Best of 2025
Between everyone working at Big Planet Comics, we had so many favorites this year! So you should be sure to find something amazing to read from among all these great comics! We divided our lists by graphic novels, collections, and comic books.
As always, let us know if you want recommendations or if you think of a great one that we missed!
Best Graphic Novels of 2025
There were an amazing amount of great graphic novels this year. Here are 31 of our favorites! Stop by and try something new!
Angelica and the Bear Prince – Trung Le Nguyen
Equal parts fairytale and holiday movie, with relatable characters, and expressive and beautiful artwork evoking the small towns of a Hallmark movie. A powerful story about friendship and how to connect with your feelings instead of pushing past them.
Baby Blue – Bim Eriksson
Betty struggles through the day to day grind under a fascistic society that works actively to squash anything that might be considered “unpleasant”. After a chance encounter at a “mental health facility,” she meets a member of a resistance group and her life is changed forever.
Beautiful Monster – Maruo Suehiro
Maruo Suehiro is not for everybody. His books are dark, disturbing, and disgusting. But we love it! This collects a number of shorter stories and is a perfect introduction to the Japanese master of macabre manga!
Bowling With Corpses & Other Strange Tales From Lands Unknown – Mike Mignola
Mike Mignola claims that he’s semi-retired, but he started drawing comics for fun again, creating a new “Lands Unknown” fantasy world that feels as fresh as when he was creating Hellboy! Stories of warlocks, monsters, kings, myths, talking animals, and corpses who love bowling!
Caravaggio: The Palette and the Sword 1 – Milo Manara
This tells the largely unknown true story of the famous painter and how his works brought him fame, condemnation from the Church, and a murder conviction. As much a swashbuckling tale as it is a serious portrait of an artist, this book is perfect for art and true-crime geeks alike!
The Confessional – Paige Hender
Vampires in New Orleans! The Confessional (our fave Silver Sprocket) feels like a vampiric Miss Don’t Touch Me in all the best ways. Dripping with style and energy!
Farewell, Daisy – Jun Mayuzuki
This short story collection brings together some of her earlier works, before breakout success with After The Rain and Kowloon Generic Romance. A mix of one-shots as well as short series, this explores stories of love, attraction, and gender with a good-natured mix of humor and introspection.
Free Piano (Not Haunted) – Whitney Gardner
We don’t want to spoil this but y’all, the piano is actually haunted. A fun creepy middle grade coming of age story about making music and making friends (with ghosts)!
Gachiakuta 1 – Kei Urana
Rudo has been banished from a floating dystopia to the ground where people live in fear of trash beasts; the very air is poison, and falling trash can kill you. Will he join The Cleaners, a group of people who can imbue objects with special powers creating vital instruments, to get his life back?
The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All 1 – Sumiko Arai
A cute girls’ love romance manga about a flashy, popular girl who bonds with the mysterious cool guy at the local CD shop over rock ’n’ roll… except it’s actually her shy, introverted (female) classmate! You can’t help but root for these two as they explore their mutual crush and love for music.
Hauntress – Minetaro Mochizuki
A supernatural horror manga (from the creator of the incredible Dragon Head) about stalking that starts simply enough but spirals into total madness. Great for fans of Perfect Blue or Junji Ito!
The Hitman Stans 1 – Rintarou Oshima
The most dangerous hitman in the shady underground organization The Fujiyama Group has just announced his retirement from a life of crime, and the entire criminal underworld has been thrown into upheaval. What could have prompted his sudden departure? Turns out he’s been inspired to leave this bloody life behind by his beloved idol, Kaorin! Kaorin surely doesn’t have any secrets of her own, right? This manga reads like a Yakuza game’s substory; hilarious and action packed.
The Idris File – Dix
A creepy little thriller about the secrets that can be buried by a small town. Weird art and a spooky atmosphere makes this a great read for fans of slow-burn A24 type horror!
