Top Comics to Buy for October 22, 2025: A great week for action fans

1 month ago 16

This week’s Top Comics to Buy for October 22 has the difficult job of (once again) sorting through what has become the most packed Wednesday of the month, with so many publishers seeming to release their most popular and interesting titles. And so I’ve done my best to get a good cross-section of the week’s releases, along with some books that are appearing now in this space for the first time.

You can find my (belabored!) top five selections below, along with the usual set of compiled release lists … enjoy!

Top Comics to Buy for October 22

Escape #3
Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: Daniel Acuña
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Publisher: Image Comics – Giant Generator
Pinned down, outgunned, and running on fumes, Milton Shaw makes a desperate push across enemy lines—with a squad of Narenian soldiers and a relentless bruiser on his heels. Trapped between a dam and a detonator, Milton’s last shot at survival is running out fast.
Why It’s Cool: I’ll be honest, after the first issue of this series, I was a little skeptical how much intense drama could be wrought by a book with a fuzzy bear main character. Well, the answer is a lot. I still don’t really understand the function of the characters as animals (unless it’s to make the conflict just that much more abstract), but in brief, Escape #3 is one of the most tense and hard-hitting single issue action comics I’ve read in years, and it’s because earlier issues in the series made me actual care about the main character. Great stuff.
Price: $3.99

Orla #3
Writer: John Lees
Artist: Sally Cantirino
Colorist: Dearbhla Kelly
Letterer: Lucas Gattoni
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
The Ick – the terrifying creature Orla transforms into – is unleashed at times of stress, and the longer she tries to keep it bottled in, the harder it is to hold back. But Orla is working at being a different, better person, and part of that is finally keeping her promise to attend her best friend Harriet’s Halloween party. Crowded rooms, loud music, Harriet’s emotionally abusive fiancé Josh… sounds like a stressful environment. And, weeks since it was last let loose, The Ick needs to be fed…
Why It’s Cool: This is a singular, weirdo comic that really breaks up any kind of monotony weekly comics sickos like myself might feel within the usual releases. I’ve written it before, but there’s really not another book out there like Orla!, a character-driven romance comic with commentary on the manoshphere and also monster horror. This issue feels like a pivot point that really ratchets our story up a notch, and I love it.
Price: $4.99

Powers 25 #2
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Michael Avon Oeming
Colorist: Nick Filardi
Letterer: Joshua Reed
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics – Jinxworld
Detective Kutter has an impossible powers case that defies physics and no one is helping her. A dead body with a portal for a face and a super-science conclave determined to cover up whatever happened. All this and the debut of a brand-new Powers detective. And what is The Christian Walker Powers Act?
Why It’s Cool: Whereas Powers 2 #1 felt like a big status quo update/broad reminder of what’s going on in the Powers world, this issue drills down more on the mystery driving our first arc, and in that way, it reminds me of the very first Powers story arc all those years ago, which was also an old school crime mystery comic at its heart.
Price: $4.99

Speed Racer: Tales From the Road #1
Writer: Mark London, with David Pepose
Artist: Sebastian Piriz, with Alessio Zonno
Letterer: Buddy Beaudoin
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Speed Racer: Tales from the Road is an all-new quarterly release featuring one-shot stories that expand the universe of Speed Racer! Two destinies. One road. Only one can walk away. When Interpol sends Racer X on a mission to take down a brutal warlord known only as the Viking, a deadly chase ignites across a shadowy European city. Packed with brutal hand-to-hand combat, turbocharged vehicular mayhem, and a haunting look at the choices that forge a man, this oversized one-shot dives deep into the past of the masked driver you think you know. Also a featuring a Spritle and Chim-Chim backup story where they borrow the Mach 5 for the joyride of a lifetime!
Why It’s Cool: This book is as sleek as a car chase comic as I’ve ever seen, brought to life by the highly-kinetic artwork of Sebastian Piriz, and the script by Mark London creates a compelling dueling character narrative to go with all the pretty pages. Buckle up, this one is an intense, mostly stand-alone Racer X comic, with a fantastic fun back-up story, too.
Price: $6.99

Ultimate Spider-Man #22
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Marco Checchetto
Colorist: Erick Arciniega
Letterer: Cory Petit
Publisher: Marvel Comics
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF [REDACTED]!
Why It’s Cool: Well, all good things must come to an end, and for this run of basically-perfect Spider-Man comics, we just learned that end will be in Ultimate Spider-Man #24. When a comic is this consistent and good, it’s easy to take for granted, but adding it to this week’s Top Comics to Buy for October 22 feels like a good idea, giving the book its flowers a bit while it’s still coming out.
Price: $4.99