Countdown: My Favorite Individual Comics of 2025 (#5–#1)

This is the top tier. These are the individual single issues that didn’t just stand out while I was reading them — they stuck. I kept thinking about them long after I closed the book. Each one represents something I value deeply about comics: craft, emotion, confidence, and the ability to meet the moment.

Here are my Top 5 individual comics of 2025.

#5 — Solomon Kane: The Serpent Ring #4

Patrick Zircher

Patrick Zircher writing, drawing, and coloring Solomon Kane already made this series special, but this final issue is where it truly crystallized for me. I’ve returned to this book multiple times this year simply because it’s such a joy to read. The craftsmanship is top-tier throughout, and the ending lands with confidence and restraint — never overstated, never rushed. Zircher absolutely sticks the landing here, and I sincerely hope this isn’t the last time we see him take on Kane.

#4 — Savage Sword of Conan #11

Liam Sharp

Liam Sharp writes and illustrates one of the best Conan stories I’ve ever read. This issue is epic, brutal, and genuinely gorgeous, marrying mythic scale with raw physicality. Sharp has said this may be his best work ever — and after reading it, I believe him. Every page feels intentional, muscular, and alive. This is Conan at his most ferocious and most operatic, and it’s a masterclass in visual storytelling.

#3 — Cheetah & Cheshire Rob the Justice League #5

Greg Rucka & Nicola Scott

I’ve absolutely loved this entire run, and issue #5 brings everything to a head in the most satisfying way possible. The art is immaculate, the pacing is sharp, and the story is just fun in the best sense of the word. Rucka and Scott clearly understand these characters and are having a blast letting them drive the story. As a finale, it delivers on every promise the series made — a great ride from start to finish.

#2 — Escape #1

Rick Remender & Daniel Acuña

The start of something special. Escape #1 hooked me immediately, and it’s Acuña’s painted art that sets the tone from the first page — heavy, immersive, and loaded with atmosphere. The tension and world-building unfold with patience and confidence, pulling you into a fully realized space that feels dangerous and alive. This issue doesn’t rush or over-explain; it trusts the reader, and that trust pays off in a big way.

#1 — Absolute Batman Annual

Daniel Warren Johnson

This was my number one comic of 2025, without hesitation.

Daniel Warren Johnson delivers a story that hit me emotionally, intellectually, and viscerally. It’s brutal and cathartic — Batman violently dismantling white supremacists — but it doesn’t stop there. The real power of the story comes afterward, when Batman is forced to sit with the anxiety, guilt, and moral weight of that violence.

This comic understands Batman the way I want Batman to be understood: not just fists and rage, but conscience. Violence has consequences. Fear has a cost. Responsibility doesn’t end when the fight is over. Johnson uses the medium perfectly — kinetic action giving way to quiet reflection — and in doing so creates a story that feels painfully relevant, deeply human, and absolutely necessary.

This was a perfect comic for the times we’re living in, and the best single issue I read all year.

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Taken together, these five issues represent comics operating at the highest level — creators taking risks, trusting their voices, and delivering stories that linger. If this countdown reinforced anything for me, it’s that the medium remains as powerful, flexible, and emotionally resonant as ever when the right people are given room to create.

Thanks for reading — and here’s to another year of great comics.