First Look: My Favorite Manga and Comics I read in 2025

Time for a look at the best comics I read in 2025! Unfortunately for me, this year, I got dragged (by my own hyperfixation) kicking and screaming back into reading DC Comics, so there's a lot of recommendations of those along with manga.

The comics in the main list are completely accessible, great stories, can be enjoyed by someone who's never read a superhero comic in their life. At the end I'll note some comics that require knowing stuff about DC's lore and continuity to really understand that I liked.

Absolute Wonder Woman by Kelly Thompson etc

This a re-imagining of Wonder Woman where instead of being raised in Themyscira by the Amazons, she’s raised in Hades by Circe from infancy after the mysterious disappearance of the Amazons. She’s versed in magic, and her patron goddess is Hekate rather than Athena. It’s the best Wonder Woman comic (and one of the best comics, period) I’ve seen in years. It’s completely accessible to new readers and makes amazing use of Greek Mythology to provide fearsome foes and nuanced storytelling.

The story demonstrates that regardless of her circumstances, Wonder Woman is compassionate, brave, and just at her core. She reaches out to the most maligned of monsters, and her spooky magic doesn’t mean she’s any less of hero. The designs of the gods and monsters in this story are wonderful, the challenges are epic, and it’s just a well told story that puts its own twist on the mythos. The themes of love, generosity, agency, and redemption that have always been at the core of Wonder Woman’s story shine here, and it’s clear Kelly Thompson really gets the character.

Love Bullet by Inee

(I talked about Love Bullet last year but since it's finally been officially released in English I'm doing it again. It's that good).

When someone who never had the chance to experience love meets an untimely death, they’re given a chance to become a cupid. If they help enough people fall in love, they earn the chance to have another shot at life. Koharu meets her end after her best friend, Aki, confesses her love to her, and she becomes a cupid…

Love Bullet is a brand new yuri with fun characters and a cute art style that feels a little charmingly retro. The concept of modern day cupids using firearms and behaving like sharpshooters in an action movie is so fun, but there’s also a beating heart behind it. The tragedy of Koharu’s life being cut sort and the bittersweet arc where Koharu tries to help her living best friend deal with her lingering trauma over her sudden death…it’s touching and well written. All the cupids already have a really great dynamic, and as befitting a yuri, the way the girls approach their jobs is casually queer, with the “targets” often shown to have both guy and girl options. It's a wonderful read with tons of potential!

Wonder Woman: Historia by Kelly Sue Deconnick etc

This is a tale of the origin of the Amazons in the Wonder Woman mythos. All the Greek Godesses are sick of women suffering disproportionately, and decide to create a collective of warrior women to right these wrongs. There’s a focus on Wonder Woman’s mother and future Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta, and the sacrifices she had to make.

There’s times I read a comic and it just leaves me in absolute awe, and this is one of those times. The art in this first chapter of this is breathtaking, like I truly don’t know how Phil Jimeniz managed this level of detail and unique design. Did the actual Greek Gods bless him? The designs for the Gods and Goddesses are so cool and unique, the Amazon designs are ridiculously intricate and well thought out. He doesn’t draw all three chapters (though Nicola Scott, one of my other faves, draws one of them) but that’s okay, because the story slaps too. It’s such a raw, unflinching, bittersweet tale of struggling against misogyny, that feels truly epic in its scope, and the different personalities of the Goddesses, Gods, and Amazons are fascinating in how they clash. So, so very recommended.

Galaxy: The Prettiest Star by Jadzia Axelrod etc

This is a very cute trans allegory about an alien princess who is forced to live as a boy to avoid her enemies, and how she comes to embrace her powers and her authentic self. There’s a side of adorable lesbian romance as well. The art is beautiful, and it’s just a very sweet read overall.

Absolute Batman by Scott Snyder etc

The Absolute universe reimagines DC heroes without certain significant elements of their mythos, but shows they can still grow into a hero regardless. In Batman’s case, he’s not rich and he doesn’t have a butler (Alfred is still around though, just in a different role). Also, his mother is still alive! Shock of shocks! His dad still got shot though, of course.

I’m not quite as gaga about this as I was about Absolute Wonder Woman, but it’s a solid comic with some interesting ideas. It leans into a ‘eat the rich’ theme that isn't hampered by, y'know, the main character being rich. I especially like that a lot of traditional Batman villains are re-imagined as childhood friends of Bruce, and considering how neglected and under-characterized Martha Wayne usually is in Batman stories compared to Thomas, it’s nice to see her kicking ass as deputy mayor. It does do a lot of edgy violence that should realistically kill dudes but somehow doesn’t, and I’d honestly like to see Bruce struggle a bit more with his lack of funds, he kind of just figured out everything offscreen before the story started, but it’s still a good read, and I get why it’s been such a sensation.

Now give me Absolute Robin and Batgirl please.

Hiraeth: The End of a Journey by Yuhki Kamitani

After losing her best friend and crush, Mika attempts suicide. She’s stopped by an immortal man, who has a person who claims to be a god tagging along with him. The immortal man is looking for a way to end his own life as well. Mika decides she’s going to venture to the land of the dead alongside him, and the three of them begin a journey.

A beautiful story about loss, love and death with Yuhki Kamitani’s trademark gorgeous art and heartfelt storytelling—and their usual queer themes too. I wish it had been longer, but it was a splendid read regardless.

