The Top Ten Best Comic Books of 2021
It would be a huge understatement to say that we struggled to cut down our 2021 best comics shortlist from fifty to just ten of the best comic book titles. Even our shortlist was hard enough to define, with many great titles missing out (and that’s before we even think about the titles that we haven’t gotten around to reading yet).
2021 delivered an overwhelming abundance of high quality comics. Our stand-outs featured witches, ghosts, heartbreaks, ninjas, anti-heroes, regular heroes, an apocalypse, the afterlife, and even M.O.D.O.K..
When it comes to comic books, there really has been something truly special for everyone this year. Please enjoy our Top Ten Best Comic Book Series of 2021.
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1. We Live
Writer: Roy Miranda and Inaki Miranda
Artist: Inaki Miranda
Publisher: Aftershock Comics
This book is heartbreaking.
Countless comic books centre on the lead character’s triumph over adversity, a successful hero’s journey where they draw upon previously unknown strength to overcome the evil plot of one sinister villain. It’s the comfort fantasy of ‘Good vs. Evil’, which is so easy for readers to happily sink into, enjoy, and be inspired by.
‘We Live’ is not this. A key reason why it works so well is how impressively it rings true to real life. Real adversity is generally not something to triumph over; rather it’s something to push through and endure, coming out the otherside scathed and weaker than you were. It’s not something to engage out of a sense of altruism or glory, but to face out of necessity, caused by hard or unforeseen circumstances. Adversity can be incredibly complicated to resolve, and it’s rarely as tangible as one wicked person and their nefarious actions.
‘We Live’ follows Tala, a young girl amidst the apocalypse, and her treacherous trek to get her younger brother Hototo off-planet before the imminent destruction of the world. Hototo is one of only five thousand lucky children selected to leave earth, with the rest of humanity doomed to die with the planet. Tala’s journey to deliver her brother to safety in the face of her own demise is crushingly sad, as they’re overwhelmed by mutated monsters, death cults, attempts to steal Hototo’s chance at a new life, and the tragic sacrifices of new friends. Most devastating is Hototo’s resentment towards Tala, in the face of what he perceives to be another cruel familial abandonment.
What drives home the tragedy is consistently beautiful art. Inaki Miranda has created an awe-inspiring world and emotionally engaging characters that will transfix any comic book reader, hardcore or casual. The book climaxes in an unexpected but satisfying manner, immediately begging for a repeat reading from the beginning.
‘We Live’ is the must read comic book of 2021.
2. Karmen
Writer: Guillem March
Artist: Guillem March
Publisher: Image Comics
One of the most original concepts featured in a comic book in 2021, ‘Karmen’ is an unflinching expression of the selfishness and inaccuracy of personal despair and its effects on those around us.
‘Karmen’ manages to be simultaneously light and dream-like and painfully tense. It causes readers to reflect on the possibilities of an afterlife or the dread of nothingness, and their own individual turmoils and flaws.
The art is striking, consistently attractive and graceful, while visceral and graphic in the book’s harshest moments. It carries much of the story-telling weight, something Guillem March has also managed throughout 2021 with his ‘Batman’ visuals.
‘Karmen’ isn’t for everyone, especially those who could find the plot’s subject matter triggering. Readers that do love it will find it to be a new favourite book, one certain to stand the test of time.
3. MODOK: Head Games
Writer: Jordan Blum and Patton Oswalt
Artist: Scott Hepburn
Publisher: Marvel Comics
M.O.D.O.K. isn’t the easiest character to successfully utilise. The Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing is a ridiculous visual treat, a joy to consume in small doses like one-shots, single cartoon episodes, or even as part of a cabal of villains.
But as a main character, the spotlight reveals just how weird M.O.D.O.K. really is. And that’s not a bad thing per se; at its best, Marvel does an excellent job with “weird”.
M.O.D.O.K. was used to great effect as a key antagonist at the beginning of the ‘Gwenpool’ (2017) series. He was a perfect subject for Gwenpool’s meta dissection of her new life inside a comic book.
He’s more of a risk under the spotlight as the lead character in his own story. Any protagonist needs to be compelling in some manner, requires an engaging narrative, and usually demands some depth of character. Delivering this for M.O.D.O.K. is Jordan Blum and Patton Oswalt’s great success.
