Portrayed in Panels | Graphic Novel Preview

Biker mice from Mars, a mysterious manuscript that can control the world, and a space-traveling samurai rabbit all play out in the creatively vibrant pages of graphic works this season, filling collections with innovation and engagement. 

Biker mice from Mars, a mysterious manuscript that can control the world, and a space-traveling samurai rabbit all play out in the creatively vibrant pages of graphic works this season, filling collections with innovation and engagement. On top of the imaginative range, there are several trends to note. As was evident in LJ’s crime fiction preview, horror infused titles are key. Asked to predict the top development of 2025, Syndee Barwick, director of sales and marketing at Vault Comics, reports “HORROR, HORROR, HORROR!!!” Also taking center stage are superhero comics. Oni Press’s Director of Sales Katie Sainz reports “renewed interest in titles with nostalgic appeal…built off of toy and animation icons from the 1980s and 1990s.” The nostalgia might also come from the feelings of satisfaction of long-running film franchises, with the upcoming Fantastic Four, Superman, Thunderbolts, and Captain America films landing this year. Iconic names in the format—Alison Bechdel, Robert Kirkman, Jeff Lemire, Joe Sacco, Craig Thompson, and G. Willow Wilson—return with new books, and manga continues to appeal, with new creations landing on shelves alongside classic manga series making their English-language debuts.

Horror

The multilevel storytelling possibilities of graphic novels help horror stories deliver terror two-fold, a feature that a growing number of creators are exploring. Vault Comics’ contribution to the genre, Dungeon Crawler Carl, Vol. 1, coauthored by Matt Dinniman and Tevagah, with illustrations by Laurel Pursuit, finds a Coast Guard veteran and his ex-girlfriend’s prize-winning show cat attempting to escape a diabolical dungeon. An academic living in a dystopian New York City clashes against a sinister cult in cartoonist Mattie Lubchansky’s Simplicity (Pantheon). A postbellum asylum in Upstate New York experiments with supernaturally derived therapies in Séance in the Asylum (Dark Horse), written by Clay McLeod Chapman, with illustrations by Leonardo Marcello Grassi. Internationally esteemed cartoonist Erik Kriek’s The Pit (Living the Line; tr. from Dutch by Kriek) is the tale of a couple reeling from a tragic loss who seek refuge in a rural countryside in the Netherlands, only to find themselves enmeshed in an eerie mystery. An undead teenager’s investigation into the cause of her own death finds her navigating an array of supernatural terrors in Meredith McClaren’s Meat Eaters (Oni). Also from Oni, the anthology EC: Epitaphs from the Abyss collects all-new tales of the macabre from a range of top creators, including Brian Azzarello, Jason Aaron, and Stephanie Phillips, among many others. In The Harrowing Game (23rd St.: Macmillan) by Antoine Revoy, ghosts compete to tell the scariest story in order for their souls to move on.

Superheroes Old and New

Iconic fights of good versus evil have fueled the format since its inception. This year sees fighters old and new (and big and small) arrive to save the day. Consider Nacelleverse, Vol. 1: Biker Mice from Mars & Roboforce (Oni), written by Melissa Flores, with illustrations by eight artists. Skybound presents G.I. Joe, Vol. 1: The Cobra Strikes, in which writer Joshua Williamson and cartoonist Tom Reilly redefine the classic characters in a universe shared with the Transformers. Writer Jason Aaron and illustrators Joëlle Jones, Rafael Albuquerque, Cliff Chiang, and Darick Robertson kickstart a new era of adventure with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Vol. 1: Return to New York (IDW). Two of the most successful intellectual properties of the past 60 years collide in Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić’s Aliens vs. Avengers (Marvel Comics). Hickman also pits one of Marvel’s most enduring stars against a who’s who of rogues in his and artist Greg Capullo’s Wolverine: Revenge (Marvel Comics), while some of Wolverine’s fellow X-Men attempt to build new lives for themselves in Exceptional X-Men, Vol. 1: Duty Calls, written by Eve L. Ewing and drawn by Carmen Carnero.

Some of the oldest and most beloved superhero characters in the history of the format come together to combat a cosmic threat in Justice League Unlimited, Vol. 1 (DC Comics), written by Mark Waid and Jeph Loeb, with illustration by rising star Dan Mora, while author Scott Snyder and artist Nick Dragotta reinvent Batman with a more modern sensibility in Absolute Batman, Vol. 1: The Zoo (DC Comics).

New York Times–bestselling author Daniel Kraus and illustrator Dani concoct an all-new superhero saga in Athanasia (Vault Comics), about a newly sober woman who takes a job as assistant groundskeeper at a cemetery for fallen superheroes. John Jennings, Yvette Lisa Ndlovu, Bill Campbell, and David Brame resurrect one of the world’s first Black superheroes—created in 1947—with an Afrofuturist twist in The Adventures of Lion Man (Rosarium).

