This Week in Comics: September 24, 2025

and maybe September 17th too... I've been busy.

As you already know I spent last week in Columbus at Cartoon Crossroads Columbus. I had a great time and really recommend anyone interested in comics and making comics head out there. You’ve now got over a year to plan, so I hope to see you there.

I’ve been going through my comic collection and have started to narrow down titles/writers/artists I want to continue to collect. I’m not really focused on the big ones so no massive number of Batman, Superman, or Spider-Man. While I do still read them I’m not looking at hunting down missing issues. You’ll see from the last two weeks of my comics, I’m still reading some major things, but after thinking about it I’m happy with a lot of what I currently have and it’s nice to consider that I will focus on collecting only a few things. Having been collecting since I was maybe 9 or 10 there’s a lot of history and issues I could be looking at.

I was asked recently by a younger collector where they should start. It seemed his older brother had given him his collection instead of moving with it. The kid (teenager) hadn’t even started reading the comics, so he wasn’t sure what he had. The exception might be those key issues his brother might have pointed out to him as prize parts of his collection. The teenager had already sold one of those to someone… I hope he got a fair price.

So If I were to properly answer the questions of where to start, I’d have to ask you a question - Why are you collecting? If you are just looking for an investment… there are a lot of other places you could go. I would just look at picking up key issues from main characters. If you don’t have the money to do that, find out which writers and artists are popular and start there. Again buying key issues and now covers. Put them away somewhere and keep checking back on their value. Like stocks you may fall into a Walking Dead or Invincible (Apple or Microsoft) early on, but it is always a gamble.

For me, I’d go with what you like, be that an artist, writer, or title, and don’t worry about value or return on investment. I was lucky and was able to start with Wolfman & Pérez’s New Teen Titans in the 80’s after reading the group in the late 70’s. I also fell into John Byrne’s work for Marvel, along with Frank Miller’s Daredevil. I liked the artwork, so I followed the artists from title to title publisher to publisher . When looking at back issues, I looked at who had drawn the book.

If I hadn’t been reading the New Teen Titans, I might not have decided to buy this Avengers comic by George Pérez. I usually read DC, but Pérez made me look at other publishers.

You might make a mint, but most collectors are in it for the joy of collecting. So try a trade of a hero you are interested in and if you like it, buy more, or start looking for individual issues. The great thing is , if you are just starting out and just want to read, then you don’t have to buy comics, you can buy compilations, or just get access to those available on an app. For me those who are flipping books, aren’t really collectors. Yes, you can make a quick buck- but you really don’t know anything except that certain artists are hot, and always buy number one issues of main characters. No matter what you decide just take care of your books, even the trades could end up being worth something.

I always look back the comics I have and consider my return on investment being, did I get enough joy out of that comic. As a kid when comics were 35¢ that was easy to do. Now with comics going for $5 an issue it is a little harder to justify- that story and art have got to be really good. Your mileage may vary. I’ve decided to limit my back issue purchases to a few titles I really enjoy and would like to fill in holes. The Silver Age Flash, and the Silver Age Teen Titans being two. Dave Stevens work (covers and interior art) being another. I’m also keeping a lot of the comics that I have complete runs of or are really close to completing. Does this mean I have tens of thousands of comics? No, when the smoke clears I should be able to fit my collection in the back of MINI, or at least that’s the plan.

My Comics:

Yes, I did go for some variant covers… I have a thing for cats. If you go back and look at past posts, you’ll see I do focus on certain writers and artists.

• The Batman Second Knight DC Comics W: Dan Jurgens A: Mike Perkins

• Amazing Spider-Man #12 Marvel Comics W: Joe Kelly A: Ed McGuinness I’m confused… I was overjoyed with the first arc, and then things went downhill. The art has been a crapshoot changing from issue to issue. I’m guessing this is all part of some crazy master plan and amazing u niverse shattering crossover event.🙄

• Fantastic Four # 3 Marvel Comics W: Ryan North A: Humberto Ramos The FF finally defeat Dr. Doom? or at least level the playing field.

• Absolute Flash #7 DC Comics W: Jeff Lemire A: Travis Moore Can Wally escape his pursuers? Is it time for him and Grodd to go rogue?

• Ghost Pepper #3 Image Comics W: Ludo Lullabi A: Adriano Lucas More building the universe and the impact the return of Ash is having on some of the players… most of whom we are just getting to know.