The Long Summer of August 31st 1 – Ikkado Ito
One time loop. Two teens. A whole lot of stupid guesses about what it’ll take to break the cycle. This series won’t actually keep looping until Suzuki loses his virginity… right?
A Man Who Defies the World of BL 1 – Konkici
Uh oh! You’re just trying to get through high school, but you live in the yaoi dimension… and you’re straight 🙁. Honest! Join him as he endeavors to be so completely unromanceable that the pernicious Gay (Narrative) Agenda will pass him by.
Muybridge – Guy Delisle
A biography of Eadweard Muybridge, the photographer who pioneered photographic studies in motion, invented time-lapse photography, and led to the motion picture. His fascinating, sometimes tragic life is conveyed with humor, heart, and insight in this nonfiction graphic novel.
My Gorilla Family – Iijima Ichiro
A combo of all things disgusting, curious, and terrifying! A short story collection ranging from a woman being torn apart by spiders to a group of scientists creating the perfect man. Equal parts hilarious and absurd, this collection is great if you want to be more confused when you finish than when you started.
Nana: 25th Anniversary Edition 1 – Ai Yazawa
This feels as if it needs no introduction, but as it’s constantly being discovered by new generations, making a 25th anniversary re-release feels not only timely but necessary. Two women with very different backgrounds but the same name meet – is it fate? An enduring exploration of complex characters and relationships, love and friendship, fashion and music, this masterpiece never goes out of style. Perennially relevant and beloved, rediscover the Nanas, or meet them for the first time, in this gorgeous collection.
Pacheco and the Witch of the Mountain – Juan E. Zambrano
In a society where boys are shunned for practicing witchcraft, one young boy, Pachecho, must learn the art to try and save his family’s fishing business! An adorable adventure that mirrors the quiet comfort of stories like Kiki’s Delivery Service. The artwork is beautiful and the integration of Venezuelan lore makes the book all the more engaging.
Raging Clouds – Yudori
Amélie was not made for the repressive 16th century Dutch society she was born into. She’s clever and bold, and dreams of the sky. Unfortunately, being bold is not enough to save her from her marriage to a merchant she doesn’t love. Luckily for her, he spends most of his time away, leaving her to live her life as she wishes – until one day he returns with an enslaved mistress named Sahara. A manga-inspired period piece, this will take your breath away.
Renegade Girls – Nora Neus & Julie Robine
An uplifting and informative Young Adult story revolving around two queer young women during America’s Gilded Age, who decide to put their passions for writing and photography to use to expose poor conditions in factories throughout New York City, with a mind towards reform – and maybe fall in love along the way.
Saint Catherine – Anna Meyer
A “coming of age for adults” story about a woman in her early twenties who questions her faith for the first time. Throw in some supernatural elements, great pacing, and smart dialog for one great graphic novel! If you’ve ever thought “I want to read Lady Bird meets The Exorcist” this book is for you!
Simplicity – Mattie Lubchansky
In 2081, a trans scholar is hired by the billionaire mayor and real estate developer of New York City to write about the community of Simplicity who have been living in the woods for the past century. But his attempt to live among the residents and interview them about their strange mutual rites is complicated by a series of bloody disappearances and his developing relationship with the people of Simplicity.
Song of the Lioness 1: Alanna – Vita Ayala & Sam Beck
An adaptation of the YA/middle grade fantasy classic by Tamora Pierce. Follow the titular Alanna of Trebond as she disguises herself as the squire Alan, to fulfill her dreams of becoming a knight. Along the way she’ll make allies AND enemies, learn to embrace her gifts, and face challenges beyond her wildest dreams.
Spectators – Brian K. Vaughan & Niko Henrichon
A sometimes brutal, funny, and sexy story of loneliness that extends beyond even death. A woman who is violently killed travels through the world as a ghost searching for some kind of meaning to it all. Along the way she meets a “cowboy” in whom she finds camaraderie as the world around them falls apart. Also there’s the ghost of Theodore Roosevelt, orgies, and nuclear war, so there’s that.
