Comicon’s 5 Best Comic Series Of 2022

Welcome to Comicon.com’s Best of the Year Awards, gathering the best comics and comics talent of the strange year that was 2021. This year we will be awarding in the following categories: Best Original Graphic Novels, Best Comic Series, Best Single Comic Issues, Best Writers, Best Artists, Best Cover Artists, Best Colorists, Best Letterers, Best Digital/Webcomics, and Most Progressive Comics.

Contributors to Comicon’s Best of the Year Awards this year include: Oliver MacNamee, Rachel Bellwoar, Richard Bruton, Scott Redmond, Tito James, Tom Smithyman, and Tony Thornley.

While prequels aren’t a new concept at DC (the TV shows, Gotham and Pennyworth, come to mind) both of those shows still revolve around familiar characters, if at a time in their life that hasn’t been as well documented. Gotham City: Year One has the Wayne family (and Bruce in the framing story), but it’s pretty much new characters living in a city that hasn’t yet become the magnet for violence that it is today. In a case that brings to mind the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, Helen Wayne has been kidnapped and PI Sam Bradley is inadvertently roped into helping. This is pure noir, with King’s hardboiled narration (as lettered by Cowles) giving off Sam Spade-vibes, while Bradley’s progressively beat up condition, as drawn by Hester (who does some really interesting things with negative space in this series), feels reminiscent of Elliot Gould in The Long Goodbye. Bellaire’s colors set the right gritty tone, while making the femme fatale easy to clock.

— Rachel Bellwoar

4. Detective Comics, published by DC Comics; written by Ram V, drawn by Rafael Albuquerque, colored by Dave Stewart, and lettered by Ariana Maher

Time and again Ram V has proven himself to be an elegant and eloquent writer and no more so than on his recent run on Detective Comics. V is delivering his magnum opus with the suitably, appropriately gothic tone sustained by the incomparable Rafael Albuquerque. Operatic in tone and theme, Detective Comics is one of the best written books on the shelves at the moment.

— Olly MacNamee

3. Catwoman: Lonely City, published by DC Comics; written, drawn, colored, and lettered by Cliff Chiang

Set in a near future where costumes and capes have been outlawed and Gotham is under the control of fascist Batcops, Selina Kyle is released from prison and must assemble a crew of old enemies and allies for one last heist — breaking into the Batcave! The comic delivers in the super heroics while also satirizing contemporary concerns of over-policing ethnic communities in an intelligent and nuanced way. This Gotham is a hip melting pot that has more to fear from corrupt institutions than colorful criminals. Catwoman: Lonely City feels fresh and modern while also paying tribute to multiple eras of comics’ greatest feline femme fatale. Chiang has captured the courage, power, and intelligence of Selina Kyle and put her in a caper that will no doubt become a classic. Whether you’re a new or longtime fan of Catwoman, there’s something here for everyone.

— Tito James

2. Step By Bloody Step, published by Image Comics; written by Si Spurrier, drawn by Matias Bergara, and colored by Matheus Lopes

Step by Bloody Step is a wordless fantasy adventure comic that thrusts readers into the midst of a wild and mysterious world while following the journey of a young girl and her giant armored guardian. It’s a visceral and emotional quest; as if The Iron Giant had to survive in the world of Genndy Tartakovsky’sPrimal. Bergara and Lopes’s painterly art has all the charm of a classically drawn animated film, the sensuality of a European comic, and the meditative silence of a manga. As in the best fairytales and mythology, it uses grotesque imagery to communicate emotion and create drama. Step by Bloody Step proves with every page that you don’t need to say a word to convey a lot and leave the reader speechless.

— Tito James

1. Shaolin Cowboy: Cruel to be Kin, published by Dark Horse Books; written and drawn by Geof Darrow, colored by Dave Stewart, and lettered by Nate Piekos

Packed with visual jokes skewering the right wing (a billboard for Big NRA Burger has Donald Trump holding a hamburger proudly proclaiming “100% ass-fed bull”) to sophomoric sex jokes and plenty of kung-fu action, Shaolin Cowboy: Cruel to be Kin is the best of the Cowboy series to date. Written and drawn by Geof Darrow, the seven-part series follows the Buddha-inspired Cowboy as he battles jellyfish-riding bad guys and other creations that could only come from a wonderfully twisted mind like Darrow’s. It’s not for everyone, but if you love Darrow, this is a series for you.

— Tom Smithyman