When he begins to be haunted by memories of a family he never had, M.O.D.O.K. is unsure if he is losing his mind, or if there is something sinister behind the visions. He undertakes a ridiculous journey that serves as both an exciting origin story for the character and a hilarious mystery in its own right.
It’s tight, punchy, and features pairings with great supporting characters, including Iron Man and Gwenpool (tragically without her own title at present). Scott Hepburn’s action jumps off the page, his characters are an original combination of gruesome and cute, and he elevates Blum and Oswalt’s script into something special.
In 2021, Blum and Oswalt also brought to screens the first season of ‘Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K.’, arguably the best Marvel television show of the year against some stiff competition. ‘Head Games’ is a great companion piece; highly recommended to fans of the show, but also to any comic book fans that want to “keep Marvel weird.”
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4. Home Sick Pilots
Writer: Dan Watters
Artist: Caspar Wijngaard
Publisher: Image Comics
Home Sick Pilots offers readers so much.
Caspar Wijngaard’s art is something to behold. It’s wholly original, sharp, focused, loud, and energetic. Most notably, the colour palette used throughout ‘Pilots’ is superb, and does so much to define the comic. It champions a swathe of strong pinks and purples, supported ably by a range of blues, using darker shades for linework, lighter shades for shadows, and blinding white to cut through and accentuate the reader's focal choice.
The overall visual design of the comic is also something to behold, and Wingaard’s art is lifted by and shines thanks to Aditya Bidikar’s lettering, Tom Muller’s design work, and Erika Schnatz as production artist. Each aesthetic panel contains so much for readers to settle on and get lost in, while the repeated use of defined rectangular panels allows for a clear focus that drives the action forward. It’s very easy to imagine the panels being adapted straight into a movie storyboard, particularly with how well they would already translate as framed camera shots.
All of this wouldn’t mean much without Dan Watters hugely enjoyable ghost-punk tale, which delivers whether reading individual issues month-to-month or smashing through a ‘Pilots’ trade paperback in one sitting.
Horror and Punk Rock are both genres that revel in exploring new creative horizons, while being endlessly scrutinised and criticised by supposed die-hard fans for attempting to stray from what they believe to be their genre’s core characteristics. Possibly helped by nostalgia for ‘Home Sick Pilots’ early nineties setting, it’s highly unlikely to be chastised by the punk police or horror family, and instead could be regarded by hardcore purists as the one new title that “gets it.”
5. Man-Eaters: The Cursed
Writer: Chelsea Cain
Artist: Lia Miternique
Publisher: Image Comics
‘Man-Eaters’ (2018) was a hugely successful title, easily accessible for new comic book fans and offering so much for seasoned readers. It struck a perfect balance between light-hearted silly horror fun and the perils of puberty and necessity of feminism.
Humorously funny and beautifully drawn and coloured, the action moved at a clip and delivered tight storylines that begged for repeat readings. Where ‘Man-Eaters’ really shone was in the graphic design of the comic. It featured new techniques and creative elements interspersed throughout the standard text-and-image of a comic, doing so in such a way that it evolved the comic book as a form.
If you enjoyed ‘Man-Eaters’, then pick up ‘The Cursed’ immediately. The driving creative combination of Chelsea Cain and Lia Miternique - hot off the back of 2020’s incredible ‘Spy Island’ - pair once again with Kate Niemczyk to deliver something above-and-beyond the quality of nearly all comics released in 2021.
Niemczyk’s highly emotive character expressions are delightful, and her excellent line definition is something to behold, whether capturing the nature of people and animals, or creating fantastical environments.
The story that ‘The Cursed’ tells lands effectively, simultaneously a breezy pleasure and dramatic tension. Miternique’s design work once again lifts the whole of the book into something incredible, whether supporting the core artwork and narrative, telling the story itself, or through supplemental design elements that deliver intriguing depth for the ‘Man-Eaters’ world.
All of this quality is supported by Joe Caramagna’s perfect letter work (showing why he’s one of the best in the world), beautiful colouring by Rachelle Rosenberg, and an ensemble of helpers offering additional creative material.