The Summoning 1: The Art of the Craft – Elyse Castro
For fans of Wondrous Wonders and Pinky and Pepper Forever, this is a coming-of-age tale as a young witch tries to join her first coven. While more cute than scary, this is a great cozy read for those wanting the interest of witchcraft without the worry of gore!
They Were 11! – Moto Hagio
A direct inspiration for the hit game Among Us, this is a manga from the 1970s that follows space cadets facing their last simulation before becoming astronauts. Only 10 cadets arrived on the ship, so why are there now 11? This suspenseful mystery is a nailbiter disguised as a classic shojo manga, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Riyoko Ikeda.
This Place Kills Me – Mariko Tamaki & Nicole Goux
Abby has to transfer to a new all-girls school where she has no friends, and then there is an unexpected death! Teen angst wrapped around a true mystery, as Abby navigates the pain of being an outsider amongst rumor and innuendo.
Tower Dungeon 1 – Tsutomu Nihei
Tsutomu Nihei, master of bizarre, sprawling sci-fi worlds, tackles fantasy as an inexperienced hero and his party must climb an impossibly tall tower megastructure filled with strange inhabitants to rescue a princess from a dragon!
Witchcraft – Sole Otero
A nonlinear narrative tells the history of a coven of witches, from their arrival in Buenos Aires, Argentina in the late 1700s to the present day. Are these witches benevolent or malevolent? Depends on who you ask, and the answer may not be as simple as you think. Indigenous folklore vs religion and colonialism weave a fine thread throughout this surprisingly funny horror tale.
Yan 1 – Chang Sheng
A woman, thought to have died in prison for committing parricide, magically reappears in Peking to avenge her family’s death. John Wick meets Nightwing, this is perfect for people who want non-stop action, gore, and magic!
Best Collections of 2025
This list is 20 books that collect some of our favorite comic book series!
Absolute Batman 1: The Zoo – Scott Snyder & Nick Dragotta & Gabriel Walta
What does Batman look like in a universe with Darkseid at its center? To start, he’s 6’9” and 420 lbs; he’s no longer a billionaire but still works his way into the city itself. He’s also friends with people that normally populate his rogues gallery. What you get is a Batman that is wildly different in appearance but still the same where it counts.
Absolute Martian Manhunter 1: Martian Vision – Deniz Camp & Javier Rodríguez
A psychedelic reimagining of a Martian trying to make sense of Earth by merging his mind into that of FBI Agent John Jones, who must try to do his job while dealing with a new extrasensory and alien view of the world.
Absolute Wonder Woman 1: The Last Amazon – Kelly Thompson & Hayden Sherman & Mattia De Iulis
Wonder Woman but make it HELL! Raised alone by the sorceress Circe, Diana searches the world for other Amazons while also trying to find her place in the world. Come for the snappy writing, stay for the beautiful art!
Exquisite Corpses 1 – James Tynion IV & Michael Walsh & Pornsak Pichetshote & Michael Walsh & Marianna Ignazzi & Valentine De Landro
What happens when the world’s richest families hold a serial killer war in an unsuspecting town? Fun, violent, and addictive. You’ll love it!
Grommets – Rick Remender & Brian Posehn & Brett Parson
In the 80s, most teens were in cliques, and a lot of the outsider kids were united by skateboarding. A gnarly but compelling look back at the time when a new kid moves to the area and tries to make friends and avoid bullies, with lots of skating, dating, and rock n roll!
Helen of Wyndhorn – Tom King & Bilquis Evely
BREAKING NEWS–your dad, acclaimed Conan the Barbarian* writer and recent suicide, got all his pulp fantasy concepts from his real adventures with your granddad. Now it’s your turn! Good luck, Ms. Helen of Wyndhorn, and stop drinking so much.