• Deadpool Batman #1 Marvel Comics W: Various A: Various

• Star Trek The Last Starship IDW W: Jackson Lansing & Collin Kelly A: Adrián Bonilla

• Superman Unlimited #5 DC Comics W: Dan Slott A: Rafael Albuquerque Superman goes to the Emerald City to retrieve the Sun Crystal for a Kryptonite mine. Fighting over who actually has the rights to it. You know this would be a lot easier if the world hadn’t forgotten that Clark Kent was Superman.

• Skinbreaker # 1 Image Comics W: Robert Kirkman A: David Finch

• New History of the DC Universe DC Comics W: Mark Waid A: Dan Jurgens & Doug Mahnke From the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths to the “Final Crisis” but we know it really isn’t the final, final crisis.

• Superman #30 DC Comics W: Joshua Williamson A: Dan Mora Leading us to DC K.O. and the battle between Darkseid’s Absolute Universe and the regular DCU.

• Ultimate Spider-Man # 21 Marvel Comics W: Jonathan Hickman A: David Messina We are winding down to the last issue of Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate Endgame. Interesting to see what’s happening and what October will bring, because things look like they are going to change.

• Flash #25 DC Comics W: Simon Spurrier A: Vasco Georgiev

• Absolute Wonder Woman #12 DC Comics W: Kelly Thompson A: Hayden Sherman How will Diana save everyone from the labyrinth? What will be the consequences of this action? We already know that this is a great comic and sometimes we have to wait to see how things play out… even when we think things are over.

• The Invisible Man #2 Image Comics W: James Tynion IV A: Dani Jack Griffin keeps experimenting… and his lust for recognition along with his paranoia grows a bit each panel. We’ve reached the point, where things are about to go wonderfully wrong. I just keep thinking… if he can turn things invisible, why isn’t he trying to make sure he can reverse the process? A sign of madness, or just a sign of the times?

• Detective Comics #1101 DC Comics W: Tom Taylor A: Mikel Janín Introducing a new challenge for Batman. He’s dealt with the Scarecrow, now it looks like he might be dealing with someone keen on making people no longer be afraid. In the world of fight or flight… what if you no longer consider flight as an option?

The Batman Second Knight DC Comics W: Dan Jurgens A: Mike Perkins DC Black Label had an idea to retell the Batman story but this time really delve deeper into the original time period of Detective Comics #27. Things that would never had been covered in a comic book of that time although many of the social and political issues were commonplace. It was not only an amazing story, but also some beautiful artwork. These were also done in magazine size. Al that combined to a great read. So now we return to the 1930’s Gotham City and a string of murders have plagued the city.

In this world Bruce Wayne is a recluse, no Alfred around, just wandering around the manor. He has used some of his funds to finance films and has been seen (when he is seen) with a certain starlet. The most recent film project for both of them is premiering in Gotham City and a certain plucky reporter from Metropolis who covers the gossip column for the Daily Star is also in town. Of course bad things happen throughout and we end on a cliffhanger that might bring in another reporter from Metropolis, only issue 2 will tell.

Flash #25 DC Comics W: Simon Spurrier A: Vasco Georgiev Someone mentioned that fans of the Flash are gluttons for punishment. Stories in the Flash tend to be either so good they make good look bad, of so bad they make bad look good. It’s almost like there is nothing in-between. I’m sure this was a great concept when first pitched, but all I can say is I’m kinda glad it’s over. I like the idea of Wally west being the Flash, I like the idea of him having a family. I can even deal with his kids having over the top powers (although I think just super speed would have been fine). I just wish we wouldn’t deal with over the top multiversal threats. Now, Mark Waid is returning to the title, which has many people excited. My only concern is that it is conjunction with a massive universal crossover DC K.O. I have learned to hate (strong word- may despise is better) universe crossover events. I don’t read X-Men titles because of them, and have seriously considered dropping many titles because of them.

Deadpool Batman #1 Marvel Comics W: Various A: Various I decided to check this out since it was such a big thing that ‘Everyone” was talking about. I know at Comic Carnival once people heard about it they would come in asking. Then you had the bazillion different variant covers, and now that it’s been out for a week we still have people asking if we have copies (NO- we sold out last week). First thing- if you didn’t know, this isn’t just Deadpool and Batman- it is actually a Marvel/DC crossover of many characters which is what made me glad to I picked it. Not being a Deadpool fan (Yes, I have not heart, or sense of humor or whatever),, I’ve seen the movies, but I really never got into the character. It probably has something to do with the large number of X-Men related titles out there and my dislike of having to buy multiple titles to follow one story.

