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 November 24th, 2025.
Color of the End: Mission in the Apocalypse Vol 3
Yen Press, TPB – $15.00 (Buy Now)
As Saya, Isami, and Kanoko journey together in search of Usa, the three unexpectedly come across a flower-filled mansion and its lone automated caretaker. The robot claims to have met the mysterious survivor, but in exchange for its information, it has a request of them…
A new-ish manga series, The Color of the End follows an ‘eternal child’ — perhaps an android, perhaps something more — named Saya as she goes about the end of the world, looking for very unlikely human survivors after an extraterrestrial plague appears to have wiped everyone out. It’s a quiet, introspective apocalypse in which Saya encounters the actual survivors of the apocalypse: leftover AI and other tech, which are mankind’s final legacy. I’m not ashamed to say that I’m not entirely well-versed in the world of Manga, but I found Color of the End instantly bewitching regardless. I’m eager to continue the journey as the book very, very slowly uncovers the hows and whys of its apocalypse.
Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon – Marvel Premier Collection
Marvel Comics, TPB – $14.99 (Buy Now)
Clint Barton, the Avenger known as Hawkeye, fights for justice — and good rooftop BBQs! And with Young Avenger Kate Bishop by his side, it’s double the Hawkeye and double the trouble as they battle digital doomsday, dog detectives, lady problems, murder for money, tracksuited killers and more!
One of the most stylish superhero books of the last twenty years, Hawkeye: My Life As a Weapon redefined its titular character after several decades on the C-List. Not only does this revitalize Hawkeye, it features star-making turns for Kate Bishop and, of course, Pizza Dog. Matt Fraction’s writing is top-notch, but the secret power of the book lies in David Aja’s inventive, iconic illustration. Panels become almost like infographics, emblematic as much as action-packed. It’s a great run, and one of the modern masterpieces of superhero comics.
PS Artbooks Softee: Kid Eternity Vol. 3
PS Artbooks, TPB – $32.99
Collecting issues 9 through 12 from the early 1940s, this volume follows Kid Eternity as he uses his extraordinary power to summon legendary figures from history and mythology to aid him in his quest for justice.
Before becoming a vehicle for Vertigo-era, Grant Morrison weirdness, Kid Eternity was a Golden Age weirdo being published alongside Captain Marvel (Shazam) by Quality Comics. His powers meant that he could pull anyone from history to help on his adventures, and his adventures are the sort of wild that only Golden Age adventures can be. PS Artbooks is reproducing those classic Quality Comics issues for modern audiences for the first time ever. I haven’t gotten my hands on one of these trade paperbacks to check the quality, but the effort to archive such forgotten comics history is always to be commended.
Great British Bump-Off: Kill or Be Quilt
Dark Horse Comics, TPB – $19.99 (Buy Now)
When wildcat arson hits her new employer right where she lives, Shauna Wickle is drawn into the brutal and vindictive world of quilting, as sisterhood and community needlecraft deteriorate into internecine strife.
I can’t get enough of John Allison in any guise. His decades-long run writing and illustrating interconnected webcomics has led to his producing miniseries featuring some of his webcomics for publishers like BOOM! and Dark Horse. These aren’t always successful at feeling singularly comic booky — there’s often a feeling that they are twenty-odd pages of webcomics stitched together — but they are impossibly cozy and hilarious regardless of their narrative backbone. Max Sarin’s artwork is impecable and perfectly suited for these characters and the pace at which they generate smirks. This might not have actual murders like the last mini in the series, but it treats its domestic mystery as serious and genuine.
Uncanny X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis Omnibus
Marvel Comics, HC – $125 (Buy Now)
In the wake of the Phoenix event and Professor X’s death, what are Cyclops and his outlaw X-Men: visionary revolutionaries or dangerous terrorists? Whatever the truth, Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magneto, and Magik are gathering new mutants and redefining the name “Uncanny X-Men.”
It was a weird time to be an X-Men fan — it’s never not a weird time to be an X-Men fan — when Brian Michael Bendis took over the franchise. Avengers Vs X-Men had just happened, seeing the two famous teams battle over the fate of the Phoenix Force (spoiler: it went poorly), and this sees Cyclops behaving in a particularly volatile manner in the aftermath. Divorced of having one of the greatest powers in the universe (and having done some ridiculously overpowered world re-writing), Cyke and his crew of vaguely militant and angry pals form a sort of underground anti-X-Men; on the run from the world’s governments and taking a crooked path toward a darker version of Xavier’s dream. It’s wild, and — perhaps most importantly — it’s got the ever-brilliant Chris Bachelo on much of the pencils, which makes it one of the best-looking runs on Uncanny X-Men in the last couple of decades.
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