SDCC 2025 Day 1 & 2 Recap: AN EXCITING BEGINNING

The biggest convention of the summer kicked into high gear on Thursday July 24th, 2025. San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) began it’s 4 day run of dominating pop culture. This year might have a low profile to some. This is in part to Marvel Studios not having their legendary Hall H Panel. With “Fantastic Four: First Steps” in theaters, they’ve made all the buzz needed in movie dept.

As for the comics, they came out swinging for the fences in the opening days. The Marvel Comics: X-Men Panel dove deeper into the upcoming “Age Of Revelation” storyline. With Doug Ramsey as Apocalypse’ heir, the future takes a dark turn for the children of the Atom. A ten year time jump fills in the dire details of how things went wrong.

Fans in attendance were treated to more news for the upcoming event. It is hard to believe that it has been 30 years since the “Age Of Apocalypse debuted. That classic storyline was groundbreaking in many ways. Seeing new fans engage with the “Age Of” stories will demonstrate the creative takes coming in the post Krakoa era.

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X-MEN: AGE OF REVELATION OVERTURE #1 by JED MACKAY & RYAN STEGMAN kicks off the event in October.

Marvel wasn’t done here. They also had marque panels for their “Marvel Rivals” and the upcoming “90’s-esque “Marvel: Cosmic Invasion” games. “Rivals” also announced it had a new “Marvel Rivals: King In Black” comic coming in late October 2025. As huge as those panels were, one Marvel one always stands tall at each convention it is at:

“Marvel: Next Big Thing” came and delivered with its’ all-star panel On Friday, July 25th. Jonathan Hickman (Imperial), Ryan North (Fantastic Four), and Stephanie Phillips (Phoenix) each came with huge news to share. North teased the conclusion to “One World Under Doom”. the news left many with the question: “Who will be the next Sorcerer Supreme?”

Attention quickly turned to Hickman and “Imperial”. The latest Marvel event has stirred up fans with rave reviews. One message was loud and clear during this panel. Marvel was coming with a very strong cosmic focus in “Imperial’s aftermath. Five new ongoing series were announced! Leading the pack was PLANET SHE-HULK by Phillips and Aaron Kuder. Jen Walters handling business like only she can on Sakaar?! Take my money now! It was a huge start for Marvel Comics and other publishes followed suit.

DC Comics‘ most hyped panel was held on Thursday. Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson captained DC ALL IN: WHAT’S NEXT. With the upcoming DC K.O. event on the horizon, fans got informed of what to expect as some combatants were announced. It gave fans of the regular DCU much to rave about. As for the Absolute Universe crowd, there was plenty of major news to be had.

It was announced that Absolute Batman would be crossing over into Absolute Wonder Woman in AWW #15 (out in December). This marks the first time the Absolute heroes have crossed paths. Considering recent events in “Superman” and “Justice League Unlimited”, this felt like something was in the works. One news story did take fans attention like a direct bullseye.

“Absolute Green Arrow” by Pornsak Pichetshote and Rafael Albuquerque was announced for Spring 2026. Fans won’t have to wait until then to see this emerald Archer. During the panel, it was announced that AGA would be debuting in the pages of “Absolute Evil”.

Considering DC has a loaded Saturday, this comic news kept fans locked in on socials.

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There were some other notable news bits to pass along:

• Image Comics had its annual “Massive-Verse” panel at SDCC. Kyle Higgins and Ryan Parrott teased what’s forthcoming with their books. Rogue Sun #30 will be featuring Medieval Spawn while prepping it’s following arc of Dylan’s graduation. Radiant Black starts its’ next arc in issue #37. There were some new announcements for the Radiant Black Audiobook. Leading the way was PHIL MORRIS voicing Radiant Yellow. Other news concerning Inferno Girl Red, No/One and the Sols Fighting Card game were discussed as well.

• Skybound Entertainment led off with some news for “Invincible” fans. The series “Capes” by Robert Kirkman and Mark Englert would be getting remastered. New art and dialogue would be featured in this edition. All eyes are centered on Saturday when their “Energon Universe” panel is set to take place.

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• IDW announced major plans for two of their biggest properties. TMNT and Godzilla are slated for a huge crossover event! This comes off the heels of a brand new Godzilla #1! It shares the spotlight with a creative team shakeup for the half shell heroes. Jason Aaron and Juan Ferreyra are leaving at issue #12. Taking their place is Gene Luen Yang and Freddie E. Williams II.

• RODITELI PRODUCTIONS made a huge impact with their debut announcement. They will be creating a new SWAT KATS comic via kickstarter. The 90’s cartoon series debuts at a prime time period. With the resurgence in Dynamite and Oni Press/Nacelle, there’s no better moment for the classics to return.

Overall, the opening days set a strong pace for the weekend to follow. There are many more stories to cover but time is of the essence. There will be plenty more to discuss as Saturday is poised for more news headlines!

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