SPELUNKING THE SOLICITS JULY 2025
- Byron O'Neal
- Jun 27
- 9 min read
Updated: Jul 7
New month, new comics! Come with along with us as we do our best to find the most exciting titles being offered in your local comic shops. We hope these will excite you enough to search out further books being offered and most of all encourage you to consider pre-ordering.
You see, the reader can pop into any shop and pick up a comic book, no fuss no muss, but for maximum impact of the series health and for the benefit of the creators, pre-ordering the books would be the best. To best help creators, we will bring to you our individual top 5--top 10-- NO, our TOP 7 list of favorite announced books for the month. In hopes you too will join us in pre-ordering from your Local Comic Shop! (LCS)
Things are a little disjointed in comics ordering right now. There are three places one can order from: Lunar, Diamond Preview or Random Penguin.
THIS MONTH'S FEATURE BOOK
Well its time to go Spelunking once again thru the July 2025 Solicitations for the September 2025 releases, there are a ton of great books coming out like Marvel/DC: Deadpool/Batman #1 Marvel, Batman #1, Doctor Strange #450, Captain Planet #6, Thundercats #20, Rat City #18, Transformers #24, Ice Cream Man #47, Radiant Black #37, The Department of Truth #0, but I want to highlight some that might go past your radar. These seven books below.
Ancestral Recall #2 - AHOY
The concept of this book intrigues me so much. I gotta let other people know about it.
Everything Dead & Dying #1 - Image Comics
Tate Brombal and Jacob Phillips doing a zombie western, but outsiders are the villains and not the zombie. Sounds interesting.
Closer (one-shot) - Image Comics
Kieron Gillen doing cosmic horror romance with Steve Lieber, yes please.
The Phantom #1 - Mad Cave Studios
His design is just so iconic, plus I really liked the Billy Zane movie. So I’m giving this a try.
Racer X #1 - Mad Cave Studios
I’m a huge fan of Speed Racer in every incarnation. So I’m definitely getting this. I’ve been doing a rewatch of the anime and I re-watched the live action in preparation for this and the Speed Racer comic that comes out in July.
The Twilight Zone #1 - IDW
A Twilight Zone comic sounds like the perfect playground for creators to go wild with concepts.
The Blue Falcon and Dynomutt #1 - Dynamite Comics
I wonder if they’re going to revitalize the concept like Dynamite did with Space Ghost. If they do, this is guaranteed to be a great book.
Spider-man ‘94 #1 - Marvel Comics
I am beyond excited for this one! When I first saw it was announced, I thought it was fake! This comic will tie up the loose ends left from the 90s Spider-Man: The Animated Series. While I was hoping for more of the cartoon in the vein of X-Men '97, this will do just fine. In fact, I wonder if they’re doing this to gauge interest or build hype to potentially do just that. If you haven’t heard the theme song to the cartoon, do yourselves a favor and open up whoever's Disney+ account you’re mooching off of (for me, it’s my girlfriend’s older sister. Thanks, Karen!) and give it a listen. The badass guitar riff is performed by Joe Perry, the lead guitarist of Aerosmith! I’ve waited 20 years to find out what happens to MJ and the journey begins again in September!
Racer X #1 - Mad Cave Studios
Growing up, we didn’t have cable for the longest time, but what we did have were LOADS of VHS tapes. My mom used to bring home random tapes she hoped I might enjoy. I will never forget when she brought home a Speed Racer VHS. This was before I had become a lifelong weeb (yes, there was a time before). While I enjoyed it a lot, Speed’s mysterious older brother, Racer X, was a standout. Mark Russell is writing this one, and I think he’s perfect for the job. With his ability to blend in social commentary and humor, aka make a comic “smart”. I’m really excited to see what happens with this one! Organized crime? Street racing? Aliens? We will find out in September!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Casey Jones # 1 - IDW
IDW has done a lot of great things with the TMNT license. I think this will no doubt be the same quality. I have always loved the character of Casey Jones—kind of a regular, rough and tough guy in a world of mutants, aliens, and robots! I think his character has never really been explored enough in the past. There’s a lot you could do with him. He might feel useless compared to the Turtles, or maybe he struggles to help save the world while keeping a day job. Anyways, I’m just glad they’re going to shine the spotlight on my man Casey! Goongala!!
Street Sharks #1 - IDW
Yes, I am a 90s kid… yes, I put Street Sharks on my list… honestly, I didn’t watch the cartoon (though I did have the toys), as I was more of an Extreme Dinosaurs kind of kid. I think this will be an instant pull for a lot of people due to nostalgia, and if they tell a good story, it’ll be the cherry on top. Ariel Medel is doing the art, and they are great! I’ve been seeing some of the art for this on social media, and it’s killer!
Quick Stops Vol.3 #3 - Dark Horse Comics
All of these have been fantastic! If you love Kevin Smith and his View Askewniverse, these are hidden gems. I’m surprised more people don’t talk about them. It’s like getting bonus scenes from movies you love! Who doesn’t want that? Kevin Smith, being a lifelong comic fan and writer, understands the medium. I know I just said they feel like bonus scenes from a movie, but they’re done in a way that plays to the medium of comics. Snootchie bootchies!
The Lucky Devil’s #5 - Image Comics
Look, if you love comics and haven’t been reading the collabs between Charles Soule and Ryan Browne…I’m going to need you to go read Cursewords and 8 Billion Genies and then get caught up with this one. These guys get each other, and it shows in their work together. They know how to get the best out of each other. This is such a fun, charming comic, and I can’t recommend it enough. These two do ideas turned up to 11!