Big Names

Fans of the hit streaming adaptation of Invincible won’t want to miss creators Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley’s long-awaited spotlight on a breakout, fan-favorite character in Invincible Universe: Battle Beast, Vol. 1 (Skybound). Tillie Walden’s Clementine, Bk. 3 (Skybound), the latest installment in her series spinning out of Kirkman’s Walking Dead, is set to release in July, as is G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker’s fantasy epic The Stoneshore Register (Berger).

Pioneering independent cartoonist Peter Bagge explores one-time grunge icons Buddy Bradley and Lisa Leavenworth as middle-aged parents in Hate Revisited! (Fantagraphics). Alison Bechdel, author of the bestselling Fun Home, returns with a work of autofiction, Spent: A Comic Novel (Mariner). With a streaming adaptation of his “Criminal” graphic novels in the works, Ed Brubaker writes a new standalone story in the “Criminal” series: The Knives (Image Comics), illustrated by Sean Phillips.

Bestselling and multi-award-winning creator Craig Thompson details his youth spent harvesting ginseng in rural Wisconsin in Ginseng Roots: A Memoir (Pantheon). Cartoonist Jeff Lemire’s 10,000 Ink Stains (Dark Horse) weaves together personal anecdotes and insight into the creative processes behind some of his most beloved releases. Following his Eisner Award–winning graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy, actor George Takei reunites with Harmony Becker, Steven Scott, and Justin Eisinger to offer more of his story in It Rhymes with Takei (Top Shelf Productions).

Esteemed cartoonist and journalist Joe Sacco delves into incidents of political violence in Uttar Pradesh, India, in The Once and Future Riot (Metropolitan). Six-time NBA champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar teams with coauthor Raymond Obstfeldt and illustrator Ed Laroche to explore the trials and travails of a promising high school athlete in Champion (Ten Speed Graphic). The invention of a special soil that supercharges plant growth leads to misadventure in the urban comedy Muddy Waters Too (Vault Comics) from legendary rapper and record producer Redman, in collaboration with coauthor Ben Katzner and illustrator Geo Grant.

Manga

Korean creator Yudori spins a tale about two very different women struggling for agency over their lives in 16th-century Netherlands in Raging Clouds (Fantagraphics). A young woman overwhelmed by serving as a caregiver for her family finds love in the arms of a childhood friend in Haruka Chizu’s Snow Angel, Vol. 1 (VIZ; tr. from Japanese by Andria McKnight) A high school girl relies on her vast knowledge of romantic manga series to navigate a love triangle with a pair of her classmates in Not So Shoujo Love Story, Vol. 1 (VIZ) by California-based Curryuku, while Rinketu’s Love in the Palm of His Hand, Vol. 1 (Square Enix Manga; tr. from Japanese by Jacqueline Fung) explores the profound connection between an aspiring actor and a man with congenital hearing loss.

Award-winning creator Chang Sheng delivers a hybrid of science fiction and horror with Yan, Vol. 1 (Titan Manga; tr. from Taiwanese Mandarin by Vanessa Liu), while Shintaro Kago offers horror short stories in Brain Damage (Fantagraphics; tr. from Japanese by Zack Davisson). Fans of manga that draw on multiple genres might also embrace the blend of sword-and-sorcery and superheroes on display in The Bugle Call: Song of War, Vol. 1 (VIZ; tr. from Japanese by Caleb Cook), written by Mozuku Sora and illustrated by Higoro Toumori.

Several classic manga series are set to make their English-language debuts in the coming months. From Gosho Aoyama, the legendary creator of Case Closed!, comes the initial entry in the samurai saga Yaiba: Samurai Legend, Vol. 1 (VIZ; tr. from Japanese by Andria McKnight). Fumiko Takano depicts the loves of young women in Tokyo during the 1980s in Miss Ruki (New York Review Comics; tr. from Japanese by Alexa Frank). Even the most hardened horror fanatics are likely to wince at the grisly images that 1960s underground creator Bonten Taro conjures over the course of the 14 stories collected in Face Meat (Living the Line; tr. from Japanese by Ryan Holmberg).

