Marvel has been the bestselling purveyor of superhero comics for ages. Up until 2025, the top ten selling comics were nearly all Marvel books. Now, it’s impossible to say that Marvel is putting out the best comics; sales don’t correlate to quality — The Amazing Spider-Man was widely panned by fans and critics but still outsold nearly everything for years. However, over the 2020s, Marvel has been doing some excellent work. Marvel has perfected their type of superhero story, and while that has led to some pretty standard superhero comics, it has also given readers some unforgettable stories over the last five years, showing that while DC and Image Comics may control the market for “arty” comic books, Marvel can still give readers some excellent stories.
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Quality is obviously subjective, but Marvel has done some work in the 2020s that is some of their best ever. Marvel has given readers some stories that have jumped to the top of the ranks, showing off why their characters are some of the best ever created. These ten Marvel stories are their best of the 2020s, giving readers tales that will sit with them forever.
10) Miracleman: The Silver Age
The return of Miracleman was big news, which has been overshadowed by the accusations against writer Neil Gaiman. However, Gaiman isn’t the only person to work on Miracleman: The Silver Age and it is an excellent superhero story. The Miracleman mythos are among the greatest in comic history, and Miracleman: The Silver Age fits into that legacy. The story focuses on the resurrected Young Miracleman as he tries to make his way through the “utopia’ that Miracleman created. The writing is great, but the real star of the show is the art by Mark Buckingham. Buckingham had already began drawing Miracleman: The Silver Age decades ago (the single issues show his original pages and the process of changing them into what they are today), and does a fantastic job. In a lot of ways, this is Buckingham’s story, and it is a visual tour de force. Marvel doesn’t exactly like to put out prestige comics like this, but Miracleman: The Silver Age shows they are more than capable of it.
9) “Dark Artery”
“From the Ashes” is a remarkably uneven X-Men reboot, coming on the heels of the blockbuster Krakoa Era. However, one bright spot in the X-Men line is Gail Simone and David Marquez’s Uncanny X-Men, a book that uses the classic character heavy Claremont-style of storytelling of older X-Men books. This series has not missed at all, and the best story is “Dark Artery”. This story sees the Outliers, a group of young mutants the X-Men are training, as they dig into the origin of the team’s new base at Haven House. What follows is a brilliant little superhero horror story that doesn’t feel like any X-Men story has in ages, which is big deal for the “From the Ashes” books, which I like to call “From the Rehashes”. It uses America’s history of racism to inform its ideas, and takes readers in directions they’ve never went before. Simone is sublime with this story, grabbing readers’ imagination and never letting go. Marquez’s art is gorgeous, perfectly fitting the story. This is an amazing X-Men story, and it will remind you of why you love the X-Men.
8) Ultimate Wolverine #4
Ultimate Wolverine is the best current Wolverine title by a wide margin. While there are complaints that it’s treading familiar Wolverine territory, its the way the book tells its story that makes it so special. Ultimate Wolverine #4, by Chris Condon and Alessandro Cappuccio, is the best issue of the series. It takes a familiar idea — Wolverine breaking through his programming and going wild — and does it in a unique way, using a battle between a beat-up old wolf and a massive bear to show the metaphorical struggle of the issue. Condon and Cappuccio are amazing in this issue. Condon builds anticipation for the moment we get to see the events of the present, and when we finally get it, it’s fantastic. Cappuccio’s art is insanely good; the detail and linework are perfect, and the aftermath of Wolverine’s rampage is beautiful in the most dirty, bloody way possible. This issue is an example of why the new Ultimate books are so great, taking ideas we know and presenting them in entirely new ways.
7) Wolverine: Revenge
Jonathan Hickman’s Marvel’s best writer by a wide margin. Best known for his work on teams like the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, the Secret Warriors, and the X-Men, the last few years have shown how great Hickman is on solo books. Hickman is an underrated Wolverine writer (check out X-Men Unlimited: Wolverine: Latitude) and he gave readers an amazing Wolverine tale with Wolverine: Revenge, alongside artist Greg Capullo. The death of Magneto causes an EMP that fries most of the Western Hemisphere, leading to Wolverine, Captain America, and the Winter Soldier trying to get their hands on Russian reactor technology that still works. However, the new Brotherhood of Mutants — Mastermind, Colossus, Omega Red, Sabretooth, and Deadpool — is able to kill most of the team, dooming the West and leaving Wolverine out for revenge. This is an amazing little piece of dystopian Marvel future storytelling, with Hickman taking readers in great directions. The art by Capullo is brilliant; this is a story with amazing action as its centerpiece, and Capullo delivers with every page. This is Wolverine the way he should he be, and I hope Hickman and Capullo get to team up again.
6) Ryan North’s Fantastic Four Run
The Fantastic Four have had a lot of ups and downs over the decades of their existence. Marvel sidelined their first superteam because of a lack of their film rights. Once they got those back, the Fantastic Four returned. Dan Slott’s run on the team was good, but after it ended we got a Fantastic Four run that everyone agrees is the best in years when writer Ryan North, best known for The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, was given the team. North’s run on Fantastic Four is 33 issues long and I recommend you read the whole thing. That’s how great it is. North worked with artists like Iban Coello, Oren Smith, Carlos Gomez, Ivan Fiorelli, and more, and gave readers the most amazing Fantastic Four since Hickman’s run. North gets the balance of the Fantastic Four, giving readers family oriented superhero sci-fi that digs into the characters and their relationships perfectly. This is peak Marvel, and you owe it to yourself to read it.