There’s not a cape in sight, so this book might not land for some more close-minded big-two diehards. For champions of ‘Man-Eaters’, it’s very likely to be their favourite book of the year, and rightly so. It’s also an immensely worthwhile read for any comic book fan excited to see the medium pushed further.
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6. Nightwing
Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Bruno Redondo
Publisher: DC Comics
DC Comics kicked off 2021 with ‘Future State’, a two-month long showcase event depicting a possible future for the DC Universe. Born out of the cancelled ‘5G Initiative’, which would have seen the main DC heroes aged and replaced, ‘Future State’ was a chance for DC to try out a whole range of new creative initiatives - characters, writers, artists, and storylines - and to see what stuck with readers.
While many of the comics delivered were criticised, and the event as a whole was much maligned, as a testing ground it bore fruit. DC cherry-picked the best of what worked, and they’ve spent the rest of 2021 drawing on this for much of their new creative output.
With all of DC’s mainline titles being put on hold throughout ‘Future State’, it offered the opportunity for a creative reset on many titles. ‘Nightwing’ had been viewed as a middling title for a few years by both fans and critics, exemplified by its rotating selection of writers and artists.
A gunshot to Nightwing’s head by KGBeast established a boring long-running storyline driven by “Ric” Grayson’s bout of amnesia, feeling at times like something out of a day-time soap opera. Grayson became a chore, Nightwing was often nowhere to be seen, and flat original characters did nothing to help the situation. Its dubious quality and time wasting were best exemplified by the return of KGBeast to again shoot Grayson, and potentially set off another two years of ‘Nightwing’ comics that no one really wanted.
‘Nightwing’ benefitted from the ‘Future State’ hiatus and refresh more than any other DC title. Taking on the title, Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo delivered the most captivating and entertaining superhero comic of the year, their six-issue run delivering the ‘Leaping Into The Light’ story that is sure to be held up as one of the greatest ‘Nightwing’ books for decades to come.
Taylor and Redondo’s love for the character is clear, as is their understanding of his nature, as Dick Grayson becomes the inspiring hero that those around him always knew he was. The art is continually powerful and majestic, feeling inspired at times by the warmth of golden age DC and the punch of David Aja’s work on the modern-classic ‘Hawkeye’ (2012). It’s also consistently funny, which can often help temper the ridiculousness of stories about men in capes, but especially when their decision making is as poor as Dick Grayson’s.
Most impressively, ‘Nightwing’ is a book that will give you actual goosebumps of inspiration, even long-time superhero comic book readers who feel like they’ve read it all.
7. Taskmaster
Writer: Jed MacKay
Artist: Alessandro Vitti
Publisher: Marvel Comics
For incel fanboys looking for any excuse to hate Black Widow - the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s long awaited return to the big screen - the gender change of the character of Taskmaster was the perfect innocuous and inconsequential creative choice to limp-wristedly slap their keyboards over. The vitriolic and sexist drivel was typical of the worst parts of comic book fandom, a pathetic niche of the audience that baulk at the thought of diversity, forever in a tantrum-like state that most three-year-old’s would be ashamed of.
However, after reading the superb ‘Taskmaster’ book, it could be argued that the MCU has potentially missed an opportunity with the Taskmaster character. The plot-required lack of personality of Antonia Dreykov’s Taskmaster in the movie is a complete contrast to Tony Masters' Taskmaster in the 2021 comic book.
His unshakeable arrogance, fully-earned fears, and hilarious panic ensure an extremely fun ride. Masters is unlikeable, but charismatic, with a lack of surety on what he’ll do next keeping him wavering between antagonist and anti-hero. He’s constantly out of his depth, failing to solve a mystery that keeps pitting him against some of Marvel’s biggest hitters, and destined to lose.
Jed MacKay’s characterisation and scenarios are meticulous, especially given the non-stop pace of Masters worldwide journey to save himself from certain death (a.k.a. Black Widow on a revenge-rampage). It’s fascinating to watch Nick Fury off the pace and not working with the full picture, rather than pulling all the strings, and the anti-buddy cop pairing between Nick and Tony is delightfully silly.
Some of Marvel Comics best material in recent years has come from C-grade characters, where the stakes are non-existent, and creators are given free reign to have fun, and not worry about decades of continuity. ‘Taskmaster’ is a perfect example of this, and a standout for Marvel Comics in a year of mixed output.
