New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: Marvel Comics – January 1 2025

It’s the 1st new comic book day of the new year, and that means I’m back to cover Marvel’s new releases! This post covers Marvel Comics January 1 2025 releases.

This week in Marvel Comics: Ultimate Guardians of the Galaxy, Zdarsky & Checchetto’s dual Daredevils in Omnibus, Pak’s Darth Vader finale, Jed MacKay’s Moon Knight Vengeance, Black Cat vs. The Avengers, Sam Wilson vs. Red Hulk, debuts for Cable & Deadpool, and more!

I was so proud of keeping up with these posts for an entire half a year at the start of 2024. Unfortunately, life conspired to get in the way in June and July. After that, rather than leap right back to the weekly posts, I took five months to update every Marvel Comics guide on Crushing Comics. Every. Single. One.

Even small guides. Even Patrons-only guides. They’re all updated with comics and collections released through the end of 2024 and into 2025. This is the first time all of Marvel has been updated at the same time since 2024! Now that I’m feeling confident about how all of the guides look, it’s time to get back to tracking all of Marvel’s new releases.

The Krisis Pick of the Week: The Ultimates (2024) #8! Denis Camp has been on fire on this Ultimate Universe team book throughout 2024, and his choices of which 616 heroes to adapt keep getting more and more surprising.

This post includes every comic out from Marvel this week, plus collected editions in omnibus, hardcover, paperback, and digest-sized formats. This isn’t the typical comic releases post you can find on other sites. Why? I explain each collection and review every series with a new issue out this week. Plus, for every new release, I’ll point you to a personally-curated guide within the Crushing Comics Guide to Marvel Comics to find out how to collect that title in full! There’s no other website on the internet that can claim that.

And now, onto Marvel Comics January 1 2025 new releases!

Marvel Comics January 1 2025 Collected Editions

Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky [& Marco Checchetto] Omnibus Vol. 2
(2025 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302956264 / digital)
See Guide to Daredevil. This collects the back half of the outstanding Zdarsky/Checchetoo run co-starring Daredevil and Elektra. That includes final arc of Zdarsky & Checchetto’s Daredevil (2019) series, the main Devil’s Reign (2021) event series as well as the supporting Elektra series Daredevil: Woman Without Fear (2022) #1-3, and all of the subsequent Daredevil (2022).

I could not recommend this run any more highly. It is fantastically written and voiced with spectacular artwork. This is peak Daredevil, even among the many peaks the character has enjoyed across the past 25 years of publishing.

Two things to note: First, the solicit for this series has never included Elektra #100, which is an odd omission since it contains Zdarsky content that fits into this era’s story. We’ll see if it turns up in the actual book.

Second, for the full story of the post-Devil’s-Reign plot, you’ll also want to read Jason Aaron’s Punisher (2022) #1-12. It’s an amazing series, which is not something you’ll often hear me say about Aaron or Punisher! See my Guide to Punisher for collection details.

Get Fury
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302912543 / digital)
See Guide to Punisher. Yes, really! Because Get Fury (2024) #1-6 extend the story of the Punisher MAX universe with this Vietnam-era prequel as written by Garth Ennis. That means this book is NOT in Marvel-616 continuity.

Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Team-Up Vol. 8
(2024 hardcover, ISBN 978-1302955571 / digital)
See Guide to Spider-Man – Peter Parker (1963-2018). Marvel Team-Up (1972) was almost entirely Spider-Man title, with Human Torch occasionally swapping in for a team-up. This volume is notable as much for what it contains (stories by Chris Claremont & Sal Buscema) as for what it doesn’t (it skips issue #79, a team-up with Red Sonja).

Micronauts: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 3
(2024 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302957254 / digital)
Collects Micronauts (1979) #55-59 and Micronauts: The New Voyages (1984) #1-20.

Micronauts was a short-lived MEGO toy property whose continuity was vastly expanded by Marvel. The Marvel comics long outlived the toys and Marvel fully integrated the Micronauts in their 616 Universe just as they did with ROM (see Guide to ROM – Spaceknight for more on that!). Today the Micronauts are owned by Hasbro.

This omnibus completes Marvel’s recollection of the entirety of their two main ongoing Micronauts series. However, it controversially skips over the beloved The X-Men and the Micronauts (1984) mini-series by Chris Claremont, Bill Mantlo, & Butch Guice. Marvel gave no hints as to why they skipped that material while collecting similar material in their ROM omnibus line.

Will Marvel announce the mini as a standalone oversize hardcover to please both X-Men fans and Micronauts fans? It feels like a pipe-dream, but stranger things have happened with Marvel’s collections in 2024!

Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302957537 / digital)
See Guide to Spider-Man – Peter Parker (2018 – Present), although this J.M. DeMatteis & Michael Sta. Maria retcon series actually fits within the first year of Amazing Spider-Man (1963) with a story of the Osborn family from shortly before Norman is the Green Goblin.

You may be surprised to learn that that was one of my favorite comic books of 2024! I’m a little surprised about it myself. J.M. DeMatteis’s writing for Spidey is as impeccable as it was over 30 years ago. Plus, this retcon story feels substantial and connects several disparate plot threads from decades of existing comics, rather than shoe-horning in something unnecessary and new. Highly recommended for fans of classic Spider-Man comics!

Star Wars: Darth Vader by Greg Pak Vol. 10 – Phantoms
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302956189 / digital)
See Guide to Star Wars Expanded Universe Comics. This is the final volume of Star Wars: Darth Vader (2020), which takes us right to the brink of Return of the Jedi.

I was a massive fan of the first two years of this Greg Pak Darth Vader series. My excitement waned in the back half of the series as a plot full of quadruple-crosses from an insurgency within the empire sucked up panel time we used to spend with Vader and his connections to the Prequel Trilogy.

Does the final arc leading into issue #50 forgive all the meandering of the past year of this series? I’m not sure. In terms of delivering Vader to his place in Return of the Jedi, it relies on the idea that Palpatine offered Vader unlimited power knowing exactly how things would end. Your mileage may vary. However, a series of epilogues focusing on various prequel connections are satisfying if you’ve been reading this all along.

This will make a satisfying end-cap to an eventual omnibus of this run. But, if you’re just getting into Darth Vader comics, I’d strongly recommend starting this one at the start.

Thor Modern Era Epic Collection Vol. 2: The Siege of Asgard
(2025 paperback, ISBN 978-1302959845 / digital)
See Guide to Thor – Odinson. This immensely entertaining collection collects the back half of J. Michael Straczynski’s Thor run and all of Kieron Gillen’s continuation of it before Matt Fraction took over and then Gillen took over again when the title converted to Journey Into Mystery.

Ah, comics! Good thing I have guides explaining them all!

For years, Marvel collected the JMS and Gillen runs separately, often in mismatched formats. Recently, they’ve finally relented and treated them as a single run leading to Brian Bendis’s Siege (2010) as they’ve always meant to be. Honestly, I could see the argument for this collection also including the actual Siege mini-series! But, the inclusion of Loki’s Siege one-shot gives us Gillen’s own wrap on plot threads leading into the event… and no one in the past two decades of Marvel is better at leaning into an event tie-in than Gillen.

If you want to read this, you should also pick up Vol. 1 for a complete story. I own both, because my original collections were from the mishmash era before Marvel collected JMS/Gillen together.

Vengeance of the Moon Knight Vol. 2: It’s Alive
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302957407 / digital)
See Guide to Moon Knight. If you’ve been wanting to jump in Jed MacKay’s Moon Knight, this isn’t the spot. This collection is mostly Blood Hunt event tie-ins and resolutions of the overarching plot that had been ongoing since the prior Moon Knight (2021) series, launching us into the subsequent Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu (2024).

I highly recommend MacKay’s Moon Knight, but you should either start at the beginning of Moon Knight (2021) or jump in mid-stream with Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu (2024) #0. That #0 issue released alongside issue #7 in this collection, but it works just as well as a recap issue for the new ongoing run, which is absolutely crackling with energy.

Read on for a summary of all of the Marvel Comics January 1 2025 single issue releases!

Marvel Comics January 1 2025 Physical Comic Releases

The Avengers (2023) #22 – See Guide to Avengers. Jed MacKay’s Avengers stayed close to the top of my Marvel pull throughout 2024. If you want an iconic Avengers team dealing with problems that might swallow up the whole Earth, this is it. It feels like Avengers as the Justice League, which Avengers has rarely done (and seldom well).

Over the past few issues, MacKay deftly handled swapping Storm in for Thor with a surprisingly complex Hyperion story that referenced some loose ends from past runs (which I love). That makes this issue a fresh start as MacKay brings in another of his favorite characters – Black Cat.

Looks like it’s staying close to the top of my pull!

Cable: Love and Chrome (2025) #1 – See Guide to Cable. The O.G. old man Cable is marooned in the future in this new series from one of my least favorite comic writers. I go into every new comic series giving it a fair chance, but this guy has a 100% failure rate with me both at Marvel and in his indie work over the past decade.

This week’s Timeslide (2024) #1 gave the sparest of hints of what Cable is up to in this series, but it’s absolutely not going to be required to pick it up. And, who knows – maybe this time this guy will surprise me.

