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 18th, 2025.
Absolute New Frontier (2025 Edition)
DC Comics, HC – $125.00 (Buy Now)
DC
In the 1950s, Cold War paranoia outlawed the Mystery Men of the Golden Age. Stalwarts
For those who didn’t just pick up the much more reasonably priced (but much smaller) Compact Comics edition of this book just last week, this massive hardcover is the best way to really sink into the late Darwyn Cooke’s incredible artwork. This is only the most recent of reprints of this book, which first released way back in 2006; that DC labors to keep it on shelves is a true dedication to what is a phenomenal, unparalleled work of genius.
Buff Soul
Fantagraphics, HC – $29.99 (Buy Now)
When cartoonist Moa Romanova joins her rock star bestie on a U.S. tour, life quickly turns chaotic, as adolescent trauma begins to haunt her. Buff Soul is a graphic novel about friendship and grief, and about finding oneself in relation to others.
Swedish artist Moa Romanova is a cartoonist you wouldn’t mistake for anybody else — idiosyncratic characters with wonky proportions, a commitment to a sort of reimagined 1980s design aesthetic, and a bit of intimate modern malaise all prevail in her work. Buff Soul looks to be a rock ‘n roll memoir type of book, recounting a tour Romanova went on with her rock star friend. It seems like the perfect backdrop for awkward eye-openings and internal revelations.
Space Opera Xanadax: Across the Unknown Dimensions of the Galaxy
Image Comics, TPB – $19.99 (Buy Now)
A supercharged cybernetically enhanced brooding loner known only as XANADAX is on a collision course with the kill-crazy COSMIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE, an armada of ruthless SPACE PIRATES, slimy CRIME BOSSES, deadly BOUNTY HUNTERS, an oppressive STAR-SPANNING EMPIRE, and an army of HOMICIDAL ROBOTS!
Tom Scioli has had a distinctive, almost singular career. His work is unmistakable: occasionally Kirby-inspired, there is an energy of a child at play with action figures (fittingly, he’s published a Jack Kirby biography and has worked on action figure properties like Transformers Vs GI Joe and Go-Bots). There are wild ideas, not just in the narrative of his stories but in the draftsmanship of his books. Space Opera Xanadax is his most recent creator-owned book, and it looks like a distillation of a thousand childhood sci-fi influences, from action figures to cartoons to video games. Check out this recent interview with ComicArtFans.com to take a peek into the book before its release.
Superman Legacy Box Set
DC Comics, TPB – $84.99 (Buy Now)
Collecting some of Superman’s greatest and most influential tales, this graphic novel box set is the perfect reading list for anyone who loves the Man of Steel.
Collecting four major Superman stories: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, Kingdom Come, Superman: For All Seasons, and All-Star Superman. Given that the James Gunn has frequently cited the latter two as major influences on this summer’s brilliant Superman film, this set more than establishes the groundwork for new readers (and a great place to return to for longtime fans). None of these books are particularly hard to come by on their own — most of them have had recent reprintings, Absolute Editions, or Compact Comic releases — but the convenience of a one-stop shop for some of the best Supes stories, period, has its charms.
This Place Kills Me
Abrams Books, HC/TPB – $29.66/$19.99 (Buy Now)
Told in comics, letters, diary entries, and news articles, This Place Kills Me is a page-turning whodunnit from award-winning writer Mariko Tamaki and acclaimed illustrator Nicole Goux that will have readers on the edge of their seats and begging for an encore.
Both Mariko Tamaki and Nicole Goux are well-deservedly celebrated creators with plenty of clout on their own. This new original graphic novel puts them together to craft an academic murder mystery. What seems most compelling to me is that it appears to be epistolary in nature, which is an utterly unique way to go about creating a comic book.
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