Comic book writer Matthew Rosenberg joins the Capes and Tights Podcast for Episode 211 on February 19, 2025. To prepare for the conversation, we have compiled 12 comics by Rosenberg you should read.
Rosenberg is the award-winning writer of comics such as What’s The Furthest Place From Here?, 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank, and We Can Never Go Home. He has also written a lot of comics for DC and Marvel, such as Uncanny X-Men, The Punisher, Hawkeye Freefall, DC vs. Vampires, Task Force Z, and The Joker. He also once co-wrote an album with a member of the Wu-Tang Clan.
His upcoming Image Comics series, We’re Taking Everyone Down With Us, hits local comic shops on March 26, 2025 (FOC: March 3).
Uncanny X-Men (Marvel)
The flagship X-Men title that started it all is back — bigger and better than ever! Why is the X-Men’s newest crisis shaping up to be…their final adventure?! It all starts with a mysterious and tragic disappearance, but their investigation draws the X-Men into a much larger — and deadlier — situation!
Who or what are the Four Horsemen of Salvation, and what is their connection to Nate Grey, the incredibly powerful mutant known as X-Man? Will Nate’s home dimension, the Age of Apocalypse, make its horrifying return? Or does the dawn of the Age of X-Man mean the end of the Uncanny X-Men?! It’s a status-quo-smashing story that just might leave all of mutantkind in tatters, and it will take three fan-favorite writers to deliver the mutant madness!
Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing (DC)
The world once again holds its breath as The Joker strikes again! But how far is he willing to go this time?
From the brilliant minds of Matthew Rosenberg, Carmine DiGiandemenico, and Francesco Francavilla comes a violent, mind-bending collection that picks up from the cataclysmic end of The Joker and follows the mayhem across the United States.
With the Clown Prince of Crime setting out on his most bizarre caper yet, will a fan-favorite vigilante be able to prevent certain tragedy? Or is he in on the joke? In the back-up—Joker’s got a hot date but he’s going to need a mirror to make sure he looks nice. Maybe Mirror Master can help.
The Punisher (Marvel)
You can take the Punisher out of the War Machine… Frank Castle may no longer have the Stark-designed armor, but he has retained his newly acquired taste for “big game” criminal targets – and he’s hungry for more. But the paths to such perilous pursuits are fraught with dangers bigger than any Frank has faced before, and this lone wolf could use powerful help on his way up to the world stage. A delicate situation gets more complicated when Daredevil enters the fray – and he wants to put the Punisher down even more than Frank’s newest foes! Where can the Punisher go from here…but down?
Matthew Rosenberg continues pushing the boundaries of the Punisher, now joined by acclaimed artist Riccardo Burchielli for the book that Frank-ophiles will be talking about for years to come!
WIDGET
4 Kids Walk Into a Bank (Black Mask)
4 Kids Walk Into a Bank is the darkly comedic story of four burgeoning child criminals and their elaborate plans.
When a group of bumbling criminals show up in her father’s life looking to pull one last job, young Paige has two choices – let her father get caught up in their criminal hijinks or enlist her three best friends to do the job first. Paige picks the bad one.
200ish pages of full color comic-booking about friendship, family, growing up, and grand larceny from rising star writer Matthew Rosenberg (We Can Never Go Home, Kingpin, Secret Warriors) and equally rising star artist Tyler Boss (Lazarus, Calexit, Vice Magazine).
Detective Comics (DC)
When the terrorist organization known as The Red Crown took control of Mayor Nakano’s personal security detail, only the Batman could protect Gotham’s highest-ranking city official from certain death! But when the pair is thrust into the sewers below, a much more sinister threat lurks in the darkness. Better look sharp, Batman, because a hundred thousand eggs with a hundred thousand little monsters inside are about to hatch…and they look HUNGRY… And outside of the sewers, the city streets being overtaken by larger, (somehow even more) horrific creatures!
Secret Warriors (Marvel)
A Secret Empire calls for Secret Warriors! Captain America has been revealed to be an agent of Hydra – and now he’s coming for the Inhumans! But S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Daisy Johnson, a.k.a. Quake, wants no part of Hydra, and is heading underground! Recruiting Ms. Marvel, Moon Girl, Devil Dinosaur, Karnak and Inferno to her cause, she’ll fight to set things right – not just for the Inhumans, but for the entire country! But can even Quake handle the seismic rifts between her own teammates? It’s one part coming-of-age story, one part spy thriller – all action and all heart! Don’t miss the next (and final?) generation of Inhumans as they take the Marvel Universe by storm!
