You only get one chance to make a first impression….
Thursday, Oct. 9th marked the kickoff of New York Comic Con 2025. The annual event is largely considered the biggest (if not the close 2nd) pop culture event of the year.
Every fandom is represented. Whether you’re into comics, manga, tv and more, there’s something for you.
As far as the previously mentioned comics, there was plenty of news to go around. One message was made crystal clear at the Retailer day event on Wednesday. Jim Lee (President, Publisher, and Chief Creative Officer (CCO) of DC Comics) addressed attendees.
In his speech, Lee drove home the point that DC would not have or work with AI on their books. This led off a movement which gained more steam during the panels of Day 1.
This message came up in the “Marvel Comics: Spider-Man and his Venomous Friends”. During a Q&A portion, Marvel EIC C.B Cebulski was asked about AI at Marvel. Cebulski loudly said it was not welcomed and explained how they were preventing it from being used. The message was refreshing to hear as AI discussion has been growing in recent weeks.
The news complimented a high energy panel. Fans were caught up in a web of news spun by some of the Spider-verse’s best writers. Charles Soule, Al Ewing and Joe Kelly touched upon their current books. This led to the unveiling of another crossover coming in 2026: Death Spiral.
It balanced out the more light-hearted moment concerning Spider-Gwen: The All New Ghost Spider. Stephanie Phillips and Marvel played a game with attendees to name Gwen’s new band. “Threadbare” was the winning entry. Marvel made waves for this panel but another also impacted fans.
Mad Cave Studios had a fantastic “Speed Racer” panel discussing the classic character. David Pepose, Mark Russell & Mark London were all in attendance to talk about their projects. During the panel , “Speed Racer” was officially announced as an ongoing series. This complimented the news of a “Tales of the Speed Racer” anthology series coming. The resurgence of the character has been nothing but a huge win. Hearing this news is a feather in the cap for the teams of these incredible books.
In the end, one took the crown for the day.
DC Comics is bringing back a legendary imprint. “DC Vertigo” was announced at last year’s event to be returning. The brand was groundbreaking for the focus on mature readers lines & stories. Knowing what this brand means, this panel unveiled the heavy hitting lineups for the new books.
James Tynion IV, Álvaro Martínez Bueno,, Deniz Camp, Stipan Morian, Kyle Starks, Steve Pugh Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips lead the way in February 2026 with 4 new titles between them. Brian Azzarello, Eduardo Risso, Ram V, Mike Perkins, Tom Taylor and Darick Robertson lead the second wave of creators following later in 2026.
This completely wow’ed fans in the room. There were more books being announced. In total. 10 new titles usher in the next era for the line. DC Executive Editor Chris Conroy drove home the point that Vertigo IS separate from the Black Label line. This was made very clear by the announcement of the continuation of the 1989 Swamp Thing series, which was controversially cancelled for content. The series returns to finish properly with a four issue run with legacy numbering.
These were only a few of the major headlines going on for Day 1 of NYCC 2025. Make sure to keep following Nerd Initiative on all social media and Subscribe on YouTube for more coverage. Let me know what your big takeaways from NYCC Day 1 were in the comments below. Thanks for reading! CLICK HERE FOR MORE CONTENT FROM KEN
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