Free Planet #5 - Image Comics
If you read this comic and didn’t look at the creative team, you wouldn’t think, “Hey, this is by the creators of Savage Hearts.” I don’t mean that in a bad way at all. I’m loving this series, and if it keeps ramping up like it has been, I think this could be a long, ongoing series. There is so much to explore, and the universe is so fleshed out. Honestly, I could see them doing one-shots in the universe, like an annual every year. Now, I don’t think this comic is for everyone. If you just want a fight or don’t want to read over 300 words in a comic, stay away from this. But if you aren’t afraid of having to pay attention or actually reading, you will get a lot out of it. In between issues, I find myself trying to predict where it’s going to go, which is a good sign.L
Some of these are deep cuts and likely off the mainstream radar a bit, but I think that's the point of this exercise. Why tell you to pick up Batman #1 and explain why you should do it? Matt Fraction, that's why, but I'm assuming you are a connoisseur coming to us to essentially be your comics sommeliers. You want a Josh Cellers Red Blend, nothing wrong with that, but you're gonna drink it cause you know what you are getting. However if you are interested in a Chilean Malbec that has strong mineral notes, you're in the right place. I got ya, here's the Maule Valley 15% Carmenere... you get the idea. I like food references, sue me.
Harpy GN - Living the Line
If you aren’t' familiar with artist EPHK's work, imagine Richard Corbin and Juni Ba had a baby who likes to draw pin-up girls. Not typically my thing, but their work is signature in every aspect and something you are more likely to come across in Heavy Metal than the superhero sphere. This story drops you into a futuristic South Africa and takes you on a journey from the Cape of Good Hope to Hong Kong in what looks to be a futuristic detective manhunt. Dope shit.
Viking Moon #1 - Image Comics
Anyone who listens to the podcast knows how much I adore werewolves. As someone with lupus given its shared Latin species relationship and that lycanthropy is a virus that periodically hijacks your system, it's probably inevitable although I'm not as prone to howl at the moon these days. You introduce vikings into that and it's a savage marriage that I am immediately invested in reading. Marcelo Frusin's work on Hellblazer means he knows how to dip into the dark side so I'm crossing my fingers this lives up to my expectations visually, and I'm curious where Joe Pruett is going to take Leif Erikson's North American journey and exactly how much he will pull from the recent Vikings:Valhalla tv series as it explored that and the inclusion of the Norse mythology with Mani "The Man in the Moon" and Hati, a wolf who pursues him which will precipitate Ragnarök. High potential on this one.
Hooves of Death GN - Harper Collins
Hooves of Death ran for three seasons on Webtoons and now the wildly popular series is being collected in graphic novel form. Humanity is tottering on the knife edge of oblivion bunkered in a refuge in Yellowstone National Park attempting to survive a global zombie plague. With their crops in peril, it's unicorns to the rescue. Sergeant Glitter and their compatriots bleed rainbows people. Now I love unicorns, the Last Unicorn is the most formative animated film or cartoon of my youth so I'm predisposed to like this, but it is quite funny and despite its title makes for a good choice for younger readers. It is of note that the main protagonist Kate wields a baseball bat so there are some not so subtle nods to zombie fiction as a genre for those fans who might be wondering if they will connect with it.
Skinbreaker #1 - Image Comics
Like or hate his writing style, Robert Kirkman can handle a big story, and you know anything with his name attached to it is bound to have some legs. As usual, he's able to pull in some of the biggest artistic talent in the medium and here, that's David Finch (Batman, New Avengers) so I'm cautiously optimistic. Tribal succession and a power struggle full of big dudes wielding even bigger weapons feels like just the kind of popcorn floppy that I'm looking for right now even if a narrative about a society of the verge of collapse feels all too real. Can Kirkman pull off a Walking Dead meets Conan and get us invested in the characters? We shall see.
More Weight: A Salem Story GN - Top Shelf Productions
We might be on the early edge of Spooky Season here but I'm absolutely adding this to my fall TBR pile. Spanning three centuries, the new graphic novel from writer/artist Ben Wickey is based on true events from the Salem Witch Trails and the long historical shadows they cast some 300 years later. That was certainly enough to get my attention but what until you see Ben's artwork folks. Stunning. I'd describe it as a newsprint style as it looks more like a political cartoon with heavily shaded and exaggerated character proportions than we tend to associate with comics. It's haunting to behold and reminds me of Andrew Glass.
Hello Sunshine GN - Little Brown Ink
I've been following Eisner and Ignatz-nominated cartoonist Keezy Young on BlueSky for a bit now and this has been teased for long enough, it has finally arrived! Hello Sunshine is a horror mystery about a boy who comes back from bible camp to find out that his secret boyfriend, Alex, is missing after a very public mental breakdown. A supernatural coming of age story that follows a group of friends finding and loosing themselves as they discover just how much you will sacrifice for someone else. Jimmy somehow booked this before I could on the podcast so you can hear all about it soon.
The Last Day Of HP Lovecraft #1 - Boom Studios
Ok, despite all his very clear faults and acknowledging that he was a racist, we can't deny the imprint HP has had on the modern horror genre. It's cliche to call things Lovecraftian but you immediately know what that means. Adapting the French graphic novel, Romuald Giulivo and Jakub Rebelka come together here to tell us the dreamlike last day of this master of horror. I was hesitant to embrace this, how could you put into panel someone who painted my teenage dreams with visions of Great Old Ones and their broken and sunken cities or captured the Nightgaunts flying over Kadath but they pulled it off or at least tonally they have. It could go down as one of my favorites of 2025.
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