8. Specter Inspectors
Writer: Bowen McCurdy and Kaitlyn Musto
Artist: Bowen McCurdy
Publisher: Boom Studios
Boom Studios ‘BOOM! Box’ imprint is a market leader in all-ages comics, their superb output in recent years exemplified by the excellent quality of much-loved titles like ‘Lumberjanes’ and ‘Giant Days’. It’s always exciting to give a new ‘BOOM! Box’ title a run, and forever disappointing to know that some comic readers wholly dismiss all-ages comics as being just for tweens and comic book newcomers.
‘Specter Inspectors’ is accessible for audiences of all ages, but it’s not immature by any means, especially as part of an industry whose creative output is full of Michael Bay-esque explosion-heavy plotless wonders, and whose idea of maturity often equates solely to grim stories featuring countless graphic murders.
Its demon-driven horror-mystery is true to the tropes of both genres, while never feeling stale or predictable. It moves at a brisk pace, but has no qualms about devoting a full page to set a scene. The art is clear, straightforward and comical, yet captivatingly intelligent in its use of well defined facial expressions to tell the story through visuals alone.
Arguably ‘Specter Inspectors’ greatest strength is its charismatic, well rounded characters. They ring true as real personalities, while also bringing the required level of excitement and energy needed by a burgeoning team of ghost-hunters who find that they’ve bitten off more than they can chew in trying to catch their first big break. They also offer much-needed representation for comic book readers that may struggle to relate to the overabundance of stories about straight, white, middle-aged men named Bruce or Steve.
If you pick ‘Specter Inspectors’ up in your local comic book shop, half an hour later you’ll find yourself halfway through the book and being asked to purchase it. And given its calling for repeat-readings - especially before easily foreseeable sequels - it’ll be one of your best purchases of 2021.
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9. Orphan and the Five Beasts
Writer: James Stokoe
Artist: James Stokoe
Publisher: Dark Horse
James Stokoe is a creator who embodies the phrase “quality over quantity”. A cursory glance at his output shows a creator loved by critics and fans alike, someone who delivers no matter what he’s working on.
Nearly always pulling double-duties, the additional time he devotes to his output shows a writer and artist willing to take the time necessary to deliver excellent calibre comic books. It’s refreshing in the world of comics, where some writers have multiple titles on-the-go and are outputting new issues every week (spelling mistakes and all), and publishers have no hesitation in switching out artists and destroying the artistic cohesion of a book, so long as this ensures that they’ll stay on publishing schedule.
Not so for James Stokoe and Dark Horse, with over six months passing between the second and third issues of ‘Orphan and the Five Beasts’. A kung-fu epic that is constantly captivating, crazy, and, at times, a bit creepy, on page after page ‘Beasts’ offers the beautiful detail and care that Stokoe is known for.
With the fourth and final issue not set to be released until February 23rd next year, it will be a long-coming and well earned conclusion for readers and author alike. When ‘Orphan and the Five Beasts’ is finally released in full as a trade paperback next April, it's a certainty to find a devoted and enamoured audience, cementing James Stokoe as a must purchase for comic book devotees.
10. Mamo
Writer: Sas Milledge
Artist: Sas Milledge
Publisher: Boom Studios
There’s a huge skill in creating a new and original story, and having the nerve to let it unfold at the pace that it needs to be told.
Popular entertainment is plagued by narrative works beginning in medias res, opening in the midst of a plot in an attempt to capture an audience’s attention with an ultra high-impact occurrence, yet failing to understand that without any context that this merely evokes initial audience confusion, and then a lack of substantial climax when the story later reaches this point.
‘Mamo’ is superbly paced, happy to open with a bike-ride and a conversation-slash-argument between its two lead characters, both completely new to the reader. It takes the time to establish its world and its characters, and their journey - from strangers, to reluctant team-up, to friends, to even more - pays off for the reader because it has made the effort to tell their full story, and allowed readers to invest emotionally in the pairing, and to buy into the stakes and struggles that they face.
Arguably most vital to what makes ‘Mamo’ so special is its artwork, whose style feels tangible and pure, as though you’re viewing drawings fresh from the artist’s hand. It’s what allows the reader to be drawn into its charm, and escape into a joyous world of wonder.
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