5) Chip Zdarkey’s Daredevil Run
Chip Zdarsky is a favorite among comic fans, and has had some amazing works in the 2020s. You’re going to see him again on this list, but first we’re going to look at his run on Daredevil. Zdarsky started writing Daredevil in 2019, but the vast majority of his run took place in the 2020s. Zdarsky wrote Daredevil (Vol. 6) #1-36, Devil’s Reign #1-6, Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #1-3, and Daredevil (Vol. 7) #1-14, with artists Marco Checchetto, Rafael De Lattore, and more over the five years he wrote the character. Zdarsky’s run is a brilliant look at Daredevil as a character, pitting him against his greatest foes, like the Kingpin and the Hand. It also sees Elektra take over as Daredevil for a time, showing just how great a hero she can be. This is the kind of Daredevil run that everyone loves, a well-written batch of issues with fantastic art.
4) Immortal Thor
A lot of you are probably wondering where The Immortal Hulk is on this list. While I definitely think The Immortal Hulk is great, I don’t think it’s nearly as good as everyone else, especially the issues that came out in the 2020s (consider this its honorable mention). However, Immortal Thor is brilliant. Written by Al Ewing with art by Martin Cocolo, Ibrahim Robson, Carlo Magna, and Jan Bazaulda, this 25 issue series tells the story of Thor battling against the gods of Utgard, a quest that takes him all over the Ten Realms, and pits him against gods, monsters, and supervillains. Ewing goes all in on the mythological trapping of Thor with this series, and I think that’s why the story works so very well. This is one of the first times where a Thor comic truly feels like a mythological superhero story. While the art is uneven — Bazaluda’s pencils aren’t bad, but they aren’t great either and she draws at least half the series — the story more than makes up for it. This is Thor exactly the way he should be, and I can’t wait to see where it goes in the next act of Ewing’s Thor epic.
3) Ultimate Spider-Man (Vol. 3)
Ultimate Spider-Man (Vol. 3) is the best Spider-Man comic in decades. Written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Marco Checchetto and David Messina, this book tells the story Peter Parker of Earth-6160. The Maker kept him from becoming Spider-Man, and he married and had children with Mary Jane. Ben Parker is alive and May is dead, with Ben being best friends with J. Jonah Jameson. When Tony Stark gives Peter the chance to gain his Spider-Man powers, he accepts, becoming the hero he always should have been. This leads to an alliance with Harry Osborn against the boss of New York City the Kingpin. This book understands that the strength of the Spider-Man stories is Peter Parker and his supporting cast, and focuses on them. While the month to month storytelling of the Ultimate books can be a problem, there are so many amazing plots and character moments in every issue that it all works. The first 12 issues are better than what came after, but this is a must-read comic.
2) Ultimate X-Men (Vol. 2)
Marvel’s newest Ultimate books are sensational, easily the best books Marvel is putting out right now on a monthly basis. Each of these books takes old concepts in new directions, but the one that feels the most unique is Ultimate X-Men, by Peach Momoko. This book is basically what would happen if the X-Men were a horror/magical girl manga, and its works beautifully. The book focuses on Hisako, known as Armor to 616 fans, and Kageyama, two characters whose powers puts them on a collision course with the Maester and the Children of the Atom, a group of mutants in Hi No Kuni, the Japan of Earth-6160. The book introduces an X-Men team unlike any you’ve seen before, and does a fantastic job of building the cast, the main plot, and its subplots. Momoko’s art style is beautifully unique and you’re going to get some visuals that will stay with you. This is an X-Men book unlike any other. The pacing is slow, but it works for the story. If you like manga, read this comic. If you like the X-Men, read this comic. Just read this comic. It’s a tour de force.
1) Avengers: Twilight
Avengers: Twilight is a perfect Avengers story, and it does what Marvel has long done best — inject superheroes into the world outside your window. The story, by Chip Zdarsky and Daniel Acuna, takes place in a future where the United States has become a fascist police state, the heroes outlawed since H-Day and the public pacified by bread and circuses. Captain America gave up his super soldier serum, becoming an old man, but is pulled into the battle against fascism by Luke Cage. Given his super soldier serum back, Captain America returns, and finds himself on a collision course with James Stark, the son of Iron Man and the Wasp, and Kyle Jarvis, Avengers butler Edwin Jarvis’s heretofore unknown brother with shocking ties to Cap’s past. What follows is a perfect Kingdom Come style story starring the Avengers. There’s big superhero action and great moments, but what makes it so great is the social commentary that Zdarksy injects into the book. Zdarksy has something to say about the United States in this book, and it’s more important than ever. Acuna’s art is tremendous, his unique style giving readers eye-pooping visuals. Avengers: Twilight is amazing, and that’s all there is to it.
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