*copyright-free Temu Conan
The Hero Trade: Hero For Sale – Matt Kindt & David Lapham
From the opening pages when a low level crook opens the trunk of his car to reveal the corpse of the invulnerable superhero Captain Fab, we are dragged into a seedy noir world where the body parts of a superhero are worth millions on the black market. These dark short stories show just what someone desperate enough could do with such a resource.
Huge Detective – Adam Rose & Magenta King
This isn’t about the giant’s conquest of Australia, or the human petting zoo Dollsville, or the giant skeleton buried on the moon. It’s about two lovable buddy cops! Can one human and one Huge solve the scary murders?
Juvenile – Jesús Orellana
It’s never good for anybody when teens have superpowers. And it’s especially bad for these youth! Locked away for the “safety” of mankind, these kids slowly start to unravel the truth and question their captivity. Featuring an awesome story and idiosyncratic art!
Metal Hurlant 1: Old Dreams, Young Visions – Alias & Matthew Allison & Derf Backderf & Yann Bécu & Fred Blanchard & Pim Boss & Yuri Campos & Leno Carvalho & Caza & Nicole Claveloux & Jean-Pierre Dionnet & Philippe Druillet & Matt Fraction & Jean-Claude Gal & Alejandro Jodorowsky & Afif Khaled & Killoffer & Simon Leclerc & Masha Moran & Mœbius & Jean-Michel Nicollet & Karla Pacheco & Frederik Peeters & Philippe Picaret & Nikola Pisarev & Homero Rios & Sagar & François Schuiten & Luc Schuiten & Peter Snejberg & James Stokoe & Kevin Sullivan & Jake Thomas & Elène Usdin & Jorg De Vos & Yang Weilin & Edith Zha
A big, nice pile of classic Metal Hurlant stories (your Moebiuses, Philippe Druillets) interspliced with the newcomers. This anthology isn’t reinventing the wheel–some of the new stories seem to quake at the thought of their neighbors–but serves as a delivery mechanism for some timeless, nearly textless, gorgeous comics.
Mugshots – Jordan Thomas & Chris Matthews
A professional criminal has to return to his small town to help when his niece is kidnapped, but the old connections and problems of his past come crashing into the present. His return sets a up a collision between new gangsters collide, old relationships, and older secrets.
Multiversus: Collision Detected – Bryan Q. Miller & Jon Sommariva
Yes this is a comic about the dead fighting video game, Multiversus. Yes, there are way too many crossovers these days. But this one is awesome and fun and it has Steven Universe and Batman in it!
Nancy Wears Hats – Ernie Bushmiller
Nancy is an iconic character with her cleverness and attitude, and Bushmiller was pushing the boundaries of what you could do with a comic strip since 1925! This collects the strips from 1949 and 1950, some the best Nancy stories, filled with gags, Sluggo’s foibles, and visual cartooning tricks that are still being used in comics today. Nancy is lit!
Out of Alcatraz – Christopher Cantwell & Tyler Crook
In 1962, three inmates drowned trying to escape from Alcatraz prison. But what if two of them actually made it to shore? What were they willing to do to escape, and who was waiting for them when they made it? And some federal agents are hot on their trail. A dark crime noir full of twists and torment.
Past Time – Joe Harris & Russell Olson
Baseball and vampires. Vampires and baseball. You don’t need to know anything else.
The Power Fantasy 1: The Superpowers – Kieron Gillen & Caspar Wijngaard
This is about a different sort of Cold War, one where the warring factions are superpowered fifty year olds who all used to date and can’t stomach the sight of each other. Features: mind controlling a lesbian couple into domestic bliss for the sake of Japan, accidentally assassinating the president, and a big hole where Europe used to be.
Universal Monsters: Frankenstein – Michael Walsh & Toni Marie Griffen
An alternate perspective to the classic tale, as a grieving boy learns that his recently deceased father has been brought back to life by his town’s infamous scientist. Stuck between grief and anger, this is a great book for anyone looking to be emotionally damaged.
Universal Monsters: The Mummy – Faith Erin Hicks
The classic story is turned on its head as a love story across ages leads to ghostly possession and murder in this dark romance.