Common Sense Monster by Warugi Wanai etc

Itou discovers her classmate, Takashashi, is actually a monster. Rather than be scared, Itou is very excited and begs Takahashi to teach her how to appear “normal” and make friends, something she’s always struggled with. Takahashi agrees, on the condition she can eventually eat Itou.

This manga isn’t subtle about its themes—Itou has what is almost certainly a developmental disorder (probably autism) and feels abnormal as a result, like she has to create a mask, much like Takahashi does to hide her own brand of otherness. Meanwhile, yuri is brewing, because these two girls are catching feelings.

The story’s kind of rushed and jumbled, but it has a lot of really interesting ideas and unhinged behavior, so I enjoyed it! Warning that the manga opens with Takahashi getting assaulted by a predatory teacher, though she eats him, which is great. Some more stuff with him shows up later though.

The Single Life: the single lives of 60 year old lesbians by Akiko Morishima

After years, we get a new story in this series! This one follows a disabled lesbian who missed a chance at childhood romance after being tricked by “it’s just a phase” rhetoric. It’s a bittersweet story, but carries forth the theme of how your life is by no means over at sixty and you don’t need a partner to be whole, what you need is to value yourself. It’s a grounded, unique story—very short and only available digitally, but well worth a look.

Wayne Family Adventures by CRC Payne etc

A slice-of-life, more lighthearted take on the Batman mythos, with a focus on family dynamics. Though it makes a lot of deep cut references to continuity, it’s a pretty accessible entry point into the comics (I read them to my partner to start them off) as long as you remember all these characters are a LOT messier and more complicated in the main universe and sometimes pretty different, and don’t expect it to be like this.

There’s a lot of cozy shenanigans, and it’s often pretty funny. Sometimes it does verge of overly saccharine and edge onto therapy speak, and certainly some characters are flattened, but there are plenty of downsides to the main universe that it draws on too. I’m glad a fourteen-year-old does have an option to read this instead of /along with having to read about Stephanie Brown getting graphically tortured and killed or similar things. There should be more options in comics for kids. I would have loved this at that age. Those horrible things in the main universe often come along with interesting characterization and plenty of upsides, but sometimes, you just want to relax, y’know? Or not scare off twelve-year olds. This comic is good for that. Also Oracle is disabled in it and that’s a win.

Batman and Robin Year One by Mark Waid etc

A really fun retelling of Batman and Robin’s first months together. Ten-year-old Dick Grayson is a menace to society and I love him for it and his dynamic with Bruce is so great in this. The art is really good too, I love Samnee’s style. It’s a nice romp, and it has a Bruce who’s flawed but trying, my favorite kind. He wants to be a good parent even if he screws up a lot. And Dick keeps swinging on chandeliers in front of the social worker, so that doesn’t help things.

Also it confirms Batman is a “we have food at home” parent.

And here's a quick look at comics that rely on you knowing a lot of backstory of the DC Universe to fully understand, not retellings or origin stories like the rest.

Not-for-Beginners DC Comics

Robin: Son of Batman by Patrick Gleason etc is a really fun Damian Wayne (Robin V, (the only biological) son of Batman and Talia al Ghul) centric tale, where he goes on a journey of atonement, unites with his pet dragon Bat Goliath, makes friends with other children, and endures the bickering of his basically-divorced parents.

Robin (2021) by Joshua Williamson etc is a more serious Damian tale that has him deal with recent traumatic events like anyone would—by entering a tournament where they all fight to the death and then are immediately resurrected to fight again, and he falls for the first girl that (literally) rips his heart out and kills him. I’ve only read the first arc so far, but I really enjoyed it, it does a good job exploring Damian’s psyche while doing lots of wild comics stuff, and it reveals Damian like shoujo manga, possibly the best character detail of all time.

Batgirl (2024) by Tate Brombal etc has Cassandra Cain finally return to her own solo! The first arc is a great, and revisits delicious family drama for our heroine. The second arc’s been…less great, but I’m still seated and enjoying it. You definitely have to read Batgirl (2000) before you read this, but you should do that anyway since it’s one of the best comics of all time.

Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League by Greg Rucka etc is a heist starring some of the foremost lady villains in DC, and it’s a ton of fun. Cool new characters are introduced, chaos reigns, and there’s all the twists you need from a heist story.

DCeased: Hope at World’s End by Tom Taylor etc is story that pairs with the DCeased AU story where zombies ravage the DC Universe, following the adventures of some side characters. It’s very optimistic for a zombie story, basically just using  it as an opportunity to have a ton of fun character moments, and gave me the Damian and Steph bonding I’ve been missing (She suits up as Robin again to comfort him! Awww). There’s also a surprisingly high number of queer characters, and a chapter where Krypto the Superdog and other super pets team up to save a little girl from zombies (none of them die, don’t worry).

Continuing Series

Yona of the Dawn, This Monster Wants to Eat Me, Magilumiere, The Summer Hikaru Died, The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All, Yuri is my Job, Otherside Picnic, The Moon on a Rainy Night, Witch Hat Atelier and She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat all continued to be excellent (previous reviews that described and rec'd each series are linked).

The Summer You were There ended on the predictable bittersweet conclusion, but it still hit hard and I Married My Female Friend had a good, though slighty rushed, conclusion as well. The complete series of SHWD finally came out, and while it was definitely extremely rushed (you can tell it was canceled prematurely), it was nice to see the full story of these muscular ladies.

And that's last year in comics!