New Comic Book Day always feels like choosing your party in an RPG. You can go street-level and grim, bright and heroic, full sci-fi weirdness, or some mix of all three. This week, my stack is basically split between DC doing alternate-angle superhero horror and Marvel leaning hard into big, clean-forward momentum.
Here are the five books I’m most excited about, with quick “what it is” summaries to help you decide what belongs on your pull list.
Absolute Batman #17
Poison Ivy is loose, and Gotham’s problem is not just “someone escaped.” Dr. Pamela Isley is unleashed from Ark-M with revenge on her mind, and Batman’s pursuit turns into a survival run through a nightmare labyrinth of escalating horrors. If you like your Batman stories leaning into terror and atmosphere, this is the kind of issue that reads like Gotham daring you to blink.
Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #48
This one flips the perspective in a fun way: instead of the World’s Finest duo front and center, we’re following their Crime Syndicate counterparts. Ultraman and Owlman take the lead, and the whole pitch is built around that uneasy feeling of watching familiar archetypes behave like monsters wearing heroic silhouettes. It’s a clean “jump-on” hook with a wicked mirror-world vibe.
X-Men #25
A milestone issue with a big headline baked in: Cyclops makes it back from the Age of Revelation, and he’s not returning with good news. While the team tries to process that warning, a second threat is already forming around ONE, specifically the mystery of a mutant newly put in charge and what that means for the X-Men moving forward. Feels like one of those pivot-point issues that sets the tone for what comes next.
Captain America #7
Captain America is navigating the mess left behind in Latveria, but Red Hulk is looking at the situation like a ticking bomb. His fear of a “next Doctor Doom” pushes him toward drastic moves, right as Cap starts seeing real people in the country trying to claw their way toward a better future. The tension here is basically ideals vs. control, and it sounds like the kind of issue where every choice is going to have consequences.
Uncanny X-Men #24
The Uncanny team is standing between a full lineup of monsters and everyone else caught in the middle, and Jubilee’s personal baggage is right on the surface. The logline is straight-up “Monsters vs. Mutants,” with the added twist that temptation and survival instincts are part of the fight, not just the punches. If you’re into X-Men stories that mix team dynamics with genre flavor, this one is aiming right for that sweet spot.
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