We’re at the tail end of the end-of-year list season. Many publications have shared their top comics and graphic novels of the year, spotlighting hundreds of different books in the process. I have collated as many as I could find so you can discover some great new comics from 2025.
Whether you were out of the loop or looking for validation on your own tastes, these lists are a great way to discover what 2025 had to offer. There were countless styles, genres, and themes on display in the selections. As a result, you should be able to discover your next favourite read and add plenty of new books to your To Be Read pile.
Let’s jump in and see what we can find.
Lists from the comic book media
Below are what the comic book media thought were the best reads of 2025. Most of these are traditional sites, but there are a few YouTube channels and podcasts in the mix too.
The AIPT Comics staff and contributors come together to showcase their best picks in several categories/themes over two parts. There’s also a podcast roundtable that dives into their choices.
More of a “best comics I read in 2025” list, but has plenty of comics that were released this year.
CBR
CBR traditionally does a top-100 list every year. However, this seems to have disappeared in 2025. While longtime contributor Brian Cronin has counted down the top storylines of all-time – a tradition he does every 5 or so years – there’s little in the way of looking back at the year. The best I could find was this editorial on the best comic of 2025.
BAM SMACK POW highlight the best comic book miniseries of the year.
In previous years, the site highlighted their favourite comics through awards in different categories. This year, it appears that the site has just done a list of seven picks done by one contributor instead of larger initiative.
Comic Book Club highlight their top 15 comics of 2025 on their podcast.
Dave has put together a list of 50 comics from the year. It’s an eclectic list that digs deep into different styles, publishers, and genres. It’s an impressive one-person list.
This year, Comic Book Yeti reached out to the indie comics community to give their favourite comics.
Liam McGuire dived into their top comics of the 2025.
Comicon
Comicon looked back at 2025 by publishing several lists. These include: Comic Series, OGNS and Collected Editions, Single Issues, Writers, Artists, Colourists, Cover Artists, Digital/Webcomics, Progressive Comics, and Political Cartooning.
Like in previous years, The Beat has put together another ecclectic list that covers the various corners of the comics landscape. Webcomics and manga are less represented this year. However, that’s because they got their own lists over at The Beat’s sister site, K-Comics Beat. There’s also a dedicated list to the best kids comics.
Additionally, weekly columns on the site – DC Round-Up, Marvel Rundown, Top Comics To Buy, and Wednesday Comics Review – added their own lists too.
Comic Book Couples Counseling (Part 1 | Part 2)
Over two episodes, the much-loved podcast featured a 18 guests to highlight the best comics of 2025.
A whopping 41 contributors shared their favourite comics of the year. As you can expect, it’s a cornucopia of comics – leaning more into the alternative, literary, and esoteric. You’ll find a mix of hits and deep cuts throughout.
Friends of the show jumped onto the CXF Interview Podcast to share their top comics of 2025.
Over multiple parts, The Daily Cartoonist spotlights the various best editorial cartoons of 2025 from various sources.
An idiosyncratic list of comics that’s perfect for anyone looking to dive into some a bit more left-of-centre.
You’ll have to let our browser translate this one from Italian to learn more about this selection of 15 alt-leaning reads.
K-Comics Beat
The sister site to Comics Beat did lists for the best webtoons and webcomics and best manga and manhwa. Plenty of interesting picks throughout the two lists that dive beyond the obvious.
Lars Ingebrigtsen has put together a nice selection of reads from the alternative side of comics.
The popular YouTube channel their top ten graphic novels.
Newsarama (a.k.a. GamesRadar+)
25 selections that range different styles and genres, as picked by Newsarama/GamesRadar+ team.
SKTCHD’s David Harper picks his favourite comics through various award categories that includes “The Feeling It Award”, “The Picture is Worth a Thousand Pages Award”, and “The Labor of Love Award”.
A superhero-centric list of comics of the year.
Lists from the entertainment sites
What did the general entertainment sites have to say? Find their top picks below.
AV Club’s resident comics critic highlights their favourite comics of the year. The result is a fun mix of styles and genres.
This list highlights the editor’s choices for best graphic novels of 2025.
This list is stuck behind a paywall but the banner indicates a range of different graphic novels that lean a bit more into the YA sphere but not exclusive to it.
The contributors of the site have put together a list of 18 graphic novels that cover different age groups.
The Hollywood-centric publication highlights a bunch of quality comics.
IGN reveled their best comic of 2025 along with some deserving runner-ups.
Publisher’s Weekly (Critics Choice | Manga)
Publisher’s Weekly was the first list of 2025, dropping theirs’ in late October (too early!). The first list is their Best Books of 2025 list. While no graphic novels made the top ten, there were six in the longlist. However, three graphic novels made the Middle Grade list and there were two on the Young Adult equivalent.
School Library Journal (Graphic Novels | Manga)
This pair of lists will point you in the right direction if you’re looking for reads for the kids in your life.
A shallow list of ten comics that appeals to the site’s audience.
Lists from the news sites
Yet again, traditional media joined in on spotlighting the best comics and graphic novels of 2025.
CBC highlights eight graphic novels by Canadian creators.
Forbes’ list focused on selecting ten graphic novels that lists may have missed this year. Many of the selections have appeared on lists, but not widely.
The Guardian highlights a list of literary graphic novels containing a mix of picks that are on many lists and a few lesser known selections.
The Scottish masthead shared ten graphic novels with broad appeal.
The Irish publication spotlighted six graphic novels from the literary corners of the comic book world.
NPR always a big selection of books to recommend at the end of the year, which often has a healthy selection of graphic novels. 2025 is no different, with a fine selection for kids and adults.
The New York Times’ covers a mix of literary graphic novels and direct market favourites.
Jacob Brogan at The Washington Post highlights ten literary graphic novels that cover a range of subjects and styles.
Other lists
And here are a few lists that didn’t fall into the above categories.
A great list of young adult graphic novels from the year by the Pittsburgh-based library.
The London-based store always has great list for kids and adults.
The New York Public Library (Adults | Teens | Kids)
The New York Public Library system has a huge batch of recommendations, broken down into different age-groups. There’s bound to be something for everybody here.
The South Carolina-based library network has put together an interesting list of comics in this list, covering many different corners of the comics landscape.
The bookstore highlights their top reads of 2025. A broad range of styles, along with some classic material.
What were the standouts of 2025?
Some years, there’s a standout graphic novel or two that’s featured in the majority of lists – penetrating both comics and mainstream outlets. 2025 didn’t really have one of those titles, with no general consensus amongst critics. That’s not to say that it was a dud year for comics. Instead, it reads to me that there were so many great comics/graphic novels out there that appealed to different tastes.
Some titles that popped regularly in lists included, in no particular order:
- DC Comics’ Absolute Universe – especially Absolute Martian Manhunter, Absolute Wonder Woman, and Absolute Batman
- Cannon by Lee Lai (Drawn & Quarterly)
- Assorted Crisis Events by Deniz Camp and Eric Zawadzki (Image Comics)
- Drome by Jesse Lonergan (23rd Street)
- Tongues Volume 1 by Anders Nilsen (Pantheon Books/Jonathan Cape)
- Spent: A Comic Novel by Alison Bechdel
- Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters And Me by Mimi Pond (Drawn & Quarterly)
- The Power Fantasy by Kieron Gillen and Casper Wijngaard (Image Comics)
What were your favourite comics/graphic novels of 2025?
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