There is a veritable flood of new comics every week: new issues, variant covers, new #1s, and fresh-faced miniseries. Fewer – but still bountiful – are the dozens of bookshelf editions landing in your local comic shops (and attainable by your local indie bookshops, as well!). From fresh original graphic novels, long-awaited archive editions, and collections of recent comics for all you trade-waiters, there are plenty of trade paperbacks and hardcovers to fill your shelves.
After reviewing hundreds of these sorts of books for AIPT over the years, I’ve come to appreciate what makes a collection truly special. Here at Tradewatch, I pick five books releasing in the coming week that seem the most exciting to me. Here are my picks for the week of August 11th, 2025.
All-New X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis Omnibus
Marvel Comics, HC – $125.00 (Buy Now)
Superstar comic author Brian Michael Bendis collides the past and present of the X-Men in this thought-provoking and exciting era of Marvel’s Mutants!
I remember the Brian Michael Bendis era of the X-Men being a bit maligned while it was happening, but I loved it — in large part because of Mahmud Asrar and Stuart Immonen’s visuals, but also because it gave good reason to spotlight Kitty Pryde. It also questioned the change in superhero ethics between the Silver Age and contemporary era, which is a compelling central concern.
DC Finest: Blue Beetle – Blue Beetle Challenges the Red Knight
DC Comics, TPB – $39.99 (Buy Now)
The legacy of Blue Beetle begins here in this thrilling collection of his earliest adventures!
The DC Finest collections have been a fantastic new resource for a company that has not been super forthcoming with its back catalog of material. There are decades and decades worth of comics begging to see the light of day again, and this collection of Charlton Comics-era Blue Beetle content firmly checks that box. These 1960s stories predate the addition of the Charlton characters to the DC Universe (which occurred in 1985’s Crisis on Infinite Earths), which means that they feature a version of the character that may not be familiar to contemporary readers. This is early days for a Justice League International favorite, and it will be exciting to see those roots.
Lost Marvels, Vol 2: Howard Chaykin’s Dominic Fortune, Monark Starstalker, and Phantom Eagle
Fantagraphics, HC – $39.99 (Buy Now)
When Howard Chaykin broke into comics in the 1970s, there was nothing quite like him. His original characters Dominic Fortune and Monark Starstalker took classic pulp heroes and ran them through a postmodern blender.
The first volume of Fantagraphics’ Lost Marvels collection featured an entire run of the horror comic Tower of Shadows; this second volume steps away from archiving a title and instead focuses on the creator Howard Chaykin, collecting work from 1976 to 2008. These aren’t lame-duck characters; they are uniquely Chaykin.
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin Deluxe Edition Volume 1
Vertical, Hardcover – $54.95 – (Buy Now)
The storied Gundam franchise’s “First Season” that set new standards of verisimilitude for televised sci-fi animation returns in comics form at the hand of one of the initial creators!
If you, like me, are Gundam-curious but woefully unprepared to sort through the 50+ TV series and 46 years’ worth of Manga, this book — the first of at least six similar volumes coming from Vertical in the next year — might be just the right place to begin. Clocking in at almost 900 pages, The Origin features work by the lead character designer of the first Gundam anime, way back in 1979.
Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen Deluxe Edition
DC Comics, HC – $49.99 (Buy Now)
From Matt Fraction, Steve Lieber, and Nathan Fairbairn comes a tale so improbable and bizarre, you’ll wonder to yourself: how did this book ever get made?
One of the funniest superhero books of the last decade, Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber’s Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen gets the massive, hardcover treatment it deserves. This book collects the entire series, plus a handful of backup stories and miscellania. This volume won’t do much that the 2020 trade paperback didn’t in terms of content, but it will upgrade the pages to glossy paper and make it look nice next to your other hardcovers.
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