Cartoonist Beetle Moses, aka Harris Fishman, joins the podcast for my annual Comic of the Year chat, as we talk about his social media-based comic strip Beetle Moses. Fishman discusses the year for Beetle Moses (the comic), figuring things out, his own comics journey, putting in the reps, his art style, the depth of the strip, Beetle Moses' origins, how people reacted to making the move into comics, his big year, the atemporal nature of comic strips, his most well-liked comics, moving into longform, turning Beetle Moses into a business, how his 2026 is looking, and more.

My pal Brandon Burpee returns to the podcast for our annual look at the year in comics before we count down our 20 favorite comics of the year. Burpee discusses the year in comics, the state of the Big Two, where the X-Men are, older comics that might have previous lists, anticipated comics from 2026, ancient Star Wars takes, and more, before we share our honorable mentions from the year in comics and then count down our 20 favorites comics and graphic novels from 2025.

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For those that are looking for a list of our 20 favorite comics, here they are.

David Harper’s 20 Favorite Comics of 2025
1. Beetle Moses
2. Hirayasumi
3. Sleep
4. Land Vol. 1
5. Do Admit! The Mitford Sisters and Me
6. Cannon
7. The Fables of Erlking Wood
8. Good Devils: Don’t Play Fair with Evil
9. Ionheart
10. Lucas Wars
11. Out of Alcatraz
12. A Garden of Spheres
13. Tongues Vol. 1
14. Assorted Crisis Events
15. Flip
16. The Knives
17. Raised by Ghosts
18. Tokyo Alien Bros.
19. Absolute Wonder Woman
20. Absolute Batman

Brandon Burpee’s 20 Favorite Comics of 2025
1. One World Under Doom
2. Green Lantern
3. Batman and Robin: Year One
4. Deadpool/Wolverine
5. Superman
6. X-Men
7. JSA
8. Absolute Superman
9. Justice League Unlimited
10. Exquisite Corpses
11. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 12. Geiger
13. Storm
14. Absolute Wonder Woman
15. Redcoat
16. Captain America
17. Invincible Universe: Battle Beast
18. Green Lantern Corps
19. Escape
20. History of the DC Universe

In a special year end episode of Off Panel, we look at the defining themes of 2025 in comics with the help of retailer Steve Anderson from Third Eye Comics, The Beat’s Heidi MacDonald, and writer Matthew Rosenberg. 

Up first is Anderson (1:37), whose theme is the impact of DC's Absolute line, as we discuss the Image Revolution of it all, unlocking the cool, the area of effect it's had on other comics, good times he sees on the horizon, how new readers are behaving, why Absolute has popped, how creators and publishers can capitalize on this, and more. 

After that is MacDonald (32:22), whose theme was the lack of new characters in direct market comics, as we discuss why that's a problem, the most successful new(ish) characters, recycling existing ideas, why it's a 2025 theme, attempts to make new characters happen, what's lost without them, marketing struggles, what needs to happen, and more. 

And to close is Rosenberg (1:06:59), whose theme is how comics are running behind the rest of pop culture, as we discuss the inferiority complex in comics, the cost that comes with this lag, the importance of cool, how this can change, how the market factors into this, and more.

Artist and writer Terry Dodson joins the show to talk Ultimate Endgame, AdventureMan, and where things are headed for him. Dodson discusses his work schedule, cat living, picking projects, taking on Ultimate Endgame, working with Deniz Camp, figuring out projects, designing in the Ultimate Universe, the freedom of the book, event comics versus regular ones, artist exclusive covers, the other side of artist work, AdventureMan's fit, collaborating with Matt Fraction, the impact of influences, the collections of AdventureMan, getting into writing, its impact on his art, taking on more responsibility, and more.

Christina Merkler, the co-owner of Lunar Distribution, Discount Comic Book Service (or DCBS), and InStockTrades, joins the show to talk about a strange year for comic book distribution and a good year for the retail side. Merkler discusses Thanksgiving and related takes, the year for her, Diamond Comic Distributors' bankruptcy, compressing timelines, figuring things out, big changes this year, balancing sides of her businesses, the year for DCBS and InStockTrades, what's driving success, how collections are doing, the non-licensed comics space, connecting readers with books, blind bags, how she's feeling going into 2026, and more.