• The Dead of Knight W: Zeb Wells A: Greg Capullo This is the main story- Batman and Deadpool “team up” Basically Deadpool has been hired to kill Batman and hilarity ensues! OK- it is Batman so it does have some dark and brooding moments. Good, but not the best story in the book.

• The Gun and The Sword W: Chip Zdarsky A: Terry Dodson All I can say is “Wow.” for me this was amazing. Go through the major points in both DC and Marvel history in which they were one universe. Wonder Woman and Captain America are friends, having met during World War II. Again- no spoilers- just “Wow.”

• Catch W: Kelly Thompson A: Gurihiru Just plain old fun with Krypton and Jeff the Landshark. I’d write something more, but I’ve already written more words than were in the entire story.

• The Red and Green W: Kevin Smith A: Adam Kubert The Hand & the League of Shadows in Hell’s Kitchen. So we have Green Arrow and Daredevil trading insults and fighting ninjas. Well done, especially the finale.

• Rocket Raccoon has a Green Lantern Ring Now W: Al Ewing A: Dike Ruan What happens when there’s an exchange program between the Green Lanterns and the Guardians of the Galaxy? It lasts three days… and the universe may never be the same.

• Showdown W & A: Frank Miller I recall hearing one person complain about how Deadpool Batman should have been Batman Wolverine because “That’s really what all the fans want.” By “all the fans” this person meant it was what they wanted. So they got it from the guy who helped shape both characters in the 80’s. For me it was amusing, but… meh.

• Enter: Logo! W: Ryan North A: Ryan Stegman A long time ago Marvel and DC decided to do a mash up called the “Amalgam Universe.” It was an interesting story and one month was devoted to What If style issues combining a Marvel and DC character. Super Soldier and Dark Claw were just a couple of the titles. One that was missed and now exists is “Logo” mashing the “Main Man” and the guy who is the best there is at what he does. But what he does best... Isn’t very nice. Pretty much all for laughs and I did chuckle a bit over it.

Star Trek The Last Starship IDW W: Jackson Lansing & Collin Kelly A: Adrián Bonilla I know people who hate different incarnations of Star Trek. I’m not one of them. IDIC: Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations is what Star Trek is all about. You don’t have to like everything, but (unlike the Star Wars Fandom) you also don’t have to trash things either. Star Trek has had some strong series, but within those series they have had some clunker episodes (Except maybe Lower Decks). They’ve had some awesome movies, and some that weren’t. That’s OK- IDIC. Some people hated Star Trek: Discovery. I wasn’t a fan of the “pay to play” format initially. When I had other things on Paramount+ I wanted to watch, I decided to sit down and watch it.

General Spoilers: At the end of the second season the U.S.S. Discovery went into the far future to save the present. This future is where this comic takes place. It starts with “The Burn” which marked pretty much the end of the Federation as we knew it. This seems to be that story. What happened from the Burn to the return of the Discovery.

Comic Book Spoilers: I’m curious to see what is going to happen with the crew of the Omega. It find it interesting that they brought back the Borg from Picard Season 2. Partly because that was a plot hole that really made things weird in Season 3. It also is interesting to see how a certain captain will fit in and why that captain was picked. I have enjoyed how the Star Trek comics have been used to answer the questions fans have had about how certain characters got from point A to Point B. So we shall have to wait and see what will happen now. IDIC

Skinbreaker # 1 Image Comics W: Robert Kirkman A: David Finch Robert Kirkman the man who brought the world Invincible and The Walking Dead. Who helped make many a modern comic book and zombie fan who they are. He’s been playing in the world of Transformers with Void Rivals something I don’t read, because like many 1980’s properties I’m just the wrong age to be interested in it. Now he’s started Skinbreaker. We are dealing with an alien world and a primitive tribal society. The first issue (like all first issues) starts to lay the groundwork for the world. Jungle world, big weird looking (alien) beasts. These people when they are young have a skin covering them (I’m guessing to protect them. There is a ceremony in which the chief uses a shard of an ancient artifact to focus the power of the sun on children of age, to break this skin and therefore demonstrate that they are strong enough to join the tribe fully. This is culture based on hunting and gathering with the chief needing to prove themselves as the strong one who can provide. The chief is getting old. Soon there will be a reckoning as to if he is fit to continue. This seems to be settled by a challenge and then a contest to the death. We already have one guy who definitely wants the job and another who would prefer the old chief to live out his life. As we may have started to learn in real life - beware of the guy who wants the job and will do anything to get it.