As for all-new installments in fan-favorites series, VIZ Media is set to release Hirohiko Araki’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 7—Steel Ball Run, Vol. 1 (tr. from Japanese by Nathan A. Collins) in May. In June comes My Hero Academia, Vol. 41 (VIZ Media; tr. from Japanese by Caleb Cook) from Kohei Horikoshi, as well as Dandadan, Vol. 13 (VIZ Media; tr. from Japanese by Kumar Sivasubramanian) by Yukinobu Tatsu, and Kaiju No. 8, Vol. 13 (VIZ Media; tr. from Japanese by David Evelyn) with a story and art by Naoya Matsumoto. Finally, July brings the latest installment of Fullmetal Alchemist creator Hiromu Arakawa’s current project, Daemons of the Shadow Realm, Vol. 8 (Square Enix Manga; tr. from Japanese by Amanda Haley).

Literary Fiction

A pair of queer Asian Canadian friends find their lifelong friendship strained as they enter their 30s in Lambda Award winner Lee Lai’s Cannon (Drawn & Quarterly). Yvan Alagbé’s Misery of Love (New York Review Comics; tr. from French by Donald Nicholson-Smith) explores family trauma and the legacy of French colonialism in Africa. Alex Graham depicts the intertwined lives of an eclectic group of Idahoans with a blend of humor, horror, and magic realism in The Devil’s Grin, Bk. One (Fantagraphics).

Debuts

Titles by debuters this season evince a number of ongoing trends, including biblio-centrism and showbiz. Creators Amena Kheschtchin-Kamel and Guilia Giacomino present the true story of a Persian Egyptian actress who adopts the identity of a blonde white woman in My Year as Emma (Dark Horse). A disgraced geologist discovers an ancient city beneath the surface of Mars in The Internal Sea: Mare Internum (Vault Comics) from creator Der-shing Helmer. A young monk strives to keep a mysterious manuscript from being used to seize control of the world in Pierre-Alexandre Comtois’s Sunder, Vol. 1: Small Beginnings (Mad Cave Studios). Dora Grents’s Done with Demons (Silver Sprocket) finds the former mayor of Hell cohabitating with a kindly grandmother. In Checked Out (Drawn & Quarterly) by Katie Fricas, a queer library worker in New York City works on her epic graphic novel while trying to find love. Mike Curato, author of the Lambda Award–winning YA graphic novel Flamer, makes his adult debut with Gaysians, a story of four gay Asian Americans navigating love, identity, and friendship.

Nonfiction

Key nonfiction works this season focus on biography, bugs, and booze. Steve Weiner’s Will Eisner: A Comics Biography (NBM), with illustrations by Dan Mazur, portrays the life of the influential comics artist. Frederic Wertham, the psychiatrist best known for his 1954 crusade against the comic book industry, receives an unbiased biography in Dr. Werthless (Albatross Funnybooks), written by Harold Schechter, with illustrations by Eric Powell. Mimi Pond’s Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me (Drawn & Quarterly) explores the alternately celebrated and controversial lives of six siblings born to the British aristocracy. Award-winning cartoonist Peter Kuper offers a natural history of insects and portrays the pioneering entomologists who have studied them in Insectopolis: A Natural History (Norton), while writer David Wondrich and illustrator Dean Kotz depict the history of the cocktail from prehistoric times through the modern day in The Comic Book History of the Cocktail: Five Centuries of Mixing Drinks and Carrying On (Ten Speed Graphic).

There are also memoirs to be found. Standup comedian Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell traces her life story through her relationship with food in The Joy of Snacking: A Graphic Memoir about Food, Love, and Family (Andrews McMeel); Eisner Award–winning creator Moa Romanova details her experience travelling in the entourage of a rock star in Buff Soul (Fantagraphics; tr. from Swedish by Melissa Bowers); and Kasia Babis offers a graphic memoir about coming of age in Poland as the country transitioned from communism to capitalism in Breadcrumbs (23rd St.: Macmillan).

Cool Books, Exquisite Reading

This year, libraries’ graphic novel collections will get an infusion of new talent, more entries in award-winning fiction and long-running manga series, superheroes on missions and at play, and nonfiction that ranges from Eisner to Mitford.


Searching for more titles set for release between May and October 2025? Making sure manga collections are robust or looking for new works to put on display? Check out our online listing of even more forthcoming works, complete with BISAC codes and trend notes.


Tom Batten has written for the New Yorker, the Guardian, and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. He lives in Virginia, where he teaches creative writing at the College of William & Mary.

0 COMMENTS
Comment Policy:
  • Be respectful, and do not attack the author, people mentioned in the article, or other commenters. Take on the idea, not the messenger.
  • Don't use obscene, profane, or vulgar language.
  • Stay on point. Comments that stray from the topic at hand may be deleted.
  • Comments may be republished in print, online, or other forms of media.
  • If you see something objectionable, please let us know. Once a comment has been flagged, a staff member will investigate.
Fill out the form or Login / Register to comment:
(All fields required)

RELATED 

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?