For fun at the beginning of the year I started tracking the comics I read each week—because I try to keep up with everything1 2 3 4.
“Ha, this’ll be fun! I wonder how many—”
…that’s so many.
Especially since Jason and I make the catalog orders each week for the FOC’s on every book, it can help a ton to know whether or not a comic sucks whether or not a comic is likely to have more and more people picking it up as the issues go on, or whether it’ll hang onto its current fans (or, god forbid, lose them).
But do I really need to keep reading every piddly little indie book/robin spinoff/Batman mini/X-men mini/etc/etc/etc?
Probably not, right?
Especially once an indie hits, say, issue #5 or #6 (at which point the likelihood of new readers showing up and buying all the singles to catch up goes waaaayyyy down), it would be totally reasonable to drop the title—unless I’m really genuinely loving it as a read unto itself and not as a work-related thing I can do while waiting for my fried tofu and rice plate at Lam’s next door.
So, from here on out I’m going to
Yes, single-issue. You know what that means? The above number, the insanity that was 2025’s reading list, doesn’t include manga, or graphic novels, or back-issues or the Krakoan omnibus I got recently and have been reading in the morning like it’s my religion. SO expect more of the same5678 next year!
Speaking of last year’s books…
Look, I could be the umpteenth person to say “AbSoLuTe BaTMaN iS GuD”, but I’m not here to do that.
What was the point of reading 1,310 single issues last year9 if I don’t reveal some deep cut stuff that only the cool, hip, indie readers would have read!
Anyway here’s the list:
Hahahahaha, did I get you?10
I’m on record multiple times saying that Kelly is one of the absolute11 best writers working in comics right now.
Hot takes are bad for society as whole but my hot take is that Absolute Wonder Woman is (narrowly) better than Absolute Batman.
Some of you have read this—but not enough! This is easily the best comic anthology I’ve ever read, and honestly maybe the best time travel comic I’ve ever read? Deniz Camp put out plenty of bangers in 2025, and I’m sure 2026 will continue the trend.
I know almost none of you read this because we still have the entire series in single issues on the shelf!
I think this came out in an extremely busy series of release weeks, and the economy has been all wibbly wobbly this year, so this book wasn’t a hit for us the way it should have been.
Benjamin is a famous science fiction writer from the 1970s (think Aasimov or Le Guin era) who wakes up in the modern day with a hangover. Deeply weird, incredible art, phenomenal ending.
Sinister, unsettling, with art that perfectly suits a dying man reckoning with his (many) sins. Great for fans of H.P. Lovecraft and for people who hate him.
As the title says, this comic follows the last day of a father of cosmic horror, and the eldritch horror that’s come calling to say goodbye—but is this the last gasp of a dying writer’s brain, or something worse?
The daughter of, essentially, a James Bond villain sets out with a killer robot to avenge her father’s death. Hilarious, poignant, and the art is good. I mean, look at that variant cover for #1!
Anyway, here’s to reading less/more comics in 2026!
-w12
That is good and/or important to keep up with because of impact on other titles (this is basically just for Marvel/DC stuff obviously
and doesn’t require me to have read some other long previously running series
or isn’t a nostalgia bait book for a cartoon I was too young to have seen
At some point, though, if a book is bad, I will drop it even if it is a BFD for -insert big superhero series here-
If my wife is reading this, this is just a bit I’m not actually going to read more single issues next year! Promise.
If Kyle is reading this, the previous footnote is just a bit I’m totally going to read as many / more single issues next year! Promise.
If my wife read the previous footnote, the previous footnote is just a bit I’m totally not going to read more single issues next year! Promise.
at the cost of my sanity!
I promise the rest of this will actually be deep cuts
BET YOU THOUGHT I’D DROP THE KRAKOA OBSESSION IN 2026—WELL YOU’VE GOT ANOTHER THINK COMING. WHY ARE WE JUST DOING AGE OF APOCALYPSE WITH EXTRA STEPS AND IN WHAT WORLD WOULD DOUG BE A BAD BOY HE’S A SWEET LIL’ BABY ANGEL WITH A MUSCULAR WIFE WHY WOULD HE WANT TO DO ANYTHING BUT HANG OUT WITH HER AND HIS LIL’ ROBOT BUDDY?
[starts to chant] KRAKOH-AH! KRAKOH-AH! KRAKOH-AH!
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