Daredevil (2023) #17 – See Guide to Daredevil. Despite a strong start to this Saladin Ahmed run with Daredevil besieged by the embodiment of the Seven Deadly Sins, it has fallen off for me as it has progressed. The constant artist switch-ups make it hard for this book to establish momentum or a consistent feel.

I still think Ahmed has a great voice for Matt and his supporting cast, especially when some of them show up as twisted versions of themselves. There’s a fun little conundrum built up around Matt right now that feels ready to explode this issue in both action and in the courtroom. That could mean issue #17 is a perfect place to climb aboard, since you won’t be subject to the meandering of the past few issues.

Deadpool / Wolverine (2025) #1 – See Guide to Deadpool or Guide to Wolverine – Logan. After the monstrous success of Deadpool & Wolverine this year, it feels pretty obvious to have the two of them continue to anchor their own ongoing comic as a follow-up to the brief Deadpool & Wolverine: WWIII (2024) #1-3 by Joe Kelly and Adam Kubert.

Am I mega-excited that this next go-round is written by Ben Percy – reunited with his X-Force (2019) collaborator Joshua Cassara?

Let’s call it “halfway excited.”

Even if Percy’s writing for Logan in both X-Force and Wolverine (2020) tended to make me roll my eyes, his writing for Deadpool was universally great whenever the Merc with the Mouth showed up. Percy snaps into Deadpool’s voice easily, which is something we haven’t seen consistenly from any writer for several years now.

With Wolverine’s main narrative now ably steered by Saladin Ahmed in Wolverine (2024), I think Percy will be freed to have a bit of fun while playing with existing plot threads.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2022) #28 – See Guide to Spider-Man – Mile Morales. Cody Ziglar continues to prove with every issue that he has the best voice for Miles of all of his ongoing authors to date.

Ziglar has leaned into Miles being pulled into event after event to let the results have a real impact on the ongoing story of this title. He puts a heavy emphasis on the effect all of these Gang Wars and Blood Hunts have had on Miles’s psyche, as well as his body.

That’s how we’ve wound up in Wakanda in the current arc that began last issue, after a very clever use of Black Panther in issues #25-26. I’m not entirely convinced Daniele Di Nicuolo’s bubbly art style is a great fit for a book that has developed a consistently angular look, but at this point I am happily along for the ride.

Sam Wilson, Captain America (2025) #1 (of 5) – See Guide to Sam Wilson – Falcon & Captain America. Obviously any book launching right now with Sam Wilson and Red Hulk on the cover is going to be a cross promotion with the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World.

Could this limited series be something more than just a tie-in? Having Evan Narcisse and Greg Pak as authors is quite a pedigree. Pak is a reliable plotter and I’ve liked every issue I’ve read from Narcisse. Plus, this promises to put Eli Bradley AKA Patriot back into play after a significant absense. I’m definitely intrigued.

The Spectacular Spider-Men (2024) #11 – See Guide to Spider-Man – Peter Parker (2018 – Present) or Guide to Spider-Man – Miles Morales. I’ve been up and down with this book throughout 2024.

The first two issues were incredibly charming – Greg Weisman brought exactly the “quips and thwips” tone I want from a Spider-Men comic.

Then, the first arc dragged on to issue #7. That is a very long single arc for Marvel. Along the way, a few decompressed intermediate issues really didn’t feel necessary – and neither did a few character motivations that felt distinctly weird (especially for Miles). It was starting to feel like this book didn’t exist in the 616 Universe alongside the other Spider-books despite every single reference anchoring it there.

I was ready to give up on the book, but suddenly with issue #8 it came alive again! Weisman is back to the quips and thwips, and this time he’s using greatly expanded cast of all of the supporting characters he developed in the first arc.

Ultimately, this is the “fun” Spidey book in the line compared to the drama-filled main titles for Peter and Miles. I think based on the decompression it’s worth waiting for it to hit Marvel Unlimited rather than keeping up with it monthly for the cover price. Or, you could just jump in with issue #8, which does a bang-up job of recapping the slog through the first seven issues.

Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider (2024) #9 – See Guide to Spider-Gwen – Ghost Spider. This series continues Gwen’s adventures in Marvel 616 rather than her own Earth-65.

Gwen is not supposed to be in the main Marvel timeline and she is increasingly not flying under the radar. Her conflicts with Chameleon and then Black Tarantula lead Jessica Jones to keep an eye on her, which then lead to her consulting directly with Mayor Luke Cage!

Stephanie Phillips is penning one of the best ongoing story arcs Gwen has had in a long while and it’s fun to see her bumping into a wider array of Marvel Characters for the first time.

