For my final Top Comics to Buy column of 2025, I thought I might do something a bit different. Whereas the rest of the year this is a space for highlighting my five favorite releases for the coming week, I thought instead I would spotlight my five favorite comics that I read issue-to-issue all year.
To be clear, this is not a Best Comics of 2025 list (you can find The Beat’s Best Comics of 2025 here!), but rather a lookback at the books that were the most fun to read in single issues. Essentially, these are the titles I found myself reaching for first every month, simply because I wanted to know where the story was going next. The top-of-stack titles, as I think of them.
Enjoy!
Absolute Batman
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Nick Dragotta
Colorist: Frank Martin
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: DC Comics
Why It’s Fun: Aside from being far more unpredictable than your average Batman story, I’ve found this book to be a blast to follow because of how outrageous it is. Perhaps nothing better exemplies this than the ending of the second story arc, in which over-muscled Batman goes at kaiju Bane in an epic manga-styled battle.
Moreover, I find this book to be a blast to follow because of how many other people are reading it. It’s the most popular monthly comic I’ve seen in sometime, and it’s driving all kinds of conversation in comic shops as well as online. I for one think it’s fascinating to watch a book operate with this much momentum, while also doing things I never thought I’d see from a mainstream comic in the brightest spotlight operating with valuable corporate characters.
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring
Cartoonist: Patrick Horvath
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Why It’s Fun: This book is the sequel series to the breakout horror hit, Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, and with two issues left to publish, it might just be better than its (very good) predecessor. Before the first issue of this arc hit, I found myself wondering where Patrick Horvath could possibly take things after the first book. And I’ve had that sense of wonder ever since.
What also makes this book a top-of-stack title for me is the intensity of the cat and mouse game this arc has been playing. As we learned from the first go around, this is a book with a cute aesthetic where any act of savagery is possible. And with Horvath’s fearless plotting, Rite of Spring feels to me like the most tense monthly comic of 2025. I can’t wait to see how it ends.
Lazarus Fallen
Writer: Greg Rucka
Artist: Michael Lark
Colorist: Santiago Arcas
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Publisher: Image Comics
Why It’s Fun: Lazarus is my favorite ultra long-running series in comics, and it’s hit that rareified air where it’s been so good for so long that many in online comics circles tend to take it for granted. But this year it returned to start its long endgame, and it’s never been so good, using time jumps and big sweeping story developments to heighten the sense that a finale is coming.
Lazarus has been a top-of-stack read for me essentially since its launch, and it’s still there now that the end is starting to come into sight. It really hasn’t lost a step at all, and that kind of consistency is remarkable in the direct market, especially for a title that has gone on for as long as this one. Greg Rucka’s plotting remains poignant and character-driven, Michael Lark and Santiago Arcas’ art is in the conversation for the best in a monthly comic, and Ariana Maher does a great job bringing it all together. I know it has to end, but I’m enjoying every last chapter until it does.
Powers 25
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Michael Avon Oeming
Colorist: Nick Filardi
Letterer: Josh Reed
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics – Jinxworld
Why It’s Fun: Powers is my one of my personal favorite indie comics of all time, and its long life pretty neatly mirrors my own time as a serious comics reader, spanning back 25 years. When I was in my early teens and making the jump from ocassional superhero reader to weekly comics sicko who dabbled in the whole of the direct market, Powers was one of my favorite books, bridging the gap between the two worlds.
And I think it came back this year with some of one of the best arcs in the series’ long long run. It isn’t over yet — this series is slated for 12 issues — but with 1/3 of the story told, the book has done a fantastic job introducing new characters as well as a mystery that’s just as intriguing as anything we’ve seen the Powers detectives tackle over the years. It’s also really new reader friendly, and the whole thing has me reading this book first on the Wednesday when it hits, no hesitation.
Ultimate Wolverine
Writer: Chris Condon
Artist: Alessandro Cappuccio
Colorist: Bryan Valenza
Letterer: Cory Petit
Why It’s Fun: I could have put the entire Ultimate Universe here — they all land near the top of my stack when they’re out — but that felt like cheating, so I went with my personal favorite, Ultimate Wolverine. While the (very good) Ultimate X-Men title is telling its own distinct story, this book incorporated more of the familiar X-Men characters into the ongoing Ultimate Universe story, and it was all the better for it.
Meanwhile, the creative team of writer Chris Condon, artist Alessandro Cappuccio, colorist Bryan Valenza, and letterer Cory Petit did the best job of capturing Wolverine’s savagery and heart of any team I’ve seen in years. All year this book has brimmed with big superhero action set pieces, shocking plot twists, and fantastic art. Put that together with the great stories being told in the other Ultimate books, and it’s been a fantastic, compelling read month-to-month.
Read past editions of the Top Comics to Buy!
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