federico Blee, Erick Arciniega
Letters: Travis Lanham
Cover Artist: Dike Ruan
The Ultimates remains the superhero book for this political moment. A hopeful comic about resistance and the essence of heroism that inspires and empowers but doesn’t shy away from the costs — physical or emotional —of freedom. But above and beyond all of that, Deniz Camp’s writing showcases a mind full of exciting and inventive superhero ideas—many rattled off in passing as he only has 20 pages a month to tell a story in real-time. That storytelling bravery to be completely lacking in preciousness over his ideas makes this book feel like a world being fully lived in that we get only glimpses of. There’s a grandeur to it. Camp also pens one of the best single issues of the year with guest artist Phil Noto, creating an issue that is memorable, heartfelt, and structurally inventive. Main series artist Juan Frigeri gets better with every issue, pushing the series’ scope with his visuals that root the awe and thematic subversions in familiar superhero trappings. I remain heartbroken that this comic is coming to an end but perhaps it is better in the long run to have this gem that speaks to our moment given a full and proper arc from start to finish. – Tim Rooney
Wolverine #8-12
Writer: Saladin Ahmed
Artists: Martín Cóccolo and Javier Pina
Color Artist: Bryan Valenza
Lettering: VC’s Cory Petit
Cover Artist: Martín Cóccolo and Bryan Valenza
Logan has been through some stuff, he’s seen a few Women he’s loved die, been brainwashed a few times, been heavily experimented on, and died several times. But what writer Saladin Ahmed did in these four issues is probably the most F’ed up thing that Logan has had to endure. SPOILER ALERT! After taking some remedial Mutant power classes, Mastermind has done some incredible leveling up, so much so that he was able to trick Logan into thinking his Mother was still alive. When Mastermind did this to Jean Grey/Phoenix back in the day, it was messed up, but playing with someone’s dead Mom is a line too far. If I had a problem with these issues, it is the limits that were placed on the artists Martín Cóccolo and Javier Pina, along with color artist Bryan Valenza, as they are doing work. This type of story deserved a level of violence that was clearly toned down, but it still is gorgeously fluid in its action/storytelling. From the banana’s mind bomb dropped at the end of issue 8 through issue 12, Logan is dragged over adamantium glass, and it is a fascinating and engaging story arc. — George Carmona 3rd
X-Men World of Revelation #1
Writers: Al Ewing, Steve Foxe, Ryan North
Artist: Agustin Alessio, Jesus Merino, Adam Szalowski
Colorist: Agustin Alessio, Wil Quintana, Cris Peter
Letterer: VC’s Travis Lanham
This anthology book does a better job building out the world of Age of Revelation than most of the world-building mini-series. The three shorts all tell a different aspect of this world, be the state of Arakko and Apocalypse, to how other heroes were affected by the rise of Revelation and his destruction. The Billy and Teddy story by Steve Foxe and Jesus Merino was my favorite of the bunch. The heartbreaking tale of Billy and Teddy after Billy is “Babled” showcases the damage Revelation has inflicted on people. The art by Agustin Alessio in the Professor X story is some of the best in a Marvel comic this year and works almost like a painted story book. It captures the scale of the broken world of Arakko perfectly. Finally, the somber but optimistic Franklin Richards story by Ryan North and Adam Szalowski is a post-apocalypse tale of preservation of the achievements of humankind. While this kind of story is a familiar one, it shows the world beyond just super-heroics. If you aren’t sure which of the various ancillary tie-one to check out this is the one to check out. – Jordan Jennings
