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 25th, 2025.
The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library Vol. 1 – Donald Duck: Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold
Fantagraphics, HC – $39.99 (Buy Now)
This is where it all started, as Carl Barks took control of Donald Duck’s comic book adventures and began a series of clever, creative, complex, and comedic stories that would continue under his cartooning brilliance for more than 20 years — and guarantee his place in comics history.
Though Fantagraphics has been producing the beautiful hardcover series since 2011, the Complete Carl Barks Disney Library hadn’t yet collected the master cartoonist’s very earliest comics. That ends now with a volume that doesn’t just feature Donald and his nephews but also features a longer Pluto story (that involves a goddamn bomb).
In Mourning
Mad Cave, TPB – $14.99 (Buy Now)
Paula beautifully narrates the loss of her mother and how she copes with the sudden loss in this charming and moving graphic novel
Cartoonist Paula Cheshire has a delightful aesthetic (as anyone can see via her Instagram), but what sells me on this book is that it’s a delightfully illustrated book about grief. There’s a Lit Kid inclination in me to crave sad stories, and that part of me is happy to hold hands with the cartooning loving part of me and dive into this book together.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man Modern Era Epic Collection – Spider-Man No More
Marvel Comics, TPB – $49.99 (Buy Now)
Miles Morales is still getting used to being Spider-Man when Captain America makes him a very special offer. Is Miles really joining the Ultimates?
Having recently read the first Miles Morales Epic Collection (my first re-reading of the material since its original publication in 2011), I can tell you without any rose-tinted glasses: the original Miles stories rip. The artwork sings, the pace of the narrative is pitch-perfect, and Miles is a worthy successor to the title of Spider-Man. It’s wild to think that these stories are nearly a decade and a half old and they still feel this fresh and beautiful. Also: very few books pry money out of my wallet the way a good Epic Collection does.
Sandman Mystery Theater Compendium Two
DC Comics, TPB – $59.99 (Buy Now)
The remaining issues from the critically acclaimed Vertigo series are finally collected in this softcover compendium. Featuring storylines such as “The Mist”, “The Phantom of the Fair”, “The Crone”, “The Goblin”, and more, each issue has been painstakingly restored for fans who have patiently awaited the series conclusion.
There aren’t enough Wesley Dodds comics on offer on the modern market. Sure, there was a miniseries two years ago (Wesley Dodds: The Sandman), but does that sate the modern gas mask and/or detective lover? Almost certainly not. This collection presents the concluding half — a whopping 35 issues, some never before collected for the US market — of the noir-heavy 1993 series.
Wednesday Comics
DC Comics, HC – $75.00 (Buy Now)
The oversized, hardcover collection of DC’s 2009 weekly comics sensation that USA Today called “cool, classic-looking.”
Originally released broadsheet-style — like old pages of Sunday funnies — Wednesday Comics was a beautiful anthology of fifteen artistically diverse stories, each presented a page at a time. It was put together by a who’s who of acclaimed creators (including at least one we don’t talk about anymore). It’s a beautiful concept, and though this edition can’t recreate the original broadsheet dimensions, it will be nice and oversized so you truly appreciate the artwork.
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