As we wrap up the year, there are still plenty of Marvel Comics coming out in December 2023. A lot of Marvel Comics. Good news: our holiday present to you is that we know which ones you have to pick up.
From some one-shots teasing the future of the Marvel Universe to the death of a major character, to just some favorites you have to check out… Here are 10 Marvel comics you must pick up in December 2023.
1. Thunderbolts #1
Release Date: December 6, 2023
Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly continue the story they started in Captain America, as Bucky Barnes is now The Revolution — the leader of a secret society that has been controlling the world’s destiny for decades. In a clear tee-up to the (eventual) Thunderbolts movie, he’s teaming up with Contessa Valentina Allegra De Fontaine to take down high-value targets like Doctor Doom, Red Skull, and more. Hey, maybe they’ll take on The Sentry?
2. The Sentry #1
Release Date: December 6, 2023
Written by Jason Loo with art by Luigi Zagaria, The Sentry is dead — but that doesn’t mean there can’t be a whole lot more Sentries. While previous series dug into the trauma and personalities of Bob Reynolds, using the character as an entry-point to talk about mental health, this new series seems to be taking the “anyone can be a hero” route as regular folks get the powers of a thousand exploding sons. Regardless, previous Sentry series have always been intriguing. Let’s see if this holds up to the high standard.
3. The Immortal Thor #5
Release Date: December 13, 2023
After the last issue’s absolutely wild hot potato game that led to Storm, Thor, Loki, and Beta Ray Bill forming a new Thor Corps to fight a massive, ancient version of Thor, this title can do no wrong. How will writer Al Ewing and artist Martin Coccolo top it in December? We can’t wait to find out.
4. Moon Knight #30
Release Date: December 13, 2023
The story Jed MacKay has been building up to finally happens, as Marc Spector dies in this issue of his title. With art by Alessandro Cappuccio, this title has been A Lot Of Stuff, but it is always interesting to see how a character dies. RIP, Moon Knight! We’ll see you next month.
5. Spider-Gwen: Smash #1
Release Date: December 13, 2023
Melissa Flores, who has been killing it over at Image Comics on The Dead Lucky, takes her skills to Spider-Gwen. And the series, which features art by Enid Balam, seems like a ton of fun as Gwen and the Mary Janes hit the road. Not only that, but we’ll seemingly see versions of classic Marvel rock stars through the lens of Earth-65. Two tickets, please!
6. Uncanny Spider-Man #5
Release Date: December 20, 2023
After four excellent issues, and an incredible one-shot (that would be X-Men Blue: Origins), we’re ready to call it: this series by Si Spurrier and artist Lee Garbett may not just be the best X-Men book running. It may not just be the best Spider-Man book running. It might be the single best title Marvel is publishing right now. In this issue, Nightcrawler is not only dealing with revelations about his parentage and his complicated relationship with Silver Sable, he’s also been captured by Orchis. Yuh-oh.
7. Star Wars: Revelations (2023) #1
Release Date: December 20, 2023
Written by a bevy of writers and a bevy of artists, this one-shot features tales that set the stage for the next year of Marvel’s Star Wars comics. While we only get small teases of what’s to come, Jabba the Hutt is in the center of the cover so you know Diego Luna is gonna want to touch that cover.
8. Original X-Men #1
Release Date: December 20, 2023
While the rest of the X-Men line is wrestling with the Fall of X and the impending end of the Krakoa era, here comes this wild-sounding title from writer Christos Gage and artist Greg Land. Back in the day, Brian Michael Bendis had the idea to bring the original X-Men forward in time, to have new adventures. They fixed that little continuity mess — barely — and now that same team is getting sucked into the multiverse, again… And Marvel is promising that one of them will be left behind. How will those rascals at the House of Ideas get out of this one??
9. Timeless (2023) #1
Release Date: December 27, 2023
Written by Jackson Kelly and Collin Lanzing, with art by Juann Cabal, this now yearly event is teasing the future of the Marvel Universe. But first, you have to watch a fight between a Moon Knight robot called Moon Knight Unending, and the last living superhero in the universe, Power Man, who has the powers of The Sentry, Iron Fist, and The Hulk. Plus you’re probably gonna get one of those pages where you see a bunch of mysterious panels that tease the next year of storylines. One caveat: we just started to see the fallout of last year’s Timeless over the pages of Avengers. So whatever happens here might actually take a lot of time to get to.
10. Carnage #2
Release Date: December 27, 2023
Look, I’m no fan of the goop side of the Marvel universe. But this new horror title from Torunn Grønbekk and artist Pere Pérez is exactly what you want out of this title. An irredeemably psychotic Cletus Kasaday. A PTSD-stricken Flash Thompson. And some fascinating themes about the near-religious fascination we have with serial killers. It may be goopy, but it’s still real good.
11. Avengers Inc. #4
Release Date: December 27, 2023
You know, we often lament that there are no new concepts in comics anymore. Yet this book featuring The Wasp and a version of The Vision’s brain in the body of Whirlwind solving weird, noir mysteries from Al Ewing and Leonard Kirk fit that bill perfectly. So of course it was canceled with issue #5. Anyway, treasure this issue – which pits our detectives against a gang of evil jugglers – before it ends next month.
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