We Can Never Go Home (Black Mask)
A well worn mixtape, a stolen convertible, a duffel bag full of cash, a fully loaded .45, and super-powers. 17 and on the run is the only way to see America right.
Navigating the halls of high school is never easy. And for teenage outcast Duncan and popular girl Madison things are even harder. They share a secret — they can do things other people can’t. But their abilities and need for secrecy take them down a dangerous path. After making a terrible and deadly mistake they are left with no choice. They have to leave and never come back.
A blend of crime road stories like True Romance & Badlands, coming of age tales like Pretty In Pink & Ghost World, and “outcast kids against the world” books like Runaways & Deadly Class, We Can Never Go Home is a new chance to fall in love with the doomed misfits and the dreamers who set off to find something bigger.
We Can Never Go Home is the debut creator-owned book from writers Matthew Rosenberg (12 Reasons To Die / co-writer on Ghostface Killah‘s new LP 36 Seasons), Patrick Kindlon (webcomic Menu), and artist Josh Hood (JLA: Scary Monsters, Venom).
Task Force Z (DC)
In life, they terrorized the people of Gotham. Now, they’re Gotham’s last hope! It’s Suicide Squad meets zombies, with Red Hood leading the way!
Task Force X saw villains working their way to freedom. Task Force Z will see dead villains working for a new chance at life!
On A-Day, the attack on Arkham Asylum left hundreds of Gotham’s most cunning and deranged criminals dead…now, a mysterious benefactor has activated the government’s Task Force clause to bring them back as the ultimate army of the night! To lead this team of the undead, only a person who knows exactly what it feels like to be brutally murdered and brought back to life can handle the job…enter: Red Hood. But when Jason Todd unravels the mystery surrounding Task Force Z’s creation, will he try to destroy it…or embrace it?
Hawkeye: Freefall (Marvel)
Who is Ronin? When a mysterious and ruthless new Ronin starts tearing a destructive path through the city, suspicion immediately falls on Hawkeye – but Clint Barton has more to worry about than who’s wearing his old costume. After a clash with the Hood ends badly, Hawkeye takes on a new mission that places him in the crosshairs of one of New York’s most dangerous villains. But Clint and Ronin are on a collision course – and only one will walk away!
As things around him get ever more dangerous, Clint is pushed to make some tough – and probably really bad – decisions. With everything falling apart, can he find a way to get through this crisis with clean hands – or will he be forced to return to his criminal ways?
WildC.A.T.s (DC)
In the 1990s, WildC.A.T.s, created by comics legend Jim Lee, helped redefined what a superhero team could be—and more than 30 years later, the team is back for a fresh start, reinvented for a new era and now operating in the DC Universe!
With record-breaking profits and mind-blowing innovations being announced all the time, the HALO Corporation has been working in secret on a new project–a covert paramilitary strike force operating out of the darkest shadows of the DC Universe.
Cole “Grifter” Cash has assembled a motley crew of weirdos, maniacs, and killers with a singular purpose: bribe, blackmail, kidnap, kill, and generally do whatever it takes to save the world!
What’s The Furthest Place From Here? (Image)
From Eisner nominated artist Tyler Boss (4 Kids Walk Into A Bank, Dead Dog’s Bite) and bestselling writer Matthew Rosenberg (DC vs. Vampires, Uncanny X-Men) comes an epic adventure about growing up and getting lost at the end of the world.
When 16 year-old Sid goes missing in the wastelands, it’s up to the members of her gang to try to discover what happened. But what they find is a whole world beyond anything they could imagine. Like Lord of the Rings meets Lord of the Flies, or John Carpenter by way of John Hughes, this series smashes together sci-fi and fantasy with elements of comedy, horror, and mystery for an emotional coming-of-age story unlike anything you’ve read before.
We’re Taking Everyone Down With Us (Image)
After her mad-scientist father is killed by the world’s greatest spy, 13-year-old Annalise is left all alone in the world. Sort of. Her dead dad’s robot bodyguard won’t stop following her around for some reason. Now Annalise has a choice: try to lead a normal life for the first time ever…or seek revenge and maybe overthrow the world order in the process.
Embark on a journey of regret and retribution, super spies and pseudoscience, growing up and global domination from brilliant artist Stefano Landini (Prodigy, Hellblazer) and okay writer Matthew Rosenberg (What’s the Furthest Place From Here?, Uncanny X-Men).
Coming March 26, 2025!