Yet, this series doesn’t feel particularly on-voice for Gwen. It’s not the snappy punk drummer we all fell in love with. In fact, this whole series feels like it could fit Silk just as well as Gwen. I remain hooked for plot reasons (and, increasingly for the moody artwork – a departure for Gwen), but I’d love for it to feel a little more specific to her character.

Star Wars: Ahsoka (2024) #7 – See Guide to Star Wars Expanded Universe Comics. Rodney Barnes & Steven Cummings continue their adaptation of the Ahsoka Disney Plus show in this penultimate issue.

The Ultimates (2024) #8 – See Guide to Marvel Ultimate Universe. Denis Camp has been constructing a marvelous, ever-expanding puzzle of an Avengers team in the new Marvel Ultimate Universe. Camp seems to have a free hand to invent as many Ultimate alter-egos as he wants to in this series – including America Chavez, She-Hulk, and Hawkeye.

Apparently he’s not done, as this issue promises to use America Chavez to introduce a first for the Ultimate Universe – Ultimate Guardians of the Galaxy!

There’s no question in my mind that this is the most-fascinating book at Marvel right now, even if Hickman’s Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) is a bit tighter. Camp uses every issue to explore surprising, sometimes confrontational themes. For me, this book is top of pull every week it shows up, and this issue will be no different.

Werewolf by Night [Red Band] (2024) #6 – See Guide to Werewolf by Night. Unfortunately, Marvel branding this Jason Loo series as “Red Band” seems to mean it won’t be available digitally on Comixology or Marvel Unlimited! Even if they eventually relent on Comixology, the bloody imagery means this book has a mature rating and cannot appear on Marvel Unlimited.

That’s a bummer, as I’m curious about how Loo’s easygoing humor and low-stakes plotting as seen on Dazzler (2024) will translate to a horror book – especially with this issue introducing Lilith!. Also, I’m just not a fan of Marvel making anything into a physical-only artifact. Yeah, it gets some people into comic shops, but it also makes it inaccessible to readers in the longer term.

Will Marvel eventually offer it on Comixology or strip out the bloody panels for Unlimited? We’re a whole arc deep without a hint.

What If…? Galactus Transformed Hulk? (2025) #1 – See Guide to What If? This is the first of five one-shots exploring alternate heralds to Galactus – Hulk, Rogue, Gambit, Spider-Gwen, and Moon Knight – all with different creative teams.

This first issue is by Mat Groom and Lan Medina. Groom has mostly written Power Rangers and Massive-verse comics, but I know him from a very clever Image series called Self/Made (2018) #1-6 which I absolutely loved. That was forever ago in comics years and I’m definitely curious to see what he can do in Marvel’s sandbox.

X-Factor (2024) #6 – See Guide to X-Factor. I hate this comic series.

I don’t hate it because it’s so gleeful about treating classic characters like Havok and Frenzy as erstwhile comedians starring in a substandard reboot of X-Statix, but because the writing is just bad. Mark Russell delivers an endless stream of warmed-over jokes about capitalism and our modern technological society that he’s been using in every comic for the past eight years to the X-Universe.

Maybe that’s my own dumb fault for following Russell’s career a little too closely. Regardless of the repetitive scripts Russell has turned out each month, Bob Quinn & Jesus Aburtov have been turning in some delightful, high-gloss artwork in the interior.

The slick art definitely sells the fantasy of Russell’s smarmy social commentary, and a simmering plot about Havok and Polaris as an unintentional Romeo & Juliet on two sides of a mutant ideology divide is the one interesting plot thread here.

X-Force (2024) #7 – See Guide to X-Force. Oh, X-Force. It felt like I was the sole voice cheering for this book from Geoffrey Thorne & Marcus To for its first few months based on fan reactions on social media. Then, the first arc ended in issues #4-5 with a barely-coherent mess that I already hated before it killed off my literal favorite supporting mutant.

It’s not just that Thorne offing a character I liked. It’s the whiplash of arriving at death as the big arc-ender after five years of Krakoa finding consequences other than death to make stories click.

Then, the book somehow got even worse in issue #6.

Despite Thorne being doubly on my shitlist right now, I think his plot is still one of the best concepts in the From The Ashes line. Of course Forge would look at all of the world’s troubles and see a pattern he could solve, and of course he would want Sage along to proof his theorems. Add in the uneasy young love of Betsy Braddock and Rachel summers and you’ve got a terrific core cast full of conflict – though it might have fit better in a book called “X-Factor” or “Excalibur” than X-Force.

This issue promises to focus on Betsy & Rachel, which is the kind of thing that just might keep me hooked a little longer while Thorne tries to write something that salvages the hot mess of his past three issues.