World Within the World: The Collected Short Comix 2010-2022 – Julia Gfrörer
These comics are a real bummer but that’s why we like them! This features thirty short stories that highlight Julia Gfrörer’s ability to be sad, macabre, gross, and even funny. She really does it all!
Zatanna: Bring Down The House – Mariko Tamaki & Javier Rodriguez
See how Zatanna goes from middling Vegas stage magician to a wielder of true arcane power. Javier Rodriguez draws the secret realms of magic, and creatures almost too strange to imagine in the neon colors of Las Vegas.
Best New Comic Series of 2025
So many great new comics came out this year! This list was even harder to pare down, so we have 64 of our favorites for you to look over. Some of these also have collected books available if you want to read a bunch of the story all at once, just ask when you come in!
Absolute Flash – Jeff Lemire & Nick Robles
Absolute Martian Manhunter – Deniz Camp & Javier Rodríguez
Amazing Spider-Man – Joe Kelly & John Romita Jr. & Pepe Larraz
Assorted Crisis Events – Deniz Camp & Eric Zawadzki
The Author Immortal – Frank J. Barbiere & Morgan Beem
Bug Wars – Jason Aaron & Mahmud A. Asrar & Matthew Wilson
The Circus: Losing Control – Matt Kindt & Ibrahim Moustafa
C.O.R.T. Children Of The Round Table – Tom Taylor & Daniele Di Nicuolo
Comics Of The Movement – Courtland Cox & Jennifer Lawson & Alfred Hassler & Benton Resnik & Jennifer Lawson
Endeavour – Stephanie Phillips & Marc Laming
Escape – Rick Remender & Daniel Acuña
Exquisite Corpses – James Tynion IV & Michael Walsh & Jordie Bellaire
Galactic – Curt Pires & Amilcar Pinna
Ghost Pepper – Ludo Lullabi & Adriano Lucas
Good As Dead – David Lapham & Maria Lapham
Harley and Ivy: Life and Crimes – Erica Henderson
Hero Cave – Syd Madia
The Hero Trade: Project Chimera – Matt Kindt & David Lapham
High Strangeness – Chris Condon & Daniel Noah & Zac Thompson & Dave Chisholm & Noah Bailey
Imperial – Jonathan Hickman & Federico Vicentini
Jeff the Land Shark – Kelly Thompson & Daniele di Nicuolo
Kids – Garth Ennis & Dalibor Talajic
Liquidator – Peter Milligan & Piotr Kowalski
Lucky Devils – Charles Soule & Ryan Browne
Mr. Terrific Year One – Al Letson & Valentine De Landro
News From The Fallout – Chris Condon & Jeffrey Alan Love
Nova: Centurion – Jed MacKay & Alvaro Lopez
One World Under Doom – Ryan North & R.B. Silva
Out of Alcatraz – Christopher Cantwell & Tyler Crook
Precious Metal – Darcy Van Poelgeest & Ian Bertram
Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma – Ram V. & Anand RK & Jackson Butch Guice
Save Now – Matt Kindt & Tomas Giorello
Seasons – Rick Remender & Paul Azaceta & Matheus Lopes
Space Scouts – Matt Kindt & David Rubin
Starship Godzilla – Chris Gooch & Oliver Ono
Star Trek: Red Shirts – Christopher Cantwell & Megan Levens
Supergirl – Sophie Campbell
Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum – W. Maxwell Prince & Martin Morazzo
Superman Treasury 2025: Hero For All – Dan Jurgens & Bruno Redondo
The Tin Can Society – Peter Warren & Francesco Mobili & Chris Chuckry
Thundercats Powerpuff Girls – Paulina Ganucheau & Coleman Engle
We’re Taking Everyone Down With Us – Matthew Rosenberg & Stefano Landini
White House Robot Romance – Chip Zdarsky & Rachael Stott
Witch Hazel Variety Hour – Colton Fox & Beige Blum